Preparation

Many of us start the year with New Year's resolutions or goals, and I'm one of them. As I formulate new resolutions, I make a point to think about how the previous year went and return to my notes to see how I did.

In 2021, one of my goals was to better organize my office, and I'm pleased to say that I accomplished that goal with some help, including nearly a dozen binders, a hanging file folder on my door, an iThrive wall unit (really cool!), a label maker and lots of file folders.

One result of that resolution is that now my judging kit is better organized, including all of the materials I need, such as pens, pencils, white-out, erasers, extra judge's cards, a clipboard, stopwatch, whistle, notebooks, etc. So, when I was asked to judge a show at the last minute due to a weather emergency a few weeks ago, I was set and ready to go the next day.

In fact, part of my preparation the night before was to read the new rule changes in the USEF Rulebook that took effect on December 1. And, low and behold, I discovered that a new Jumper rule regarding Faults Converted classes applied to the show I was judging. As it turned out, that change did impact the placings in one $500 class, and I was relieved that I'd prepared in advance to make sure we followed the new rule and gave our exhibitors the fair and accurate results they deserved!

If you made New Year's resolutions, I wish you the best of luck. One of mine is to finish our Judging WTF Workbook, a companion publication to our Judging WTF book. So, I'll keep you posted on our progress!

As always,
Tricia