Patting your horse during a dressage test

[MKV]

This COTH article is about the H/J world but it got me thinking about dressage.

Penalized For Patting

Years ago at a HT my very tense mare was having a fairly decent dressage test. After a transition from trot to walk right before the free walk across the diagonal I patted her neck with my inside hand. It was noted on my test as “Rider patting horse”. I can’t remember what the score for that movement was, and I don’t know if it was marked down because of it.

I’ve watched upper level regular dressage tests where the riders patted their horse after a difficult movement or if the horse was tense, and I’ve certainly learned from my dressage trainers to release the inside rein and pat to reward.

What are your thoughts on that? Is that frowned upon during a test?

[ellevt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZGov3i70A

I have no idea for “average folks”, but you can see Diaz releasing and patting with the inside rein several times during this test. Makes me so happy : )

[SnicklefritzG]

I’ve seen Anky do it. Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz
did it during the WEG a few years ago.

I doubt either got penalized.
I don’t know of any rule against it, either directly or indirectly.
However, I personally would wait until after the end of the test as we are walking towards A.

[findeight]

IIRC rules say you cannot touch the horse forward of the shoulder, theory being it could create an additional aid or reinforce a rein aid.

I think they overthink that when it’s an obvious reward. But I can see some logic behind the basic intent.

[Carried_Away]

I do it regularly as well as a little scratch near the withers if the horse is tense and have never been penalized for it.

[SillyHorse]

Accustom your horse at home to a rub with your knuckles on the side of the withers along with a clear “Good!” You will be able to give that rub during a test and your horse will know what it means. If you do it right, the judge will not see it.

[EventerAJ]

Can’t say that I’ve ever noticed anyone - judge, spectator, or otherwise - react negatively towards a little positive reinforcement. Now, reins-in-one-hand neck slap would be over the top… but I have no problem reaching forward with the inside hand, to “release/reward” and give a little rub when the horse is trying hard.

[MKV]

I routinely use the inside rein release/pat/rub as a reward during schooling but now wait until the end of a test to pat my horse. From my memory the pat in question wasn’t a big deal - not a big slap pat that EventerAJ describes but perhaps that particular judge thought it was over the top. She didn’t remark on it other than in that particular movement but it always had me wondering.

[BeastEventer]

During a bad wind storm we had a tree crash down near the ring, my normal honey badger mare was really badly genuinely spooked by it and I gave her quite a big obvious pat to let her know it was okay. The judge did note it at the movement it happened “during”, but the number score seemed about right for movement and at the bottom wrote “well handled and managed”

My big girl thinks correct canter-trot transitions are REALLY hard and would rather fall on her face, so if she gets a good strong balanced forward transition down to the trot I give her a little quick scratch on the withers, have never been commented on for that.

[enjoytheride]

I got a comment on a test where I released the inside rein during a very nice trot circle in her difficult direction. Tenseness is my mare’s problem and I wanted to reward her for her correct behavior. Something about uneven contact on the reins and it was marked down. I have a video and you can see it’s a very deliberate release of the rein.

[SevenDogs]

While I get the reasoning behind rules like this (however convuluted), sometimes you need to do what is right by the horse and his/her development, without regard score.

Most judges will apply the rule correctly for the situation (tree incident), but if you get a judge that wants to deduct for it, accept it and move on. I have even seen judge’s mark down for something but then say in the comments that the rider did the right thing.

You have to look at the long haul for that horse and not just one test.

[yellowbritches]

Ingrid Klimke is a master at the quick pat. Watch some of her tests (maybe her London test?) and you can see it. I dream of being that good. I try, but I usually fumble coming back. But I will not hesitate a scratch on the withers and have been known to give a baby a less subtle rub for staying settled.

The article in question is mind boggling to me. Marking someone down for giving a gracious and quiet reward to their partner is appalling to me. I can see not giving your horse a big hug (though, I would have a hard time not celebrating after nailing a Medal final round!), but I don’t see how bridging your reins and giving your horse a nice “thanks, dude” should EVER be punished.

[SnicklefritzG]

^^That article was mind-boggling. I thought the idea behind the rule was to penalize riders who completely dropped their rein if they lost balance or if their horse took a bad step. I don’t see anything wrong with a discreet pat, as long as you have the reins in one hand.

What kind of judge would penalize a rider in that fashion? Deduct points as an excuse to mark someone down that they didn’t like as much as another one? This kind of behavior on the part of the judges seems very petty.

One of my favorite videos is of Reiner Klimke winner individual gold in the olympics. At the end of the test, he drops the reins completely and adjusts his top hat. Yes, he dropped his reins!!! So it wasn’t an eq class, but still. It wasn’t like he lost control of his horse. In fact, his horse on no rein at all looked completely happy and relaxed.