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w w w. t u t t o a r a b i . c o m
ASE JUSTICE
el Jamaal
AHT Abroad | 15 | Fall 2021
ASE JUSTICE
el Jamaal
by Al Dawla Arabians, photos by Alessio Azzali
ASE Justice el Jamaal, aka “Black Justice”, is that one special colt that comes around once every few years. A unique colt, whose name is being whispered all around the globe. Justice el Jamaal was born in 2019 from one of the strongest pedigrees in the world. A rare, black son of the champion maker WH Justice and out of the special mare Geraldyne el Jamaal, one of the youngest daughters of the legendary Ali Jamaal.
The most reverend of horses is a black horse (adham) with a white star on the forehead (aqraḥ) and a white snip on the upper lip and nose (artham). The next best horse is a black horse with a white star on the forehead and white markings on three legs (muḥajjal) with the right front leg without any whiteness (ṭaliq al-yamīn). If not black, the same markings are to be sought on a horse with a color between black and chestnut, i.e. brown or bay, (kamīt) with these same markings. (Prophet Muhammad, peace is upon him)1 AHT Abroad | 16 | Fall 2021
The story of “Black Justice” began in the Netherlands, where he was born at the hands of Talitha Bakker of Arabian Stud Europe. During one of the visits that Diaa Kara-ali of Al Dawla Arabians, Australia, made to the farm, he immediately fell in love with the black colt. He followed his progression closely, and in the summer of last year 2020, Diaa acquired “Black Justice” for his breeding program and the colt was sent to Elba Training Center (Belgium) to prepare him for his next adventure. Justice el Jamaal has a teacup muzzle with a white snip and tiny beautifully shaped ears on a refined face with a star. His neck is long and arched, emblematic of his legendary sire. He flags his tail and carries it high. He is always ready to showcase his beauty. Full of snort and blow, he is a true resemblance of his pedigree, tracing back to the great Bey Shah. “His big dark eyes,” Diaa recalls, “remind me of the beautiful black eyes I have recently seen while studying Justice el Jamaal’s extended pedigree. The eyes of Black Justice are a spitting image of Mirage’s eyes.” Mirage is the sire of Rageyma, in Blacks’s tail dam line, of the Kuhaylan Jellabi strain.
Mirage was born in the desert and selected as a mount to the newly installed King of Iraq, Faysal I, before being sold to a European ambassador and finally ending up in Lady Wentworth’s hands by 1923. Mirage had a brilliant career at stud, and is now one of the most successful sire lines in the U.S. (that of Bey Shah, Huckleberry Bey and Barbary, among others). ------------------------------------------------------
1 - Imam Al-Tirmidhi and Imam Ibn Majah have recorded this narration of the Prophet Muhammad on the authority of Abu Qatadah (Sunan Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith: 1696).
At the age of two, “Black Justice” is at the beginning of his breeding career and is planned to serve his first mare next year. Expectations are high!
ASE JUSTICE
el Jamaal
Al Dawla Arabians Diaa Kara-Ali +61 425 350 111 - info@aldawla.com - www.aldawla.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/aldawlaarabians Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aldawla.arabians/
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From the popular “Ask The Judges” feature—a series of articles that establish lines of communication between breeders, horse owners, and judges through questions readers submit—sprung “Abroad Roundtable,” a broader group of people active in the Arabian horse industry working together for the betterment of the breed who ask and answer questions of their own. It is our hope that owners, trainers, breeders, judges, and other enthusiasts will pool their knowledge to solve problems that our breed faces. We welcome inquiries from all who love the Arabian horse. Countess Charlotte Lewenhaupt - Lewenhaupt Arabian Stud - Lönhult Estate, Sweden Countess Charlotte Lewenhaupt was born into the Arabian breed by virtue of her mother, Ann Nordén, who has bred Arabian horses since the 1970s, and her grandparents, who were among the first Swedish breeders. The mother/daughter team enjoy collaborating on bloodline crosses to produce a few foals each year on their 700-hecatare Lönhult Estate in the south of Sweden. The countess and her husband, Count Gustaf Lewenhaupt, have four children, and enjoy running the agricultural estate together. In addition, Charlotte is heavily involved in the Ministry of Education, is a board member at a prominent bank, a business coach, and a National judge of Arabian horses. She also enjoys her Warmblood dressage horses and greatly admires Olympic Gold medalists Charlotte Dujardin (UK) and Peder Fredricson, who anchored Sweden’s thrilling team gold medal performance in Tokyo. Emma Maxwell - Aljassimya Farm - United Kingdom Emma Maxwell’s immersion into the Arabian horse community was immediate, growing up in a family that bred Arabian horses