I am just curious as to what might cause long delays in posting xc results. At a very well run horse trial that I recently attended, the xc results were not posted until about an hour and ten minutes after the last person in my division finished. Then of course you have 30 more minutes until they go final. My ride was at the very end of the day and I am not a ribbon hound enough to wait that long. That said, assuming there was a prize involved it would have been nice to be able to pick it up. What goes on behind the scenes that causes a delay that long? It was no big deal as I was most happy with how my horse went, but it got me wondering.
Most likely is a missing score sheet from one of the jump judges.
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I’m not a ribbon hound either, but when the competitor is responsible for catching errors, the fact that you only have 30 min, from whenever they happen to post the scores, is really aggravating. After XC, I’m busy cooling down my horse, packing up my gear and then heading home - not constantly checking in on live scores.
One venue I compete at regularly has XC time penalty errors. If you’re too slow they’re usually good at catching it. If you’re too fast, they rarely catch it to assign speed faults. It’s definitely a “buyer beware” situation. Frustrating!
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So very many things - even if it is just xc running
Missing jump judge paperwork
Discrepancy in timing
Scoring/computer issue
Inquiries
Backup from previous scoring issues
Four wheeler picking up scores does
Just a few off the top of my head.
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Often if an event is short on volunteers they will wait and pick up all the scores at the end of the level, so if there are four sections of beginner novice it can be awhile. Sometimes too there is a rider who goes way out of order for some reason (multiple horses/ need to have a shoe teplaced etc.) And that holds everything up. I try to always take $5 in cash so I can leave it if necessary.
We did go to an otherwise very nice schooling event a few weeks ago where there was a major scoring issue for one of the barn junior riders after we’d left. (Event had eliminated multiple riders for 3 stops at the starter level throughout xc rather than 4). Her mom called the secretary during the protest period and spoke to her and they did correct it for this rider but not for others in her division.
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I agree with the above. The events that I’ve been scoring at can only do it quickly if we listen (intently) to the radios as refusals are called into control and if we get the timing sheets and xc control sheets right away. Texting pics of these sheets to the scorers expedites scores being posted. However protests have to be investigated thoroughly and this slows things down. (As it should)
I am sure this will be obvious once you answer, and I will feel silly for asking - what is the $5 cash you are leaving for?
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Sorry-- most events will mail your ribbon if you pay shipping.
See, I knew it was would be obvious once you answered. Thank you for the quick answer.
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It’s part of the show. Nothing more annoying for an organizer than people complaining about scores taking too long. While I realize it’s annoying, it’s part of the showing package. You should expect to have to wait an hr or two after you finish for protests etc.
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Why couldn’t the be rule that the show has x amount of time after the last horse in a division finishes to post scores, after which the 30 minute protest period happens before the scores are finalized. If the scores are not posted within x time, the protest period is extended to a longer amount of time and protests can be made via phone/email.
I see that this theoretical rule would be more difficult for officials in scenarios where the protest period gets extended but at the same time, it’s a little crazy for competitors to have to wait around for 3-4 hours after their division has wrapped to see scores and be present to protest if needed.
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Don’t get me wrong… I am not at all upset with the show organizers. If I really wanted the ribbon I would have waited. I have jump judged many times and at this venue they send someone around to collect sheets after every division. I was just curious as to what has to happen when the score sheets are back in the office to cause delays like this, No big deal. 
I’ve helped in the office and I’ve helped check scores for XC. A lot of what was mentioned above can affect timing but also sometimes its really hard to read what they wrote or get free time to cross check scores (if you have two scorers). Double checking scores and times without back up help can also take a while and its even longer if starters go out of order (since entering scores online are in numerical order). Add in any TD inquires or other things that take time away, it can take a while.
You would still have to wait to the end of the extended protest time to know your result and get your ribbon.
There IS a question on the TD report about whether scoring was timely, so any excessive delay IS being reported.
Scorer here. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gotten jump sheets and I’m missing one rider’s number on one jump and can’t send the scoring out for provisional, especially if they’re in the top 6. Sometimes we can get in touch with XC control or XC start who can verify a stop or not, or with the individual jump judge. If we can’t, it means another 30-45 minutes before the next set of sheets arrive.
