Senior international hunter judge, course designer, coach, and author Randy Roy has seen it all in the ring, from flawless rounds to unplanned surprises – such as an alligator coming to visit! In this second part of an occasional series on hunter judging mishaps, Roy shares what he did, or would do, when the unexpected happens and there are no rules to follow. As judge, he has to assess and react accordingly and make an effective decision in a timely manner in the best interests of the show management team, the competitor, and the horse.
Wingin’ it
A bird takes flight and the shadow of its flapping wings casts onto the ground of the ring. The horse is coming up a line and the moving shadow causes it to spook and jump off lead. Roy only sees the spook and the horse jumping off lead. He scores accordingly, with a score that may have been in the high 80s dropping to the low 70s. He understands why the horse reacted as it did, as it perceives the ground moving, but as Roy didn’t see the bird’s shadow, he has to score what he saw. The rider won’t get a re-ride, nor will the score change.
Stumbling blocks
A horse stumbles in the ring. If it stumbles on the flat, Roy wants to see it trot to ensure it is sound. It may drop it down in score due to the stumble. Over fences, if the stumble happens in front of a jump or corner, as long as it doesn’t break stride or switch leads when it stumbles, it won’t be penalized.
What lead?
A horse picks up the wrong canter lead. If it’s in an under-saddle class at a lower level or pre-green, Roy allows it – if it’s quickly fixed. With a good group or higher-level class, it becomes a bigger issue. It’s a major fault in an equitation class and the rider will be penalized. Roy says there’s plenty of time to ensure a rider picks up the right lead, and it’s up to him to decide how hard to penalize it.
Back of beyond
Just outside the ring, horses are grazing or being walked, and people are sitting on a bank – all typical of a horse show atmosphere. Can a rider or trainer request the horses/people to move? Roy says a request can be made via the announcer to take horses away from the backside of ring before a rider enters. (The backside is the area immediately behind the fences, and typically there is no complex scenery or activity there. The background could be an arena wall, bushes, or the natural landscape.) But once in the ring, the horse and rider have to perform regardless. If a horse glances over, takes exception to something and spooks, Roy is going to mark accordingly. It’s all part of horse show atmosphere. There will be even more distractions at indoor venues, so it’s important for the horse to get used to them.
A tale of a tail
A horse is jumping a line away from the judge, and its artificial tail falls off on the landing side of a jump. It’s not removed. The next rider comes in, and as the horse jumps that jump, it veers to miss the tail and the rider falls off. The judge can’t see the tail from his booth. The rider fell off, thus is eliminated. Roy had to deal with this very situation. While he felt bad about what happened, and that the jump crew or the groom should have seen the tail and removed it, the elimination stood.
Long gone
A horse is jogged for soundness in hand, then it rears, bucks, or jumps out of ring and runs back to the barn. Roy wouldn’t eliminate it, as he was able to see it jog for soundness before it reared, bucked and took off. Thus, it passed all requirements and is eligible for a ribbon. If Roy didn’t see it jog, he would still allow it to be caught and then jogged for soundness.
Plus or minus
Is it better to add a stride or leave out a stride in a line? Roy’s policy is always safety first, so he feels it’s preferable to add a stride than leave one out. He doesn’t like to see a horse galloping wildly to make a line; safety is always the priority, he says.
Sight unseen
This pointer is for judges who often second-guess themselves, says Roy. He says if a judge thinks he or she saw a break in stride, a half-halt, a spook, they likely did. Go with it, and don’t question your initial observation.
Point of no return
A horse and rider are putting in a round that can be considered dangerous, such as leaving out strides on every line. It can be difficult to tell a rider they can’t return to the ring for a second round, but it might be necessary, says Roy. If he sees a risky ride that concerns him, he’ll contact the steward, who’ll inform the rider not to come back for the next round. Roy says safety beats out an ambulance ride.
Oops, missed that!
A horse and rider are on course, and the judge doesn’t see one of their jumps. Judges are only human, and sometimes they miss seeing a jump. They constantly have to deal with distractions, such as people coming into the booth, people on walkie-talkies, or they may be returning from a bathroom break or have been jotting down notes and a horse and rider are already on course and have gone over the first jump. Roy simply looks at the jump, and if the rails are still up, he scores it as a good jump.
Gator aid
Anything can happen at a horse show, and sometimes something truly bizarre takes place. Roy was judging at a winter show in southern Florida, and he took his chair and clipboard to sit in the warm sun. Halfway through the class, the announcer told Roy on the walkie-talkie that he didn’t want to panic him, but there was ‘a situation’. Roy was instructed to sit absolutely still, as an alligator had climbed out of the pond and was sunning itself behind Roy’s chair! Roy ignored that advice and booked it as fast as he could away from the gator. The creature crawled back into the lake. Margie Goldstein was in the ring in a schooling class, and Roy told her to carry on…
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