As a starting point for the Judge’s Education page the JOC has interviewed a number of internationally recognised judges from overseas on their personal experiences when judging.  In particular the international judges have been asked to tailor their advice to new or probationary Australian judges.  The interviews provide an insight into some of the different pressures judges may face judging domestically and internationally, ethical issues and considerations, trends in the industry and some common sense tips.

The JOC will also continue to roll out a broader range of interviews with internationally recognised judges on issues such as Type, Movement and Conformation. Other specialists such as riding and performance horse judges will also be interviewed on the Judge’s Education page.  The JOC is aiming to build up a wide range of interviews to help all levels of judges.  We would encourage all levels of judges to take the time to watch them.

Janet Court is an international ECAHO judge and an A level DC.  Janet is the show manager of the UKIAHS – the UK’s only A International Arabian Show and was previously the show manager of the prestigious Saudi Arabian PSAIAHF Show in Riyadh.  Janet has judged at many high level shows throughout the UK, Europe, Middle East and Australia.  Janet draws on her wealth of experiences as a judge, DC and show manager to provide insights and tips for our Australian judges.

Jonas Salzmann, Bait Al Arab Stud, Kuwait.  A National judge from Kuwait Jonas has at a relatively young age gained the respect of his peers and show committees in many countries for his eye for a horse and his considered and ethical approach to judging.  He offers a slightly younger perspective on some of the issues you may face when judging.  Jonas visited Australia in 2019 to judge at the inaugural VADOBA show and made many friends during his visit.

Jacquie is a familiar face in Australia as she is often sought after to judge at our shows including our Australian Arabian National Championships.  Jacquie has lived and worked overseas in many countries, visited many studs and shows and is a journalist by profession.  She is the past president of the New Zealand Arab Horse Breeders Society and amongst many articles published is the co-author of Hoofprints in History published by the AHSA.

Jacquie’s interview focuses on what Australian judges may expect when they visit New Zealand for the first time to judge.  International travel can be daunting at times for many judges but Jacquie’s common sense observations and approaches should help judges when visiting New Zealand.

As all judges have previously been advised the Board and JOC agreed that attendance at three of the planned seminars during August 2021 (a total of 6 hours) would meet the obligation to attend a seminar or conference once every three years.

Those judges who were unable to attend one or more of the live zoom seminars because of work, family or other commitments would be able to watch recordings of the guest speakers on this webpage. These judges would then be required to email the JOC Secretary (Yvonne Downes) at joc@asn.au and advise that they had watched the missed seminars in order to be eligible for seminar/conference accreditation.

Given the uncertainty around current and ongoing Covid-19 restrictions it was believed this was the best common sense approach that could be taken at this time.

2021 Judges and Officials Committee – Judge Seminar of 10TH AUGUST 2021.
Janet Court, United Kingdom: ECAHO International Judge and A list Disciplinary Committee member. Show Manager of the only A level Arabian show in England, the UKIAHS and former Show Manager of the prestigious Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Festival Show, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Janet is speaking on a range of issues around judging in Europe and the Middle East, judging and showing trends, the scorecard system and what attributes make a good judge.

(Note: Unfortunately the joint zoom recording of Johanna Ullstrom and Janet Court together could not be captured on this occasion but we hope you enjoy Janet’s individual presentation.)

2021 Judges and Officials Committee – Judge Seminar of 24^th August 2021

Featured Speakers:

Dr John Walker BVSc:  Johnnie has many qualifications and highlights to his professional career as a vet – some of the key points are that he is an FEI vet, having provided assistance to Olympic Gold medalists and has travelled the world providing expert advice on a wide range of performance horses.

He has provided advice to a number of leading thoroughbred trainers including Gai Waterhouse and Lee Freedman.  He had the privilege of helping famous racehorses such as Miss Andretti and 3 times winning Melbourne Cup legend, Makybe Diva.  He has part owned eventers with Olympian Shane rose and along with his partner Leanne continues to show horses and be engaged in the equestrian community with show hacks.

