At an inspection--how do you handle negative criticism?

[Horsecrazy27]

This question just popped in my head after hearing some comments made at the inspections I have been to. :)

[ShowjumpersUSA]

If you're asking about criticism from the judges, I look at inspections as an opportunity to learn. If I am barn blind, why go at all? If a breeder wants to improve their breeding program, they have to be willing to learn from their mistakes.

If you're talking about criticism from other breeders, unless you asked for it, you just have to consider the source. It is very poor form to comment negatively on someone else's breeding program.

[Horsecrazy27]

I'm talking more about poor sportsmanship.

Anyone else have experience with this too?

[camohn]

Comments from the judges:
It depends on how it is put...in other words if it is constructive or not.
"neck could be set on higher" is constructive. The list of NOT constructive comments I have heard in the general course of a few years at inspections (not necessarily aimed at my horses) is unfortunate.
Poor sportsmanship: I have seen angry people stomp off in a huff. Somtimes I understood and somtimes not. In the case of someone's horse that did not score well and they are just sore about that then that makes them poor sports.In the case where I think the inspector was really tactless and insulting/non constructive in their comments (this was different years with different registries....so not referring to a specific registry here) then I understood it.
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[MagicRoseFarm]

As much as we all love it when the "perfection" is brought to our attention, unfortunately, some negative MUST be said, to educate for the future.

We can only hope we all learn from our mistakes, or bad luck in matchmaking.

[pintopiaffe]

Nine times out of ten, it is a fault I already know about.

The tenth time, it is jealousy. :winkgrin:

[not again]

First of all, I do everything I can to be well prepared and have my horses as ready both from handling and grooming to "put our best foot forward." I try to be respectful and attentive to the officials on the day of the inspection. I arrive ahead of time, and am ready when we are next in the order of go. I do all the things I would do if I was taking a horse to an international competition and getting ready for the jog. And I take what is said politely and swallow my pride about the outcome. At the end of the day, it is important to me to have the young stock have a good experience and make new friends. If there is negative criticism, as in school, it may take a few weeks to digest the content. It is still one day, and not life threatening after all. We have a silly saying around here, "If you want something real to complain about, go get a gall stone!" ;):lol:

[Peg]

At the end of the day, it is important to me to have the young stock have a good experience and make new friends. If there is negative criticism, as in school, it may take a few weeks to digest the content. It is still one day, and not life threatening after all. We have a silly saying around here, "If you want something real to complain about, go get a gall stone!" You also need to remember, EVEN IF you mare is considered more or less unfavorably, you are getting an opinion from a human breeder on that day. I have a mare that was admittedly not prepared as well as she could have been (retrospect) and panned by the verband representative- she may not be elite, but her foals are A+. Just consider thae remarks as a critique to improve her offspring. Hey, genetics is a crapshoot anyway. :yes:Peg

[Horsecrazy27]

I have seen people be poor sports to the other competitors----jealousy.

And I have seen the judge really given a bad rap.

[Sandra6500]

It depends. I took my mare and foal to the GOV inspection in 2006 and the inspector at the time was rediculous (not one of their regular inspectors). She was not only way to harsh on the horses she was totally unprofessional and rude on top of it. I wasn't the only one that had issues which in my mind confirmed that I wasn't "just barn blind". I complained to the GOV office in germany and they agreed to reinspect my mare.

I think if the horse really isn't good quality then its best to walk away but I also know that those scores are generally with them forever so if there really is an issue with an inspector its important to speak up.

[ljshorses]

It depends. I took my mare and foal to the GOV inspection in 2006 and the inspector at the time was rediculous (not one of their regular inspectors). She was not only way to harsh on the horses she was totally unprofessional and rude on top of it. I wasn't the only one that had issues which in my mind confirmed that I wasn't "just barn blind". I complained to the GOV office in germany and they agreed to reinspect my mare.

