Devil’s advocate post - disclaimer - I think the rule is fine as-is and people should just follow it.
Here we go…
If the goal of the rule is to have it not end up like H/J land where the pro is schooling the horse for the ammy, why is it a problem to have the groom (the ammy) warm the horse up for the pro? It doesn’t go against the actual spirit of the rule.
Then you’d have to make it a rule that your groom has to be an amateur though. Or ideally an amateur who rides at your ability level or worse than you.
The spirit of the rule is that only the athlete rides the horse but at some venues that’s super inconvenient so the groom is allowed to hack it the half mile from stabling/parking to xc rather than trying to lead it. (Looking at you, Fair Hill)
So here we are, over 360 posts into a discussion of the LN vaguepost … several theories as to what it referred to have been offered and then had doubt cast up upon them …
And I still have no idea what LN was on about in her very public vaguepost begging for attention on some unknown problem.
Thanks to all who have tried to solve the mystery.
Thanks to all who have taken their time to offer solutions for problems that do, or do not, exist.
Because you all cared enough to devote some time and energy to wanting to solve LN’s problem. Or at least find out what the problem is.
Usually COTH solves these puzzles, but you can’t win them all. Had to close out sometime.
Thanks again, here’s your participation ribbon, and we’ll see you at the next COTH mystery thread. 
Kudos to everyone who has taken part in and been able to keep up with the MOST ADHD thread that I recall in recent, and long history.
Em
Yeah, I’m with you. BNRs have amazing grooms, but they still aren’t going to ride the horses as well as the BNR. The grooms are not “schooling” the horse or training it through something that the BNR can’t do better. There is no real competitive advantage gained by having a groom or working student warm up a BNR’s 4* horse. Yeah, maybe the horse needs 45 minutes of warmup and riding 8 in a day means there is only time for 25min warmup…that’s when some BNR might want the groom to ride it (like a “loper” in the western world…) but no one can argue that the horse would go better if the BNR was on it instead. Other busy pros, like Buck, have an established warmup system in place with lunging and groundwork by their grooms, for success with just 15-20min between horses.
The rule is to stop a better rider/trainer/BNR from warming up a horse so that it’s less experienced rider can show it. …to gain a competitive advantage. That is extremely uncommon in our sport; that rule is pretty well followed.
Wondering if my vet can just chip me when he chips my horse so I don’t have to remember a bracelet for this new rule proposal that has no reason to be a proposal because it’s not a big enough problem.
I’m pretty sure the government is going to require it eventually anyway.
I have zero hopes of FEI officials getting any chip scanning devices to work with regularity.
Have you ever seen horse people try to get their radios to work at an event? Or get the monitors to work? Technology is not our forte. 
No matter how many times the TD says DO NOT PRESS THE CALL BUTTON in the briefing someone always presses it.
I am an amateur who lives in an eventing backwater and has never competed above BN (and I haven’t competed in a decade) who has only owned two horses in my life, the combined purchase price of both is less than a custom saddle. Trust me when I say you have a greater chance of winning the lottery while getting hit by lightning and bit by a shark, all at the same time, than the FEI or USEF have of acknowledging my existence. 
Let alone letting me make any rules.
It’s my mom. My mom volunteers a ton and she always presses it.
Chiming in to say that the observations about horse people and technology are spot on. Lol.
Okay I don’t love the chip thing because it seems to add another layer of chaos to showing BUT….we could take a page from the ski resorts. They have reloadable cards that when scanned show your picture (by handheld scanner or manual gate that opens) the cards are easily reloaded by purchasing a pass online (no scanning or anything required) at the resorts we just keep the card in a pocket and get waved at or shove our arm to the sensor
Horse and human will have a chip placed into their number, it gets scanned as they go into the warmup. You can’t fake or swap bracelets because it’s built into your showing number. Idk the specifics, if each should have a card to scan or human only has a card, but it’d pretty simple to execute
Well yes, but the number will be with the horse it belongs to, no matter who the rider on it is.
You missed the part where we horse people are still struggling with technological advances from the early 1900s.
Make rules for the 80%, discipline the 20%. Don’t make rules for the 20% who can’t manage to follow them.
Or my favorite, “hold the radio button down for at least 3 seconds before starting to talk.”
The amazing @frugalannie trained that into me over… too many times jump judging at Groton House.
Awww. Thanks for the shoutout. You’re a terrific jump judge. Looking forward to the Classics this year!
That is such a common mistake in radio usage.
I’ve found it’s also a good idea to always start with an unimportant word just to add a little extra buffer.
I should be able to make it to both!
I just got here…who do I see about getting my ring bit and rfid bracelet? Hope it’s a volunteer I can scream at! 
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