For the this practice, which is currently replacing jogging for soundness at the end of the class: I’m curious about the preferred method on how this is to be completed. Do you come down to a walk, then trot? Or do you just end your canter, drop down to the trot, and loosen your reins?
The latter. Come down to trot, do your closing circle on a loose rein with very light contact. I am all for it. Saves so much time!
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This sounds way more efficient than being on standby to jog for ribbons.
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@blondewithchrome, thanks! How about for the end of the handy rounds, where the riders will pull up to a walk (and used to casually saunter out of the gate :))? Just down to the trot, like you described, or go to the walk, and then back up to the trot?
I’ve seen it done both ways. Some people will make a prompt transition to the walk after the last jump to show off the handiness factor, and then pick up the trot and circle to demonstrate soundness.
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What MHM said. I’ve seen both! Some trot a bit on the loose rein and then walk, some walk then trot the circle. It’s really not specified at least to my knowledge HOW, so riders preference. I do see it is a rule to be considered to make the jog optional in lieu of the “circle for soundness” ans show managers can choose. While yes, there is something nice about the jog for formal classes or big championships, I agree it helps the time go by much more quickly!
I think that rule change proposal will go through following quite a bit of discussion at the recent meetings. It does make sense to give shows the option to do what suits them best.
It also was pointed out during one of those discussions that there is no rule against having an awards presentation without a jog, if that seemed like the best option at some shows like Devon or Indoors.
Sorry to be Debbie Downer here, but it also gives riders/trainers an option for disguising a lameness by always choosing to circle in the horse’s “good” direction.
However, I do agree that it’ll be a tremendous time saver, and way nicer than hanging by ringside for long periods of time waiting to jog when you think your trip might pin.
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Why not do the trot at the start of the trip instead of having a horse jump a full trip and then have the judge determine there is a soundness issue.
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That may be an option occasionally, but most of the time the placement of the last jump on the course will determine the direction of the circle.
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To my mind, jogging to the out gate isn’t nearly the test that a “jog for soundness” should be - in the traditional jog, the horse is stripped and unmounted, which leaves little room for hiding. A good rider on a horse that is still amped from its round (or, worse, has performed with help from a cocktail) can mask a subtle lameness.
I get the utility of the “jog on the way out” for the exhibitor and timeliness of the show, but…
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That same cocktail would hide the unsoundness if jogged in hand too.
I personally like this plan, it keeps things moving. No horses having to stand around at the gate waiting to jog.
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I think it’s a much better gauge of soundness than the in hand jog.
First, the trot is now with the weight of a rider on.
Second, it is such a time saver! The horse can then go back to the stall rather than wait it out for the jog order.
I like the down transition from the canter to the trot at the end, but going back to the walk and then trot is fine. Generally, it would make sense to circle in the direction off the last fence.
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If you listened in on the rule change discussion last month there was some discussion of these points. I don’t know if there a recording that you can go back and watch.
They discussed jogging before/after jumping in terms of allowing a potential unsound horse to do a course before being eliminated, but that’s the same way it works today. And from my point of view with an immediate jog there’s no opportunity to go back to the barn and try and do a quick short-term treatment to mask something long enough to get through the in-hand jog (topicals, icing, etc).
They also discussed whether there should be a set manner in which the jog under saddle occurs, such as a pattern on the course map indicating the path that must be followed. The subject of only circling one direction also came up. In the end, they decided not to suggest any specific standard because the judge still has discretion to request re-presentation. In fact one of the board members said they had done so recently (at WEF I believe) and had the ingate send the rider and horse back to re-jog their circle. I pretty sure a judge is going to catch on if a rider takes an unconventional path and circles opposite from the direction they finished the course or posts on the opposite diagonal to try and mask unsoundness.
That being said, I’m sure people will still find a way to mask any issues as best they can. No rule is going to cure that type of behavior.
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Yup. I saw this happen at a small “A” show I was at back in November. The horse tripped on the circle (he was actually just stretching down and I think got a little lazy), so the judge asked them to circle once more. I think as long as judges are vigilant, it’s a totally fine method.
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I’ve seen a judge not score someone that pulled up and made the horse walk after running down a line with the girl. She then trotted her circle but out of 6 people the judge didn’t pin her.
Not sure about any other shows, but at the ones I did this year, we did our over fences classes back to back like normal and then either went back to stalls to wait for the hack (some classes had 50-100 entries so took hours and hours to complete) or if you were in the ring last, just wait down for the hack. They would then do the hack class, then call back the top 8 for the over fences classes. No untacking since the hack class was just done and the jumps on the rail were down, we trotted (rode) in on a loose rein in order of placing, and trotted past the judges booth for soundness. At least it cut down on waiting around the ring etc. right after the over fences rounds. It seemed to work ok and not sure if this will be the new norm
Were these USEF shows?
That is not at all what I’ve seen in the last year and a half at USEF shows. I’ve seen everyone (in a division that would normally jog) trot a circle at the end of each round before they left the ring for each class.
No, Not USEF, but EC sanctioned as I’m in Canada.
But that trot circle would work really well and speed things up a lot for sure!