I think if the horse really isn't good quality then its best to walk away but I also know that those scores are generally with them forever so if there really is an issue with an inspector its important to speak up.



Totally agree!

[tweeter]

I've only ever been to Hanoverian inspections, and the last one I went to was a while ago, but....I don't remember hearing anything "hurtful" said. I guess it's all in the way things are phrased, they were mostly German judges, and very very tactful. I don't think anyone got their feelings hurt, by what was said.

Not all mare owners are pleased with their scores, but that's to be expected.

[Fairview Horse Center]

Inspections are one person's view on a given day. They can be wonderfully informative, and absolutely wrong. They are also sometimes politically motivated, or type and direction motivated. That too can be wrong. Go to a lot of them to develop your own eye.

Almost 20 years ago, I was at a Hanoverian stallion licensing. A stallion that I LOVED was turned down. I tried to question several of the people running the inspection as to WHY, and never got an answer. Several years later, that stallion was approved, and recently his offspring have kept him at the top of the list for siring dressage horses.

I have also been to an Oldenburg inspection that every mare presented, including a Dutch Ster mare was only placed in a lower book. You could tell it was about "making a statement". Sad.

[ise@ssl]

Most inspectors point out "weaknesses" in conformation if they exist to help the breeder if they plan to breed the mare again. The best time to ask for clarification is when you sit with the inspector to do your paperwork.

The worst thing to do is to make a scene. We've had this happen at a couple of our inspections and it's not fair to anyone. When it comes to foals - they do change as they grow - the inspection score is a snapshot at a point in time.

[camohn]

Most inspectors point out "weaknesses" in conformation if they exist to help the breeder if they plan to breed the mare again. The best time to ask for clarification is when you sit with the inspector to do your paperwork.

The worst thing to do is to make a scene. We've had this happen at a couple of our inspections and it's not fair to anyone. When it comes to foals - they do change as they grow - the inspection score is a snapshot at a point in time.

The sort of "hurtful" (aka not constructive) things I have heard said were "if this horse was in Germany she would be Alpo", "you should not allow your mare to breed" and standing just one person's mare up in front of the spectators (mare had not passed for main book) and the judge announcing "as you can see..this mare is an example of WHY we do not pass all horses in an inspection" going over all her faults. Now this mare had already had her time being stood up for inspection, the owner told what her scores were and why. Singling out the one mare to basically publicly humiliate the owner for a second time that day was not cool. The mare got 6s FWIW. That mare's owner was also told she should not be allowed to breed....she did in fact have confo flaws and was not the next dressage star for movement but WAS a successful jumper so it's not like she was without talent in some area...and was a BM because of a stifle/jumping injury. That sort of stuff is not at all the same as "your mare got a 6 for her neck/set on too low" or "your mare got a 6 for her shoulder/not sloping enough".

Unfortunately I have seen a colt declined for his stallion license where the owner was more than a little upset. Declining the colt was done privately by the inspectors/no public humiliation there....owner was just SURE he would pass...and having seen him jump that day...he really didn't jump very well. Maybe he can and just had a bad day....but that IS what the judges and spectators saw that day. At one WB inpsection there was a TB mare owner that brought several TB mares....all apparently VERY expensive TBs from a racing point of view. None of them made main mare book and that owner was NOT pleased and there were some not so nice comments made about not knowing a good horse when they saw it. That I think was more an issue of "good for one thing does not make ideal for another" and probably a source of a lot of disappointments along the way. My TB mare that makes really nice dressage horses is worthless as a racehorse (really....she won ZERO at the track...and not because she didn't race! Tasker has the perfect name for those really slow TBs....a Turtlebred!)

[monami]

Totally agree!

same here. I have been going to the AHS inspections for several years and always find their comments honest (positive and negative alike) and it is done tastefully.

