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FEI Jumping Guidelines with pictures

That makes more sense!

Odd. Funny now that I think of it, I can remember seeing a picture of Jessica Springsteen with only the snaffle rein attached and was wondering why.

At the level she shows at, that rule wouldnā€™t apply to her though. I would assume more personal preference.

It means children cannot ride with a single rein on the curb which makes sense to me

Not allowing the only rein attachment to be to the curb makes sense. But not allowing two reins, which is how Iā€™m interpreting this, does not.

#butFEI

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It pretty explicitly says your exact interpretation - one rein only, either with a converter or just on the snaffle ring.

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What I mean is there is no rein solely on the curb on a pony in any case. With two reins, one can leave the ā€œsnaffleā€ rein swinging in the breeze and ride exclusively off the curb. With one rein on a rounding, the curb effect is less.
Similar to how the double bridle is not allowed on ponies

OK. Now I understand what youā€™re saying.

But one could run the one rein coming off a Pelham converter through a running martingale (unless I missed something, which is entirely possible) which could be harsher than riding off the curb by slacking the snaffle rein.

IMHO with a Pelham you never have a true curb or snaffle anyway, even with one rein slack.

With two reins they could both run through the martingale so itā€™s six of one really

No it is not. Because with two reins, you could have the option to run only the snaffle through a running martingale. With a converter, you do not. Not to mention the two and three ring gags are apparently fine at that level with only one rein attached to a lower leverage/gag ring, even though those bit used with a single rein and no type of curb strap are going to be far harsher than a pelham with two reins where the rider is over reliant on the curb.

But honestly, the whole thing is beside the point because at the end of day it seems absurd to prohibit the proper way of using a specific piece of equipment. If the FEI sees such an issue with riders at the 1.1m height (which is not restricted to children or ponies, by the way) riding exclusive off of the curb rein, then prohibit any bit with a curb rein.

The rule not allowing two reins on a pelham affects CSIP only; meaning ponies. The oldest riders in the category are in their sixteenth year. All other categories can use whatever rein configuration they like. By the way.

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Iā€™m laughing a bit, since I used to ride my pony in a little double bridle with two reins when I was six years old.

But I wasnā€™t jumping around FEI competitions at the time. I can only imagine they have a logical reason for such a rule.

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I do not really think that makes this rule any better.

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:woman_shrugging:

No, I stand corrected on who it applies to but agree it still makes no sense to require equipment to be used improperly.

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Yeah. I knew that before I posted.

Guess thereā€™s the right way, the wrong way, and the FEI way. <ā€” alteration of another saying.

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My post wasnā€™t directed at you, apologies if I tagged you by mistake

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I wasnā€™t six, but I was nine or ten years old . Thatā€™s a very strange rule.

Pelhams (never used by my instructors) were used with two reins and never was the curb rein run through the martingale. Connectors werenā€™t a thing, at all.

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The FEI has to make rules that deal with world-wide problems.

On a slight tangent, I attended a talk by the FEI Chief Farrier who showed some pictures of the feet of horses competing at the Tokyo Olympics - and they were eye-opening. He believed his implicit, unofficial role as FEI farrier included providing education and even training to team farriers and riders to meet that FEI imperative of ā€œthe welfare of the horseā€.

I can not see how making a rule that it is against the rules to use a bit how it is designed to be used is somehow fixing a world-wide problem.

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