Why does NCHA use five judges for the major limited-age events?
Nearly 20 years ago, NCHA instituted the Adjusted Monitor System in order to make judging fair for each contestant. The system is used at all major limited-age events with five judges and may be used at three-judge shows. According to the system, the high and low scores are tossed out in a five-judge show, leaving three scores to be tallied. A monitor is assigned to make rulings on major penalty discrepancies and to evaluate the judges performance during each go-round. Four NCHA monitors will spend 270 days verifying scores at approved shows in 2004. When you consider that an average show day lasts for 9 hours, that accounts for 2,430 hours that will be spent making sure riders are scored fairly.