as a business that produced 25 foals per year. Their British breeding program produced dozens of champions, including the mother/ daughter duo of World Champion Mares, Aliha and Atlantica. Emma’s father served as the first president of ECAHO, which gave her a close-up look at the political end of the industry. A breeder herself since 1996, Emma is the proudest of breeding Aliha’s grandson, Adawy, the UK Arabian Ridden Horse of the Year and 2021 Leading Sire of ridden Arabians in the UK. Emma has been a panel judge since 2001, adjudicating at national championships in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. A former trainer who holds a Cambridge degree in Psychology, Emma is currently the Advertising Manager for Aljassimya Farm and a freelance Arabian horse photographer, lecturer, journalist and advisor. Steve Patrick - Redwood Lodge Arabians - France Steve Patrick was raised in Australia, where his mother founded Redwood Lodge in 1979 and he has worked for the farm since he was 15. His global perspective was enhanced by the decision to move the entire family operation to France, where it has flourished for the past 20+ years. The Redwood Lodge focus is on quality, not quantity, and they keep their program at 20-25 horses, with five foals expected next year. Steve considers himself to be a “boutique breeder” with a passion for Spanish/Egyptian bloodlines. Among the many sensational horses to come from Redwood Lodge is 1998 All-Nations Cup and World Champion Junior Stallion, Espano Estopa (Om El Abadan x Malikah Estopa), and his Reserve World Champion daughter, Redwood Lodge Romantik. Steve has enjoyed the experience of guest-judging on several occasions and looks forward to doing more of that in the future.
AHT Abroad | 62 | Fall 2021
Tom Oben – Obi Training Center - Belgium Tom Oben was born into the Arabian horse industry and developed his skills as a trainer while working for established professionals including James Swaenepoel, Phillipe Hosay, and Johanna Ullström, before developing his highly successful Obi Training Stable in Belgium. Tom bred his first Arabian horse about 15 years ago and currently has three mares, all of which are expecting foals next year. To date, the most successful horse he has had a hand in breeding is ELR Ferdinand (Morion x Fahrinna), the 2019 All Nations Cup Silver Champion Yearling Colt who also won Gold Champion honors at the Chantilly World Cup. Tom has a hand in the dressage world through his partner, Fredericke, and is looking forward to raising his new Warmblood foal as a future jumper. He also plans to delve more deeply into judging horses after enjoying the experience of adjudicating the Egyptian Event in the United Kingdom.
BREEDING: What makes for a good breeder? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: Experience, history, future, humbleness, eyes open and a good portion of luck. Emma Maxwell: ~ A consistent vision of an ideal Arabian, based on looking at real Arabian horses in the flesh and how they function as adult animals over their lifespan. ~ The patience to stick to your ideal and find ways to reach it by looking at your own horses every day and other peoples’ horses. ~ Some historical reference frame of why the Arabian horse is made the way he is, not just now, but 10, 20, 100, and 1,000 years ago. ~ The understanding that you are steering the breed from this past into the future by your breeding decisions. ~ The flexibility to realize when you went down a dead end and the fortitude to overcome that disappointment and the many others all breeders will meet. ~ The good fortune not to bump into too many of these disappointments and even more importantly, to obtain, or even better, breed one life changing horse. ~ Have the ability to actually appreciate all horses for what they are, including ugly white-faced colts that your best mare produced when you least expected, and the worst of all equines … other people’s horses that once beat yours! Steve Patrick: Patience, responsibility, and knowing what you’re breeding for; having a vision and sticking to the plan with the main objection of improving on every generation. Tom Oben: Having a good foundation of solid, conformationally correct mares, and someone who is open-minded, very critical, keeps going with new blood and new generations, and doesn’t really focus on the shows, but looks for his own type. What is your view on breeders/farms that mass produce (take multiple embryos out of a single mare or have 50-100+ foals a year), and their impact on the market and industry in general? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: I see a future problem, of course. It is never good that gene banks are getting narrower. All horses can’t look the same. And for me, history shows that to be strong through generations and hundreds of years, you must look to each individual to get every horse a better version. Using the same stallion to all mares is not sustainable. To use a popular stallion will only benefit the stallion owner of the day, not the future of the Arabian horse.
