8.1 Categories
Available in Walk/Jog, Novice Rider, Amateur, Open and all Youth divisions and Little Britches.
8.2 The Western Horsemanship class is designed to evaluate the rider's ability to execute in concert with the horse, a set of manoeuvres prescribed by the judge with precision and smoothness while exhibiting poise and confidence and maintaining a balanced, functional and fundamentally correct body position. The ideal horsemanship pattern is extremely precise with the rider and horse working in complete unison, executing each manoeuvre with subtle aids and cues. The horse's head and neck should be carried in a relaxed natural position. The head should not be carried behind the vertical giving the appearance of intimidation, or be excessively nosed out, giving a resistant appearance.
It is mandatory that the judge post any pattern to be worked at least one hour prior to the commencement of the first class. Patterns should be designed to test the exhibitor's ability. All ties will be broken at the judge's discretion.
8.3 Class Procedures: All exhibitors must enter the ring and then work individually, or each may be worked from the gate individually. Exhibitors should be instructed to either leave the arena, fall into line, or fall into place on the rail after their work. The final top 10 must work at all three gaits in at least one direction of the arena. The following manoeuvres are acceptable in a pattern: walk, jog, trot, extended trot, lope or extended lope in a straight line, curved line, serpentine, circle or figure 8, or combination of these gaits and manoeuvres; stop; back in a straight or curved line; turn or pivot, including spins and rollbacks on the haunches and/or on the forehand; side pass, two-track or leg-yield; flying or simple change of lead; counter-canter; or any other manoeuvre; or ride without stirrups. A back should be asked for at some time during the class. Judges should not ask exhibitors to mount or dismount.
It is mandatory that the show management post any pattern to be worked at least one hour prior to the commencement of the first class. Patterns should be designed to test the exhibitor's ability. All ties will be broken at the judge's discretion.
8.4 Scoring: Scoring shall be on a basis of 0-100 with 70 denoting an average performance. Each manoeuvre will be scored from +3 to -3 with ½ point increments acceptable that will be added or subtracted from 70. Manoeuvre scores should be determined independent of penalties and should reflect equal consideration of both performance of the exhibitor's pattern and the form and effectiveness of the exhibitor and presentation of horse, to result in the following scores: +3 Excellent, +2 Very Good, +1 Good, 0 Average or Correct, -1 Poor, -2 Very Poor, -3 Extremely Poor. Exhibitor's overall form and effectiveness should also be scored from 0 to 5 with 0 to 2 Average, 3 Good, 4 Very Good, 5 Excellent.
8.5 OVERALL APPEARANCE OF EXHIBITOR AND HORSE The exhibitor's overall poise, confidence, appearance and position throughout the class as well as the physical appearance of the horse will be evaluated.
A. Appearance and Position of Exhibitor
Appropriate western attire must be worn. Clothes and person are to be neat and clean.
Basic Position Maximum credit should be given to the rider that appears natural in the seat and rides with a balanced, functional and correct position regardless of the manoeuvre or gait being performed. During the rail work and pattern the exhibitor should have a strong, secure and proper position. Exhibitors should sit and maintain an upright position with the upper body at all gaits. The rider should sit in the centre of the saddle and the horse's back with the legs hanging to form a straight line from the ear through the centre of the shoulder and hip, touching the back of the heel or through the ankle. The heel should be lower than the toes, with a slight bend in the knee and the lower leg should be directly under the knee. The rider's back should be flat, relaxed and supple. An overly stiff and/or overly arched lower back will be penalised. The shoulders should be back, level and square. The rider's base of support should maintain secure contact with the saddle from the seat to inner thigh. Light contact should be maintained with the saddle and the horse from the knee to midcalf. The knee should point forward and remain closed with no space between the rider's knee and saddle. The exhibitor will be penalised for positioning the legs excessively behind or forward of the vertical position. Regardless of the type of stirrup, the feet may be placed home in the stirrup, with the boot heel touching the stirrup, or may be placed with the ball of the foot in the centre of the stirrup. The rider's toes should be pointing straight ahead or slightly turned out with the ankles straight or slightly broken in. Riding with toes only in the stirrup will be penalised. Those exhibitors that can maintain the proper position throughout all manoeuvres should receive more credit. When riding without stirrups, the exhibitor should maintain the same position as previously described.
Hands Both hands and arms should be held in a relaxed, easy manner, with the upper arm(s) in a straight line with the body. The arm(s) holding the reins should be bent at the elbow forming a line from the elbow to the horse's mouth. It is acceptable that the free hand and arm may be carried bent at the elbow in a similar position as the hand holding the reins or carried straight down at the rider's side. Some movement of the free arm is permissible, but excessive pumping as well as excessive stiffness will be penalised. When riding one-handed with a curb bit the rider's wrist is to be kept straight and relaxed, with the hand held at about 30 to 45 degrees inside the vertical. Romal reins should be held as defined in rule 5.8.2. The rein hand should be carried immediately above or slightly in front of the saddle horn. The reins should be adjusted to have subtle control of the horse and at no time shall reins require more than a slight hand movement to control the horse. Reins may be adjusted so that the rider has light contact with the horse's mouth. Excessively tight or loose reins will be penalised.
