AMHA's New Judging System

[ThreeCFarm]

I personally love AMHA's new judging system, which allows ALL of the judges' placings to count, unlike the old system, where your scores under two judges were dropped. Before I left World, I did see a petition in the show office that someone started wanting it changed back to the old 5 judge (drop the high and the low) system. I'm just curious as to why someone would want to go back to the old system where two judges' scores don't even count in your final placing?

 

[Becky]

I agree with you, Stephanie! I am VERY MUCH in favor of the 3 judge system. I've been opposed to the 5 judge system for years. What a waste of money to hire 5 judges and throw out two of the scores!

Though, I might not have agreed with all of the placings

, totaling the scores of 3 judges seem to me the most fair way to tabulate the winners. And the judges are rotated, so the same judges are not judging consecutive classes. I might also add that it saved time in the show ring as well.

 

[wpsellwood]

I prefer the old judging system and I hope it comes back. The new way we are still paying for one judge sitting there. The old way you have a judge that plays favorites his vote gets thrown out and its averaged with the other 3. Seems more fair to me.

 

[maestoso]

I like the new way, however I would prefer all 4 judges to be judging and all 4 placings to count. This way, even if you had one judge that was playing favorites, by the time it was averaged into 3 other placings, it would balance out.

 

[Riverdance]

I agree with wpsellwood. You are still paying for 4 judges, just one sits out and they rotate. Problem is, if you have a judge who is good friends with a trainer, his voting is going to skew the results. I saw it this year where a judge would give a horse first place, then the other two would not place the horse at all. Well, since the horse had 1st place he was in the top 5. If that judges score had been thrown out, he would not have placed at all.

Also, even though the judges rotate, evey time I went into the ring, I still had the same 3 judges.

I feel that with the highest and lowest score being thrown out, you at least can do away with some favoritism.

 

[Charlotte]

as I said on another thread I much prefer this year's system (4 judges with one sitting out each class) for a number of reasons :

1. Because the 4 judges are rotating every class (and the rotation by random drawing is new each morning) we don't get into a situation where one judge likes one particular exhibitor and is always judging every class so that exhibitor begins to take more awards than he/she might with a system where the judge who favors him/her sits out every 3rd class. The rotating judges creates a more level playing field and perhaps a better evaluation of the quality of horses presented.

2. Tabulating 3 judge's cards takes considerably less time than tabulating 5. This can become a 'big deal' for the association as the extra time for tabulation could result in having to add another day to the show costing the association thousands of extra dollars for facility, judges (and all of their expenses), personnel, security, etc, etc, etc. Personally, I would rather see those dollars go to maintaining the high standard of the awards which we have now. Those loooong ribbons and plaques and huge trophys are beautiful!

3. The rotating judges allows each judge a little rest time during the day. I have nothing but the greatest admiration for those judges who are out there day after day, hour after hour from 8 a.m. untill 10, 11, 12 p.m. trudging through deep plowed dirt and on their feet seemingly forever to judge our horses. Fatigue is bound to set in eventually and make good judging performance more difficult. Let's give our judges a break. Let them sit down once every couple of hours.

Charlotte

 

[MountainMeadows]

I like the new way myself -- don't forget that the judges know how the game is being played too. And they knew that their high & low scores were being tossed, so if they really liked a horse they probably didn't give it 1st place, but more likely 2nd or 3rd and that way they could ensure that their favorite didn't get tossed out -- same game, you just have to know how to play it.(At least this is the way I understood the scoring to be done in the past)

At least this new way each and every placing counts, which is kind of what we are paying for -- and yes, giving a judge a break to sit down for a few minutes can really help with the fatigue that no doubt sets in -- but I do have to say that I feel sorry for the judge that had only a few minutes of downtime because the class he/she sat out was only 8 horses, and yet had to come back to judge the 50+ horse class -- but I guess a break is a break no matter what!

 

[mistyrose]

The three judges are rotated every division not every class. As an example - So the same three would judge all the senior stallion but would change before the senior mares.

Before you complain about the fourth judge setting out a division consider how you would like to work a 16 hour day 4 days in a row. Believe me I have worked 16 hour days. I wasn't at my best towards the end of the or the next day.

Part of the decision to change was financial though. There is a cost savings by using one less judge.

"so if they really liked a horse they probably didn't give it 1st place, but more likely 2nd or 3rd and that way they could ensure that their favorite didn't get tossed out"

So you are saying to the people who placed 1st under all 5 judges in the past had a horse none of the judges liked? I don't think so!!

 

[Sunny]

don't forget that the judges know how the game is being played too. And they knew that their high & low scores were being tossed, so if they really liked a horse they probably didn't give it 1st place, but more likely 2nd or 3rd and that way they could ensure that their favorite didn't get tossed out -- same game, you just have to know how to play it.(At least this is the way I understood the scoring to be done in the past)

Call me NAIIVE if you want (you wouldn't be the first), but do you think the Judges would actually DO that??? Surely the judges would have more integrity than that!

 

[Millstone Farm]

Using the meathod AMHA employed this year not only saves time in the scoring of each class -- you also eliminate the need to give the judges "potty breaks," since they can now use the time they aren't judging to take care of personal needs. I remember those breaks sometimes adding 30 minutes or more to the day.

 

[McBunz]

Mistyrose, are you saying that the three judges rotated every division, and not every class, during the World Show? If this is true then the rule WS-025 has been violated and the exhibitors were cheated by not having the rules followed as pertaining to the new World Judging System passed unanimously by the Board on June 8, 2007.

The WS-025 rule on page 135 of the 2008 rule book states:

"The World Championship Show will have 4 judges available for each judging team allowing a rotating system. Each class will be judged on a three judge system in which the top ten horses will be chosen, All three (3) scores will count equally. Example: The first class will be judged by Judge A, B, & C; the second class will be judged by Judge B, C, & D, the third class will be judged by C, D, & A, the fourth class will be judged by D, A, & B, the fifth class will be judged by A, B, & C, etc. Judges will be assigned identification (A, B, C, D) a drawing each morning before classes begin. All classes will be judged once using the three judge score system. Championship classes will be judged by all four (4) judges."

How will AMHA correct this serious problem for the exhibitors that were judged by the wrong judges? This is a very serious issue.

Since the Board is meeting by teleconference call tonight please post here on Lil Beginnings how this issue will be corrected.

The C.A.R.E group...

 

[bingo]

I must admit I am now curious if they did rotate every class or every division?

 

[wpsellwood]

Yes it was rotating every class.