HGG Community Forums

Consistency influences a horse's showing scores.

Each time a horse trains, it gets a few points added to its cumulative show score. You can see that score if you look at a horse's show records, and that score is used to determine where it places in a particular class. Consistent horses will have the same score every time. Inconsistent horses will have some fluctuation, swinging a couple of points higher or lower, which sometimes can help the m out and sometimes can hurt them.

For example, this horse (https://www.huntandjump.com/horse.php?horseid=10830526) is consistent, and if you look at the show record, you'll see both week's show scores are the same. If you look at Week 40, for example, she scored 218 in both of her 6W classes.

Then this horse (https://www.huntandjump.com/horse.php?horseid=10830540) is a little bit inconsistent. HIS Week 40 scores for his 6W class were 217 and 220, so both a little bit higher and a little bit lower than the mare above.

This used to be a lot more important before the show system was overhauled, when the bulk of your income came from placing in the upper half of the class, so it was almost never advantageous to enter a horse in a class it was unlikely to do well in, and if inconsistency could mean the difference between winning and losing money, well....

Now the bulk of your income comes from the horse's earned points, and unless they place absolute last in a class, they will earn some points.

Consistent horses have higher PT scores than inconsistent horses because.... well, because. XD I realize that isn't a very satisfactory answer, but it is calculated into the Performance Testing total. Which makes sense; a horse that is going to be reliable and unflappable in the ring is a better performer than one who might be a rockstar one day and the next day decide it doesn't like how that fence post is looking at it.

It does have a hereditary component. Consistent horses are likely to have consistent offspring. However, it is not 100% guaranteed. Two consistent horses will throw inconsistent foals; two inconsistent horses can have consistent offspring.

Sorry for the essay, but I hope this helps!

ConfluenceStable: Isn't it one GMT to make an inconsistent horse consistent? That's currently 10 IV's.

You're right, SandyCreek! Sorry!