A Fence Judge, or jump judge as they are sometimes known, is the person responsible for ruling on the performance of competing horses and riders over one of the obstacles on the Cross Country phase of a One-, Two- or Three-Day-Event.

Three-Day-Events are considered to be the ultimate test of the fitness and ability of horse and rider. One-Day-Events, which are sometimes known as Horse Trials, are shortened, though not necessarily easier, versions of these and together they make up the sport of Eventing.

An event is made up of three disciplines, Dressage (to test the obedience of the horse and calmness of the rider), Show Jumping (to test the accuracy and athleticism of the horse and the control of the rider) and Cross Country (to test the speed and boldness of both horse and rider).

The Cross Country phase is run over a course of solid obstacles (ie. They don’t knock down like show jumps) over a distance varying from about 1.5 km for Intro to nearly 8 km for World Class Championship Courses

It is in the Cross Country phase that the Fence Judges are needed.

The nature of the Cross Country phase and the length of the course make it impossible for the judging of the obstacles to be done from one place, indeed it is sometimes the case that it is only feasible to see one fence at a time. So each fence has it’s own Fence Judge, usually one, some times more.

The duties of the Fence Judge are to record each competitor over their fence, and to ensure that the fence is safely jumpable at all times. The scoring for the competitors consists of recording whether the horse jumps clear or stops (and if so how many times) or the horse and/or the rider fall. There is a full briefing given to all Fence Judges at the start of each days judging and the rules and scoring are carefully explained, so no one need feel that inexperience is a bar to enjoying a day helping at a Horse Trial.

The main requirements for a days Fence Judging are a car to get to the Event and to use for shelter at the fence if the weather is REALLY bad and plenty of warm clothes – the Event carries on whatever the weather! It is also a good idea to take a couple of pencils or pens, a penknife, a chair (to sit on if the weather is clement), some sun cream (just in case!). All the other equipment you require (score books, whistles, stop watches, radios and flags) will be provided as necessary, by the Event Organiser.

The Cross Country will run for most of the day; at a typical One Day Event there will be upwards of 100 horses going round the course. They start individually (it is not a race) at approximately 2 minute intervals and are breaks between each class as the flags are changed for the varying heights. The Fence Judges are provided with a goodies bag (Chips,muffins maybe a roll and a cold drink). If you are not sure if refreshments will be provided it is a good idea to take something to see you through the day.

Eventing is an equestrian sport and as such is unique among sporting activities for two reasons, firstly, that the level of competition at which a horse and rider compete is decided more by the experience and ability of the horse than the rider and secondly because men and women compete against each other on equal terms. This means that there are riders of both sexes and all standards from the world class riders bringing on their young horses to keen and dedicated one-horse owners competing on an equal footing at all levels of the sport from pre-training through to advanced.

The benefit of this for the Fence Judge this means that wherever they are helping they may have the opportunity of seeing New Zealand's best riders jumping the fence they are judging, and seeing more than 100 horse and rider combinations jumping the fence's certainly lets you realise that there are many ways of getting over the fence's and that some are better than others!

If this brief outline of Fence Judging has whetted your appetite and you think that you would like to volunteer to judge for a day, or you would like to know more please e-mail Kirsty.

Please follow this fence Judges briefing (Click Here for rules) to better prepare yourself and find out what how to score and judge a fence. Further information will be given at the fence judges meeting on the day.