Op Piece - Banning Whips in Competition

[Willesdon]

British Eventing permits only two strikes at a fence. The rules are enforced. More than two strikes, or just dislike of how/when/where a whip is used, is reported over the radio by the very professional fence judges. An offender will then be closely watched around the course by the BE officials. When back home in the box park, the offender may/will be given “a talking to” by a BE official. I’ve watched the TD in their car speeding towards the finish as a rider is reported to be over using their whip around the course. The offender may then be put onto the semi-official “watch list” if particularly rough or a repeat offender. Finally, formal sanctions may be applied, even up to a ban. The objective is educating the rider: the majority are not intending to be abusive. Often it is ignorance or habit. Learning to use leg supported when necessary by the whip, learning to change whip hand to guide the horse on a bending line, feeling when to use a judicious tap down the shoulder to get a horse more foreward is part of learning effective xc riding. Habit is so often three tap, tap, tap down the shoulder so allowing only two is actually a rather clever way to make riders aware of their actions.

My concern is children using spurs. Back in the time of dinasaurs when I started learning, a secure seat and effective leg was essential before anyone put on spurs. Today, every child on social media knows what brands the leading influencers are wearing, how their heroes are dressed and they wish to wear the same. All riders wear spurs, obvs. Abuse of spurs, IMO, is worse than abuse of the whip. A nagging, insecure lower leg means the spur is constantly digging into the side of the horse with consequences including permanent damage. Leaving a patch of longer hair to avoid “spur rubs” is not necessarily a good thing. The sight of a child hooning around xc with spurs digging and whip flailing because they lack the physical strength and/or the education to use any leg never engenders a warm fuzzy feeling inside me.

[frugalannie]

Much of this is true in the US as well, Willesdon. My experience with officials at an upper level competition is somewhat dated (by years) but comes from watching an Intermediate XC division. I was watching from the Control tent. The ground jury and TD quietly spread out around the course to keep an eye on a particular competitor who was on the unofficial, but no less real, watch list. They hopscotched around the course to have eyes on everywhere. It was pretty interesting.

[Blugal]

@Willesdon

Leaving a patch of longer hair to avoid “spur rubs” is not necessarily a good thing.

This has been mentioned a few times. I leave the patch on my horses and I don’t even wear spurs. It’s because during coat changes (summer to winter, winter to spring), their skin seems to get rubs more easily, and I have rubbed them with my half-chaps and boots.

[Willesdon]

@frugalannie, oh yes. An advantage of being a volunteer at an Event is that one sees a good deal of the behind-the-scenes activity that is necessary for the competition to run smoothly, the hidden controls and decisions, the dedication of the people involved, the sheer hard work to allow the riders to have fun. It is a real learning opportunity. I think every competitor should volunteer occasionally, particularly as Jump Judges.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Completely agree with this.

I jump judge frequently at a number of different venues, and it really is an education!

[Texarkana]

@hey101

I have a question and two comments. My question is, I only really watch the Triple Crown races anymore, but it seems to me, especially in the last year or two watching jockeys come down the homestretch they’re not hitting horses. They’re actually waving the whip alongside the horse?

Yes, most of the time they are waving the whip. Either to assist in getting the horse to move over or to encourage them to speed up. There are whip rules in racing, too. Under HISA, you can strike a horse no more than 6 times total in a race and never more than twice in a row.

[moatsngoats]

Not sure why you’re rolling your eyes at “social license.” It’s a real thing - if the public is actively against equestrian sports because to the public eye, they seem abusive, equestrian sports WILL suffer. They could (and likely would) be removed from the Olympics, for example.

[moatsngoats]

The way this is worded is incredibly confusing…“they want us to change” who? the administration? wants us to change, how? “by changing the rules” what rules are they changing? my understanding is the admin completely flouts the rules…“thus the optics are only reflective of people unwilling to change their minds” no idea what that means?

Also not sure how this “REALITY” would bite us in the ass. And even more, FACTS can be facts about how the public perceives our sport…he is correct when he says the whip is an extremely visible tool that can be easily misunderstood. and whips have been involved in multiple of the most recent high profile abuse cases.

[moatsngoats]

Maybe data should be compiled about the types of tools most easily misunderstood by the public, like by survey. And is this type of article and the suggestion of the rule change, not “consideration”? He is offering his suggested rule change, for consideration…

Sorry to respond twice, I just am struggling both with the dismissiveness and the self-righteousness in your comments. To say that his idea is not supported by reality is both…really confusing, and untrue. It is a reality that the whip is a very visible, and very easily misunderstood, tool.

[Ajierene]

@moatsngoats

Also not sure how this “REALITY” would bite us in the ass. And even more, FACTS can be facts about how the public perceives our sport…

I think some people are just really obtuse about this.

We had a saying in my old Squadron - reality is not reality but reality is reality. It was meant to be taken seriously by the leadership. In other words, just because it isn’t (for example) favoritism, if it looks like it is, then according to the rank and file it is.

If it looks like abuse to the general public and there is enough outcry about it, it will become abuse, according to the general public and forces outside of the horse industry’s control will make the changes for us (as someone said early about greyhound racing in FL).

My opinion is, at the FEI level, you really shouldn’t need a whip. You should be on a pro that’s game for the task (dressage, jumping, etc) and shouldn’t need whip or spur to get them going. You really shouldn’t need some of the hardware I see, either.

At levels like Beginner Novice/Novice/Training - I can see spur/whip as you are either on the horse you can afford or a green horse that may need more encouragement/instructions.

Prelim/Intermediate…hmm…not sure about that.

