Many moons ago when I started riding my first trainer was very strict about ring etiquette. I think all barns should have some rules for ring use posted. I am amazed at the amount of people who have no idea how to ride with other people. I avoid riding with certain people and I am lucky to have a schedule that allows me to ride at less crowded times. I try to keep in mind that it is good practice for the schooling area at shows.
I know this is standard protocol, but I’ve never understood it. I would so much rather the walkers be right on the rail, than constantly having to dodge them. Everyone has a different idea what off the rail means. On the rail is at least predictable. I don’t need the rail to keep my horse straight while in a working gait.
Now, stopped sideways on the rail while talking to someone on the other side - that is super annoying.
My trainer has set up a booking calendar for the barn, because we currently only have one large indoor. It shows what times have been booked, what times the arena is available, etc. If you want to ride and don’t mind sharing the arena, you can leave it open as available. If you want to work a green horse and don’t want to worry about other riders, book it.
You better believe if one of our riders isn’t paying attention they will get some stern words from my trainer. Surprisingly, it’s a barn with about a dozen teenage girls showing hunters or APHA (or both) with zero drama. We all get along really well and have no problem being flexible. :yes:
It is up to the BO/BM to set the rules and enforce them. If it as a barn offering different trainers as independent contractors, there needs to be an integrated calendar so conflict is avoided. The calendar or lesson/arena book should include a general description of what is going on in the ring. “Lesson” means nothing to me as a boarder, but if you list names of rider and horses with a note that it is an advanced jumping lesson, I know what to expect. If its a beginner walk/trot, I might opt to wait with my greenie or a horse that hasn’t been out in days.
It is frustrating to get to the barn for a quick ride only to discover that there are 2 lessons under way, one beginners, one jumping, two boarders hacking and the arena looks like Grand Central even though nothing was written in the book.
Ugh, this reminds me of a bad experience…
I have always done HJ shows, but DH talked me into doing an over fences class at an APHA breed show. So I get out in the arena the night before to school and I am the only person not on a peanut roller going as slow as humanly (equinely?) possible. Soon I began to realize that these people did not believe in left shoulder/left shoulder.
Basically if you thought you were important enough you got the rail. The big name WP/HUS trainers would get on the rail, turn their horse’s nose to it, and kick their haunches out and would essentially ride a “haunches in” (definitely not the dressage haunches in, hence the quotes) down the rail. They would also randomly stop and pop their horses in the mouth for non-visible infractions.
I thought I was going to lose my freaking mind. There were probably 20+ people in the indoor at GIHP all fighting for rail space and not calling inside or outside. It was a giant game of chicken. The “BNTs” did not believe they had to call and should be given the rail.
So enter HJ rider, me… I got sick of it after 10 min and decided I would start calling where I intended to go… and then go to that exact spot. So I started tracking left down the long side and kept calling “left shoulder” or “outside” and played chicken with them. I mean, technically it wasn’t chicken since I called out to them, but I didn’t budge… I won, but managed to piss off a few people in the process :lol:
Morale to the story - maybe you shouldn’t listen to me unless you’re in a bad mood and have a kind horse.
ETA: This wasn’t on my show horse. I just took my gelding for some fun (the one in my profile pic) and ended up with a schooling ring battle.
Ugh…this is one of the most annoying and illogical of “rules.” It is also dangerous. The ring should work in concentric circles of speed: walk out side, trot next, then canter, then jumping. Why people think it’s a good idea to have a cantering horse pass between the rail and a horse that is walking is beyond me. The most maneuverable horse should be on the track with the most options. Walking horse have too much inertia to get out of the way quickly if something goes awry (unless of course, the horse is making the decision to move, which in case their moment of inertia is drastically decreased. 
