Judging Practice
Western Pleasure, Country English Pleasure, Purebred Geldings

PROPER ENGAGEMENT:  “Ideally, they should have a balanced, sweeping motion that requires no more or less than light contact by their riders.”  The connection from the horse’s hindquarters through the back and neck to the bit and the rider's hand with light contact is "engagement".  Engagement gives the horse's forward notion a sense of energy. It is the appropriate amount of energy generated by the hip, stifle, and hock. This causes the hind legs to be working under the horse's body with moderate power, not strung out or trailing. How deeply the horse reaches underneath itself with the hind legs (amount of engagement) depends on its conformation, training, confidence, and relaxation.

PRESENCE: "Ultimately, they are very eye appealing and give the impression of being a pleasure to ride."  Presence is the manner in which a horse carries itself or its bearing. It is, in a word, “style.”

BALANCE: “They should be balanced in all aspects: conformation, gait, and disposition.”  Balance is the overall poise of the horse. Every dimension of the western pleasure horse should be in a state of equilibrium. In other words, opposing forces that comprise each aspect of the ideal western pleasure horse meet "somewhere in the middle."

GOOD ATTITUDE AND MANNERS: "Maximum credit should be given to the responsive, confident, willingly guided horse..."  The excellent western pleasure horse must appear to enjoy his tasks and respond to the rider readily.

NATURAL, FREE, AND EASY MOTION: "The good western pleasure horses have a comfortable, free flowing stride of reasonable length in keeping with their conformation. They should cover a reasonable amount of ground with little effort."  The western pleasure horse's origin stems from the old west. The cowboy needed a comfortable horse that could take him considerable distance. In order to do so, the excellent western pleasure horse needs this type of motion.

NATURAL HEAD CARRIAGE: "The head and neck serve as a balance arm and are carried in a relaxed, natural position appropriate for each individual's own conformation."  Without the head being carried in a natural position the horse will have to find other means to compensate for not being able to balance his frame. This generally results in a compromise in his motion, attitude, and/or presence.

CONDITION: "These horses are athletes that go softly and give the appearance of being fit and capable of their tasks."  Condition is exuded by muscle tone, depth of muscle, clean fine bone, balance front to rear, good carriage, and a dignified presence.

EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE: “…that performs all the required gaits correctly with strength and finesse.”  Not only must the excellent performers be correct, but they must accomplish their tasks with a degree of difficulty by doing their tasks well. This requires strength (substance) and finesse (quality).  The excellent performer has the strength to work with delicacy and refinement in their execution for as long as it takes to conduct the class. 

USEF has a Western Equipment Manual on line. This is a helpful resource for identifying the legality of a bit. DO double check the rule book though, in case the manual has not been updated to reflect the most current rules. Remember: AR144 rules govern equipment, not the Western (WS) rule chapter. https://www.usef.org/forms‐pubs/pEljSmr3BAU/western‐equipment‐booklet

REMEMBER .... Judging is not absolute. It requires observation and evaluation. In other words, it is exactly what it says it is: A Matter of Judgment.  It is based on certain criteria (class specifications) and rules; in judging the western pleasure horse everything is relative.  All faults should be considered according to their severity and the depth of the competition. Each fault is a void in one or more of the class specifications. However, a minor fault may not be elimination and it may not even allow a superior individual to lose a class amongst a weak field of competitors.  The best horses in a particular western pleasure class on a particular day should always win, even if those horses fall far short of being excellent individuals.  Good judging depends upon correct observance of the fine points and the selection of the best western pleasure horses in that class.

1 Note Taking and Preparation for Oral Reasons Equine Science Spring 2010 Created by: Bryan Egan and Stacie Domer Penn State, 2006

2 Oral Reasons Overview Integral Part of a horse judging contest Offer contestant the opportunity to defend their placing Must be concise, accurate, and under two minutes Contestants should work from a mental image of the horses from the class. Notes are just helpers Inorder to be successful, contestant must be organized! Organization begins with good notetaking

3 Note Taking Learn to use short hand for notes Each individual’s short hand is likely to be different and this is OK Use same organizational scheme for notes and reasons Be careful not to miss something while taking notes. Especially in performance!!

4 Note Taking Stenographers notebook works well for notes Notes Taking –Write down identifiers for each horse –Begin by taking notes on class Good and bad qualities of each horse –Convert to reason’s notes once class is placed Comparative notes within each pair

5 Set up Notebook Notes on Class

6 Set up Notebook Reasons Notes Write down placing Divide page into 9 boxes Include ID points Organize notes Include: –Connectors –Transitions

7 Starting Out on Reasons Accuracy is first and foremost Must be grammatically correct Try to avoid memorizing words instead think about class It is OK to start young people off writing their reasons out but they should relatively quickly work from just notes

8 Starting Out on Reasons Perhaps start out giving just a pair –Work hard on presentation, style, and organization Then move to giving two pair –Begin breaking down terms, transitions, etc. Then give complete sets –Once here, your on your way

9 Starting Out on Reasons Don’t forget to be positive, giving reasons is hard Try to make it as fun as is possible Don’t try to fix everything all at once Always find the good things about the pair, pairs, or set –Being too critical will discourage youth

10 Organization Develop a system that is easy to remember and easy to listen to –Talk around the horse in halter –Talk around the pattern in pattern classes –Talk the first direction and then the second in rail classes

11 Organization Opening Statement: simple or complex –Sir, I placed the Quarter Horse Mares 123 and 4. –Maam, Using quality, balance, and structural correctness as my determining factors, my preferred alignment of the Quarter Horse Mares is 123 and 4. –Sir, seeing the class to contain an easy top, easy bottom and relatively tight middle pair, my preferred alignment of the Aged Mares is 123 and 4.

