Warmup Ring Etiquette?

[rothmpp]

@Willesdon

Another vote for passing L to L and faster work on the rail, walking in the centre. Logic? Canter is easier on a bigger circumference. Walk is ok on a smaller circle.

I understand both arguments for the walk on the rail vs on the q line - but I’d much rather the walkers be on the rail. If you’re at a show, you should able to steer well enough to do any prep work on the q line rather than the rail. I don’t understand the “I need the rail” for prep at nearly anything unless you need a full diagonal for something.

That being said - I simply don’t understand the thought process that says faster riders to the outside - this isn’t a hunter on the flat class where we are endlessly going around the ring on the rail with 20 other horses - even training level test one has circles at the trot. Your walk work is 99% of the time on a straight line. It makes much more sense to do that work on the rail.

I HATE having to duck between multiple walking horses when I’m trying to do trot or canter prep. It’s a major PITA to have to fit a half pass or trot lengthening between horses walking on a long rein on the q line.

[GrayCatFarm]

I contacted the show organizer and she said that I did not need to move rings. My sense of warm-up is what one trainer told me. You make sure that halt, go, and turn are still working LOL and develop the needed connection and frame. It is not the time to be practicing the entire test. Also, my work life is one of competition and for years I did not think I wanted to show because…why introduce more competition in my life. Well, I like dressage because of the feedback received. But, apparently I am not in tune with my fellow riders. Time to suit up…

[Wild_Oaks_Farm]

I’m so glad you brought this post back up. I got an email notification that someone had posted on this thread - I haven’t been in the forums in years and obviously the original thread was written 13 years ago so it’s been awhile, and it made my day to go back and re-read it.

Just an update in case anyone is wondering…the pony never got used to scary warm-up rings (not even close!) and is currently enjoying pasture retirement. Today I still have the same level of anxiety about crowded arenas - maybe worse - as I watch from the sidelines while my 9-year-old rides in them (luckily she appears to have not inherited the Fear of Crowded Arenas).

Carry on!

[GrayCatFarm]

Waves hello! So nice that your 9-year-old has been bitten by the bug and you can enjoy horses together!

[Casey09]

I rode for many years in a barn that had a lot going on, but not usually very many riders in the ring at all. I’ve had a huge adjustment in riding in more crowded boarding barns. I honestly just find it tricky to ride with others because I just don’t always know where to go.

[PonyPenny]

Was she British?

[GrayCatFarm]

Well, the rider was a man. Not sure that has anything to do with it. But, with a show in which open and amateur and junior all ride in short order, I was not sure if he was a professional or an amateur. But, I’m not giving way again (other than left to left!).

Post-script: Looked him up - professional.

[Mardi1]

Most hunter/jumper folks aren’t interested in ring etiquette and safety. They either don’t know, or don’t care, either at home, or at a show.

[ghst13]

@Mardi1

Most hunter/jumper folks aren’t interested in ring etiquette and safety. They either don’t know, or don’t care, either at home, or at a show.

Why turn things into a discipline war? There are examples of poor ring etiquette in all disciplines but you can’t paint a broad brush of most H/J or most dressage or most western or whatever discipline you happen to dislike. There tends to be more conflict when multiple disciplines share a ring because each discipline’s schooling patterns are different and don’t always mesh. This thread is proof that even within a discipline there isn’t consensus on ring etiquette.

[PonyPenny]

Hardly. Dressage is the worst. Everyone wears earbuds and looks down and no one cares about passing left shoulder to left shoulder.

[rothmpp]

@PonyPenny

Hardly. Dressage is the worst. Everyone wears earbuds and looks down and no one cares about passing left shoulder to left shoulder.

While I don’t necessarily agree that “dressage is the worst”, the parts about the earbuds and looking down are certainly true.

However, problems arise when you insist on passing left shoulder to left shoulder. Dressage is not a rail class. Warm up for a dressage test requires more than just walk, trot, and canter around the arena. It is nearly impossible to always stay left shoulder to left shoulder.

For example, how exactly do you stay left shoulder to left shoulder AND stick with the slower horses to the inside track (which I think is a terrible ring rule but that’s for another day)? You’ve got one horse walking on the left track and another horse cantering on the right track - that makes you passing right to right, but that violates the left to left rule.

[eightpondfarm]

aaaakkkkKKKK!!! this all sounds frightening as heck! I think i’ll choose not to warm-up. At least until my mare and i get more seasoned. Just parking and getting from my trailer to the ring is going to be scary enough i’m afraid! We are total hay-seeds!

[Janet]

“Left shoulder to left shoulder” works IFF(If and ONLY If) both people are going straight, on the same track (which is a very small percentage of the time when warming up for a dressage test).

It doesn’t work when two people are doing intersecting diagonals.

It doesn’t work when two people are both circling left, near each other.

It doesn’t work when two people are doing lateral work off the rail.

Then you have to fall back to common sense and general politeness, neither of which are as common as they should be.

[joiedevie99]

Riding in a crowded ring is a skill that people need to practice. You don’t get better at it without trying.

