Exhibitors want feedback! We spend plenty of time, effort and money for someone to evaluate our performance by either giving us a blue ribbon, the gate, somewhere in-between. Now that AQHA judges are required to use score sheets and post them for the pattern classes, exhibitors and trainers get a better view of the judge’s perspective.
I have come out of a class plenty of times and looked at my trainer and said, “I don’t understand what the judge was thinking.” Ninety-five percent of the time she has an answer for me, but there are times that it is a bit harder to see and understand a judge’s placing. I am sure I am not alone.
After diving into this story, I found that most exhibitors want to know what is in the judge’s mind; they also appreciate the comments echoing the sentiments of their trainer’s suggestions. Youth exhibitor and 2012 Congress All-Around Youth Winner Kamiah McGrath says, “I love the opportunity to view the judges’ score sheets. Sometimes they say the same things my mom/trainer keeps telling me, and other times I learn something new or figure out something that I didn’t realize I was doing incorrectly.”
Trainers feel the same way–professional and AQHA Judge Michelle Tidwell agrees, “It helps me as a trainer explain what the judges saw in the class so we can see where the rider performed well and areas where we need to go practice.”
While feedback is great–are the score sheets easy enough to read and understand?
CLICK HERE to view a score sheet from the 2013 AQHA World Championship Show.
The space to write comments is very small allowing only a few words to be shared over an entire performance. Looking over the score sheets from the Amateur AQHA World Show, some judges left the comment space blank and others used it as a way to keep track of larger points about the performance with words like, “broke”, “fell”, “good.” Some judges have used the space for instructive feedback, and exhibitor, Dawn Haas Myers finds this section to be very informative, saying, “I find it helpful to get a feeling of how your overall pattern looked. I’ve received comments such as…”too slow”, “broken wrists,” says Myers. Most riders also understood why the comments were so short, knowing how quickly classes run and the limited amount of time a judge has to write down their thoughts. So, the compromise for something to be written down even if it is short, seemed to be enough for most competitors to appreciate the new system.
2013 AQHA World Show Judge and author of “The Good Rider Series,” Stephanie Lynn sees the score sheets in a different way. While she thinks the program is great, “I worry that I am not giving the exhibitor useful information. With my old system of hieroglyphics, I could tell them what they did wrong. With a check plus/minus, I do not feel I am giving the rider as much information as they might want.”
World Champion Amateur rider Angela Fox agrees, “I think in order for a system that has such a large spread of potential scores to work, the credit earning elements and penalties need to be more defined. The check/plus system is hard to translate into an actual score, especially when you are trying to separate world-class exhibitors at an event such as a World Show. It’s a challenge to understand what separates a 92 from a 94. But that could be the difference from first and third place which is a big deal.”
Overall, exhibitors love the idea of finding out more information about their ride as well as looking at the other comments about the other riders so they can see how they measured up. “With pattern classes, there are many personal likes and dislikes. I think the scoring system may give the judges more consistency, but still allows the judge to plus the exhibitor on personal preference,” says All-Around Amateur Exhibitor Ashley Hadlock.
So, as I add a hunt seat equitation and showmanship to my goals for next year, you can bet I am stopping by the show office to check out the score sheets to look for ways to measure up with the competition. With any system, there are always improvements to be made but as long as we keep sharing feedback, the riding will improve as will the judging!
Photos © Sarah Elder Chabot
