Ring Etiquette - Let's all get along!

[mdblz]

Winter has come to California and brought with it some much needed rain! At the barn I ride at (relatively large mixed-discipline boarding facility) the outdoor footing just cannot stand up to all this wet stuff, so everyone is forced to share the medium sized covered ring.

Today it became apparent that some riders are more accustom to sharing arenas than others. Today I witnessed several near crashes, people longeing (this is allowed), people having nasty “can I talk to you for a minute” conversations with people longeing slightly frisky horses, kids adjusting their stirrups/girths while standing on the rail, dressage riders trying to do patterns, h/j riders trying to hack large big strides horses, and adult riders standing perpendicular to the rail having convos with someone on the ground about how the big horses will just not get out of the way. :eek:

This got me thinking, what are your tips and tricks, pet peeves, and strategies for navigating a busy ring? Do you change your ride plan when its busy? Do you focus on your horse and let other people move around you, or are you the one weaving and avoiding? Do you get upset when people are riding/working with less than mild mannered mounts on busy days? Do you just say F it and stay away from the crazy?

Vent! Educate! Share your wisdom on survival tactics!

[paw]

Since I’ve moved to SoCal, where Weather is a rare event, I tend to be on the “it’s not worth the hassle” train, especially if I know we’re only talking a day or two of forced comradery. Hand walk, long line, spa day…

When I lived in NH, though, that wasn’t an option. When things got really crazy in our little indoor, I’d either time my rides to miss the worst of it or get in the ring and wait it out - there are often short periods where things quiet down for 5 minutes or so. If there’s a lesson going on (especially a flat lesson), “joining” the lesson so you’re doing what they’re doing (same direction, same gait) can work, too.

[tbchick84]

I try to gently remind people that we pass left to left in our ring. If they continue to tune me out and cut me off over and over, it’s safer to just call it a day.

[anon67067638]

Be extremely nice and always call inside, pass left left, or just ride a mare that bites and kicks

[Covergirl15]

Luckily, when I usually go to the barn, the ring is never super crowed, but on the days that it is, I try my best to be considerate of others, especially when they are in a lesson. I’m a dressage rider, but on days when the ring is crowded, I usually just stay on the rail rather than trying to do a bunch of circles, serpentines, leg yields, etc. I also try to mainly walk and trot while people are jumping, and only canter when others (or at least the majority) are walking and trotting. On days when my greenie is fresh, I spend a lot of time walking to help him calm down, as his method of spooking is usually bolting, and one of my biggest fears is that he will do that and run over someone! But, while I will stick it out and ride in a crazy arena, I usually abandon my goals for the day and rather just get him relaxed and moving forward (and chalk it up to just having another good experience for my guy, as he will have to learn to deal w/ this at a busy show.)

[Lace]

I am the queen of a busy ring. I dream of the days when I will have an indoor arena to myself. The barn I ride at almost always has at least three other people in the ring. Most people are pretty courteous, but here are my survival guidelines.

1. Left shoulder, left shoulder.
   Always. If possible, we try to maintain a common direction and ask to switch. This reduces nastiness between less friendly horses.

2. Walk off the rail.
   When not working, give people who are the rail.

3. Lessons get priority.
   There’s nothing more frustrating than working on something with a trainer and having someone constantly be in your way. Our barn does a great job of posting lesson times so that if you want to avoid riding with a lesson, you can plan your trip around that.

4. Be vocal.
   When in doubt, shout it out! If I think it’s even remotely going to be a close call, I call where I am going to be in a loud, clear voice.

5. Be respectful of others.
   This goes without saying, but is often forgotten for some reason. If your horse is having an absolute meltdown because this is the first time you’ve gotten on him in 4 days, think about how your horse’s behavior can affect others. Maybe lunging is a better option before hopping on the beast :). Same idea for if a collision happens. I find it’s best to address what went wrong (“Hey, we do left shoulder, left shoulder here” or “Hey, please call you are going to jump that jump so I can stay out of your way”) in order to reduce the same mistake happening twice. Then move on. Don’t hold a grudge. Unless it’s a repetitive event, know we are all human (or horses) and we all make mistakes sometimes.

