Should shows be required to keep their judge a secret until right before the show to minimize people calling judges ahead of time?

Yes 64.74%
No 35.26%

Dear Editor,
I don’t object to keeping the judges secret so people can’t call them ahead of the show. However, I think the very fact that this is a matter for discussion indicates there is something seriously wrong with the judging system.

The only reason I would care who the judge is would be that some judges are so flagrantly dishonest or incompetent or both that if they are judging I simply do not go to the horse show.

To have horse trainers judging horse shows seems to be a very poor system. It is like having a player for the New York Yankees umpire a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and he Cleveland Indians with the knowledge that next week, a player from the White Sox will be judging a game between the Yankees and Cleveland.

It is my candid opinion the walking horse industry could greatly enhance its credibility and strengthen its position if we had a cadre of trained professional judges who do not train or show walking horses.

Thank you for the opportunity to express my opinion as a member of the Breeders’ Association and a longtime amateur exhibitor.

H.B. Hauk, Jr.

Dear Editor,
What a cool poll this week! And what a question!! My opinion is split . . . there are some judges who are so bad that keeping their job a secret would not help their intelligence or integrity that I wouldn’t wash a horse to get ready for. I also wouldn’t want to pull a hundred miles and get to the show and find out one of these “bad” guys are judging it.

Most of the judges are really honest, know the rules and try to do a good fair job. HOWEVER, what is to keep the small percentage of unscrupulous judges from calling their buddies THEMSELVES?

So, all in all, I feel that keeping the judges identity a secret really would not help much at all. Evaluations should be a helpful tool, if the person evaluating is honest and knowledgeable, too, and video would be helpful as well.

Lynne Jones

Dear Editor,
What would really work well would be if the show chairman would call the NHSC and say I need a judge for so and so date and the NHSC would say okay, I'll have one there, but he couldn't tell them any names and he would dispatch his judges randomly.

Thanks,
Shane LaRue