of how you would ride your pattern differently if you were
aware of the rules.
The same can be said for the competitors and spectators that
you hear saying, “That pleasure horse was going sideways,
our judges need to stop that happening by disqualifying them”.
This has been debated on Facebook many times. Looking at our
AQHA rule book, rule 103.4 lists the faults that will be cause
for disqualification: a) Head carried too low such that the poll
is below the withers consistently b) Over flexing or straining
neck in head carriage so the nose is carried behind the vertical
consistently c) Use of spurs forward of the cinch. So a judge
cannot simply disqualify a horse for overly canted, it is listed
in rule 103.3. Faults to be scored according to severity. If
competitors, or spectators for that matter, were aware of the
rules then they would know that the judge cannot disqualify
a horse in these instances, as if they did it would not be
backed up by our rule book and it would be valid for a
protest to be lodged. Our judges have to judge according to
our rule book. If they started making up their own rules,
then we would not have any consistency in our judging
and anything would go. That would mean that the
competitors would not know what was correct and what
was incorrect or illegal by the rule book. Remember the
judge is there to place the best horse in the class. Many times
that does not mean the judge thinks the horse they placed first
was a great mover or a great example of a Western Pleasure
horse, but it was simply the best horse in the class.
Please look after our judges they are few and far between and
our doors are not getting knocked down by people aspiring to
be judges. They are not going to see everything that happens
in a class and they are going to make mistakes sometimes.
Remember they are giving up their precious weekends that
they could be spending with their families or even showing
their own horses for very little remuneration. Judging is a very
difficult job and not everyone has the skills to be a good judge.
It is often a tiring and mentally draining job that requires a lot
of concentration as every competitor, from the first to the last
one of the day, is required to be judged in an efficient manner,
and no matter how tired the judge is they need to pay the same
attention to each. Judges want to do a great job and want to
Page 14 • The Australian Quarter Horse Magazine • March • April • 2018
make sure our competitors
have a great time.
Kate Elliott’s quote below is a fitting statement that I am sure
all of our judges uphold:
As a Judge, I am respectfully doing my best for the
competitor, honouring their efforts, attendance,
progressive development and performance.
As a final note if you are interested in becoming a judge our
next judges seminar is in Brisbane from 2nd to 5th August
2018. Contact the AQHA office for details. The seminar is also
open to members to come along on the Friday and Saturday
to sit in on the discussion. It is a great learning curve for all
competitors so please consider attending.