Format of Judging.
The judges will bear in mind that they are looking for potential for the future in the horse – NOT the rider.
All too often the horse with the most potential may not be the one which is presented In the best manner. We are looking for the athletic, loose moving horse with a promising jumping technique who with the correct training will develop physically and mentally into a strong three day event horse.
NEW FOR 2024
THE FIRST 2 QUAIFIERS WILL NOT BE GIVEN JUDGES COMMENTS OR MARKS FOR SHOW JUMPING OR XC PHASE – ONLY JUDGED ON PENALITES IN EITHER PHASE
THE FLATWORK PHASE WILL BE JUDGED AS USUAL
WEEK 4/5 & FINAL WILL BE JUDGED AND ALLOCATED LEAGUE POINTS ALSO
SECTION A – DRESSAGE PHASE
DRESSAGE JUDGE TO MARK
In the dressage phase, unlike a normal dressage test, marks are not given for individual movements. The judge will look for true suppleness, natural ability to engage the hind legs and acceptance of the bit. Three correct, elastic and regular gaits through a swinging back are what we are seeking. The Judge will have to weigh up the influence of the rider; a good rider may present a well balanced, smooth test from perhaps a more moderate horse while a novice rider may even hinder a better horse from showing its true worth. It is the horse’s, and not the rider’s real potential we are looking for. Trainability should also be taken into account. Elimination will occur from the entire event should a rider fall during this Phase.
See dressage test outlining the scoring system in Test/Score Sheets section of website
IHWT THOROUGHBRED CLUB CLASS – Dressage will be AN INTRO DRESSAGE TEST test and Judges will take into account that the participating horses are likely to be in the early stages of retraining on the flat . jumping will be like a normal event with penalties for jumping adding to the dressage score.
EVENT PONY CLASS – Dressage will be the 4 yr old test for all ponies
SECTION B – JUMPING PHASE
JUMPING JUDGE TO MARK PENALTIES AND REFUSALS TO BE DEDUCTED FROM OVERALL SCORING
SECTION C – JUMPING PHASE – JUDGED
- JUDGING THE OVERALL ROUND
- CONFIRMATION & TYPE ( not accplicable for IHWT Thoroughbred Class)
- SUITABILITY AND POTENTIAL
1 JUDGING THE OVERALL ROUND
In the jumping phase we are looking for a bold athletic horse with good technique and a horse with these qualities, should not necessarily be penalised for knocking down one fence (or a four year old having one refusal), providing he learns from his mistake. Standard marks will be deducted for knocks and refusals as in standard competition, however overall judges scoring may not be affected. Four year olds may find it easier to jump out of trot and this will not be penalised but canter needs to be assessed so adequate amount will need to be demonstrated during the round for required judging. 3 cumulative refusals or a fall of horse or rider will result in elimination. The course will be built in an all weather sand arena that will incorporate the following
Banks, water complex, coffins, natural fences with some colour but all inviting to encourage the horse to jump . The course will have approx 6 show jumps firstly with a double to include an oxer to a vertical and then be immediately followed by a course of solid XC fences of approx 12 fences (that include upwards and down wards banks) heights of fences will be no higher than 90cm for 4 yr olds in the final and 1.05m for 5 yr olds in the final. They will not be up to height until the final to allow the young horses to develop and gain confidence over the league. The idea is to encourage the young horse to jump a clear round as they are being judged on their jump and technique and we want to encourage this! Our Course builder throughout the league will be Derek Hamilton who has vast experience in building courses both nationally and internationally.
EVENT PONY CLASSES HEIGHTS WILL BE THE 4 YR OLD TRACK SJUMPING & 5 YR OLD XC TRACK
2 CONFIRMATION AND TYPE/ TROT UP ( Not applicable for the IHWT Thoroughbred CLub CLass )
The horse’s conformation and type should enable him/her to withstand the demands of the sport in terms of soundness, speed and stamina. Lack of quality and other defects which may prevent him/her being fast enough, should be penalised against him/her, even though the horse may make a nice dressage or show jumping horse. However, a lack of size should not be held against him/her. Equally one should not allow a possible prejudice against mares to affect any judgement. It is essential to encourage producers to give mares more of a chance if we are to establish a better breeding policy using proven mares. The conformation should be marked out of 18 and the type marked out of 12 to achieve a published total score out of 30. This will be judged in a trot up during the ridden round before the jumping phase. As young horses often do not trot up as well being led . In the final however the horse will be required to trot up in a straight line by you or your groom for the judge without a saddle. They will not judge the handler and assistance can be given to encourage the horse to trot up for this judging phase.
3 SUITABILITY AND POTENTIAL
The Judged section of the Jumping Phase will have a Suitability & Potential section also on the score sheets. This will allow the judge to give their marks for the horses performance.
Use of Marks: Careful thought must be given as to how the marks are used. In order to have enough of a gap between the, moderate and very good horses, it is necessary to use the full range of marks (see below).
In conclusion we could sum up by asking the question “which horse would I buy to make the best top class three day eventer?” We are not buying the rider …. only the horse. Score sheets are available to view for Jumping including the confirmation and type and suitability & potential sections on Tests/score sheets section of the website.
