To assist South Island dressage judges in their personal development and to enhance their judging skills, this is the fourth year we are delighted to offer the SI Dressage Judges Scholarship. The scholarship was initiated in response to the recognised difficulties for SI judges, especially those from smaller areas, to observe and judge significant quantities and range of horses and riders, and to benchmark themselves against other judges who are regularly judging classes of maximum numbers with a large and diverse range of combinations. This experience and benchmarking is recognised as a critical part of the judge education pathway, but poses significantly greater challenges to many South Island judges in rural and sparsely populated areas.
The organisers of this scholarship fully support and agree with the requirements for upgrading DNZ judges, but identify that it is more difficult to achieve in some places. The initiating sponsor is a private supporter who wishes to remain anonymous.
Two scholarships of $500 each will be awarded annually, one for List 4 judges and below, and one for List 3 judges and above. Winners have up to two years to spend their scholarship and are expected to make a brief written report about how they spent their money. The fund can potentially be used for any form of judge education, and would not be restricted to sit-in’s, writing or shadow judging, and could be used anywhere in NZ or overseas.
It is expected that application forms will be sent to all South Island AJOs as soon as possible, with a closing date of Wednesday the 10th of June. Previous winners are welcome to apply again but preference will given to new applicants. Winners will be announced by the first of July 2018.
It is hoped that other interested parties may well be interested in donating to this fund. Should this happen, more monies would then be available to help yet more people enhance their judging journeys.
For more information, contact Linda Warren-Davey [email protected] or Stuart Bishell [email protected]
Pictured is the 2017 winner, Tracy Johnson from Marlborough
