You Have the Tools - Part 4

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

I alluded to this yesterday, but the explanation was going to take too long to include in what was already going to be a long post. Even I get tired of reading when my posts get too long.

The reason there were two judges on the second day of the El Sueño show was this: On Sunday, more riders wanted to show than were expected. The judge's flight had already been booked, so it ended up being cheaper for the show manager to hire a second judge for the latter portion of the day rather than change the first judge's flight. The second judge, an "r" judge, agreed to also judge the morning's Second Level tests for "free" since she is still working on getting the requisite judging hours needed to earn her "R" judging license. It was a win-win all around.

Ana Gilmour "r" judge at E

When I showed at the CDS/USDF Region 7 Championships in 2014, there were two judges for my classes, but that is the only other time that I've had a second judge. I was actually pretty excited about the arrangement because it gave me twice as much feedback. Besides that, we all know that depending on where the judge is located, she is going to see different things. With a judge sitting at E, a halt at X is going to look different than what the judge at C will see.

With a perfect view, Joan Williams "S" judge at C.

I don't know if the way scores are reported to competitors is a California thing, or if this is how they're done at all USDF shows, but each judge's scores appear next to every other judge's scores on the computer generated score sheet. This makes it really easy to see where scores align and where they may be different.

2-1, excluding the collective marks.

As a self-professed score stalker - yours, theirs, and mine, I love seeing the extra information. For nine of the twenty-eight scores on 2-1, including the collective remarks, the judges saw the exact same thing. The judges disagreed about the other nineteen scorable areas. Nine times there was only a half point difference, but ten times the judges disagreed by a full point or more. In the end, the "r" judge awarded us 209.0 points compared to 197.0 points from the "S" judge, which worked out to be a little more than a 3% difference.

2-2 Halt at X: Judge at C 6.0, Judge at E 6.5.

For the second test, 2-2, the judges' over-all scores were separated by a mere 6 points out of 410. That's pretty close! They were in complete agreement ten times and differed twenty-two times. The smallest variability was again a half point and the largest deviation was a point and a half. Even though one judge has more experience than the other, I found it very reassuring that their scores were so closely aligned. The judge at E gave us 245.5 points while the judge at C awarded us 239.5 points.

2-2, excluding the collective marks.

One thing that I did find interesting when comparing the "S" judge's collective marks on both 2-2 tests was this: on Saturday she gave me a 6.0 & 5.0 for the two rider scores, but she gave me a 7.0 & 6.0 on Sunday. The "r" judge also gave me 13 points on Sunday's test 2, but she split it up evenly with two scores of 6.5. I really wish there had been a second judge on Saturday, especially for the test that felt so much better but scored nearly as low. I'd like to think that both judges would have scored it similarly.

As a teacher, I "judge" student work all day long, and I try to give my kiddos the best score that I can justify giving. Most of my colleagues also "round up" when a score could go either way. I think we all embrace the philosophy of do no harm. I really and truly value the judge's feedback, and I always take it to heart. Judges don't sit out in the heat and cold because they want to be punitive. I know they are there to help, but they're also only human. I've never felt that I've been scored unfairly, but Saturday's second score did hurt my feelings. Judges spend a lot of time and money to be able to sit there and give us their feedback. The least we can do is read what they've written and apply it where we can.

And that's the end of that show recap.