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Emma Maxwell: There is little point asking the multiple embryo question. There has been no opportunity to regulate embryo transfer multiples by Arabian registries since 2002. It dates to the ruling in favour of the plaintiff who successfully sued the American Quarter Horse Association for “restraint of trade” by having a one mare/one embryo/one calendar year regulation. What registry can possibly dare fight the same case in court? Do I “approve” of multiple embryos? In theory, probably yes. I look at the period when our three Aliha family mares between them had nine colts and one filly over the space of five years almost strangling the female family out of existence and think how much embryo transfer might have given their legacy a better foundation. If you are using multiple embryo transfer on only very quality mares, and using a diverse range of stallions, then I think I can give it a pass. In practice, breeders who can afford it can do 10 years of breeding in three years. This creates a cumulative advantage over old fashioned breeding when you look specifically at produce from super mares. But multiple foals are not only being thoughtfully bred from outstanding mares in imaginative ways. Those armed with a breeding AK 47 instead of a sniper’s rifle do not use their tools in the same way. The problem is the wasted bullets sprayed in all directions and it would be my observation that access to multiple breedings in one year makes breeders a lot less careful and make far too many crosses that were destined for the reject bin from conception. That said, multiple embryos are possibly a red herring anyway. Mathematically, the many sperm taken from one stallion have much more of a genetic bottleneck effect, plus a far more clearly disastrous effect on the market for 49.9% of the foals that you ever breed. The fact that almost all colts and geldings are now free from big breeders is obviously a major problem for everyone else. As 49.9 % of our foals, the colts are waste product, we could theoretically plough them into our future market as loss leaders. I think only America has even the slightest clue as to how to do this with their extensive performance horse divisions. Yet, if you want to breed a decent performance Arabian, you have to include these features in your breeding plans, soundness and sanity being the bedrock before we even get to essential qualities such as fluid paces, and a structure that can get the hocks beneath the horse with a rider on board. Are soundness and sanity factored into the breeding of show horses? Do show horse breeders look at conformation as a three-dimensional blueprint to the potential athletic ability of the horse under saddle? This is what conformation actually is, it is not ticking in the boxes; periscope neck + flat croup + long legs. Obviously, there are breeders who do this, but I fear they are not the ones with the AK 47s. So again, in theory, numbers are not a problem. In practice they maybe are. That said, if you can place every horse you breed in an environment where they do stuff and attract more people to the breed, then please go ahead and breed them. Without visibility we can’t go anywhere because we aren’t attracting new people. Steve Patrick: They’re not breeders, full stop! They’re producers; factories that mass produce product purely for greed, with no thought or responsibility for the future of the Arabian breed. Tom Oben: For sure, mass production from multiple embryos and shipped semen leads to too many horses that the market can handle, negatively impacting the value and exclusivity of our horses, definitely that of mares who produce some nice daughters.
