Is it Rewarded or Deducted?

3/13/2020

Judging is a complicated process. It takes a tremendous amount of work to get a judge's license, and once earned, you have to maintain it. Whenever I have the opportunity, I love to talk to judges about their process; how they feel about this, how they feel about that, what bothers them, what doesn't.

I love the judge photos.

One aspect of judging that I find interesting is the idea of rewarding or deducting. Whether it's true or not, some judges come across as stingy with their points while others seem more generous. At one show my shoulder in might get a 7.0 and at another, I'll get a 5.5.

Sometimes I know why the point discrepancy is there. Speedy's not a machine, and sometimes I don't ride him as well as other times. But sometimes, a movement will feel exactly the same as at a previous show, sometimes even the very next day, yet the score will suggest that the movements were not performed the same at all.

I have heard it said of Hilda Gurney, under whom I have shown more than a few times, that upon entering the ring, she's starting the horse and rider at a 6.0 and judges from that point, going up or down depending on what the rider shows. I understand this to mean that Hilda expects you to ride the test well. She's expecting to reward you for your hard work, and unless you screw things up, you're going to get a good score.

Other judges seem to work from the opposite viewpoint. They watch you enter at A with a 0.0 and expect you to prove that you deserve that 6.0 (or higher). These kinds of judges feel punitive in their scoring. Whether it's right or not, it feels as though you have to work harder for a 6.0 than if you were showing in front of a judge who has already given you that 6.0 and is just hoping you don't blow it it forcing them to give you a 5.5.

This whole idea of earning it or having it taken away popped into my mind last week as I was thinking about my students' overall classroom behavior. I teach 5th grade and currently have 31 kiddos in my class. That's a lot of little bodies to keep engaged, participating, and on task. I have a lot of little systems to help me. One of my favorites is the Three Emojis.

There are three time blocks during the day. We start the day at 7:45 and work until 9:35 where we then have a 15 minute recess. We come back in at 9:50 and work until lunchtime where we have a one hour break. We then work from 1:00 until dismissal which is 2:37. At the end of each time block, I judge whether the class as a whole was engaged and using an appropriate volume level. If so, they earn an emoji for that time block. When the kids earn an emoji, they get to pick a candy from the basket and they earn a check mark. Thirty check marks earns a lunch time party.

A typical day.

Lately, we haven't been earning any emojis. I think spring fever is running rampant through my room right now. Teaching is a profession where flexibility and improvisation are critical to your success, so I asked myself how I could motivate my kids to perform better. The idea of starting with a 6.0 popped into my head.

Instead of asking my kids to earn their emoji, I gave them all three as soon as they stepped through the door. At the end of the time blocks, I evaluated their performance and found that it was much easier to just let the emojis ride. When I was really honest, they hadn't done anything terrible enough to warrant losing them.

This like a 60% or better score.

Of course, they haven't been keeping all three emojis; even they admit that they do get too noisy and don't deserve the candy and point. It was a good lesson for me though. If we start with a higher expectation in mind, like a 6.0 or an emoji, the student or rider is more likely to meet the expectation. When we start with a 0.0, it's harder to find enough good to warrant that reward.

Since I am not a judge, I can't exactly give myself a 6.5. I can however, enter at A with the expectation that I am getting at least a 6.0 unless I screw up. Maybe with less hoping and more confidence I can push my scores up.

I would love to hear a judge's perspective. Any judges out there?

Megan link

3/13/2020 08:29:14 am

I'm going through judge training now and it's been fabulous, I highly recommend everyone do Part 1 of the L program, it's not that expensive, only requires three weekends of your time, and is open to literally anyone to do.

Judges all have different ways of judging because we're all human, but it's all rooted in this calculation: basics + criteria +/- modifier. Basics means where the horse falls on the training scale, do you show a correct rhythm and a steady tempo at all three gaits? Lateral and longitudinal suppleness? A correct connection? Impulsion (which is so much more than energy)? Straightness? Collection? It also means the purpose of the levels, which is at the top right of every dressage test and should be studied by every rider.

Criteria is what the movement requires. In the rulebook, criteria for every movement is written out plainly. Then modifiers - does the horse spook or swap leads behind accidentally? Does the rider get unreasonably rough in their hand to perform a movement? Or does the rider ride a SUPER good corner that you want to reward?

Most judges don't start from zero, that's way too hard, too much in-brain calculation during each individual movement. And most judges don't start from ten, that's also too hard. Judging is very fatiguing. The easiest, least fatiguing way to judge is to decide on what you think the overall picture is like, both the quality of the horse and the quality of the basics, as those are unlikely to change over the course of the test. Let's say you decide the horse and rider pair is doing a satisfactory job on the basics and that the horse has three pure but limited gaits, so you start them at 6. Then they ride a leg yield instead of a shoulder-in, maybe drop them to 5. But then they ride an exceptional medium trot, bump them to 7 for that.

At the end of the day, every judge has their own way of coming to the scores they choose, but the training judges get is exceptional. We are given a TON of training, apprenticing, and then a written, oral, and practical exam. In order to graduate, you can't be more than a point off of what the examiners judge and if you're at all off, you have to have a VERY good reason for being off.

Bakersfield Dressage link

3/17/2020 06:27:16 am

Thanks for commenting, Megan. I in no way meant to disparage judges; I recognize that the job they do is very difficult. I have several friends who have done the L program, and yes, it looks like an amazing experience.

Sometimes my own students will question my scoring, especially on the work that is subjective. I try hard to grade papers before I know to whom they belong just to eliminate any hint of bias that I can. Even so, there are days when my grading is more generous than others. I try very hard to be consistent, but there are those days. :0)

Karen

3/13/2020 10:28:24 am

Judging is merely an opinion. It can be frustrating, but take it with a certain grain of salt. There's a reason people become dressage judges. :)

3/13/2020 09:15:45 pm

Agree to disagree as someone on the inside. I've had to put aside a lot of my opinions to be a better judge. There is a massive amount of education and testing that goes into becoming a dressage judge. I'm becoming a judge not to be a judgmental shrew (you don't need to be a judge to be one of those!) but because I love this sport and want to be an advocate for the horse and uphold the standards put forth by the FEI and the USDF.

3/17/2020 06:17:56 am

Karen, I agree and try not to take it personally. And actually, I never feel as though I've been judged TOO harshly. Most of the time I feel as though my scores are pretty close, but some judges do seem to forgive some things more than others.

Val

3/14/2020 05:01:09 pm

Not a judge, but I am a teacher. My students walk in the door with four points and, since they know the expectations, most of them keep all four. I strive to act as referee more than a judge. I like your emoji idea.

As a rider, I find it frustrating that my horse might have to work harder to get a 7 or 8 because his gaits are a 6 while another horse might enter the ring starting at a 7. My horse's gaits improved immensely over the years, but not to the degree that would get the extra point as soon and entered at A.

3/17/2020 06:19:29 am

Riding a non-warmblood is a different experience for sure. Speedy is quite light on his feet, so he earns respectable scores. I do wonder if the 7 on gaits I am proud of would be a regular 8 if I rode a fancier horse. LOL

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