However, last year we took a Rosenthal foal to the GOV inspection and the foal was in a bit of an awkward stage and was a very large foal at that with an average head. We were told that there was no way that she would believe that the foal was by Rosenthal because they ALWAYS were typey and she continues to say that is what DNA is for ! To me this was very uncalled for, the foal was most certainly by the stallion! It just did not have the doll head like the other one we had.

We had people come up to us at a horse show in Warrenton and said that they could not believe how rude the lady inspecting was.

[ljshorses]

Yes, I have seen someone very upset about their horse not passing and make a very big scene,even though it was announced privately to them, but I have also seen judges that were less than tactful too. I have seen judges who have a bone to pic with a breeder, bash them publicly and incorrectly. Even when the conformational flaws stated were not present!! But overall, I must say that most of the inspections I have attended as well as hosted have been wonderful learning experiences. And when the the judges are tactful, polite and helpful to the breeder, they end up with breeders that want to stay and be apart of that organization. Most breeders honestly want to know the good and the bad. They want to get better and better at what they do. Constructive criticism and helpful hints go much farther than public humiliation and nasty bashing. As for the poor sports, well sometimes know matter how tactful the judge is some people wont be able to handle the outcome. As my mom always said, you can't make everyone happy.

[Fairview Horse Center]

I always like it when an inspecter does not pick up or comment on a fault that had been bugging me - especially an inspector that is very highly thought of. I don't discount the fault, but am thankful that it probably is not something that is a real issue.

[ise@ssl]

Oh! and the best ones are the ones that don't like the score and leave without paying....saying they don't want the papers or mare approval.

[Sakura]

I'm talking more about poor sportsmanship.

Anyone else have experience with this too?

Yes, I have experianced poor sportsmanship. At the very first show I ever took my stallion to... He took Champion in both the Open and Ammy In Hand classes (the closest thing we Arab folks have to inspections within the breed, judged by open carded USEF judges). Another competitor/exhibitor had a freak-out fit that his horse came in third to ours in the Open class and Reserve in the Ammy. He made some comment about the judge (who is a very well respected individual in the open Hunter world) "needing glasses because he was obviously blind". His poor attitude and public tantrum was very unbecoming.

[Hocus Focus]

I hate to go off topic but I have found comments educational by attending inspections and hearing the critiques, and each inspection with different criteria. After a while, you begin to understand what is working and what isn't. As in life, some persons have a nicer manner of speaking and form of expressing themselves but I have not witnessed outright discrimination nor care to.

I don't think it is any place to take one's ego. It is best left home that day. Bruised egos..drama...heightened emotion... all tend to go hand in hand.

I will say that I had perhaps one of the kindest gestures I have ever known by an inspector. I had been travelling. I was photographing the inspection and it was quite large. I was regretting not having had the time to prep and bring my mare to the site, as I had arrived the night before and the mare just wasn't cleaned up or ready. Also managing it would be tough since I was rather occupied. She was in foal and I wanted to be able to register the foal. She was looking quite good at the time and I felt it was my best opportunity for her to get a respectable score. A friend knew of my situation and knew the inspector well enough to ask. I thought never in a million years, but when approached if the inspector might do a "house call" due to circumstances mentioned and since he had an overnight in the area and the next day free said he would be glad to. I was amazed to hear a positive reply. For me, it was a huge favor. I do not have super warmbloods but I received no hint of attitude or unkindess. It was actually a lot of fun and a really nice memory of hospitality beyond the norm.

It was a toss on a halter, a quick rub, and a straight out of the pasture inspection on the lawn. A main mare book score, somewhere in the middle of the pack scenario, and a very very kind act on his behalf. So I am sorry others may have had negative experiences but I was fortunate enough to have been treated very very well.

I have not witnessed the unfairness personally in perhaps 30-40 inspections I have attended. I think they are tough and brutally honest at times., but I listen and learn, and respect the knowledge offered. There are some excellent horseman in the world. I for one am all ears to learn from them.

Listen. Don't emote even if it hurts a bit. The greater picture is more important.