How do I Calculate my Placing Score?

Information Needed to Calculate a Placing Score

There are 3 pieces of information needed:

1. Total points possible.
2. The "Official Placing" for the class.
3. The "cuts" for the class.

How Many Points are Possible in a Placing Class?

Total Points Possible for a Placing Score

For each placing class in a judging contest, the maximum number of points possible is 50.

• If you place the class correctly, you will receive the full 50 points.
• If you place the class incorrectly, points will be deducted from the maximum points possible. 

What in the World is an "Official Placing"?

The "Official Placing"

At a judging contest, either an individual or group of individuals serve as the official judge.

The official judge evaluates each placing class and determines how the animals in each class should be placed.

The official judge's placing of the animals in the class is called the "Official Placing."

What are "Cuts" for a Placing Class?

The "Cuts" for the Placing Class

The official judge also determines how easy or difficult the decisions are to place the animals in each class:

• The first place animal over the second place animal (top pair)
• The second place animal over the third place animal (middle pair)
• The third place animal over the fourth place animal (bottom pair)

Based on the difficulty or ease of determining these placings, the official judge assigns top, middle and bottom pair cuts.

If the placing of a pair is easy, the cut will be a large number and you will lose several points if you disagreed with the official judge on that pair.

If the placing of a pair is hard, the cut will be a small number and you will lose just a few points if you disagreed with the official judge on that pair.

Example cuts and what they mean:

• Cut 1: Very difficult placing
• Cut 3: Challenging placing (but should be found)
• Cut 5: Easy placing
• Cut 7: Very easy placing (should not be missed)

There are some basic guidelines that the official judge uses in assigning cuts.

• The total of the three cuts cannot be over 15 for a class of four animals.
• If the total of the three cuts is 15, the individual cut for the middle pair cannot be larger than five.
• If the total of the three cuts is 14, the individual cut for the middle pair cannot be larger than eight.

How Do We Put It All Together?

You are ready to calculate your placing scores.