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What could be done to assure the survival of a wide and varied gene pool for generations to come? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: Try stallions outside the show ring, not just the most popular. Emma Maxwell: There are nudges in the right direction that could be used. But I do not think there is the power to use them. One genie that could theoretically be wrestled halfway back in its bottle has a precedent in other studbooks. The American Standardbred industry ruled in 2009 that no stallion could breed more than 140 mares a year, having commissioned a study from Kentucky University about loss of heterozygosity (a narrowing of the gene pool). The president of the Harness Association, Russell Williams, said that the Standardbred breeding industry was already seeing a rise in the number of horses born with Osteochondritis Dissecans problems (OCD), as well as an increase in fertility problems. Sound familiar? Predictably, a lawsuit trying to overturn the rule was brought by some breeders citing restraint of trade. This time it failed. The Jockey Club in the USA will now also apply this to all Thoroughbred stallions born in 2020 and after. Here is somewhere we at least have a precedent to regulate. One hundred forty foals probably does not help us, but as a thought experiment, what about setting it to 60 per year? That would start to create a market again for decent colts and sons of famous stallions. Sure, the most desirable stallions would become more expensive and be out of the reach of some breeders. Some stallions might even close their book to outside mares! But more good class male horses would have value, more male horses would breed foals and more genes would remain in circulation. Secondly, yearling championships. What long term strategy did separating yearling championships facilitate? Breeding better Arabians? Or mitigating the grievances of bad losing owners by giving them 50% more chances to get a Gold plus giving the trainers more chance to earn their championship bonus? Yearling Championships encourage use of stallions which produce outstanding yearlings, especially by trainers who want the results of their breeding wisdom proven as fast as possible and turned immediately into bonus fodder. Training yards also double as horse brokers; just as in Wall Street, the brokers inevitably suggest deals based on speedy potential commissions earned, not necessarily on the long-term viability of the suggested purchase. Outstanding yearlings can sometimes, but do not always, turn into outstanding adults. Quite a lot of the time, the judges either pick the most mature and complete looking one which ends a bit short-legged and heavy, or the tallest and most elegant one, hoping “it will grow into its long back and high croup.” It doesn’t. Thus, each year stallions who produce yearling champions are used just as much, if not more, than stallions who produce good adults. Over time, senior classes have become both weaker and smaller. Does that sound sensible to you? Yearlings from Essteema, through SA Misha Apal, Pianissima and Emandoria won World Junior titles against 2 and 3-year-olds. Put them back together and maybe people will look further for their breeding choices than the latest gold rush. Steve Patrick: There needs to be more education as to what a good horse actually is. There are lots of good horses with amazing pedigrees that are being overlooked because it’s not popular and fashionable. Breeders are less inclined to take risks on an unfashionable horse for fear that there will be no market for it, which sadly appears to be the case more and more. Breeding isn’t an instant thing; it takes years to achieve goals and it doesn’t just happen in one generation. It’s a layered foundation which needs building upon to secure those good traits. Tom Oben: I would say that we, meaning ECAHO, judges and us breeders, in general should be more critical and eliminate the bad foals that are, today, very common in today’s show scene. Maybe license stallions like they do in the dressage or jumping world to make the horse stronger.
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Do show results influence breeding decisions? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: Yes, for some, but not for all. I think we have two groups today. Either you want to breed for a more beautiful (more artistic version) horse, or you breed for a more rideable and high level sport horse. I think neither are wrong. Emma Maxwell: Yes. Does it need expanding?! Steve Patrick: They shouldn’t but they do. Again, it all comes down to the market. It’s human nature, people love to jump on trends. Tom Oben: Show results are one of the major influences at this moment, impacting the creation of everything regarding breeding. I don’t see many real breeders anymore that create their own type, like for example, Redwood Lodge, or Om El Arab, who really have their own type of horse.
ECAHO: What is the job of ECAHO? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: To teach and reteach judges/DC/ringmasters. Also, control the wellbeing of horses at the shows. Emma Maxwell: Again, historical perspective is needed. ECAHO did create the show scene as it stands, dragging disparate competitions under one set of rules and testing out several points systems until essentially the 5 points took over by popular demand. Many of its developing years were spent in a downturn in the Arabian market (Polish sales average price peaked at $85k in 1985 and fell to $11.5k in 1995). When everyone was competing for a tin pot and a rosette, the seesaw balance between rule keepers and competitors seeking an edge was fairly well balanced. On the whole, the ECAHO system worked. When the stakes got higher, however, the pressures changed. The first Middle Eastern-owned World Champion was 1994, but in the year 2002 all four were. The market for high end show horses threw sacks of heavy money on one end of the seesaw and I fear the plank has broken. ECAHO needed a radical overhaul to make the ruling body much more powerful to counter this 25 years ago, and there were certainly people who saw it at the time but perhaps not enough of them! How I would mend the plank … there are plenty of good ideas which have been suggested to me. All of which (in hindsight) would have been better applied 25 years ago. All sponsorship money to the organisation. This money allocated to different levels of show; the focus going to the local breeder and owner level, so smaller owners have competitions worth going to. Judges chosen by ballot for title shows … no social media advertising of a horse within one month of going to a show. The problem is, broken planks are difficult to mend. Steve Patrick: I don’t know anymore, I liken them to the Vatican, you don’t know what’s going on inside, unless you’re part of the organisation. Tom Oben: To create rules, organize judges, the disciplinary committee, and ringmasters, and support the shows, but I don’t think it’s good to have the judges ruling ECAHO. Maybe we should look for a more neutral, objective panel of board members and then promote the breed in a better way.
