Tip for jj’s …
Once a horse has stopped at a fence, don’t take your eyes off the horse & rider until they have either cleared the jump or else E’d or retired. Don’t look down at your score sheet to mark the refusals until it is all done with, because you may miss something important that happens in the blink of an eye. Count refusals on your fingers, or else make random marks somewhere on the paper without looking, and correct their placement later.
Here’s my anecdote as to why.
Yes, as the jj briefing tells you, you do need to count refusals as they happen in some way (I hold up another finger at each one, like an elementary kid). It’s easy to lose count in an environment full of distractions, including heat, sun glare, horse & rider antics, etc. If crazy things start happening fast, the situation can be a bit overwhelming, especially for jj’s who don’t do this as often. After a lot of equine & human antics and shenanigans, you may not remember just how many refusals did happen, even though it seems so vivid while they were happening.
I learned not to look away from horse & rider the hard way while jj’ing at a recognized event in a hilly wood away from any other eyes that could have double-checked me. Fairly basic single jump (T) but the placement or visuals or something were causing problems for some of the horses. There had there had already been 2 or 3 stops and some hinky approaches, but the majority jumped it ok.
A very competent rider on a gray horse, a horse who was clearly green to the level but well ridden, were making a nice approach until the last instant, when the horse abruptly jinks and props and scoots to the side, feet scrambling. The rider keeps a good seat in spite of it. She immediately turns him back into the jump, not trying to jump it but keeping him from turning to the side as he wants to do. I like her adeptness in this difficulty and think she is well suited to manage whatever this horse does.
Now the horse is beside the jump with his head in the air, scooting and fussing with his haunches swinging back and forth. But the rider has things in hand, gets him under control and is managing him into a large circle for a re-approach. I look down at the score sheet and put a mark for a refusal.
I look up in plenty of time to see the next approach. The rider has given the horse a fair distance for a good approach. But same thing happens. In spite of a measured approach, the horse quits at the base with a lot of theatrics. Once again, although the horse is scooting and trying to evade in every direction, the rider is secure in her seat with notional steering and seems to be on top of things while she sorts this out.
I look down at the score sheet and put a mark for the second refusal. This takes a second or maybe two seconds.
I look back up and the rider is on the ground beside the horse, who is still scooting-shuffling just a little. She’s standing, a little off balance but recovering quickly, reins in one hand on the side of the horse. She seems ok. I call up to ask if she’s ok and if she needs anything. She waves reassuringly and asks if she can remount to walk off course. I say sure, that’s fine. She gets on the horse, who is now quieter, and they amble off.
I call this in as a “rider fall” and report that all is ok, she’s back on the horse and walking off course.
Some time later, during the next division, I get a call on the radio from the scorers (different channel and all that). They say that this rider is disputing the “fall”, says she got off voluntarily and wants to be scored as “Retired”, not as “E” / “RF”.
I explained exactly what I saw and what I did not. How did she end up off the horse? I didn’t see it, because I had been looking down at the score sheet marking the refusal! I assumed that the horse had gotten her off over his shoulder, and that she had managed to hang on to the neck and come down on her feet. That’s what it had looked like might have happened.
But given her overall skill and adeptness in a difficult situation, I did think it was plausible that yes, she did dismount on her own. I don’t remember what reason she gave for dismounting. The horse may have been becoming more difficult, she’d clearly already decided not to pursue this any further, and may have wanted him to be calmer before walking off.
She got her score changed to an “R” and I think it was probably correct.
From that day on I began keeping my eyes on horse & rider and counting refusals on my fingers until they were clear of my fence! Things can happen very fast. I can see why the big national/international events have at least 2 jj’s at every obstacle. 
