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Question for english riders

2K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  Kalraii 
#1 ·
Hi, I'm a western rider but I am curious about your style of riding. I was wondering if collection during an event is necessary for winning? Not sure sure how to word it but, if you were to show without collecting your horse's head would be disqualified or...? Is it a rule that you have to collect? Also, is it true bitless bridles are a no-no in showing? And last and most importantly, is it true that showing your horse without shoes is against some rule? Ive heard a lot of back and forth on this
 
#2 ·
Well, most importantly, "collection" is something that the entire horse does, of which the position of the head is a mere byproduct. You can't yank the horse's nose to its chest and say, "Yay! Collection achieved!", nor can you force the horse to pull his own head towards the chest to avoid bit pressure and call that "collection".

A horse is in collection if its muscular tension is such that it is ready to do work - move forward, jump, etc. When you are on a hike and are about to jump a ditch, you "collect" yourself. An olympic sprinter at the starting block is in an extreme state of collection. (Strangely enough, his/her head would also be drawn towards the chest, but that is a byproduct of tension in the core.)

I like to think of it this way: If I gallop my horse in the field, and I need a 20 yard turn radius for a U-turn, I'm decidedly not in collection. If I canter through the woods dodging trees and making 90º turns at speed, I'm in collection: the weight of the horse is in the back, there is propulsion from the back, and the horse is ready to react to input at a split second. I don't tend to have a lot of contact in either of these scenarios, but the gallop is in two-point, and the canter trough the woods I am dead-center in the saddle helping the horse with balance.

Can't help you with the other show-related questions, as I don't compete.
 
#3 ·
It depends what discipline you're in. In dressage, the horses are ridden in more collection, though exactly how much depends on what level you're riding at. In hunter classes, both flat and over jumps, the horses move more relaxed, long and low, and covering ground. In jumpers, the horses move in whatever way gets the horse and rider around the course in the time allowed -- or faster than the others if it's a jump-off. Achieving this usually requires collection to set the horse up for jumps at times on the course, but it's purely for functional reasons and winning is as winning does, in that case.
 
#4 ·
Collection isn't anything to do with the head or a thing you do. It's a method of riding to achieve the best physical balance and ability. One sports collected looks different than another, including western events. While the head end up looking a certain way as a by-product, it's a result of the rest of the picture being put into place.

You wouldn't be disqualified for not riding 'collected', but you won't score as well due to the loss of all the things it facilitates (balance, suppleness, responsiveness...) .

Bitless are illegal in most English disciplines except show jumping(but not hunters).

There is no rule about not having shoes.
 
#5 ·
I think I know what the OP means by collection. In Western Pleasure if the horse does not have it's head at a certain position, it will affect your score. the 'headset' is important for your success at showing western, for many areas.
In huntseat, it is rarely commented on by the judge, and in dressage, it IS commented on , and scored down, if the horse has it's head up high and is ether star gazing on a loose rein, or is pulling hard up on the rein. the judge would downgrade your score based more on the horse not showing good submission to the rider, nor good relaxation.

this is my limited personal knowledge having showed at low levels in dressage. of course, this is not , as the others talked about, really dealing with true 'collection', but rather 'connection' to the bit, and head position.

it's good that you are inquiring about such things and broadening your knowledge.
 
#6 ·
So I don't show but I non-stop talk/ask questions and live in London, so I learn things from the other people. There are, locally that I know of and can look up, a few bitless dressage competitions. They are frowned upon and considered "unofficial" but there are very motivated people out there determined to make it a class of it's own. Two of the ladies that I spoke with (cough, learn from) actually show in both bit and bitless as the scoring doesn't interfere with each other(?) Never heard anything about shoes specifically unless it's for jumping and even then I don't know if there's any rules about it? Collection you've got loads of awesome answers that help reinforce what I'm learning myself xD
 
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