99% of all problems can be solved through effective communication. I used to have a problem with a couple of dressage people at my barn because I never had any clue where they were going in the ring. One brief conversation and everyone’s happy! It all boils down to respect, I find.

[Peggy]

A posted set of sensible rules is helpful as a educator for those who don’t know, a reminder for those who haver forgotten, and reinforcement for those who think they are special.

Otherwise, frown a lot and do counter canter? Especially effective if your horse is large and not intimidated easily.

[Sunflower]

Yesterday I went to ride after work. It was dark and drizzling, but just a little drizzle, so I decided to brave the outdoor arena. A lesson group joined in-- they have priority and right of way- no worries-- only 3 of them. They were a rather inexperienced group of riders, who spent the better part of 30 minutes repeatedly abruptly pulling their horse/pony to a halt, and fussing about their stirrup length . Then 2 non-lesson teens came in-- who tend to bomb about on their horses like it is the Charge of the Light Brigade. After about 5 more minutes of this I just called it a day. I was wet and in a by now grumpy mood, transmitted I am sure to the horse, who had started off well but was now also not working as nicely.

Basic rules of survival-- know when to say when- some rides are best abandoned if things are not going well in the environment.

Everyone in the ring ( even the lesson with priority) should keep an eye out for others. Too many people ride with their eyes fixed to the ground, unaware or uncaring of who is around them. Even if you have the right of way-- know where others are in the ring.

Call out where you are going to others. I seem to be the only one who calls out in my present barn- but- it has saved more than one collision. Plus, it is common courtesy as it is not possible to see behind you. Same thing happens on a ski slope-- a quick on your left, or on your right— helps. Call out!

[PoohLP]

As a kid, I rode at a barn where everyone had the same trainer/set of trainers and was drilled in ring ettiquette by the trainer/bo who ruled with an iron fist. So it was definitely eye opening to go to other barns where people weren’t near as rigorous about how they handled riding with others and who simply didn’t know the basic rules of ring sharing (i.e., I call outside and they go to the outside, Argh!)

Any who, it seems like that might be an issue at your barn as well, in which case the best thing you could do would be to have an all barn meeting where you discuss basic rules and ring etiquette (all the lovely things posted above, plus whatever else is applicable to your barn). That would help everyone to be on the same page. Once you have gone over them, have a big sign made up and post it at the entry gate as a reminder.

Re. lunging, if it is allowed when others are riding and there is no more propper place outside the ring to do it (AKA round pen), there should be a prescribed lunging zone and when someone is lunging in that area, everyone stays away. The area should be at the end of the ring or in a corner of the ring, not right in the middle where others are jumping/working and not right by the gate. If others want to lunge as well, there should be a time limit (15-30 minutes maybe?). No one needs to lunge their horse for an hour anyway. And if you cannot control your horse propperly while lunging (i.e., they are prone to breaking away from you) NO lunging when others are present, period! Post signs to indicate these areas and any lunging-related rules.

[hunterrider23]

Here in TN weird weather is common, so I’ve dealt with lots of crowded arenas. We had a set of rules, that basically went thus:

1. Lessons have priority and should always be given the inside path when jumping.
2. Try and go the same direction as lessoners. If you can’t, left shoulder-left shoulder always.
3. Always have your girth adjusted and stirrups done before the lesson. If you have to shorten, there is a single corner designated for that where the path of horses really doesn’t go.
4. Don’t walk two by two.
5. Water bottles/etc are left in the same corner, coolers and jackets can go there too.
6. Always call inside or outside if you’re coming up behind someone even if they know you’re there. Also call jumps. Walking should be on the rail, so that everyone else can have the inside and rest of the ring.

[Blinky]

Ditto what Lace said.

