Overweight riders and new rules?

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Farma

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I just wondered if anyone has heard whether actual rules are being made up for judges or whether its just talk at the moment, I keep hearing it being debated but no idea if it will come to fruition or not??
 
only_me said:
They did at HOYS
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At HOYS & Great Yorkshire they policed the warm up areas. Taking adults off of kids ponies. The ones where the pony was obviously struggling. The people themselves may not have been overweight but they were too tall/heavy for the ponies they were squishing. When people created an uproar saying that these ponies weren't safe for kids to get on and warm up themselves and thus needed an experienced adult on just proves that they arent' really kids ponies.

As for what goes on in the ring, that's a whole different story. I doubt stewards will be preventing people from entering the ring in the first place as the competitor could go and make a complaint to the secretary and blow the whole thing up into something stupid. The judge however can either drop you to the bottom of the line or ask you to leave. That is within the rules - The Judges Decision Is Final. If said rider takes it further, gets vets etc involved (it's been done plenty of times to try to disprove lameness queries) then it will again get blown up into something massive, and it will be who's voice/money shouts the loudest.

It should come into the ponies ride score in the ring if it is struggling to carry the weight it wont be able to show itself off properly.
 
Wow amazing something is being done but must be hard to decide how to police it? Would like to see this rolled out into bd as seen some extremely bad cases :(
 
Farma said:
Wow amazing something is being done but must be hard to decide how to police it? Would like to see this rolled out into bd as seen some extremely bad cases :(
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They were taking adults off of dainty show ponies. Not hard to see that the ponies were struggling. Adults on natives is a different matter. You need to take the whole aspect into consideration. Is the rider too tall but of light enough weight tland unbalanced the pony? Is the rider simply too heavy? The list could go on.

Whilst they can take adults off of ponies they can't turn round to a kid and do the same - even if said child was far too big/chunky - as it would be seen as child abuse and all he'll would break loose.

Whilst you can police the warm up arenas to an extent it Will be harder with adults on big horses.

At which point during its test the horse won't be able to perform to its best capabilities, it will struggle for balance round corners, wrong canter strike offs etc. That the judges can penalise. Whether they write down why they are penalising is another matter. I doubt it would be taken well and the written word can be interpreted in many different way.
 
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FfionWinnie said:
Ekw how big were the riders and how big and what type were the ponies where this occurred?
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The 4 that I know of between Yorkshire and HOYS were all show ponies. 2 lead rein, one first ridden and one 12.2hh. All ridden by adults that weren't overweight in their own respects but were too tall and heavy for the ponies they were riding. And it wasn't a quick hop on, hop off and the ponies were showing signs of discomfort - tails going like helicopters, ears back, overbending and the likes.

If these ponies really need these adult riders on to work them in for 30+ minutes before a tiny to gets on then they really aren't kids ponies at all.
 
honetpot said:
Huge concerns about how this rule maybe applied and how it may affect children, when the riders asked to dismount appear to be adults working ponies before classes.
http://horsegossip.proboards.com/thread/208544/revised-draft-rule-suitably-mounted
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If it needs to be worked in for prolonged period by and adult before the child gets on - it's not a kid's pony.
Similarly one of the columnists in H&H was complaining about insufficient warm up time before LR and FR classes
Again if it needs working for hours before it's safe to put a child on - it's not a kid's pony.
 
ironhorse said:
If it needs to be worked in for prolonged period by and adult before the child gets on - it's not a kid's pony.
Similarly one of the columnists in H&H was complaining about insufficient warm up time before LR and FR classes
Again if it needs working for hours before it's safe to put a child on - it's not a kid's pony.
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Should have a rule that pony should not be warmed up by anyone other than the jockey whilst on show ground. It is ludicrous that a lead rein or first ridden type should have an experienced jockey warming them up. They should be mannerly and safe enough for the intended child to get on.
 
ironhorse said:
If it needs to be worked in for prolonged period by and adult before the child gets on - it's not a kid's pony.
Similarly one of the columnists in H&H was complaining about insufficient warm up time before LR and FR classes
Again if it needs working for hours before it's safe to put a child on - it's not a kid's pony.
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^^^^ Agree with this. I was surprised to read the column. I agree that the safety of small children is of the utmost importance, but surely it is about the correct mount, not how long you can get a heavy adult on and ride it round?
 
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