So I was wandering around on
COTH, as one does when things are slow at work, and saw that there was a discussion on the recent (not even so recent, I'm behind the times)
rule change proposal* about double bridles in dressage. The proposal is to require the snaffle bridle through Third level, rather than through Second. Meaning that you can no longer show at Third level in a double bridle.
Just for those who are unfamiliar, right now you can show in a double bridle OR snaffle bridle from Third level through Grand Prix. The only time a double is required is at CDI (international) competitions.
*I'm actually unsure if this was just proposed or is going into effect in 2017, did not do my research #sorrynotsorry #gradschooltaughtmenothing
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| My double is so pretty! And now it's just gathering dust :( |
In the past, you only had the double as an option from Fourth to GP (so it was not allowed at Third). What ended up happening is this, quote taken from that thread said to be said by Axel Steiner:
“Some competitors were riding older school masters that didn’t have the most sensitive mouths any more. For that reason, we saw riders skip to Fourth Level because they couldn’t use a double at Third. However, the riders weren’t competent enough for Fourth Level. So we made the change to allow as many horses and riders, especially the amateur owners – the backbone of the sport – to stay in the sport.”
At the same time, the rider collective score was split into effectiveness, harmony, and position, so the rider was given more places to get lower scores if they were not riding well.
I can see this argument. If Rico were leased out to someone who was fairly capable, he could probably take them to PSG easily- he's a bit of a packer once as you get him energized. But he's a pretty heavy animal in the snaffle, not super pleasant to ride, and probably wouldn't be teaching his new rider about how to ride light and sensitively in the snaffle since he'd be too busy thinking he could lean on them.
His hypothetical rider would probably only have 1-2 years left on him, at most, since he isn't super sound, and I wouldn't force that poor rider who would be paying a fair amount to ride him, to sit at Training/First/Second just because my dumb horse was leaning on them. If capable enough, I could see moving that rider into the double bridle and throwing them at whatever test they were able to ride, so they could work on finishing their Bronze and getting their Silver. Because Third level in the double on Rico (or, even Fourth 1) is going to be easier than Second level in the snaffle. Obviously Rico is capable of Second, but he's a tricky ride in the snaffle, period. He always has been.
But now they're thinking of rolling it back.
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Rico and I showed 3rd and 4th at this show
in the snaffle, but most of our 3rd+ shows
were in the double |
There was a discussion on COTH about it. People on both sides of the argument making different claims, many of those claims just sweeping assumptions that we all know not to make but we totally do.
After thinking about it for half a day, my official opinion is this: I don't fucking care. But I lean toward the allow-it-at-Third side.
Let's look through some arguments though since this is interesting.
Third level = Bronze medal
Argument: Lots of people rush to Third while not too many people rush to Fourth. Third is the Bronze medal. There are a lot of people who want that medal, it's the first medal, it's relatively achievable, but it's not an easy medal to achieve by any means. It took me the longest out of all of my medals (started riding dressage seriously in 2004, Bronze 2009, Silver 2010, Gold 2014). If you think about the jump from Training/First to Third, it's arguably bigger than the jump from Fourth to PSG (for the Silver), but I would call it less of a jump from I1 to GP. GP is just a terribly difficult test.
What hoards of people rushing to a level means is that there ARE going to be people who cut corners. And one of those corners is to zip through Second as fast as possible (literally just get your two scores, which I am not entirely against as a trainer FYI) to get into that double bridle. So the idea is that if they eliminate the double from Third, they eliminate the ability of that bridle being misused by people who are inevitably going to rush to that level to get their Bronze.
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| Double is helpful for tempis |
BUT: people misuse tack all the time. They are going to slap illegal equipment on at home (been there myself, hello draw reins and non-snaffle bits), they are going to school in the double early, they are going to ride badly. That's just how life with horses works sometimes. So why not let them show in the double and let the judges rip them a new one when they misuse it. Can't stop them from riding terribly at home in the double, but we can give them poor scores and make them really think about it.
Rebuttal: judges don't usually ding people for misuse of the double- too tight curb, etc- unless it's really truly affecting the horse, and generally they make comments like "gaping mouth" rather than "your curb rein is too tight, yo" so lots of people don't give two shits
AND: people are going to rush no matter what and maybe this
will encourage people to hurry to Fourth level before they're ready. Fourth level tests are much harder on a horse physically (+ tempis, + canter pirouettes, + collected walk) than at Third. If you're a person who wants to show in a double and that's the only thing that matters to you (for whatever reason- maybe your horse goes better in it or you think it's cool), I think the horse would prefer you play at Third level than at Fourth.