Horses that are not working (long rein walk) need to stay to the inside and yield to everyone. If two horses are on the track headed directly at each other, they pass left to left. People doing figures/movements go to the inside of people on the track. Beyond that, you have to look up, be aware of what’s going on, and have enough confidence to call inside/outside and keep riding rather than screeching to a halt all the time.

[rothmpp]

@joiedevie99

Horses that are not working (long rein walk) need to stay to the inside and yield to everyone

I’m going to stick to my guns on this one and say I think it makes the most sense for the long rein walk horses to be plastered to the rail which in my mind is the most out of the way. I hate having to work around other horses also doing their warm-up and then toss in a couple horses on a long rein in the middle of the ring where they have to steer clear of multiple working horses. It makes it unnecessarily chaotic in the middle of the ring. Save the inner part of the ring for lateral work, smaller circles and diagonals. Trying to time a shoulder-in to half-pass with a horse working on extensions on one diagonal and a horse doing tempis on the other diagonal and toss in the rambling ammie on a long rein inside the quarter line and I end up with a pissed off horse when I’ve had to slam on the brakes twice in a row to avoid an actual collision.

Even a training level dressage horse should not need to be on the rail to get a straight line in warm-up, or maybe they are not quite ready for a show.

[Feathered_Feet]

I completely agree with the idea of long-rein walking to the outside for all the reasons you state. If I’m trotting or cantering I’m probably doing something other than a straight line. Would love to see this become the norm. (But I won’t hold my breath!)

[eightpondfarm]

chaos is not something i would get us (me and mare) to experience anywhere else BUT at a show. We are not ever in a jam-packed environment. Actually, neither of us have ever seen one! If we get in and out of our first show in one piece i’ll be grateful as heck. And i do think that the warmUp ring sounds like something we’ll avoid at first.

[rothmpp]

Quite a bit of it depends on the show and what their grounds are like. Some shows I go to have tons of room and spaces to go to - others are an absolute nightmare with very limited schooling areas and riders/trainers with no common sense.

For your first show, try to scope out the schooling rings before you get to the ring with your horse. See if there is an area that is less popular. If you can get out there before you are warming up for your actual test, it may allow you to figure out the rhythm of the ring before you have the pressure of an upcoming test. In my experience, if you have the chance, right before and during the beginning of lunch break, the schooling rings are usually the least crowded.

But most of all - try to enjoy your first time out with your horse! It’s supposed to be fun, and I promise that you’re imagining it to be worse that it actually will be.

[Mersidoats]

If you want to show, this is something you will have to deal with, and it’s better to start early. You will not be able to avoid the warm-up at your first (rated) show, as you are required to warm-up in designated warm-up areas. Not warming up at all will not help you or your horse with nerves at the show. I used to hate the warm-up, but with time and confidence-building from my coach, I’ve gotten much more comfortable, and have even introduced a totally green horse to showing. Neither of us died.

Skills you need to ride in a warm-up: emotional control, observational attitude (head on a swivel: LOOK UP ALL THE TIME), quick reflexes. All of these can be trained.

You can start by maybe trailering to a friendly barn where multiple people ride in the arena at once. Go with the only expectation of calmly walking around - maybe a little trotting. Use this first time to get comfortable with calling your lines (“rail”, “diagonal”, “outside”, “inside”, “circle”). Your only expectation is to experience it. Then… do it again. And again. Till it feels comfortable.

Go as a non-compete to the show. Just ride in the warm-up. Do this a few times until you are comfortable navigating around horses. Then, enter a class. In fact, enter two, maybe Intro A and B, so you get to experience the warm-up and show-ring transition twice.

Another rule about any crowded arena: the greenest horse gets the right of way. An upper level horse can easily be maneuvered - if you can’t, you’re doing it wrong. A training-level horse or a 4 y/o cannot. Yield to the greenies.

ETA: And for the love of God, yield to horses having obvious difficulties. I took the afore-mentioned greenie to her first little schooling show. It was distracting and scary in the warm-up for her, and we lost a little forward momentum. The warm-up was HUGE, so I picked what I thought was a quieter corner, and carved out my circle and called it. Someone decided to extended trot right through it. My mare froze, thinking that Extended Trotter was charging her, and then panicked, going every way but forward. I lost control of the shoulders, and I did not want to pivot her hindquarters into Extended Trotter’s line of travel: egads. Extended Trotter was not yielding. I started yelling “You need to yield, she is green, you need to yield!” She didn’t. My warm-up was filmed and looking at the tape it was obvious that my horse was in trouble. And yet, we got bowled over. I was livid.

[blue_heron]

I’m not a stickler for fastest/slowest horse inside/outside, but I do want everyone I ride with to call inside, outside, right, left, or behind.

My personal pet peeve is people who ride in the warm-up for an hour plus or attempt to school the movements in the warm-up. If you’re still trying to grab your changes thirty minutes before your test, you’re not ready for the level. And I don’t even know what you’re trying to accomplish by riding your horse for an hour and a half just to ride a foaming, sweating, heaving horse into the main ring.