‘I've been in this business long enough'

Julie Templeton discusses an unfortunate situation which arose at the RIHS

- Alex Robinson

PRIOR to this year’s Royal International (RIHS) in late July I had the privilege of judging at Bolesworth International. I officiated the “straight through” qualifying classes and championship for the British Show Pony Society (BSPS) Heritage supreme ridden mountain and moorland final to be held at Liverpool International in the new year.

The venue was stunning and the competitors seemed honoured to be able to ride in the main international arena, which I am sure is an experience they will all remember for a long time. Myself and my co-judge met prior to starting and had a discussion over how we were going to judge the classes given that the BSPS had given us the option of not using the marks system.

We both decided that after the go-round we would pull in and then use the mark sheet as an aide-memoire. We then met up and had a discussion over each of the exhibits and subsequently decided our placings. We then had a final walk-round to make sure we were absolutely certain of the correct order.

This worked really well, and while the mark sheets would have given different results, having a conversation and discussion about the exhibits’ way of going and conformation ensured we got exactly the results we wanted in every class.