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What is your view on having only judges and/or DC members on the board of ECAHO? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: It is important that ECAHO has full insight and control of ECAHO officials for the benefit of the horse and the horse owners. Emma Maxwell: I don’t see that having only judges and DC members on the board of ECAHO could in any way be a solution to anything. ECAHO needs bigger ideas than fiddling with the personnel. Fiddling with small details has been the ECAHO answer to most pressing questions and got it where it is today. Steve Patrick: Well, they make up the organisation, so it’s easier to control if you’re in the club. The issue, however, is who do they answer to? If you want to lodge a complaint, you’re complaining to the same bunch of people. It should be a completely neutral and impartial entity with total transparency and no doubt when it comes to conflict of interest. Tom Oben: This is answered in the previous question. ECAHO often mentions the word “perception” when people judge the behavior and jobs of their officials. How do you “perceive” ECAHO and their officials, in general? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: The same as in a show, one must be correct, be honest, not make decisions that only benefit themselves, and be a better version of yourself. Emma Maxwell: I perceive ECAHO as struggling. It is not strong enough to achieve what it sets out to do, both by missed opportunities in design and in terms of public perception. Plenty of people also see it as rotten to the core but I would like to think that its degree of rottenness is probably over-perceived. For example, judges overall try to do the right thing and place what they see as the better horse in the higher position. However, when you listen to exhibitors, many choices judges make are questioned and derided with the worst of motives implied (quite often in the same class in different directions with wildly improbable hypotheses). This is simply not true in most cases, but the endless echo chamber of social media has made people’s opinions on many things less nuanced, more one sided and sometimes less rooted in reality. We are in a position now of diminished trust, diminished entries, and a divorce from the general horse world. However, to lay this all at ECAHO’s door would not be quite fair. I think the trainers who benefited most from ECAHO’s stabilization of the show scene and the, at the time, controversial inclusion of the Middle East, might like to consider their own role. The hard stand up is a monumental own goal for the Arabian horse and it was trainers kicking and screaming at every turn that stopped ECAHO from being tougher about it. A large proportion of the current breeding fraternity, the entire rest of the horse world and any member of the general public who might at first be attracted to the breed, think it is horrible. Most judges try to judge the horse around it. If the trainers stop to look around, they can see there is nobody left to watch. Certainly not in Europe. Years ago, there were 30 000 people cheering in the audience at the World Championships, and now the Salon du Cheval has kicked us out. Steve Patrick: We are a very judgmental society, everyone’s a judge these days. We are all judging each other, that’s just the way it’s become, good and bad. I don’t look into that deeply though; they put their hand up to do a job. I’m not involved in ECAHO so I wouldn’t know what goes on, but I’d like to think that they’re doing the job that is required. Tom Oben: Well, most of the board members of ECAHO are judges, so the perception is that they protect their own colleagues; so, for this reason, we should aim for maybe a more neutral board. They can be judges, but not judging actively while on the board.
