I would love e-scribing if you could type on a real keyboard, but can’t imagine having to do it with a stylus.
Thanks for scribing! I may have been in your ring today. I was the last rider in Ring 2 on a dark brown mare (or I suppose there could be multiple events going on today where the system failed and one ring had to switch to paper tests…).
Sounds like you were using the same system I was. Lots of pros, but lots of cons.
That was me! Lovely mare!! Did the judge and I seem a little frazzled? The logistics were such a pain…we were missing one of the paper tests we needed, plus the order of go had class names instead of test names. Most of the riders in the class labeled “Intro B” on the printout were doing Intro C but two (non-consecutive) did Intro A, which we only figured out after they got rung off course for halting in the entry. The judge told one rider “There’s no halt in A!” and the rider looked super confused and said, “I didn’t halt at A!” 
Thank you! Wow - what a mess. They did seem a bit disorganized this weekend compared to normal. I was entered for two dressage tests, but they only gave me one ride time, and it took quite a few emails to get that sorted out. And then I just ended up doing my two tests back to back anyway since no one else was left in warmup. I think a lot of the issues are to do with the new app they’re using. I’m not a fan. It seems to have a few too many quirks. Hopefully they get it working better soon.
My first time ever scribing and it was escribe with FoxVillage.
The show manager had it set up with a keyboard, and when judge and I were completed, it went to the show manager who cleaned up obvious spelling and checked for correctness – so our work had one last go over before published to the competitor.
The test showed all movements and one could scroll through them with tab key or mouse, but the tab was set to auto-advance to next box, so going backwards to correct something wasn’t easy. Also, if you accidentally typed a non-numeric is the score box, it took some finagling to correct as every time you pressed tab or backspace you got a pop-up error box (and meantime test is still going on!)
Judge wanted to do score, then comments, which was backwards from what the auto-advance tab key wanted to do, so I was frequently having to mouse backwards. And I had no idea they would let 2-3 movements go by and THEN score them altogether. Yikes, that was a real backing up issue! I think shift-tab might have fixed that, but no time to experiment. As a result, judge and I did a lot of exchange on what box we were on. For that show, the judge did not have their own monitor, so they could not easily see what I was typing. They will have their own monitor for next show.
Issues for me were sun glare, despite a shaded judge stand. Show manager will have a monitor hood at next show. Next was the print size. It could not be enlarged on screen and I could have used a slightly bigger font. Show manager said that was next of the feature request list.
On the positive side, the competitors loved it. They saw their score on their phone without having to walk and wait at the show office.
I personally sort of missed the camaraderie of all the competitors chit-chatting and eating cheese plates or donuts while awaiting their scores to be posted, but that will be up to the host to facilitate those interactions a different way.
I am not a dressage person, nor have I scribed before, but it was entirely doable once you got the hang of it. You definitely don’t get to look up except to identify the rider, otherwise it is heads down and type!
And as an aside, it is incredibly hard to be a judge, a lot going on, they want to be encouraging yet give useful feedback. For me, a career corporate person, it is like doing 20 staff reviews all day long – ouch!
The horseshowoffice one that I have used has addressed some of these issues, but there is alway room for improvement.
The show manager checking for “correctness” - I hope that means things like missed scores. The show manager should not be deciding what is correct regarding the actual scoring of the test.
I had the tab or enter key to advance to the next movement/box, but it is programmed with a shift+tab to go back rather than having to mouse back to the box you need to work on. The non-numeric thing is definitely an issue as I have to backspace to remove the comment regardless of the length.
HSO has the option for the scribe to “switch” the order of the score vs comment box so that the scribe can determine what works best for them/the judge. It prints on the test that the competitor gets either electronically or physically just like the standard test form. It also has an option for the scribe to pick the font size that works best for that scribe - for the older ones who need it bigger to the tiny type for the teenagers.
The scoring several movements at a time - that hiccup for you is partly it being your first time scribing - once you do it more, you’ll get to know the rhythm of the tests, which varies from test to test.
