Harsh riding by showjumping kids

Ambers Echo

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At SJ yesterday one girl was wearing spurs and booting her pony hard with every single stride. Pony also had lips wide open all the way round from the pressure of the bit. Pony was obviously very good and went round at warp speed but it was awful to see. That venue disqualifies riders for overuse of the whip - are there not similar rules for spurs? Would any of you have said anything to the organisers? I would not dare intervene unless I was in an official capacity but I really wanted someone there to deal with it. Child was very young so not her fault at all. Someone is teaching her to ride like that so if it was costing her places then they might re-think. :mad:
 

HappyHollyDays

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I went to HOYS one year and the pony showjumping was the same. One of the pros pre teen son did the same thing and I was appalled at his riding but nothing was said. If they are allowed to do it at that level there is no hope for the lower level competitions.
 

Denbob

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We had something similar at an unaffiliated event I was stewarding at, child was only around 6 but riding incredibly aggressively with Dad cheering her on! They'd brought two very tense looking ponies, one of whom was jumping everything, the other was a bit sticky and she got very cross and started really going for the poor thing (3-ring gag and she was yanking it at random points throughout the course, seemingly out of frustration). When spoken too the Dad escalated until he was asked to leave and not to continue competing which turned into an almighty argument which almost ended with police involvement. Daughter was sobbing and Dad stormed off and left her on her own to put the pony back on the lorry. Accusations of jealousy were thrown around and some not-very helpful bystanders threatened to call the RSPCA or BHS and it all got horribly messy. It's a very high-emotion scenario, raising concerns with stewards is the right thing to do but can escalate incredibly quickly! Obviously not all, but if you're teaching/allowing a child to ride like that it must feel like a personal attack.

It was so hard to feel sympathetic for the young girl because of how she was treating the pony but at the end of the day she was a product of the environment, in much the same way the girl with the spurs is on your post AE. Really hard to watch.
 

Ambers Echo

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The sad thing as that as long as the jumps stay up it does not matter what kind of 'picture' you are presenting so a lot of these ponies seem to be stressed, tense, yanked around, booted and whipped. But as long as they keep jumping, they keep winning. And when they stop jumping you can sell on with an impressive looking competition record and buy another poor soul to bully round the arenas.
 
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tallyho!

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I think keeping up the pressure on stewards and organisers and perhaps a letter to the BHS is the way to tackle bad riding and pony abuse. If more of us acted on it and not just stood by, these scenes would end. It does seem like nobody likes confrontation but I do it for the animal welfare, not for anything else.
 

Ambers Echo

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It was uncomfortable to watch and I think everyone not connected with the kid in question felt the same way. My daughter rode last and when she won it there was a spontaneous cheer. I think all the neutrals wanted the quiet rider who said good girl all the way round wanted her to beat the younger girl who bullied her pony round. But no-one said anything. I will next time.
 

Nicnac

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I definitely would have said something to stewards/organisers but I don't have an issue with confrontation when it comes to abuse.

Unfortunately it can be parents putting awful pressure on their kids to perform as they have shelled out a huge amount for the, often, experienced ponies.

Well done to your daughter - maybe people will realise that you don't have to bully a pony around to win but doubtful.
 
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It's not just show jumping kids. Or just kids in general. I had a very stroppy madam who must have been late teens in one of my classes the other day. She kept her temper in the ring - just - but you could feel anger emanating from her the whole class. She came last because her horse was wired to the moon and dished so badly I am surprised it didn't trip her up. She left the ring, smacked the horse a few times with her cane then stormed off. I later found out she tried to get on the horse and promptly came straight back off again. I am all for karma and she probably deserved to be decked because she did nothing to help the horse. Unfortunately she was badly injured and left strapped to a body board via blues and twos. Other people kindly took her horse home for her and it was noticeably quieter and happier all round.
 

Midlifecrisis

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EKW ..I heard about the incident as the young steward for the class with whom I ride was upset and concerned about the mares treatment. The young lady might have been taken away on a back board but she is only bruised and was at the yard Sunday morning so not sufficiently affected by karma in this instance. Had I known you were judging the class I d have made myself known....how scary would that have been!
 

bubsqueaks

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This is why we just don't go pure show jumping as our local venues seem to be full of kids & older for that matter just yanking, kicking, thumping on backs, a horrible sight to behold, as is most of what comes out of their mouths as well.
 

ester

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This is where judges need to step up and call them to the box and IME good judges either affiliated or unaffiliated will call competitors of any age to the box. I have also as steward been sent out to measure spurs etc.
Judges have more clout than stewards ever will - who might well just be a volunteer who isn't totally au fait with the rules.