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JUDGING: What qualities and qualifications should a ‘good’ judge have? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: Again, be humble. Be correct in manners and be well behaved, respect the horse, judge fair, judge correct, don’t judge for your own personal interest. And have knowledge. Have knowledge of what a correct horse is, from type to movement, legs and body. Emma Maxwell: And so, to the other scapegoat for all our woes! I do think that judges need to be breeders; otherwise, it is difficult to understand growth stages (making yearling championships doubly pointless). They should also be riders, or they do not really physically understand conformation which can be better understood through your bottom. If they don’t ride, then reeding horses for any riding discipline including racing also works. But I think at the top of the list, a good judge now needs to be a bit bloody minded. There is a lot of pressure to conform to the expected patterns. The use of the points system is very stylised, the sponsors think their money should reward them (therefore, the public think the judges are bent), and at least half of each class is absolutely sure they ought to win. I think if owners, trainers, and the public know that a judge knows their own mind, they can respect their decisions. Steve Patrick: Integrity is paramount, along with good knowledge of the breed standard and the ability to recognize soundness. Tom Oben: They should have experience as a breeder, have owned horses, are open-minded, and very neutral. They should stick to their ideal of what the horse should be and look like and not get blown away with influences from certain lines, people, breeders, sponsors or whatever. Do you feel judges have an obligation to the future soundness of the breed and is this responsibility executed when scoring legs and body? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: In many ways, yes, by scoring type and the whole body, not only a beautiful head. I think that having the experience and knowledge of another breed and from high-level riding (show jumping/dressage/event) helps judge the horses better. And judges should not know the pedigrees of said judged horses. Emma Maxwell: YES. But don’t pretend that it is easy. When judging, I have looked at the horse I think is my winner in type, quality, outline and charisma, and when it comes close to me, I realize that I cannot in all conscience give it a first prize. Its legs or feet are just too bad. My judgement of its feet and legs are not based on what they look like compared to the judging book, but on how mechanically compromised they look for carrying this horse at speed with a rider. Essentially, would you dare get on and gallop this horse on a slightly unknown surface? If the answer makes you wince in horror, because you can predict heat, swelling, box rest, and vet bills, don’t give the horse a first place! Unsound horses are incredibly depressing and expensive for anyone to own and can drive smaller owners out of the breed. We have got to be much more on our guard against rewarding very poor leg and foot conformation. On the comparative system, this means you must find another horse in the class to put first over it, and sometimes that is not a comfortable feeling. Your skin prickles as you feel the audience doubt your sanity for placing something vastly plainer first over something attractive. On a points system, this means giving it a crippling score for legs. It’s tough but necessary. Steve Patrick: Absolutely, it is their obligation! Unfortunately, I don’t see it being executed in the ring as often as it should. AHT Abroad | 68 | Fall 2021
Tom Oben: Yes, definitely. If we expect more responsibility from them, that while in the arena they must justify their decisions, it will better reflect the reality of what we see behind the scenes, or what we like behind the scenes vs. what happens in the arena. Maybe we should get away from the scoring system and do more ranking.
CONFLICTS: What are your thoughts on allowing a stallion owner to judge his stallion’s offspring? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: I think it is morally wrong to judge your own stallion’s offspring. In the same way it is wrong to judge your own breedings, your mare’s offspring and the horse you have sold. You cannot be on both playgrounds. Everyone is so hard on handlers today, they are not allowed to judge, there are a lot of hard rules following them. The same rules should, of course, go to judges as well. Emma Maxwell: If you think most judges are mainly crooked, then ban it. If you think most are mainly honest, then leave it as it is. This is fiddling, not a big idea. Steve Patrick: It shouldn’t be allowed, full stop! It’s an obvious conflict of interest and shouldn’t need further explanation. Tom Oben: I think it’s difficult to eliminate a judge from judging his stallion’s offspring. For sure there is somewhat of a conflict, but I don’t see it as a big problem. As long as the judge is straightforward and honest and sticks to his ideal, I don’t have a huge objection. But for sure, it’s a point of discussion that can lead to quite some frustration.