12 Organization Top Pair –In my top pair, I placed 1 over 2 because she was the…… –In my initial pair, 1 easily rose to the top due to her superior combination of quality, balance, and structural correctness. She was…… Grant –I grant that 2 was heavier muscled. –I realize and fully appreciate the fact that 2 was heavier muscled. Criticism –However, she lacked the quality and balanced appearance of 1 to place higher today.

13 Organization Top/Middle Pair transition –Moving to my middle pair –Moving to my more difficult intermediate decision –In spite of this she maintains a distinct advantage over 3 in my middle pair Middle Pair –2 was more feminine about her head, thinner in her throat and had a longer leaner neck which tied higher into a more ideally laid back shoulder….

14 Organization Continue through set using same organizational scheme for middle and bottom pair. Closing Statement: –Could simply just be “Thank You” when done –Could re-place the class: For these reasons, I placed the Aged Mares 123 and 4. Thank You. Using the nine box setup and this layout for every set of reasons helps people get unstuck when they forget what they want to say.

15 Terminology Must be comparative –Neck isn’t long it is longer, not heavy muscled but heavier muscled, not he was cadenced at the jog but he was more consistently cadenced at the jog, etc, etc Keep things simple at first –If you can’t pronounce it don’t use it –If you don’t know what the term means don’t use it.

16 Terminology Start off very simple –Just discuss the major judging criteria for the class –Fill in details as experience and confidence grows Once familiar with terminology, encourage judgers to experiment with terms they like. Add individuality to their reasons.

17 Connective Terms Aid in making reasons flow from one idea to another. Can increase score. Additionally However Furthermore Moreover And Nevertheless In addition Also

18 Grants Grants are used to tell something good about the horse placed below another. –Rarely is one horse more ideal in all areas, so grants are almost always used Correct grants can be extremely important to scoring well on a set of reasons Don’t make something up just to have a grant.

19 Grant Statements Really only need four grant statements in your arsenal. One for each pair and no obvious. I realize I Grant Yes, it is true I realize and Fully appreciate I concede I appreciate I readily admit It is obvious Seeing no obvious grants

20 Streamline Reasons Reasons become wordy –Maybe even go over 2 minutes Remember reasons listener has to listen to many sets on the same class Only discuss the RELEVANT facts used to place each pair. Don’t talk to hear yourself talk

21 Practicing Reasons Practice Out Loud Give reasons to many different people Practice from beginning to end each time Always give your reasons as if you are giving them to someone in a contest. Remember Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

22 Presentation and Stance Stance –Body position –Distance Eye Contact Presentation –Volume –Inflection –Enunciation

23 Reasons Scoring 0 = Student doesn’t show up 1-25 = Shows up but doesn’t put forth effort 26-30 = Beginning to show effort but doesn’t care 31-35 = Starting to sound like a set of reasons 36-40 = Complete set with grants and some presentation style 41-45 = The good set; complete set, good presentation, accurate description of class 46-50 = The great set; transitions, creativity, accuracy, great presentation and delivery

ATTITUDE:
Attitude is the horse’s mental approach to performing, willingness to perform, relaxed, pleasant approach to performing the class requirements. Attitude is expressed by soft eyes, alert ears, quiet mouth and tail, and a pleasant look. The Country English Pleasure horse should be the most relaxed, easy going of the saddle seat type pleasure horses. A pleasant, willing-to-do attitude is of prime importance.
MANNERS:
Manners is the conduct or behavior with which the horse performs. Obedience and responsiveness to the rider, safety being of utmost importance, and the willingness to be guided and controlled exemplify them. Acceptance of the surroundings and other horses in the arena also contributes to manners.

PERFORMANCE:
Performance is the physical act of doing all of the required gaits, transitions from one gait to another, the execution or accomplishment of carrying out all the requirements of the class.
QUALITY:
Quality is determined by the degree of excellence, condition, presence, carriage, athleticism, balance and strength required to perform effortlessly and with finesse. A horse that is pleasing to the eye has quality.
CONFORMATION:
Conformation is the horse’s correct structural form as it relates to the functions and performance of a Country English Pleasure horse.
SUITABILITY OF HORSE TO RIDER:
Suitability of horse to rider is the horse’s appropriateness for that rider for Country English Pleasure. It is the horse’s obedience to the rider with safety being all important.

Country English Pleasure Class Specifications

1. OPEN. To be shown at a walk, normal trot, strong trot, canter and hand gallop. To be judged on attitude, manners, performance, quality and conformation.

2. AMATEUR . To be shown at a walk, normal trot and canter. To be judged on attitude, manners, performance, quality, conformation and suitability of horse to rider.

3. LADIES, GENTLEMEN. To be shown at a walk, normal trot and canter. To be judged on attitude, manners, performance, quality, conformation and suitability of horse to rider. 4. JUNIOR HORSE. To be shown at a walk, normal trot and canter. To be judged on attitude, manners, quality, and performance.