Rebuttal: If Fourth IS that much harder, maybe it will weed out the bad riders who simply can't perform those tests, double or not.
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| Not necessary for shoulder-in |
Snaffles > Doubles Always
Argument: All horses should go just as well in a snaffle anyway, so pushing the double further along encourages people to address training problems. The longer we push that double option out, the more likely we are to have people riding properly.
BUT: People are always going to cut corners- we can't police people at home. Pushing the double out
isn't going to make people ride better. The argument would only make sense if FEI riders rode better than 3rd/4th level riders. That's not true, there are people who hang on the curb at the FEI levels too. People are going to ride like shit no matter what the level and what equipment we allow. We need to address poor riding, regardless of equipment. And we do that with judging.
Rebuttal: Pushing the double out to Fourth will give some people at least an extra 6 months to a year to introduce the double, maybe that will help.
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| This guy gave zero fucks when he got his double |
AND: Whoever makes this snaffle is best argument either has a LOT of patience or has never ridden an incredibly powerful horse who thinks that sitting is optional. My biggest goal when choosing equipment is to find a balance between keeping a horse and rider harmonious and taking the perfectly correct path toward GP. Sometimes you need to sacrifice the ideal (in this case, the snaffle) for harmony. There are horses who simply do not do well in the snaffle. I would prefer to see a rider riding harmoniously in a double than having to ride physically in a snaffle. YES everyone, in a perfect world, would step back and work their asses off to get their horses going in the fattest of fat snaffles, but I think everyone is happier when a rider can ride the horse lightly.
Rebuttal: not everyone rides lightly in the double- some people ride physically in the double and it's a bad thing.
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| Light and fluffy |
Learning
Argument: Keeping the double at Third is good because it allows riders to learn how to ride in the double before you have to do the movements where it really counts.
BUT: Why can't you learn to ride in the double at home? Like, if you don't know how to use your equipment, don't show until you do. Riding in the double isn't rocket science. I've taught numerous people to ride in it and it takes maybe a couple of rides. Maybe a few more to be comfortable. If you're afraid of bopping the horse accidentally with the curb, get a really mild curb and put tabs on your curb rein so you know where to hold them.
Rebuttal: Riding in shows is different, horses go differently at shows and riders get more nervous. Not having the pressure that pirouettes and tempis add to Fourth is a good thing.
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Double bridle doesn't prevent me from leaning off the left side
of my horse |
Honestly, either way, we're still going to see riders at all levels misusing their equipment. I don't think that allowing the double at Third created worse riders, and I don't think that restricting the double to Fourth and above is going to create better riders. Riders are going to be as good or shitty as they are going to be, and there's not much anyone can do about it until judges start to really slaughter people for it.
Unfortunately, there are restrictions on how hard a judge can be on you- you can ride with a horizontal curb and the judge can take a point or so off, but if you execute that movement well and have a nice horse, you're still going to score well. And plus, a 55% to some people is a decent score, vs others who desire a 68% before they think they're doing well. So even if people who really hang on the curb and force false frames start scoring super low, the odds that those people are going to think twice is fairly low. There are always excuses that people can make to explain away their behavior.
And many judges avoid saying "false frame" and "yanking horse into frame" and "horizontal curb," they say positive things like "horse should stretch into contact more" and they circle the "relaxation of the back" in the impulsion section. No judge is going to go on a rant in the collectives section about how the rider is absolutely hanging on the curb and yanking their horse into a false frame. They wouldn't be hired back. If everyone who made the least bit of a mistake was completely slaughtered by a judge, those people wouldn't want to compete anymore and the sport would disintegrate.
It doesn't affect me personally just yet because TC is clearly not ready for any of this. I don't think I'll be using a double on him anyway. He gets very retracted in the neck and is very soft to his very fat snaffle. I think putting a double in his mouth is a good way to get a completely rigid topline and a horse who refuses to step into the bridle. But if I had been able to clone Rico (or was leasing him out), I would have probably been slightly irritated at the thought that he wouldn't be able to use the double for Third. He is a horse who went exceptionally well in the double.
Thoughts??