 Johnnie will talk to judges about how to assess and identify lameness and unevenness in the show ring – he will provide judges with a range of tips and methodologies to assist in quick accurate decision making processes.

Lisa Stevens B.A (Soc Sci), BSc. (Honours), MA.App. Psych. (Sport):  Lisa is the principal consultant and founder of Racing Mind a high performance consulting company.  Before becoming a psychologist Lisa was a professional show-jumping rider and coach, becoming Australian Women’s Champion Show-jumping rider in 1987.

Lisa has worked for a number of elite sporting clubs including the: Victoria Institute of Sport, Swimming Australia Ltd, Paralympic Equestrian Team, Women’s Artistic Gymnastics, AFL (Western Bulldogs, Carlton, Geelong) and in collaboration with the VRC and Victorian Government on a range of health and wellbeing initiatives to assist Jockeys in Victoria and across Australia.

We are very lucky to have a speaker with Lisa’s background and experience as a sports psychologist and equestrian to talk to us about “Judging Show Horses – Performance Under Pressure”.

2021 Judges and Officials Committee – Judge Seminar of 31^st August 2021. 

In this third edition of our August seminar series we focus on some performance classes that we may not necessarily get to judge regularly – Harness, Western Pleasure, Australian Pleasure, Stock Horse and Side Saddle.

We have three extremely well credentialed speakers who are experts in their chosen fields with many years of judging and practical experience at the most senior levels to guide us through these particular classes.

Featured Speakers:

Trevor Brand – Arabian in Harness.

Trevor is the past President of the Australian Carriage Driving Society (ACDS) and is their current coaching coordinator.  He has a vast wealth of knowledge to draw on both as a competitor and official.

Trevor is someone who fully understands the protocols and procedures of the harness show ring and the role of you our Arabian harness judges.

Judging harness is something that none of us do regularly.  Trevor will run through the basics of harness judging both in the Arabian ring and what to do when confronted with potentially judging other open harness classes at agricultural or other shows.

Sharyn Hungerford – Western Pleasure, Australian Pleasure and Stock Horse.

Sharyn is well known and respected by many in the Australian Arabian horse community.  She is a Board member of the AHSA, a National Panel judge and is an active competitor who competes at the highest levels.

Sharyn has achieved over 30 Australian National Championship titles in a variety of classes, such as BPH, Show and Native Costume, Hack classes, Working Stock Horse, Australian Pleasure, and an unbelievable six times in Western Pleasure.

These are only some of Sharyn’s qualifications and show ring accolades.  I am sure you will appreciate that she will have much to offer in her seminar presentations about judging Arabian performance horses in Western Pleasure, Australian Pleasure and Stock Horse classes.

Cathy Padgen – Side Saddle.

Cathy is very well known and respected in the Arabian horse community.  She is a National Panel, Internationally Qualified judge who has judged at the highest levels in Australia including at our 2021 Australian Championships Show in Boneo.

She has competed successfully in a wide range of forums with her horses and has Australian Championship, East Coast and State Titles wins to her credit.

Cathy has a love and passion for side saddle and all things related.  She regularly organises side saddle training courses and whenever possible supports riders to learn more about this discipline.

Interview with Christine Jamar (Belgium)

Christine Jamar is the owner of Jadem Arabians in Balen, Belgium which is one of the most highly regarded breeding and showing farms in the world.  Jadem has established a global brand through the dedication and expertise of Christine.

Christine is recognised as an internationally qualified A list ECAHO judge who has judged at many of the world’s most prestigious shows.  Christine is highly sought after because of her in-depth knowledge, consistency and fairness when judging.  She has also been the show manager for one of Europe’s most important shows, the European Championships.

In this interview we gain some valuable insights into Christine’s personal views about judging as well as insights into her breeding program at Jadem.