Head The rider's head should be held with the chin level and the eyes forward. When circling, the rider should look slightly to the inside of the circle. Never, at any time should the rider's chin be pointing dramatically over their inside shoulder looking excessively to the inside of the circle, nor should the rider look down at the horse's head or shoulder. Before the start and upon completion of the pattern work, the exhibitor should glance at the judge as a courtesy. The exhibitor should not crowd the exhibitor next to or in front of them when working on the rail and should pass to the inside of the arena. When reversing on the rail, the exhibitor should always reverse to the inside of the arena.
B. Appearance of Horse
The horse's body condition and overall health and fitness should be assessed. The horse should appear fit and carry weight appropriate for the body size. A horse which appears sullen, dull, lethargic, emaciated, drawn or overly tired, should be penalised according to severity. Tack should fit the horse properly and be neat, clean and in good repair.
8.6 Performance
The exhibitor should perform the work accurately, precisely, smoothly, and with a reasonable amount of promptness. Increasing speed of the manoeuvres performed increases the degree of difficulty; however, accuracy and precision should not be sacrificed for speed. Exhibitors that perform the pattern sluggishly and allow their horse to move without adequate impulsion, collection or cadence will be penalised.
The horse should perform all manoeuvres in the pattern willingly, briskly and readily with minimal visible or audible cueing. Severe disobedience will not result in a disqualification, but should be severely penalised, and the exhibitor should not place above an exhibitor that completes the pattern correctly. Failure to follow the prescribed pattern, knocking over or working on the wrong side of the cones, excessive schooling or training, or wilful abuse by the exhibitor is cause for disqualification.
The horse should track straight, freely and at the proper cadence for the prescribed gait. Transitions should be smooth and prompt in the pattern and on the rail and should be performed when called for on the rail. The horse's head and neck should be straight and in line with their body while performing straight lines and slightly arched to the inside on curved lines or circles. Circles should be round and performed at the appropriate speed, size and location as requested in the pattern. The counter-canter should be performed smoothly with no change in cadence or stride unless specified in the pattern.
The stop should be straight, square, prompt, smooth and responsive with the horse maintaining a straight body position throughout the manoeuvre. The back should be smooth and responsive.
Turns should be smooth and continuous. When performing a turn on the haunches, the horse should pivot on the inside hind leg and step across with the front legs. A rollback is a stop and 180 degrees turn over the hocks with no hesitation. Backing during turns will be penalised severely. The horse should step across with the front and hind legs when performing the side pass, leg-yield and two-track. The side pass should be performed with the horse keeping the body straight while moving directly lateral in the specified direction. When performing a leg-yield, the horse should move forward and lateral in a diagonal direction with the horse's body arced opposite to the direction that the horse is moving. In the two-track, the horse should move forward and lateral in a diagonal direction with the horse's body held straight or bent in the direction the horse is moving.
A simple or flying change of lead should be executed precisely in the specified number of strides and/or at the designated location. A simple change of lead is performed by breaking to a walk or jog for one to three strides; more than three strides will be treated as a break of gait. Flying changes should be simultaneous front and rear. All changes should be smooth and timely.
Position of the exhibitor and performance of the horse and rider on the rail must be considered in the final placing.
An exhibitor should be penalised in the pattern independent of manoeuvre scores and deducted from the final score as follows:
A. Three (3) Points
- Break of gait at the walk or trot up to 2 strides.
- Over or under turning up to ¼ of a turn.
- Ticking or hitting cone.
- Obviously looking down to check leads.
B. Five (5) Points
- Not performing the specific gait or not stopping within 10 feet (3 meters) of designated location.
- Incorrect lead or break of gait at the lope (except when correcting an incorrect lead).
- Break of gait at walk or trot for more than 2 strides.
- Loss of stirrup.
- Bottom of boot not touching pad of stirrup at all gaits including backup.
- Head carried too low and/or clearly behind the vertical while the horse is in motion, showing the appearance of intimidation.
C. Ten (10) Points
- Loss of rein.
- Use of either hand to install fear or praise while on pattern or during rail work.
- Holding saddle with either hand.
- Cueing with the end of the romal.
- Blatant disobedience including kicking, pawing, bucking and rearing.
- Spurring in front of the cinch.
- More than three strides in a simple change.
D. Disqualifications (should not be placed, including):
- Failure to display correct number.
- Abuse of horse or schooling.
- Fall by horse or rider.
- Illegal equipment or illegal use of hands on reins.
- Use of prohibited equipment.
- Off pattern, including knocking over or wrong side of cone or marker; never performing designated gait; over or under turning more than ¼ turn.
Novice classes: exhibitors going off pattern, knocking over or wrong side of cone, never performing specified gait or over or under turning more than ¼ turn than designated shall not be disqualified, but must always place below exhibitors not incurring a disqualifying fault.