Purity of gaits being paramount, how could a horse that is irregular score well wether it is within the rules or not to show an lame stepping horse?
[QUOTE=Oranges2012;8692694]
What do you all think when a lame or at best sub-clinical ( irregular steps, etc) horse gets good scores at shows? Have seen this from lower levels to GP. Recently a PSG horse who had irregular and often lame ( head bobbing, at times very obvious, other times subtle but clear) in all trot work got over 70% at good size show. Horse otherwise was steady looking but many spectators could see the problem from the talk around the show. Rider is known and doing well at shows and CDIs. Why don’t judges ring out these people? If trainers think they can get away with it, or don’t care, it will not stop. Have seen it often but especially disappointng to see at FEI.[/QUOTE]
Just wanted to report, the judge I rode under today at the show excused 3 horses for beeing lame (not sure about the levels though) And I really agree because the first thing I noticed when I entered the warm up ring was a lame horse And I mean really lame… it was not excited it was relaxed and trotted with a bobbing head… I guess she excused that one (at least I hope she did…) She was very strict but I really agreed with her on that
[QUOTE=Kazan;8699219]
Purity of gaits being paramount, how could a horse that is irregular score well wether it is within the rules or not to show an lame stepping horse?[/QUOTE]
While I certainly don’t condone showing an unsound horse, the “pervasive lameness” that warrants a judge eliminating a pair I suspect is either so severe in the trot work that it’s absolutely obvious or clearly extends to all gaits and in both directions.
A horse that maybe shows a couple irregular steps turning off of center line, then in a 10 m circle, or in a medium/extended trot, etc. the judge notices the irregularity. But as others have pointed out, the movements go fast, the judge notices and marks down the irregularity but perhaps can’t tell if the horse just is unbalanced in those movements, or it is ridden in a way to appear “rein lame”, etc. If the horse is irregular at the trot work, say, then yes it will lose what, a point? half a point? whatever the judge deems for each of the trot marks. But really by the time the judge starts to get a sense of where the irregularity may be coming from the horse goes into the walk/canter work. And if they appear regular in the canter/walk then the judge cannot mark them down in those gaits, so if ridden correctly can be receiving good marks there, which can certainly outweigh the marked down places for the trot work and outscore a rider whose horse was not irregular but was not ridden as well. Obviously the gait score would suffer too, but again, I can absolutely see that outscoring a horse who showed no irregularity but was not otherwise as correctly ridden.
I have seen a judge ring a rider out for lameness, and it was in an eventing dressage test where the horse was going nicely and then over-reached and was suddenly, obviously, head-bobbing lame. The judge gave the pair maybe 5-8 seconds to work out of it and rang them out when the horse was still off.