What rule allows a coach or trainer to ride a horse at a non-championship show? A TD told my trainer it was the person designated “coach” but I am having a hard time finding the exact rule in the general rules or the dressage section. I’m also emailing USEF but I thought the board might be faster
Edit: the consensus seems to be it’s not in the rules but if someone has signed an entry form, they seem to be okay to ride the horse, provided it’s not a championship, of course
I don’t understand your question. A trainer can ride the horse at non champs. Are you asking if the person designated “coach” can also ride the horse?
These are the relevant rules
DR127.6
Under penalty of disqualification from all championship classes for the horse/rider combination, within 24 hours prior
and at no time during a USEF/USDF Championship competition may any horse entered in that Championship
competition be ridden by anyone other than the rider entered in the Championship competition on that horse
(Exception: grooms riding on loose rein). Further, any horse entered in a Championship competition, even if entered
at two levels, must be ridden by the same rider throughout the competition.
and
DR128.2
For Federation qualifying for Children, Pony Riders, Juniors, Young Riders and Brentina Cup (Young Adults), within
24 hours prior and at no time during the competition, may any horse entered in a USEF Qualifying class be ridden by
anyone other than the athlete entered in that class on that horse, under penalty of disqualification from the class for
USEF championship qualifying purposes. For USEF championships for Children, Pony Riders, Juniors, Young Riders
and Brentina Cup (Young Adults), within 24 hours prior and at no time during the competition, may any horse entered
in a USEF Championship class be ridden by anyone other than the athlete entered in that class on that horse under
penalty of elimination from the USEF championships. Exception: grooms riding on a loose rein. For purposes of this
rule, the competition starts when horse and athlete arrive on the show grounds. This rule also applies for NAYC and
USEF High Performance (HP) qualifying competitions and classes.
But if it is not a championship, I have not found any rule that restricts who else can ride the horse (trainer, coach, friend, your mother, a potential buyer …)
You would be better off emailing USEF for clarification, as they are USEF rules, not USDF rules.
My opinion is that the TD that said “only the coach can ride the horse” mis-spoke. But my opinion is not relevant in this case, you need clarification from USEF
Eventing has a rule that spells it out that it is an elimination, so since I can’t find the same thing for dressage, I assume that with no rule, it is allowed.
Yes. The Eventing rules are very different from the Dressage rules in this respect.
I’m not sure I understand the question. If not at a championship there is nothing wrong with anyone, coach, trainer, or whoever, riding the horse in warmup
That TD did not know what they were saying or your trainer did not understand the TD’s explanation. Not all TDs are created equal and some know the rules better than others.
There is no rule that says you are the only allowable rider at a national (non CDI) show other than the ones outlined above - various championships or apparently the qualifying classes for various rider championships, which makes sense.
When I work in the show office and we are explaining signatures/roles to people I try to break it down like this
Rider - obvious
Owner - pretty self explanatory but it can be a representative for the owner
Parent/guardian - also should be self explanatory, but the pushback I get when I tell people that it can’t just be the trainer/coach unless they are also a legal guardian is ugly sometimes.
Now to the confusing ones for many:
Trainer - is supposed to be the one responsible for the care of the horse. If you are in full service and even at the show your trainer is the one taking full care of your horse - done. But if your trainer is just instructing/coaching you - you’re actually the trainer for purposes of USEF show rules.
Coach - that is the person on the show grounds coaching you.
Someone can be both trainer and coach or just one or the other.
Dressage people tend to use the term trainer when coach is often a more accurate term.
The only thing I also caution people about is that in theory there should be no one on your horse on the showgrounds that has not signed a waiver with the show management.
To add a bit to @rothmpp great explanation, Rider, Owner, and Trainer are required on the entry form. Coach is not required.
I always considered myself “trainer” even if my horse is at another barn. Like the owner and rider, the trainer is responsible if (heavens forbid) there is an issue with a drug test.
When I leased a horse out, I required she register the lease (it costs a few $$) because the horse was no longer in my barn and I had no control over him day-to-day (not that I would expect anything untoward, but we all know shit happens and mistakes are made, like using the wrong triple antibiotic on a scratch…)
This. The rules don’t limit who can ride a horse at a normal show, so long as they’ve signed whatever waivers are required by the USEF/USDF/facility/management company.
I’ve seen a buyer and buyer’s trainer ride a horse at the showgrounds while shopping, I’ve seen friends ride a horse when owner/rider got stuck at work and couldn’t make it before the rings closed, and I’ve seen grooms and trainers and moms ride horses too.
Thanks all for your help! I mis-typed and meant the dressage contact for USEF since it would be in the dressage section of the general rules (most likely) I did email them, just waiting on confirmation but good to know that others are finding similar (it’s allowed but not clearly articulated in the rules).
I agree with the above comment from rothmpp, and suspect the TD was trying to explain it but somewhere a game of telephone mangled it: anyone on a horse at the show should have signed a waiver for insurance reasons.
I was curious, so I looked up our (Aus) national rules. These apply to any dressage show, no matter how potty, run under EA rules
Edit: wrong section
A surprises me. They do not allow any test to be called?
These read more like they apply to a certain level of riding.
B specifically says entered in Championships.
Chiming in with Canuck rules - anyone who holds a sport license (has paid dues to the National/Provincial federation and thereby is insured for liability) can ride the horse in warm up at a non-championship show. At championships only the athlete entered to compete on a horse may ride it.
Calling tests (below FEI) is acceptable except at championship shows.
Years and years and years ago, an owner I was riding for got permission to allow a test ride by a potential purchaser after we had finished all our classes. The show was not officially over, but we were able to go to an unused ring to stay out of the way of anyone warming up or competing. I don’t know if that sort of exception would be granted these days - especially with the potential buyer being from out of country.
OH!!! My bad - that is the section for Young Horse / Pony Championships…
This is the section that applies to Joe Blow Shows
3.12.2 Riding in competition, warm-up and exercise areas – refer to Annex D
d) from twenty-four hours prior to the event starting, a horse may be ridden only by its nominated rider on the competition grounds. However, a groom may walk the horse on a long rein only.
also they are subject to federation rules, so they can draw violations
New Zealand is similar to the Australian rule: after the competition starts a horse can only be ridden by the competition rider, or a groom walking on a long rein.
There is a provision for swapping riders during the competition, but if you do swap all remaining tests must be HC. It’s not common but sometimes you see one rider (usually more experienced) start off and do a couple of tests on a horse, and then another rider (usually less experienced) takes over and rides HC.
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