Letter to the Editor from Jimmy Robertson
Monday, June 21, 2004
Dear Saddle Horse Report and Show Horse Enthusiasts,
I would like to explain what happened with the five-gaited championship at the Rock Creek Horse Show. After the show in which Time Well Spent won and Your Eminence was second, I found both horses had the same votes (1-2-4). Upon further investigation I found Your Eminence had two of three votes over Time Well Spent. With the Majority Opinion System (MOS), I thought in that case the results should place Your Eminence over Time Well Spent.
Monday morning I gathered up a copy of the card and the rules of the MOS system. I found the computer program did not reflect the rules of MOS, therefore did not reflect the majority opinion of the judges.
Dr. and Mrs. Louis Johnson and team Infinity (Helen, Jerry and I) questioned the result with the officials of the Rock Creek Horse Show. On Tuesday night, horse show manager Scarlett Mattson called me prepared to reverse the decision announced Saturday night. At that time, I informed Scarlett of our desire to have the results remain as announced at the horse show.
We felt this was best for several reasons. The controversy had already hit the internet chat lines to the point of statements being edited out by the board of administrators at the internet chat line.
We felt if the decision was reversed, there would be protests with the US Equestrian Federation (USEF) which would be counterproductive for the sport and for the Rock Creek Horse Show.
Finally, if this computer program caused similar mistakes at other shows, we did not wish to set the precedent of results being reevaluated at this and other horse shows.
I would like to apologize for all of this turmoil to the Johnsons, who have always taken the high road in their short time in our sport. I would also like to apologize to the Goodmans, the owners of the grand horse Time Well Spent, who have also always taken the high road throughout their lengthy show horse career.
Sincerely,
Jimmy Robertson
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