SHOWS: Do you believe the results at shows reflect an honest and fair judgement? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: No, not always. I truly believe that ALL judges do their best. It is not for everybody to be a judge, you must know what to look for. Judging is always a subjective form. It is an opinion of your own mind, but you should follow the historic standard of how an Arabian should look like. And today, more than ever, one needs to have a lot of courage to stand by their points given, no matter what the second or third placed horse owner thinks. The lack of respect for a judge has certainly increased. Now, horse owners put a lot of pressure on the judges (and the handlers) to win. I really think it is morally degrading that we are not happy for each other’s good results anymore. We live in a very egoistical world unfortunately. It is the best feeling to be happy for another horse, another horse owner; to feel joy in another person’s success. I really hope we can go forward toward this; to be kinder to each other. Emma Maxwell: Generally, yes, if looked at according to our current criteria, which are limited by our points system and our idiosyncratic interpretation of that system. For example: Type score shall be from 18.5 - 20 while leg scores shall be from 15 - 16. Usually what I do still see is that the performance of a horse on the day does affect their placing, which is always positive! However, I think that at smaller shows, big trainers get subtle favouritism that we call “the benefit of the doubt” and at big shows, big sponsors get the same. Judges rarely stick their reputation on the line by choosing a donkey; but the close calls can be a problem. The big guns nearly always get the nod if things are close. As individual decisions, most of these I can also live with, after all, judging is subjective. We are never going to all agree, so I think it is false to assume that every decision you disagreed with is an indicator of dishonesty or injustice. However, accumulated nods in one direction do add up over time to bias. It’s a difficult one to deal with because lots of incremental decisions in one direction cannot be legislated against. I think judges just have to be very strict with themselves, and query every decision not for dishonesty, but for laziness. It is easier to do the expected thing, but it damages everyone over time. Steve Patrick: Sometimes, but it depends on the show, who’s competing, who’s judging and who sponsored. AHT Abroad | 69 | Fall 2021
Do you feel the current 5 scoring topics are sufficient? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: Type is, of course, extremely important, as is movement. This is for me, the whole idea of an Arabian. But to dissect each horse, all other measurements are needed, and the five scoring topics are good. I do think we should have another score for the benefit of the horse – health; how the horse is handled in the ring (nervous, scared, happy, confident, etc). But this could also reflect in the scoring of type. Emma Maxwell: Not anymore. Originally it was used by popular demand over and above the other common systems, but judges are now rewarded for conformity, not decision making. They are expected to give a very narrow range of points in each category or they are derided as useless and don’t get invited back. The use of excessively large judging panels at many shows has only accelerated this conformity. In horses it rewards a two-dimensional cardboard cutout, with conformation judged for whether it is aesthetically pleasing, not whether it is functional. There is no room for an overall assessment that is not about type; in movement it rewards energy over balance and totally ignores the walk. Steve Patrick: Not anymore. It used to be that the point system was a way to evaluate breeding stock and a method of education so you knew where you needed to improve. The margins are so narrow these days though, with only a range of three points really being used in every category. It’s an extreme example, but my 9-year-old son could judge a horse on this system, just pick a number between 18 and 20; if you really like it, give it 20, if you don’t, give it 18, and the rest just sit in the middle. Chances are you’ll probably guess the same as everyone else and if you get it wrong, don’t worry, you don’t need to answer to anyone, just say it’s your opinion. Tom Oben: We are often frustrated by points given which don’t fit with what we see in front of us. So, we should look more into ranking, because points don’t always reflect the correctness of each category. Are they used in a good way and what ideas do you have to improve on the system? Charlotte Lewenhaupt: For me, I think all judges do their best to find in their own mind the typical Arabian horse. Emma Maxwell: I think we need to do more experiments with judging systems. Rather than nit picking the one we have into more and more smaller categories, or to throw it all in the bin and start again, I think look around to see what else is out there that has positive results. I enjoyed seeing our horses assessed under the Elevage Endurance in France, but it has way too many categories to apply to large classes. But I would take from it that it starts with overall balance and includes the walk. The way to include the walk might be to follow Sweden where I notice that you still must walk the horse in a triangle, so the judge gets to see the horse walk in a side view before the pose. It is maybe not a coincidence that breeders in Sweden have kept a more athletic and free moving horse. Thirdly, I also like the unintended consequence of the Amateur system where the points nominally given to the handler actually reward horses with balanced paces and trainable temperaments. Neither of these fundamental Arabian attributes are addressed in the five topics.
