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The value in it, from my experience with horse shows, is less an issue of subjectivity and more an issue of clear communication. It allows anyone viewing the scorecard to see which elements of the bird were judged superior and which were judged to be lacking. It allows no excuses in a a competitor with a first place ribbon to know where his entry was lacking, and makes it clear that even if that was the best in the class, that it had significant faults. It allows a competitor who was the only one to bring a particular breed or variety to get very clear feedback from the judge about whether the bird is a good or poor specimen. And, it can minimize problems of a judge inadvertently communicating that a particularly obvious unusual trait of a winning bird was desirable, for example being slightly off in color. It says, "Yes, I noticed that the bird was too light or too dark, and I took off points for it, but the bird won anyway because of its other good qualities" and it prevents people from going home and deciding that the "wrong" color is what they should bring to that judge next time.
Poltroon (great name by the way) Don't forget that while everybody at the dressage show gets to see your final score, they do not get to see your test sheet (although at some of the huge shows you can rent those little microphones so you can hear the judge as he dictates to the scribe). So if the score sheet method was used in a poultry show the same way it is in some horse shows, the other competitors, and the general public would see the total score but not exactly how that score was determined. It would however be clearer communication between the judge and the exhibitor.
Of course, one could choose to post the full score card or not. For example, frequently at the 4H shows, the scorecard for showmanship has been available for everyone to see, so your child can see that she did great with the questions, but lost points on eye contact, etc. While dressage scorecards are generally not public, the scores for each movement are public at the really big competitions, and the trend is towards electronic scoreboards showing scores as they come in for venues that have the technology.
There are arguments both ways for making a full card public or private, but either way would have valuable benefits for improving judge-exhibitor communication.
The value in it, from my experience with horse shows, is less an issue of subjectivity and more an issue of clear communication. It allows anyone viewing the scorecard to see which elements of the bird were judged superior and which were judged to be lacking. It allows no excuses in a a competitor with a first place ribbon to know where his entry was lacking, and makes it clear that even if that was the best in the class, that it had significant faults. It allows a competitor who was the only one to bring a particular breed or variety to get very clear feedback from the judge about whether the bird is a good or poor specimen. And, it can minimize problems of a judge inadvertently communicating that a particularly obvious unusual trait of a winning bird was desirable, for example being slightly off in color. It says, "Yes, I noticed that the bird was too light or too dark, and I took off points for it, but the bird won anyway because of its other good qualities" and it prevents people from going home and deciding that the "wrong" color is what they should bring to that judge next time.
Poltroon (great name by the way) Don't forget that while everybody at the dressage show gets to see your final score, they do not get to see your test sheet (although at some of the huge shows you can rent those little microphones so you can hear the judge as he dictates to the scribe). So if the score sheet method was used in a poultry show the same way it is in some horse shows, the other competitors, and the general public would see the total score but not exactly how that score was determined. It would however be clearer communication between the judge and the exhibitor.
Of course, one could choose to post the full score card or not. For example, frequently at the 4H shows, the scorecard for showmanship has been available for everyone to see, so your child can see that she did great with the questions, but lost points on eye contact, etc. While dressage scorecards are generally not public, the scores for each movement are public at the really big competitions, and the trend is towards electronic scoreboards showing scores as they come in for venues that have the technology.
There are arguments both ways for making a full card public or private, but either way would have valuable benefits for improving judge-exhibitor communication.
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