Intro & PN riders..

" How do you know if your horse is on the bit if you are not looking down at its head ?"
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so I quietly said "left hand to left, I think" in my coolest "Don't you shout at my kid or I might have to rearrange your facial features" voice, which seemed to do the trick
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I will second that you really dont want to mess with Tabledancer - she shouted at me in my lesson today and I was scared
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Something about me completely screwing up the approach to a fence so my poor horse didnt know what the hell was going on
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Having only ever ridden at Intro and PN (and not being likely to progress beyond that ever!) I cant really comment, but I can say that when we had our outing to Hartpury the other week it reminded me how few people seem to remember 'left side to left side'..... I did restrain myself from shouting 'get OUT of my way' though
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I have to say its not just relevant to eventers not looking where they are going. Have had many a time where i have been crashed into whilst warming up at SJ competitions
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my horse subsequently panics and is now rather nervous when other horses come past especially if they are cantering...
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before this all happened he was absolutely fine
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In my opinion you should be able to feel if your horse is working correctly across his back through from behind, using his topline well and therefore in a correct outline. You shouldn't need to look at his head!
 
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In my opinion you should be able to feel if your horse is working correctly across his back through from behind, using his topline well and therefore in a correct outline. You shouldn't need to look at his head!

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As far as I know, Hils is a high-list dressage judge, so there is a good chance she agrees with you...
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In my opinion you should be able to feel if your horse is working correctly across his back through from behind, using his topline well and therefore in a correct outline. You shouldn't need to look at his head!

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I was joking!!!!
 
With TD, SC etc on this one. It's actually tougher to deal with people who are genuinely either unknowing or unable to follow the rules. With the big guns you just look 'em in the face and keep riding - if they're so wonderful they should be able to steer.
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It's also possible to communicate. Preferably without getting cross. If someone is coming at you and you're not sure what they're up to you can always say something helpful in a cheery voice like, "Going to your outside" or "I'm circling". There's no point pulling your horse's head off and getting in a huff.
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If someone is really scary then avoid them because they're probably not going to become a whole new person in the 20 minutes or so you're warming up.

Same from the other side. I've been known to warn fellow warmer uppers if whatever I'm sitting on might go a bit green under pressure. Obviously if it's dangerous I'll remove it but I'd rather people were warned and then wondered what my problem was. In a few cases of horses with specific issues I've actually stopped and explained to someone why I'm trying so hard to avoid them and why using me to follow/bounce off might not be a great idea.

Everyone in a warm up is tense and it takes people differently. If you can be cheerful and even make a little joke now and then it helps everyone unwind. (I was in a warm up ring with a very dour older pro years ago. He kept coming up behind me in canter and making motorcycle noises. I don't think anyone else even noticed but I thought it was hysterical.)
 
I find the people that stick religeously to the left to left rule to often be the biggest problem (at lower levels). The number of times I been warming up and when approaching another horse it is (or should be) obvious that if we both continue the movement we're on then we will pass each other with 10 feet to spare, but no, the other rider has to drasticly change direction just so we can pass left to left. The rules are for guideance in the event of a head on crash!
Now lets discuss the walking on an inside track in SJ warmups
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" How do you know if your horse is on the bit if you are not looking down at its head ?"
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Maybe if a well-known judge pointed out that more often than not looking down ruins your position and that you'd lose a couple of marks for that collective, the errant riders would soon practise their looking up?
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" think perhaps this post is a little offensive to many. Seeing as I've been ridden into just as many times by pro riders and those competing at the upper levels focusing down at their horse's head (who also seem to believe they own the warm up area and you should be squished into a tiny corner well out of the way!)"

I whole heartedly agree with this.
 
Has anyone had the fun experience of being delberatley ridden into or cut up or forced into things?
It's not fun but it does happen but really you can do a damn thing about it can you. Some people take the competetive spirit to an inappropriate level.
I'm don't mind people makig mistakes we all do that on occasion.
The other fun one is I have right of way I'm in shoulder in , ah right sorry the fact you're on two tracks in a straight line had me confused
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Personally I think the worst offenders are those being 'instructed' during the warm up by mum or other helper. They are so focused on listening to the instructions that they forget to think for themselves about where they are going or what is happening around them.
 
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Personally I think the worst offenders are those being 'instructed' during the warm up by mum or other helper. They are so focused on listening to the instructions that they forget to think for themselves about where they are going or what is happening around them.

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Actually I agree with this, I think if you are teaching it's only fair to find a corner of a big field out of the way to do it... If it's a crowded warm-up I never attempt to teach, just give the odd muttered comment as pupil rides past...
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