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So, I would suggest an expansion top of the 5 points everyone knows how to use, that could perhaps nudge our show ring final orders towards rewarding the most balanced horse - in both conformation and movement - and gently steers the Arabian back towards being a functional horse. In one year, you will think nothing has changed, but in 20, you might be surprised. I would rearrange the order of the points as they are given; we humans have many bad psychological habits and one of them is to consider that the first marks you see are more important, so that even though the final proportion of points for “type” and “head and neck” is the same 20% as for “legs,” we somehow consider the first two marks to be what matters more. This is an easy fix. Additionally, I would abandon the 20 points. We have developed rigid conformity on how to use the scale, which makes them work in an unsatisfactory way. In my psychology degree, I remember touching on how seven gradations is as many as most humans can use to grade a complex topic consistently. Nobody would dare to use 1-7 properly, the points would bunch up at the high end; so I would stretch to 15, in the hope judges could use 9-15 usefully. Therefore, seven topics, to be judged out 15 (whole points): The format below is still a thought experiment and could be adjusted according to practicality, but it tries to deal with issues I think most of us agree on, without throwing away the framework we already have. First: the horse does TROT. Format the same, one circuit. You can encourage more assessment of balance and cadence, but I doubt you will get it. I assume judges will stick to their old habits of judging movement, so the later categories will deal with the missing pieces. Second: LEGS. The horse must walk towards the panel and stop on a special harder standing than we do now. You see them in city parks, short artificial turf on a firm standing but level with the rest of the ground so they blend in and are not spooky to the horse. Brown if you are on sand. There is no point to the handler doing anything at this point other than standing the horse square. The first three scores will be submitted after they are judged and not at the end where judges can fiddle with them to adjust their totals. The horse walks away in a straight line to start … Third: OVERALL BALANCE AT WALK. To be judged at the walk. When the horse walks away from the judges for the leg scores, he continues in a big triangle. He gets marked for Proportion of body parts, Balance of fore and hindquarter. How well the pieces of the machine work with each other, that is a good swinging walk with overstep. This overall harmony in fact was one of things remarked upon most by the first Western travelers to the tribes, so let’s make it important. THESE THREE SCORES ARE HANDED IN before a pose. After the walk triangle, the horse comes and poses and the judges score: BODY AND TOPLINE, marked as the horse stands still but soon after the walk as its appearance at the walk is still fresh in the judges; mind. HEAD AND NECK. TYPE AND QUALITY - I always score this near the end anyway, not first because details like eyes and skin and dryness of limbs need to be seen to assess overall type.
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Finally, PRESENTATION to cover ACCURACY and MANNERS Accuracy asks that the horse trots in a straight line, walks a 4-beat pace, stands still on 4 feet. And you get less points for deviation. It rewards a balanced horse that CAN trot in a straight line. Why do you think Equator is so popular?! Let’s weight our points system so that horses which have cadence and ease become the norm and not the exception. Manners. Yes, these really are attributes of a breeding horse to consider. Some horses are naughtier, more nervous, more aggressive, or clumsier than others regardless of their handler. And it needs to be considered when you choose one! So, score it. Total potential score + 7 x 15 = 105. More categories will almost certainly lower most average scores. Therefore, don’t turn the total into a percentage, leave the total out of 105 so that owners do not grumble about their horses being given lower scores than on the old system. Steve Patrick: It was probably a good system back in the day, but the standard of horses and level of competition has changed a lot since then. As I said before, the margins are too close these days to be of any real educational benefit. You have judges awarding horses almost perfect scores, yet I feel we are very far from breeding the perfect horse. You can’t tell me horses scoring 94 points are only six marks away from perfection. You’re almost at your end game with nowhere to go. I feel it needs to be a brand new concept, otherwise you’ll always be comparing points to that of the old system with many thinking they’re being unfairly judged. You’d probably have a better range of scores and a better assessment if every horse started with maximum points and deductions were made for faults and weaknesses. This way, you would have a lot more room for improvement. Tom Oben: I am more of a fan of having multiple judges and again, doing a ranking by the judges in center ring, standing by their decisions like it’s done in the States. They become a bit more responsible to the audience when their ranking is shown. I don’t know if that’s the best system, but I think it’s time to try out new ways for a while if everybody is open enough to consider it.
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pa
Bogini Róż Kahil Al Shaqab – Black Rose / Abyad AA
Silver Medalist Yearling Fillies Championship in Białka
Unanimous Gold Medalist Yearling Fillies Championship in Polish Nationals Gold Medalist Yearling Fillies Championship in Prague Intercup Unanimous Gold Medalist Yearling Fillies Championship in Prague EuroCup European Championships contender with Nicolas Frere w w w.D A BR O W K A- A R A BI ANS.pl AHT Abroad | 110 | Fall 2021
Stadnina Koni Dąbrówka 24 – 120 Kazimierz Dolny, Okale 33, Poland Agata Parys: agata.parys@parys.pl, +48 605 260 828 Magdalena Helak-Kulczyńska: magdalena.helak@parys.pl, +48 885 100 123
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