I am teaching a woman to scribe tomorrow. What are your recommendations, experiences?

[Carol_O]

I sent her the USDF Guide for scribes, and tomorrow I will show her my kit which contains whistle, working pens of black or blue AND red, bug spray, sun screen, breath mints, water and epi-pens (for me, but you never know).

Anything else?

I always thought U$DF might benefit from creating scribe classes, certifying.

[Djones]

The usdf guide to scribing is good.

[MapleBreeze]

Tell her whether you give the score/comment or comment score and suggest some quick short hand for your most common comments.

[atlatl]

@MapleBreeze

Tell her whether you give the score/comment or comment score and suggest some quick short hand for your most common comments.

I scribed once for a judge that was a stickler about circles being round and not ovals (think a 20m circle at E or B touching I and L). After writing “circle should be round and not an oval” she told me, just write that circle thing again. More short hand for her than me!!

[Mohan]

Gosh I wouldn’t begin to know how to teach it. I suppose give tips and tricks but at the end of the day it’s one of those things you learn by doing. I received some “training” before scribing for the first time, but everyone has their own way, while the tips were helpful, I really just had to do it.

[LCDR]

I have not scribed in three decades. But I recall being told something like this. “You’re not here to watch the dressage test. Concentrate on what I am saying to you and getting it down on the test as quickly as you can.”

[Pezanos]

A watch! Bring a digital watch. Easier than my phone clock when desk space is limited. My judges frequently ask me how we’re running or to note the time for different reasons (going in the ring, how long a misbehavior is lasting, etc.)

[Carol_O]

Funny how one hears the same things, over and over, “needs more nrg”.

[anon55755751]

Tips that I would share with a new scribe:

1. Ask the judge how they want missed scores/score mistakes handled. Most I have scribed for want to wait until the end of the test and go back and add the score and comment themselves, but this is something you want to explicitly discuss with the judge ahead of time so if it happens during the test, you (scribe) are prepared to handle it without interrupting or having it affect your ability to record later scores/comments. To the extent possible, clarifications on process should be asked about between tests/classes, not during.
2. If the judge does comment-then-score, the approach that works for me is to write the score as soon as they say it, then go back to writing the comment if I wasn’t finished with that. It is safest when multiple scores come quickly back-to-back (e.g. transition scores). I haven’t done digital scribing yet - I am not sure whether that would change my approach or not.
3. Judges that say what number movement they are scoring as they do it are THE BEST JUDGES to scribe for, esp. as a beginner scribe.
4. I’ve noticed most people don’t announce their number to the scribe when they are warming up on the outside of the ring, or even make an effort to ride past the judge’s box with the number facing the judges box/scribe, but it is the scribe’s job to make sure you’re marking the right test for the right rider. Make notes about distinguishing marks just in case. This is probably in the USDF guide.

[MapleBreeze]

If you mess up (or they do) -dont feeze - ask what number they are on and just skip and fill in later. Dont get hung up on it get to the next box.

Oh yeah make sure the judge signs the test and has all the boxes filled.

[SolarFlare]

This season I have started mentoring more scribes since I’ve taken on show secretary duties and am not able to volunteer at as many events.

In addition to the other suggestions, what I did was print out extra tests on coloured paper, and had the shadow scribe practice in real time with me. My version was the official one that was handed in, and the shadow scribe could compare their copy with mine. This gives them the feel of pace, how to handle errors, what to do if they got behind, etc without the pressure of the test being “real”. I used coloured paper to ensure that the shadow’s tests weren’t mixed up with the official ones.

[BraveSC]

I scribe quite often and all of the above is good information. I would add

1. make sure the judge knows what test she is about to judge… sometimes they bounce around between levels for scheduling purposes and I find that as the scribe, I can check what test is next while the judge writes the final comments
2. make sure the printed copies provided match the master sheet. i was one time given the wrong tests!
   Hope they had fun! i love scribing

[Margaret_Freeman]

This is a “fail-safe” that many judges use: Write the number you physically see on the horse on the front of the test sheet and circle it. Not the number on the day sheet or even the number on the sticker, but the number you physically see on the horse (if you can’t see it, then ask). If something happens and tests get lost or out of order or some other mishap, the number the scorers will go by is that circled number at the top of the sheet. Do it even if you see a sticker there. This fail-safe has saved many a scary situation when tests get mixed up.

For freestyles, be sure to go over the procedure with the judge, since it can vary widely between different judges.

[Maria]

I am late, write legibly