I would feel like a real schmuck if I showed a lame horse.
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Sadly, like with the Equitation horses, those kids probably donât know if the horse is sound or not, especially if theyâve never truly ridden a âsoundâ horse. Hell some kids are showing 3â6, and have to look for their diagonals, let alone feel if a horse is off.
I always say, I would never, ever, ever want a horse I care about to be an Equitation horse. That is a HARD life. Those horses school, and school, and train and train, and then get to the shows and get worked more on top of getting water pulled all day and night. Half the horses are nerved up front, among other things. Why do you think a lot of the top Equitation barns require kids to have multiple back up horses?
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Regardless of the logistics, at the very least adding soundness into the rules gives judges the option and responsibility to excuse a horse that is lame, and that seems very appropriate for the philosophy of the division as well as horse welfare. The first tenet of horsemanship should be horse welfare and soundness is the most basic element of that at a horse show.
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What do you mean about the water? Why is that done?
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This is my perception exactly of the soundness trot circle, which is usually not even a full circle before the horse starts walking. The riders I have seen to complete an appropriate trot circle in which lameness would be easy to spot are those with great movers, whose objective is to show it off!
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People take away the horses water for 12+ hours and ride/work them so theyâre extremely lethargic and quiet. And believe it or not, but it happens WAY more often than you think.
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I remember reading glowing things about a Big Eq trainer in the Chronicle magazine who used to do thatâŠmaybe still does. How do those horses not colic???
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I show with a high end equitation-focused barn kind of by accident, god knows Iâm in no danger of doing the equitation, and I think painting with that broad brush isnât quite fair. I know at least in that program youâre required to have multiple horses or lease another one if you qualify for all the finals and want to go to all of them because itâs not fair for them to show that many weeks in a row, and while they might work harder than some horses, I think they get as much attention to their soundness and care as an equivalently high level jumper or hunter. I think some of them are lame at finals but I donât think itâs significantly more pervasive than what youâd see in some hunter divisions. The really elite kids all have several horses and arenât jumping the legs off of them, but programs where the budgets arenât quite as generous might do things differently. I definitely thought they all had terrible lives until I ended up in the mix.
There is already a rule against riding an obviously lame horse. The judges have the power to excuse a horse thatâs lame in the ring regardless of whether or not a jog happens. Why they donât is out of my scope but the horse welfare section exists in the equitation rules.
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It is significantly more pervasive in equitation.
People donât work their hunters down to the degree that the equitation horses are drilled.
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Thanks for the explanation!
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Since the issue of time /scheduling etc has been brought up, maybe not in this thread specifically but in other places regarding this issue, maybe we need to have fewer classes to allow time for jogs. We donât needs class for everyone who wants to walk over a pole on the ground if it will allow us to do more to protect the horses
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At the same time, how is it the xrail kidsâ fault that the Eq rules are written for âserviceably soundâ and the judges arenât using their power to eliminate for welfare? More than that, rarely do the âwalk over a pole on the groundâ classes run in the same ring as the equitation we are discussing here. Shortening the day in one arena wonât necessarily shorten it in the âbigâ ring.
Anyway, itâs my opinion that class limits per horse + soundness requirement (and empowering the judges to eliminate for soundness) in the eq would do more to shorten the day and reduce questionable entries in these classes. Fewer classes over the week also equals fewer warmups for the horse, so the reduction in workload for the One Horse Junior might actually be drastic.
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Oh I know. I get it. Doesnât mean itâs right or they we should let it stay that way
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The cross rail
Kids and pole on the ground people can go to schooling shows and local shows they donât need to be at these big shows .but of course the trainer makes more money when more people go to the same show
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I mean I agree that would be MY course of action, but also I donât really care how other people choose to spend their time and money. Not to mention the lack of unrated stuff in a lot of places and the lack of people to get those shows started (have you(g) worked a schooling show? It is not easy).
Still doesnât have an impact on the Big Eq or smaller medal horses we are talking about here, though.
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Yes I have. I have volunteered at tons of equestrian activities over the years.
Generally, I donât care about how others spend their money either unless it affects me via ring holds forever because people canât step in a ring without their trainer or thereâs 200 cross rails people or any combo of the above, and horseshows running until 9 pm
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Poorly made schedules and disorganized riders and trainers are indeed a pain. I feel that. We have a lot of this at our regional A shows. But in my experience, the folks helping the cross-rail students are not those training the Big Eq riders. At smaller shows where there are a lot of beginner classes, the Big Eq either doesnât exist or doesnât fill. We have some little kids doing crossrails at bigger shows. Its in the hinterland ring. The assistant assistant trainer or their riding moms help them. I hope to do some myself on my really green horse!
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It does only in multi-ring shows where management will shift around classes to open up the schedule in the big eq ring to possibly jog those in addition to the 3â6 and 3â3 juniors and AOs on the weekends - shift the 3â classes from ring 1 to ring 2, and the 2â6 classes from ring 2 to ring 3 if you remove the teeny tiny classes out of ring 3 and can fill the space in the schedule. But then, inevitably, you have those MASSIVE 2â6 schooling classes now in ring 3 which is arguably the smallest ring with least maintenance and then everyone is still unhappy and the trainers complain that nobody likes the tiny ring and then itâs a different issue all togetherâŠ.sigh.
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Welcome to horse showing: you canât please everyone 
And good point that it really depends on the show. Most of the time your trainer conflicts arenât the ground poles and the Big Eq, but juggling hundreds or thousands of horses at a show is no mean feat for management regardless. Iâd love to see an enforced, full circle trot on a loose rein in the round rather than an additional jog - but Iâm a Smurf and Iâm sure TPTB donât care what I have to say about it!
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