[french_fry]

In a ring as busy as the OP describes (which sounds similar to our indoor in the winter) it is absolutely imperative that once you are in the ring you are moving briskly. If at all possible I go straight to the trot and immediately join the flow of traffic. Walking to the inside isn’t typically that helpful as there are usually people working on multiple tracks - people jumping on the inside track, etc. Barring an emergency or serious misbehavior there is pretty much no reason to come to a dead halt anywhere but the very middle of the ring.*

Similarly, a crowded ring with lessons going on is not the right place for small figures and sudden changes of direction. Leave your ten meter circles and pirouettes for another session, please!

When rings are this crowded everyone is just riding to survive - get in the ring, join the flow of traffic, try to follow the predominant direction changes, etc., don’t make too much of a nuisance of yourself, and hope others do the same!

*If you stop on the rail to take a swig of your bottle of water I will have you assassinated.

[kh209]

My two cents: if you see someone struggling with a fresh horse, be patient and be kind. They are doing their absolute best, most likely embarrassed, and fighting nerves for their classes that day. Dirty looks and nasty comments are incredibly cruel to someone trying to calm down their 4 legged best friend.

A smile and positive attitude go a long way, at shows and at home!

[mdblz]

[QUOTE=kh209;7893812]
My two cents: if you see someone struggling with a fresh horse, be patient and be kind. They are doing their absolute best, most likely embarrassed, and fighting nerves for their classes that day. Dirty looks and nasty comments are incredibly cruel to someone trying to calm down their 4 legged best friend.[/QUOTE]

This. I have ridden my share of fresh ones and young ones who don’t have full brakes/power steering installed to know that a little sympathy from other riders goes a LONG way.

I was actually mortified to overhear the conversation that one rider had with the gal who was longeing her horse. The horse started a little fresh but was not IMO visibly disturbing the other horses, being dangerous, or at risk of getting away from his handler who had him on a pretty short line. By the end of the brief session he was going around nice and quietly and she called it a day. Rider trots up and starts to berate handler about how dangerous it is to longe a horse behaving like that and how you absolutely should not ever longe one that isn’t perfectly quiet at all times. Handler looked so devastated. It really bummed me out to see her have a nice productive session with her horse and then get yelled at undeservedly. :no:

I would rather ride with the frisky ones than the ladies longeing quiet ones with liberal use of the longe whip. Horsey couldn’t care less about the other horses in the ring but often thinks the whip is meant for him.

Peggy - thats basically exactly what I did frown and all! He was happy to counter-canter around and would probably start using the kids ponies as jumps if I asked him to. :winkgrin:

[quietann]

[QUOTE=kh209;7893812]
My two cents: if you see someone struggling with a fresh horse, be patient and be kind. They are doing their absolute best, most likely embarrassed, and fighting nerves for their classes that day. Dirty looks and nasty comments are incredibly cruel to someone trying to calm down their 4 legged best friend.

A smile and positive attitude go a long way, at shows and at home! :)[/QUOTE]

Yes. Kindness is much appreciated And if you know that your horse can get nutty when certain things are happening (e.g someone else jumping a course of big jumps, AHEM Miss Feronia), find a quiet corner and just wait until they take a break.

The one “standard ring rule” that I don’t quite get is that walkers should be on an inside track. It seems much easier to keep them on the outside track and have lessons etc. going on inside them.

I would also love to see the “ribbon system” especially at big barns where people may not know each other – green in the tail for a green horse, red for a kicker.

[lolmegz20]

