| After every horse competition, someone's going home | | | | on them. |
| a little happier than the rest. And someone else has to | | | | |
| decide who that happy person will be. Judges come in | | | | To do this well, they need to have considerable |
| all shapes and sizes, but they have certain | | | | experience with all facets of competition, and many |
| characteristics in common. Chief among these are | | | | judges are people who have competed themselves in |
| keen observational skills, subject expertise, sound | | | | similar events.It's not enough, however, to know what |
| judgment, and moral integrity. When a judge looks at a | | | | they're doing when judging. Judges have to have high |
| horse, there's a lot going on behind that pair of eyes. | | | | ethical standards and a willingness to stick by them |
| | | | | regardless of sentiment, influence, or anything else that |
| Judges view horses with a much more analytical | | | | might tempt them to cast a vote for the sake of profit |
| approach than that of the casual observer. Although | | | | or popularity rather than merit. Like umpires on a |
| the word "critical" is usually used in a negative sense, it | | | | baseball field, judges need to have impeccable |
| literally means "to separate," and judges do exactly | | | | reputations for fairness and ethics, if they're to be |
| that in their job, breaking up the various aspects of a | | | | taken seriously. |
| rider's or horse's appearance or behavior into the good | | | | |
| and bad, keeping a running tally in their heads to | | | | Anyone interested in a career as a judge needs to not |
| compare to what they see in other contestants. The | | | | only know the ins and outs of the horse competition |
| factors they consider are the ones set forth officially | | | | but also gain experience in competing or judging. It's a |
| by the governing body of the particular competition, | | | | good idea to volunteer your judging services or attend |
| and the guidelines are numerous and explicit. Judges | | | | horse shows and observe the judges as they |
| need to familiarize themselves with these standards | | | | observe the horses. The more you go, the more you |
| so they can recognize them, appraise them, and rule | | | | will know. |