Judges: standard deduction for stop + poop?

[erinmeri]

I don’t ride dressage, but I laughed a lot at this thread! Too funny.

Unless I am jumping, I try to stop when the horses poop, to make the subsequent picking of poop easier (we have $$$ footing in both rings). There’s nothing worse than a “traveler”. It never occurred to me that I might be installing a woah.

My horse almost never poops in the ring, as she is a dedicated crosstie pooper, but when she does, I stop to “consolidate” the pile. I have a pretty hot/forward horse, but when she poops on course, she slows to a crawl and requires a LOT of leg. Since she is so hot to the fences, when I complain, my trainer yells “use it to your ADVANTAGE!”

[exploding_pony]

Believe you should get an error (-2) if a horse actually halts and poops because you are not maintaining the gait (assuming it’s not during your halt).

You can have fabulous new footing and still make the horse keep going forward while going. You just don’t run back over it - it isn’t so complicated! Just steer around it and pick up once you finish riding. If someone else happens to be in the ring, just tell them not to run over it or wait a few minutes and then dismount and clean it up.

My young horse is not inclined to move along when pooping under saddle but I’m not letting him halt, despite our fancy new footing!

[OverandOnward]

My previous late horse pooped once on every single ride. What to do between fair consideration for the horse and the importance of not stopping in the middle of a jumping course or a dressage test …

He and I negotiated a compromise. If he pooped within the first 10 minutes of the ride - during warm-up, really - he could stop and poop at his leisure. Plus he would get petting and praise. But if he pooped after that, he had to keep moving. He could poop but it needed to be as near as possible to performing as if he was not pooping (which most horses can do and he could do).

Smart horse figured it out quickly. He did his poop in the first 10 minutes, every single ride.

[hillary_again]

I was watching the Festival of Champions Prix St George. Horse stopped and pooped. The score for this movement was a 1. Interesting that there is not a consistent standard for this occurrence, given how frequently this does happen.

[MissAriel]

Mine is similar. We do a nice walk warmup on the track outside of the arena, where there is no special footing, just sand. He generally obliges by doing his business, and I let him stop to make pick up easier for me - we are still required to pick piles on the track. Once we are in the arena, he rarely has to go, but if he does, we do not stop.

[BigMama1]

@Mersidoats

Green maresy had earned herself a 4 and “stood to poop” at multiple shows. She gets a bit of a nervous tummy. I get it - showing is hard. Always a 4, never more, never less.

AFAIK 4 is the standard mark for breaking gaits, so I think that’s as generous as the judge can be, while being sympathetic

[Jealoushe]

@sparkygrace

would not want someone running in waving a pitchfork during my warm-up. I can imagine a spooky horse would not like that and it could potentially be dangerous for the person on the ground.

I really can’t imagine a horse spooking at someone mucking out the arena and if they do, practice at home. That’s a typical thing to happen at a show and horses should be able to handle it.

[Jealoushe]

Exactly. I just have a private farm but I still clean it up as soon as I can. Same with in the barn. I clean anything that happens while I’m in the barn if they are in.

I’m always totally shocked to go to boarding barns and see poop in the aisle or the wash stall. People just leave poop in the aisle while they go ride? I can not even imagine such a thing or being that lazy. It takes little effort to clean up after your horse and keeps the barn environment so much nicer.

[sparkygrace]

I don’t have to imagine since I’ve had a two in my long riding life. Both brilliant but very reactive and hard to keep focused. Neither could handle distractions. It would be ideal to have horses that were perfectly trained and able to perform no matter what, but that isn’t reality.

[prunebey]

I consider myself lucky that I’ve never had to find out the deduction for a stop & poop since both of my dressage mounts are prolific poopers lol. The gelding will go as soon as I put him in the cross ties to tack up and then proceed to drop small amounts frequently throughout our ride (he’s one that will happily poo on the go). The mare used to poop constantly during rides but for some reason has stopped doing that lately…thankfully too because she MUST stop to go. She has trained me to take a muck cart & rake with us to the wash rack though because that is an instant trigger lol.

[atlatl]

@Jealoushe

Exactly. I just have a private farm but I still clean it up as soon as I can. Same with in the barn. I clean anything that happens while I’m in the barn if they are in.

I’m always totally shocked to go to boarding barns and see poop in the aisle or the wash stall. People just leave poop in the aisle while they go ride? I can not even imagine such a thing or being that lazy. It takes little effort to clean up after your horse and keeps the barn environment so much nicer.

So true!

One place I was at had signs in the cross ties along the lines of “The poop fairy doesn’t work here, clean up after your horse!”

Manure in the wash rack is the worst! I’ve seen people try to wash it down the drain and then complain when the drains get clogged.

[beowulf]

This an interesting thread. I would think at non-grass venues that the owner[s] of said venues would want their rings protected; therefore, manure removed immediately before it’s trodden into the substrate.

I’ve had people pick up the former horse’s manure as I am entering for my test. I’ve also had tests where there’s been a clear line of manure from multiple horses and tests.

I’d prefer to have someone run in and scoop it out, even if it’s happening just as I’m turning in for my test. I have not one but two horses who will do anything in their power to avoid stepping on poop. I’ve been that competitor that has trotted down the centerline and had a horse do the leg-flinging "ew!!! DAVID!" avoidance of another horse’s manure. It didn’t earn me great scores.

[theresak]

@beowulf

I’ve been that competitor that has trotted down the centerline and had a horse do the leg-flinging " ew!!! DAVID!" avoidance of another horse’s manure.

FYI - I had this happen on the line for the TOH in a regional championships class and I just turned like 2 feet early onto the line and stayed just off the poop in the turn for a good score. Not totally sure if you wouldn’t get dinged on a centerline because that’s easier for the judge to see if you are off the line, but if your whole centerline is straight just slightly to one side to avoid poop, it might be a better score than jumping poop or going crooked around it. Just an idea for the future if this happens to anyone else.

[BigMama1]

I had a horse who would NEVER poop under saddle, except as soon as we trotted up center line in a show. And he did it in every single test the first two years I showed him. Very hard to train him not to stop and poop since he never did it at home!