Personally, I never really hit my horse with a whip - 99% of the time she’s refusing because she doesn’t think we can make it safely over. Last even, she refused just the two stadium jumps that were downhill. The first one she did go over but the second one I was eliminated at. Turns out she had wrenched her neck the previous week during the Battle of the Wasps and landing downhill like that hurt her to much. It only really showed up in the downhill jumps, she was game for the other ones. I found out at our regular chiro appointment. To me, that’s an example of “pro” that I’m talking about -did you set your horse up incorrectly, lean to far, is the horse hurt, etc - at the FEI level those should be the reasons for refusal and those reasons are not “whip/spur worthy”

[Spudsmyguy]

I recall a passage in the book “Practical Eventing” where Sally O’Connor wrote (I’m paraphrasing here) you should always carry a whip because what are you going to do if your horse refuses to go forward, reason with it?

[RAyers]

There is a saying, “Public opinion can affect policy and implementation, but it can not dictate facts.” It is used in science. The public can claim vaccines are bad for everybody but the facts prove otherwise. People can claim the earth is flat but the facts prove otherwise. And we know that public policy removing vaccines or changing how the world is navigated based on those pieces of public perception would result in detrimental outcomes to the public.

It is no different than attempting to remove the use of the whip in competition simply to appease public perception. Those who claim the use of a whip is “bad” refuse to have an open mind as to how it is appropriately used based on rare instances that come into the public view. Eliminating the presence of the whip in competition does little to increase horsemanship or the welfare of horses. It only changes public perception. It changes policy but not the facts.

Please show me where the data is that shows how the whip rules as they exist are helping or hindering training. Please show me any case where removal of the whip has changed the perception and horsemanship to the better.

And please, tell me why a whip is acceptable in dressage but not over jumps? Are they used for the same reasons? Where is it clear that the public is having an issue with whips on XC? Or is the suggestion akin to saying, “we see blue cars in accidents on the highway so we will make sure we don’t paint cars blue?”

[Marigold]

@RAyers

The public can claim vaccines are bad for everybody but the facts prove otherwise. People can claim the earth is flat but the facts prove otherwise. And we know that public policy removing vaccines or changing how the world is navigated based on those pieces of public perception would result in detrimental outcomes to the public.

It is no different than attempting to remove the use of the whip in competition simply to appease public perception.

This post has really helped me clarify what it is I find so unnerving about proposals like this. Sure, I think removing the whip to appease the public is not a helpful idea, but while I carry mine every ride I use it so infrequently that realistically I would not be very affected by the rule. What I am affected by every day is the increasing incidence in society of generalized misunderstandings or incorrect “information” taking precedence over documented facts. It is a much larger, more pervasive, and much more important issue in today’s world, and it is one we cannot leave unaddressed.

I don’t really think we can solve it from within the horse world, but hopefully we can at least do our part to rely on and communicate facts backed up by evidence, and let those guide our rules (and then actually enforce our rules, but that’s a different issue). I think solving this is going to take all of us, in all circles.

[AmmyHour926]

Matt has always loved singing from his soapbox, that is all the article is. Enforcing excessive"use of whip as stated in the current rules more equitably would be a better starting point.

[Luseride]

I have had horses that just carrying a crop made them do their job, we never touched them with it but it made the horse honest. Had another that I would put spurs on to warm up with at a show. I would remove them before going in the ring but as long as I did that from the saddle he was perfect. I didn’t do more than just nudge him with them once or twice at the start of the ride. Both of those tools are aids, to strengthen our cues. That can be better than kick, kick, slap, which I also see people doing.

[Joyrider]

Glad to hear this Texarkana - about the racing whips being very padded. When I read the ban the whip article, my first thought was the sport of racing could use a careful look on this subject tbh.

When the triple crown races show the homestretch runs over and over and then in slow motion too, it looks BAD that the jocks are whipping their horses all down the stretch. I know that often they are waving them and not making contact but the average person may not know that and when they do strike the horse, it sure looks like an aggressive, full strike, repeated hit which gets…cringeworthy.

[Aussie_2020]

[Texarkana]

@Joyrider

When the triple crown races show the homestretch runs over and over and then in slow motion too, it looks BAD that the jocks are whipping their horses all down the stretch. I know that often they are waving them and not making contact but the average person may not know that and when they do strike the horse, it sure looks like an aggressive, full strike, repeated hit which gets…cringeworthy

I feel like this could be addressed with a few fluff pieces throughout the broadcast. Tackle the issue head on. Because you’re right, it upsets people a ton and whips are still a very hot topic in racing, even with the extensive HISA regulations.

[Amberley]

@albytb

Groundwork, systematic conditioning, positive reinforcement, pressure-and-release techniques that prioritize feel over force: These are not fringe ideas anymore. They’re mainstream.

Those were never fringe ideas in any decent system. Just because he didn’t learn them when young, or didn’t use them in his professional practice, does not mean people haven’t been using them for thousands of years to train horses. 99.9999% of horses in history were not being manhandled around in big bits and mechanically restrained to be safe to work around- it wouldn’t have been possible. People just trained them slowly and then they knew their job and did it happily enough. I would guess the majority of horses in history worked off voice commands most of the time.

The idea that people discover something for themselves and think it must apply to all of humanity and they should start a movement must have a name surely?

[kaya842]

I wonder if the foam bats/ “crops” would be a better rule change than full on removal. A young rider at my barn has one - it’s the envy of all the kids (it’s Le mieux) and makes a nice loud pop but hurts about as much as being hit with a pool noodle.