Sadly an awful lot of it is parental, kids being told why do they put all this money and effort in if they aren't going to win. That doesn't always lead to bad riding but sometimes obviously does.
 
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EKW ..I heard about the incident as the young steward for the class with whom I ride was upset and concerned about the mares treatment. The young lady might have been taken away on a back board but she is only bruised and was at the yard Sunday morning so not sufficiently affected by karma in this instance. Had I known you were judging the class I d have made myself known....how scary would that have been!

Its good to hear she wasn't as badly injured as it seemed. It doesn't do the reputation of racehorses any good when things like that happen.

She was just in front of a friends trailer and old Jim was worried that his grand daughter would dash back thinking something had happened to him - he is 80-81 now!
 

Equine_Dream

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Have you seen the video doing the rounds on fb. Little girl jumping on a little grey pony (possibly a welsh). Everyone always comments on how amazing the rider is but all I see is her whip flapping and spurs kick kick kick with every stride 😥
In your situation I absolutely would have said something to the organisers. An adult riding like that would be disqualified immediately and rightly so. Don't think ot should be any different for young riders.
 

MotherOfChickens

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In my somewhat short-lived career as an equine body worker, the tightest, most stoic and sorest equines I treated were showjumping ponies. Jumped hard over big tracks, nearly always bent incorrectly with upside down necks, one saddle fitting all and often ridden by adults in tiny saddles away from competition. Showjumping horses are generally alot better schooled and ridden and werent nearly so bad.
 

splashgirl45

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i hate to see very young children riding with spurs as lots of them dont have proper control of their lower legs and are using the spurs all of the time as their legs are waving around so much....i would like to see a ban on children under 12 using spurs...i was quite old before i used spurs and was very careful to make sure that i could control my lower leg before i used them...
 

Spiritedly

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I was at a local show yesterday that is set up with an adult/ bigger jump ring...50cm up to 1.05...and a childrens /smaller jump ring...bottom hole to 60cm...obviously there were children jumping the bigger heights and adults doing the lower but the general idea seems to be the bigger ring is for the more 'serious' competitor, but there were children in the smaller classes wearing spurs when they could barely control their ponies anyway! There were also ponies in gags on the bottom ring with children using the reins to stay on.
I may be old but I learnt to have an independent seat before I was allowed anywhere near a jump!
 

AmyMay

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Tbh brutally honest, there’s no point moaning about it on here if you’re not prepared to speak to a steward about concerns. It’s what they’re there for, after all.
 

Equine_Dream

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Eh, unfortunately not. I see plenty of wince-inducing adult riders at comps where no one says anything.

Perhaps I have just been lucky that shows and competitions I've attended have usually been on top of this sort of things. It makes me so sad anyone would think it acceptable to bully your horse around a course 😥
 

Pearlsasinger

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i hate to see very young children riding with spurs as lots of them dont have proper control of their lower legs and are using the spurs all of the time as their legs are waving around so much....i would like to see a ban on children under 12 using spurs...i was quite old before i used spurs and was very careful to make sure that i could control my lower leg before i used them...


I think they should have to be 16, as they do for BSPS WH.
 

SpringArising

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Perhaps I have just been lucky that shows and competitions I've attended have usually been on top of this sort of things. It makes me so sad anyone would think it acceptable to bully your horse around a course 😥

TBH it's not always that. I see loads of people just not see a stride a sock it in the mouth then slump on the back on the other side of the fence etc.
 

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I saw similar at a local venue, and in addition, the girl was out of control and ignoring warm up rules to the point that she was dangerous in the warm up arena.
I spoke to the stewards who said that "they come here a lot, there't not really anything I can do". ie - they bring in a lot of money, we don't care
 

Tinsel

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I was at a local show yesterday that is set up with an adult/ bigger jump ring...50cm up to 1.05...and a childrens /smaller jump ring...bottom hole to 60cm...obviously there were children jumping the bigger heights and adults doing the lower but the general idea seems to be the bigger ring is for the more 'serious' competitor, but there were children in the smaller classes wearing spurs when they could barely control their ponies anyway! There were also ponies in gags on the bottom ring with children using the reins to stay on.
I may be old but I learnt to have an independent seat before I was allowed anywhere near a jump!
I was also taught the same thing as well
 
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