Level 1 Provisional Judge – Upon completing all requirements for Recommended Judge status, a Level 1 Judge is judging under a provisional period of at least one year. A Level 1 Judge must attend a Cowboy Dressage Judge continuing education workshop (currently offered once a year – attend a minimum of 16 hours).  A Level 1 Judge must also judge 3 shows, schooling shows, or playdays, with documentation from show management. The judges committee may ask for copies of 8-10 scorecards for evaluation at one or all of the judged events for further evaluation. Upon successful completion of the provisional period of 1 year (or more) and approval of documentation, the Level 1 judge may progress to Level 2 Judge status.  Scores earned from Level 1 judges may not be used for Clinician status.

Level 2 Judge – A Level 2 judge has completed their Level 1 requirement status and is formally no longer considered under provisional status.   They are required to judge at least 3 shows a year, schooling or recognized, with show management documentation.  They must have a minimum of 36 hours of Cowboy Dressage Judge’s continuing education.

Level 3 Judge – A Level 3 Judge has met all the requirements of a Level 1 and Level 2 Judge, has judged 2 or more Cowboy Dressage Recognized Gatherings, has attended a total of 50 hours of Cowboy Dressage Judge continuing education.

Level 3 Judge with Distinction – A Level 3 Judge with distinction has completed all of the requirements of a Level 3 Judge and has attended 51 or more hours of Judge’s continuing education. 

Probation: Scores and judges will be monitored for continuity. The CDW judge’s committee reserves the right to enact probationary status at any time (All CDW Partner’s will be notified any time there is a recommendation for probation – the CDW Partner’s decision is final).  A judge may be placed on probation for the following reasons:

*Not completing judging assignments

*Failure to attend continuing education at least once every two years

*Unprofessional behavior

*Formal complaints from show management

The scores from a judge on probation cannot be used for year-end awards or Clinician status.  The probationary period will last until the judge fulfills additional requirements requested by CDW.  These requirements will be reviewed and the judge may or may not be taken off of probation.  If, after 2 years, the judge has not satisfied their probation requirements, they will be taken off of the Recommended Judge list permanently.

Cowboy Dressage Continuing Education

Cowboy Dressage Recommended Judges are offered an annual continuing education opportunity.  There will be a mandatory educational requirement every two years to maintain judge status. All judges are required to be a CDWPA Judging member in good standing and attend Continuing Education for Judges once every two years in order to maintain their judging status.

At least twice a year, there will be a video judging assignment. Each video assignment should be scored with comments, collective scores, further remarks and totaled with a final percentage. Each assignment should be scanned into a PDF format and emailed to Sheryl Strathman, CDWPA Coordinator, at horseplayx5@gmail.com