Happy to hear you had a overall good experience - it gets easier the more you do it, and you’ll get to the point that you may get to see some of the test when you know what to expect - I can watch quite a bit of a training level test - depending on how bad the ride is going - it always seems like the worse the ride, the more comments it gets and often out of order.
Missed scores, capitalization when I accidentally had caps on and everything was reversed, and also if we had a deduction (we didn’t), as I guess that would have been easy for me to make a mistake. It was nice to get feedback, too. For instance, that punctuation made a big difference, and I could save time by typing in all caps versus shifting for each new sentence. (Strangely, all CAPS looks like shouting here, but looked nice on the test output as it stood out from the rest of the test form.)
I am escribing again this weekend. I am hoping the ability to switch comment/score is an option, as is font size, especially with a bit of glare (hope they have a monitor hood!). But yes, overall a good experience. I am one of the older ones, but I can type faster than I can write, so it suits me fine, lol.
How does the judge sign the test with the fox village system?
They have a secret pin, and after reviewing what I escribed, they enter their pin and press “submit.”
HSO is the best I have worked with. I love having a screen that the judge can glance at - its at eye level - and check that the scribe is on track. Freestyles are easier, also. Instead of me checking in with the scribe and asking ‘what are we missing in the trot’?, I can check for myself.
I have been using the Black Horse One system for the last few months as our local venue switched over to all e-scribing and I ADORE it. It’s intuitive, easy to use, and very clean. Having the on-site support person makes a huge difference. I type crazy fast (120+wpm) and so I’m able to capture everything the judge is saying with ease. I have found that I’m able to watch the tests as they happen about 50% more than when I’m writing on paper, which is fun.
I have scribed a bunch of freestyles using the system. When I scribe for freestyles on paper, I usually draw a thick horizontal line between the walk/trot/canter portions on the test paper so that I can easily find my way. The BHO software doesn’t have any kind of demarcation other than the same thin lines, so all the boxes look the same, and I found it a little bit more difficult to zip from trot work to canter work, etc. I did suggest to the support person that they add in thicker lines between gaits and she said several people have suggested the same thing! I hope they change it.
I feel silly now because for some reason I though e-scribing meant you can talk into it and it types it out for you…
It seems like that should be an option with technology as developed as it is now days.
Gosh, that would be both lonely for the judge and impractical. I would have to really censor myself - I recently called a pony that bolted off a little donkey.
I would assume that it allowed for editing prior to submitting, and maybe an on/off option so you can discuss without inputting comments.
Here in Australia I think it’s pretty common to have a number on each side of the horse - at least I do when I compete.
Here in little ol’ New Zealand on the bottom of the world 
we have numbers on both sides of the horse 
either on the bridle or saddle blanket
“The system is set up for the computer version to look like the paper tests only the comments box is before the score box as most judges today I guess are told to give comments, then score (I’ve had judges do scores, then comments in my years of scribing)”
The blackhorse system allows the scribe to switch the columns from left to right, setting up whichever is easier, either comments first or score first. I scribed on their electronic system for NAYC last summer and in our brief training session, they taught us that was the first thing to set up and to ask the judge which way they wanted it. It’s all touch screen so with one touch you can switch those columns.
As it turned out each of the two judges I scribed for over the weekend did it opposite to the other so I was able to switch the columns and to practice both ways.
I loved the system as a scribe. I was able to spell everything correctly and even to correct my abbreviation errors and to fix any terms that weren’t clear. Can’t do any of those things as well when writing with a pen. So much more preferable to writing.
Escribing just made it’s way down under to New Zealand where I was a writer last week. I LOVED it. That said, I’m a typist by trade and type fast and accurately. The show was using BHO. I liked it, felt there were some improvements to be made but there’s no such thing as a perfect system. I used my Samsung tablet with my mouse and ergonomic keyboard plugged in via an adapter.
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