tbloomer in gray, my old stuff in brown, really old stuff in italics, bf mine
In regards to the practical portion of the exams, until the web site was changed last year, the published guidelines for evaluating farrier certifications and competitions were one and the same.
Nossir, they were not.
Does this mean that the practical portion of the test and the judging of competitions is judged on different criteria?
While the criteria for judging the AFA contest and that of practical portion of the AFA Journeyman test are similar, they are neither alike nor interchangeable.
Ok. So ability to deliver is not synanamous with knowledge of what, when, why, and how to deliver. While knowledge can be objectively quantified, ability to deliver requires human judgement and quantification.
The ability to perform relative to a standard requires a specific skill set; however, knowledge does not imply a particular skill set; the converse is also true.
In regards to human objective quantification of practical application, far as I know the judgeing guidelines haven't changed.
If you're still trying to compare the AFA's competition with the AFA's CJF test, you're still wrong because they have different criteria by which they are quantified.
So the emphasis placed on the practical application aspect of farriery by competition is illogical?
Since the criteria for the practical segments of the AFA's farrier competition and those of the CJF tests are different, any attempt to equate one with the other is illogical.
For some incomprehensible reason, you appear to have forgotten that the AFA Journeyman test is not only a test of a testee's mechanical ability to forge and shoe to a standard, it also includes a standardized academic segment which is designed to objectively quantify a testee's knowledge of equid anatomy, biophysics, common pathologies affecting the hoof, etc.
I haven't forgotten a thing.
Evidently you have.
Especially in regards to your emphasis on the credibility and objectivity of the scoreing and judging portion of the practical portion of the exam.
The criteria for scoring and judging the practical portions of the AFA competitions and those for judging the CJF examinations are not the same! Since the criteria are not the same, your argument is apples-to-oranges illogical.
Grading a written exam requires an answer key. Judging the practical application requires human judgement, is subjective because the humans doing the judging must be experienced and educated, and has no more or less credibility than the repeatability, reproducability, and consistancy which can be expected from a given group of judges when asked for an opinion.
All true, but your original argument
("The contests are judged using the exact same criteria as the certification.") attempted to compare the value of the AFA's shoeing contest with that of the CJF test. After I informed you of the untenabilty of your original position, you limited your argument to attempting to equate the practical criteria of the AFA competition with those of the AFA's CJF test, based on the premise that the criteria for the two are exactly alike. However, because the criteria are not the same, your premise is still invalid and your conclusion remains illogical. As the Good Sisters were fond of telling me quite often, "Ergo cadit quaestio." (Therefore, the argument collapses.)
In regards to your emphasis on the credibility and objectivity of the scoreing and judging portion of the practical portion of the exam . . . nice try.
My argument regarding the credibility and objectivity of the scoring and judging of the practical portions of the AFA's certification tests has consistently been that since the standardized, published, criteria are exactly the same for every testee and the tests are evaluated as objectively as humanly possible, they remain the only fair and meaningful means of evaluating a testee's knowledge and motor skills.
Please inform yourself of the various testing criteria by which the practical portions of the AFA's CJF exam and those of the AFA's farrier competitions are judged. On doing so, you will discover the criteria are not the same, a fact that renders your arguments specious - but hey, once again, nice try.