)
[QUOTE=RugBug;7917206]
Ugh…this is one of the most annoying and illogical of “rules.” It is also dangerous. The ring should work in concentric circles of speed: walk out side, trot next, then canter, then jumping. Why people think it’s a good idea to have a cantering horse pass between the rail and a horse that is walking is beyond me. The most maneuverable horse should be on the track with the most options. Walking horse have too much inertia to get out of the way quickly if something goes awry (unless of course, the horse is making the decision to move, which in case their moment of inertia is drastically decreased. )[/QUOTE]
MY SOUL SISTER! You can ride with me any day!
Also, I’m not sure why this tendency exists but people on walking horses that are supposed to be on the inside track tend to lose their depth perception or spatial sense or something and gravitate towards the rail to the point where whether you can squeeze through on the rail or not becomes an optical illusion that often results in a sliding stop.
Down with walking on the inside track! The fastest horse should ALWAYS be passing furthest to the inside.
The only exception is if you’re cooling out on an extreme inside track (i.e. inside the jumps) and want to be as out of the way as possible. Even in that situation, though, you are probably still less obtrusive walking on the rail.
OveroHunter - I had the “pleasure” of sharing the ring with an AQHA trainer. She said that older riders were supposed to yield to younger ones. Huh?
When I was in high school, riding hunters, everyone knew and was used to ring etiquette. The caveat was that more advanced students were expected to stay out of the way of the beginners, since they either were not as familiar with ring etiquette or were still busy trying to figure out how to control their mounts. Advanced kids were yelled at for any issues, usually with something like, “You’re the one that should know how to steer and pay attention to surroundings!”
Shows were a bit more disorganized, but most people still knew the basics. (calling jumps, left/left, etc).
I started riding with my current trainer and showing eventing it was a bit different. The culture seems more of people in small barns or keeping horses at home, and more private lessons, which means less ring etiquette practice and shows were an adventure. Lessons and riding with certain people at my trainer’s barn were also an adventure at first. Everyone figured it out eventually, though.
Currently, the indoor is rented three days a week to another local trainer and all her students are pretty much beginners. We are allowed to ride with the lessons, but I am constantly avoiding people and just plan my rides differently. I don’t jump while they are in there and do more fitness rides than skill work. Sometimes, I can plan it to get in there in time to do some work between lessons, but it keeps things interesting!
Barns with lesson programs generally have and enforce ring rules. In many cases, jumping outside lessons is forbidden so that eliminates one hazard. It can be a hassle to ride around certain lessons but I think of it as practice for schooling rings.
I started and rode for a long time at such a place and they walked to the inside. The arena was big and generally had a course of jumps set up. Most lessons involved a walk break ( usually with verbal coaching)which was done by walking (not wandering) inside the jumps set on the rail and allowing hackers to use the whole ring. That was the head trainer’s method and all his staff did so. That way the trainer could explain things without yelling as the riders were close. Walkers were expected to keep and eye out and yield to riders at a faster gait.
During lessons, hackers were expected to track with the lesson unless permission was asked and granted. More experienced riders were expected to watch out for the less so and stay away from lesson riders who appeared nervous. Hackers were expected to practice “defensive driving” by assuming that the novices might do something weird at any time. (weird like cutting corners or ducking off the rail etc.)
Places with trainers on staff generally posted that the instructor in the arena is the boss. This is a good idea in general. I’ve seen kids on lesson horses struggle after a spook or stumble and heard their instructor ask everyone to halt as a loose pony barreled around and seen them ignored. Hackers should always keep an ear tuned to instructors who might be calling for a change of gait or direction.
On the flip side it is nice if instructors try to keep their students together in the arena, in a line.
My favorite is when you’re in a flat class and another rider decides it’ll be a good idea to ride your horses rear for majority of the class and you’re unable to get away from them. They either follow you or there’s too many horses in the class to get away safely. Had that happen a few times.
Two memorable ones were when I was on my own horse in a busy flat class and a rider decided to get to close to my horses rear. That set him off so much that I spent the rest of the class trying to control/settle him and not hurt any horses/riders.
