Dressage Rules

[dollyolly]

I have a horse that sticks his tongue out all the time! I have just been through the British Dressage Rule Book as my friend and I thought it was mentioned in there under resistance. The rules cover teeth grinding and tail swishing but not a word on tongue lolling/sticking out!

Is there anyone out there that knows the rules for marking or is it down to the judge's discretion i.e. whether they feel the horse is resisting/not accepting the bridle.

We have been through the whole we think it's minus 2 marks for each movement where the tongue sticks out or maximum of 5 marks for each movement where the tongue sticks out.

He's just done a BE Novice event where his tongue stuck out through the whole test and got 7's all the way. These marks are not normal as we do have a little apple trick to keep his tongue in! With no tongue we are looking at 8's with an odd 7 thrown in!

PS Trying bits/bridles you name it to cure the tongue but guessing it's a lovely habit he has grown into.

 

[oldvic]

There is no hard and fast rule - it's how the judge evaluates it. Some judges will be stricter than others. It is a lack of acceptance of the bit but the judge has to weigh up everything else as well before giving the mark and there will be some movements that it won't show so then they can't mark it down even if they are pretty sure it is happening. It would be rash to say that you should take off a certain amount for each movement although it has to be taken into account.

 

[dollyolly]

Thanks Oldvic!

That fits with the last dressage test we did where the judge said ' super stamp, pity about the tongue as it detracted from the overall picture throughout'.

It is a shame though because he gives a fab feel down the rein, is totally engaged and is really loose through his back, ears flop about the lot. I am sure it is a habit that has been borne out of pain/discomfort but I am certain it is a habit now.

 

[oldvic]

That is the problem - they can feel good in the contact etc but once they start doing it, it's very hard to do much about it. There are little tricks that people try and with some horses they seem to work anyhow some of the time but it is likely to revert in times of stress.

 

[EventingMum]

Completely empathise with you. Our horse fractured his jaw badly earlier this year. He has made a great recovery but sadly his incisors are now badly misaligned in spite of the best efforts of the vets. This has left a gap on one side of his mouth and so his tongue now flops out.

He evented to intermediate / 2* prior to the accident but it would be fair to say the dressage wasn’t his strongest phase and I do wonder if it is worth trying to get him back competing again if we are going to get heavily penalised for the tongue being out. That said he isn’t ready to settle down and be a happy hacker so we have to try to find something for him to do to keep him happy.

Any tips/tricks to encourage him to hold his tongue in would be most welcome!

 

[dollyolly]

We do put plenty of sliced apple in his mouth just before he goes in to do the test - this keeps him occupied and stops the tongue lolling! With no tongue our scores are low twenties (23 to 25!!! mega scores) and with tongue we are at 30 - so still not too bad but a noticeable difference I have to say.

It's hard taking the criticism I have to say - and I guess that is what gets to me the most. Particularly as I bought my boy from the dressage world because he couldn't go any higher because of the tongue. So all things being equal - the dressage world caused it shouldn't the dressage world be able to deal with it!!! I am lucky though, super jumper too and could easily be a pure show jumper.

Apologies - sour grapes and all coming out.......