What’s also a factor are riders who end up going WAY after their ride time, or have scratched and don’t let anyone know.
As a scorer, I tell every competitor who complains about late scores: TELL US IF YOU ARE SCRATCHING. Do not casually mention it to the ingate person as you’re leaving stadium or the bit check at dressage and expect it to get to the scoring people. Tell someone with authority: the secretary, the TD, SJ judge, anyone who has a radio. It can hold up a division placing for hours if we can’t track down a rider and figure out if they’ve scratched or are simply late to XC because of a pulled shoe.
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Another scoring volunteer here. A million reasons for the delay, here are a few more with some examples …
There is a good reason if scores are slow to post. The scorers and officials also want to get it done and move on to the next thing.
If there are multiple issues going at once that can compound scoring delays, even if the problems aren’t all in the same division. Only certain officials are designated to resolve issues, and they can do only so much at once.
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As above, missing results. That is huge and it depends on the priorities and organization of the event to delegate someone to hunt them down.
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Short-staffed. Especially with a big event that has multiple divisions, multiple phases going at the same time. Plus maybe every available scorer is just entering whatever paper is in front of them and there is no priority on a particular division-phase. Plus inexperienced scorers pressed into action who are confused about eventing scoring, which is rather different from most sports. People generally don’t find it intuitive.
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Computer down. Connections down. Other electronic issue. Something wrong in the office interfering with score entry.
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Discrepancies that can’t be ignored. JJ at 15 doesn’t have rider #47 noted on their score sheet, but the Controller does. Maybe #32 started but has no finish time and no sign of an E. Process to sort things like this out. Finding the decision makers to call it.
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New scorers who don’t know eventing and notice things like #12 started after #11 but finished before #11. There are so many odd potential scoring anomalies in eventing and most people who don’t know eventing find the scoring a conundrum anyway. Conscientious scorer doesn’t want to proceed until satisfied they understand. Little things like this add incremental time that adds up.
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Scorer/TD/whoever reviewing division scores before they are final are seeing craziness that indicates data input problems. Especially a number of outlier scores in one division-phase, unrealistic dressage scores or various riders finishing many minutes over or under OT.
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Can’t find an individual who is critical to answering a scoring question – a jump judge, ring/dressage judge, controller, even the TD. Or one is very slow to respond.
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Protests. Especially multiple protests. Sometimes those are resolved quickly. But sometimes they aren’t.
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Accident on course with a busted jump. Weather delays. Various unforeseen stoppages. If you finished your ride before that happened and were back at the barn, maybe you didn’t know about it.
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Division running really slowly and behind time, for whatever reason. Not only are scores later than expected to the office, but now they are interfering with the flow of other scores coming in at the same time.
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Some combination of the above taking officials and scorers time to work through, while keeping all of the other scores moving at the same time. Multiple problems going at once can really cause delays.
A 3-4 hour delay is huge of course, that should be rare!
One of my first experiences as a scorer was a MESS. At the end of the horse trials, last division to finish cross country, the other two scorers were new to the process, not horse people, and didn’t understand how to enter. We didn’t realize that until reviewing the entered scores for the last division and saw things that just didn’t make sense. A crowd of riders and parents and trainers were hanging around the office, waiting on those results and then they would go home, just as we were realizing we had to re-enter all of XC. By then it was getting dark outside … it was awful. Finally got it all done, but hopefully that doesn’t happen again to anyone.
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I was once entering dressage scores on startbox, then going back and double and triple checking. Scores upload instantly, although they are still “provisional.” I must have fat fingered someone a 140 in dressage and they, two of their friends, and their trainer showed up in 20 seconds to launch a complaint. Nothing like putting in a 12 hour day for a sandwich and a T shirt and getting blasted by a rider. We expect volunteers to be experts and we don’t want to pay more in entry fees to hire qualified people.
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Has startbox not yet sorted that out? It is a serious flaw in the programming. We need to be able to encourage the riders & trainers to check startbox for scores rather than traipsing back and forth to the scoresheet bulletin board, but it’s a problem when it is hard for them to know if they are looking at “real” scores or not.
It states provisional scores on Starbox when they upload.
Aren’t they provisional until after the waiting period?
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