The other one was when I was showing a school horse in a small flat class. A young rider let her horse (who was green) do whatever he wanted to. He decided that he liked the mare I was on and attached his nose to her rear. Well, she did not take it kindly and gave him a piece of her mind right in front of the judge! I could not get away from this horse, every time I tried he followed us. Too top it off they lined up right next to my already pissed off mare in the line up making her even more mad then she already was!
[QUOTE=Peggy;7917789]
OveroHunter - I had the “pleasure” of sharing the ring with an AQHA trainer. She said that older riders were supposed to yield to younger ones. Huh?[/QUOTE]
Their idea of sharing the ring is just nuts. It’s a status thing it seemed - the more known you were the more you were allowed to the outside.
The issue comes when you know absolutely no one and decide to follow natural ring protocol :lol:
[QUOTE=RugBug;7917206]
Ugh…this is one of the most annoying and illogical of “rules.” It is also dangerous. The ring should work in concentric circles of speed: walk out side, trot next, then canter, then jumping. Why people think it’s a good idea to have a cantering horse pass between the rail and a horse that is walking is beyond me. The most maneuverable horse should be on the track with the most options. Walking horse have too much inertia to get out of the way quickly if something goes awry (unless of course, the horse is making the decision to move, which in case their moment of inertia is drastically decreased. )[/QUOTE]
YES! Concentric circles of speed, slower to the outside!!!
[QUOTE=Peggy;7917789]
OveroHunter - I had the “pleasure” of sharing the ring with an AQHA trainer. She said that older riders were supposed to yield to younger ones. Huh?[/QUOTE]
I’ve heard that from an eventing trainer, but the intent was to let the inexperienced kids have a great & safe experience. An experienced rider should be better able to maneuver their horses than a green rider. The new riders are still taught the rules of the arena, but experienced riders are expected to avoid “playing chicken” & evade any potential crashes.
I don’t know what the answer is for a horse/rider pair that’s not safe to ride without lunging first - wait, I guess? It depends on how crowded is crowded, but I’m thinking of an arena where the rail has a few riders & there are several riders working in the middle. There’s no room for someone taking up an entire 20 meter circle on the lunge line.
[QUOTE=french fry;7916323]
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.[/QUOTE]
It depends on arena rules. In my current indoor, which isn’t huge, you can longe if there are up to 2 riders. It’s still discouraged, but allowed.
More than 2 riders, you’re not longeing. Arena rule.
Tbh I’d prefer more rules for overcrowding and use, than less. OP’s crowded arena seems insane, although that might be because I read each example as a separate person and that might not be true.
But my arena does have a max-rider limit too, which I appreciate. And of course no jumping when it’s at max (unless I guess they were all part of the same lesson, but it’s not a lesson barn and all the jump lessons I’ve seen there are private or semi-private).
My barn had a smallish indoor, about the size of a small dressage arena. People are always lunging! It’s so frustrating because instead of picking a side, they will lunge smack in the middle. This means you can basically ride on the rail or do a small 8m circle in each corner. It gets old really quick and I wish there was a rule against it. At least if you lunge at one end, we can each have a big circle to ride on…
[QUOTE=arapaloosa_lady;7920174]
I’ve heard that from an eventing trainer, but the intent was to let the inexperienced kids have a great & safe experience. An experienced rider should be better able to maneuver their horses than a green rider. The new riders are still taught the rules of the arena, but experienced riders are expected to avoid “playing chicken” & evade any potential crashes.
I don’t know what the answer is for a horse/rider pair that’s not safe to ride without lunging first - wait, I guess? It depends on how crowded is crowded, but I’m thinking of an arena where the rail has a few riders & there are several riders working in the middle. There’s no room for someone taking up an entire 20 meter circle on the lunge line.[/QUOTE]
What your eventing trainer said makes perfect sense and it is how we handle ring etiquette at the ranch… The show I’m talking about was a bunch of trainers in an arena competing for rail space by measuring their egos. It was the weirdest, most irritating schooling experience I have ever had coming from the HJ world.