I live in Canada so unfortunately in the winter we are all restricted to the indoor :(. Although it is quite large it gets crowded when there are 3 lessons going on and at least 4 people trying to hack. Thankfully my horse isn’t crazy spooky however she is green and is very athletic so if she decides to lose it we’re in trouble haha. I think the busy arena is fabulous practice for when we hopefully start showing in the spring that said somedays it is extremely frusterating. I’ve found that to survive the busiest days I constantly have to keep my head up and keep an ear out to listen to what the lessons are doing. I usually try to go the same direction and always always always yell where i’m going as I weave around or pass someone. And asking permission to enter soyou don’t get in someones way. My barn also has specific days and times for jumping lessons so unless i’m in the lesson I avoid riding at that time. Usually everyone is pretty good about being courteous as we Canadians are all used to it! But there are a few things that make me want to rip my hair out. For starters there is one older man who is a very nice gentleman but more often than not rides his horse around never calling where he is going and randomly switching gaits and cutting people off. From there he proceeds to get off and do “ground work” with his horse where he basically runs around and has the horse trot after him or have it stand in the middle of the arena while he wanders off. Now i’m all for good ground training I think it is essential however it does NOT need to be done while coaches are trying to run the
lessons clients are paying for and other people are trying to RIDE because that is what the arena is for. One other pet peeve of mine is the people who decide it’s a brilliant idea to hand walk their horse around during these busy times when there is a perfectly fine barn to do that in. Particulary one day I was having a very frusterating jumping lesson where I needed the wall and then I needed the diagonal. Now everyone saw I was having troubles and I called out the space I needed. There were two girls hand walking their horses and they stood talking one on the diagonal between the jump and the wall and one in front of the jump totally ignoring me and my coach as we yelled at them to move and they clearly saw me heading for the jump. Hastily I pulled out and circled and they still dodn’t move. Then finally they did and we jumped. Later on I was using one wall making specific turns and 2 other people riding were a) standing on the rail adjusting errr and b) trying to back up/halt square etc all things that can be done out of the way! At this point I was so frusterated I just yelled at them and sent my mare (a monster 16.3 warmblood) in a forward charge. They got the hint haha. Anyways that’s my rant for busy arenas!

[Star_s_Ascent]

I’m unfortunately one of those people that ends up having to longe in the arena. I work outside when I can. But right now along with the ground being very wet or frozen (our round pen is half an ice skating rink currently) I’m forced to longe indoors. Getting on my horse without longing a bit is a death wish. He’s a 5 yr old red headed OTTB so take that as you will. He can get a little rambunctious. I try to keep his antics to a minimum but he is very athletic and explodes with no warning unfortunately. We actually just got a letter on our stalls asking us to try to leave enough room around our longed horses so that others can ride past. I’m not really fond of people riding around this guy for the aforementioned reasons. And I’m always very conscious of if he is affecting other people’s horses. I try to have him trot his energy out when there are other people in the arena rather than canter since that is where he tends to get the most excited. Luckily we have a very large arena. However if there is already one to 2 people longing and a lesson or someone riding it could be a long wait to get some arena time. I too agree with the poster that said they would rather have the walkers on the rail. If you have people working patterns it’s easier for them to stay on the inside track then have to go between the walker and the rail. I find walkers on the rail to be more out of the way of those working than the ones walking in the middle.

[JumpsJumps]

Oh, this is such a sore topic for me. I agree with the title “LET’S ALL GET ALONG” We are all trying to use the ring and need to work together to make it safe. I have been fortunate to have trainers who were insistent I learned and followed the rules and I have been blessed with horses who absolutely do not care about being run into.
That being said, I’ve had a horse kicked in the schooling ring (they left the horse show to avoid responsibility), people turn their horse/pony in front of my jump when I’m two strides out, galloping right up behind my 4 y/o on the track at Ocala, and been absolutely berated by a man for simply calling “inside/outside” and nicely asking if he’d stand with his horse off the rail so we could work.

I would love to see more barns include “ring rules” in the packet with the boarding contracts or posted some place in the barn. Communication is key, but I feel I often see a gap in riders’ education when it comes to ring rules or riders coming from barns with conflicting ring rules. Also, it would be great to see more proactive communication in schooling rings or during lessons. If someone is going to a jump and another rider is in the way, we should be able to kindly communicate where the safe path is. Don’t just stand there and watch a near-crash happen. We all have to work together so we can all use the arena space to get our work done.

[Mardi]

No lungeing in the ring when crowded. That’s just asking for trouble.

[french_fry]

[QUOTE=Mardi;7916072]
No lungeing in the ring when crowded. That’s just asking for trouble.[/QUOTE]

And riding your bottled up horse that hasn’t been turned out in however many days due to the weather conditions that necessitate all riding in the indoor ring is a better idea?

I see both sides of this and I try to pick the least-crowded time possible, but I’m going to lunge every time.