In response to discussion at the Member’s Meeting at the National Convention in November, we promised to run a questionnaire to seek the views of members in relation to judging. We were looking to find out how important members felt it was that their judges had previous riding, training or competing experience. It was hoped that this information would help guide the decisions around the new judge education system.
The questionnaire ran for 25 days over the Christmas period. 940 members completed the questionnaire. This is approximately 7% of the membership and is an excellent response rate. About 80% of the respondents were riders and 20% were judges. 15% of all judges (including trainees) responded.
The results of the questionnaire can be seen here
Questionnaire results in summary
In summary, 93% of the respondents had competed in British Dressage competitions and 86% thought it was important that judges had competed at some level. 57% thought it was important that they had competed at the level at which they were judging.
68.2% thought it was important to have trained (ridden themselves but not competed) to the level they currently judged at.
The overwhelming majority thought that it was important for judges to participate in regular training and development, be positive and encouraging and have a thorough knowledge of the fundamentals of the sport.
The majority did not think it important that judges had trained pupils to the level at which they were judging.
Next Steps...
The Judges Committee met last week to review the member’s feedback. After detailed discussions it was decided to continue with the updated criteria for the Judge Education system, for those judges who do have scores of 60% at the level at which they wish to judge. Details of this will be available on the BD website (Judging section) very shortly.
However, the committee is also keen to respond to feedback from members to try to find a route for judges to progress who do not have as much riding or coaching experience. Suggestions have been put forward about having an alternative route for judges that would include more training to ensure they gained the required experience to upgrade. There is more work to be done to develop the detail of this alternative route, which will take place over the next few months.
The committee would like to thank all of those who contributed to the consultation process. With your feedback we are able to shape the future to make sure BD meets the needs of all members.
