Pammy Hutton FBHS shares her thoughts on the rule vacuum that is leaving dressage stewards exposed...
With equine welfare in the spotlight, never have stewards had so much responsibility bearing down on their shoulders.
Yet unbelievably, just when consistency of governance is key to maintaining dressage’s good name, these pillars of authority have few formal written guidelines to work to.
Yes, the FEI – and by extension, British Dressage (BD) – stewards’ “Bible” is currently in disarray. The old FEI stewards’ manuals were taken offline in January after being deemed outdated. It was replaced with an online hub that lacks the technical depth and objective detail needed to support decisions when it comes to eliminations.
Wondering how stewards can possibly make judgment calls with no clear guidelines, I decided to review what’s available as we await updates.
In current stewards’ guidelines, for example, there’s no definitive description of hyperflexion. There’s also no limit on the number of minutes a horse can be worked in rather round. The only limited guidelines that do exist permit long, deep and round riding “unless used excessively or prolonged”.
FEI article 438 on this topic refers to horse welfare, but with no time scales.
In the original 2012 BD rule book, there is mention of 10 minutes, but nothing to say you can’t take a break and repeat.
Rules about noseband tightness also need definition. Nosebands are already being made with a gap at the front. And there is a question about whether the measuring device might not work with some grackles if the crossover at the front is designed to stay tight even when the back strap is loosened.
And there remains no clear obligation to use the device to check every horse’s noseband. The latest FEI protocol allows for elimination if a horse fails the device check, but neither the FEI nor BD has an explicit rule requiring elimination based solely on a manual check. Instead, they rely on general horse welfare provisions, which can set a higher bar.
And that’s just a few examples of what stewards face with no definitive rule book to guide them. Yet people still have huge expectations of them in terms of policing and transparency.
Stewards are heroic
On a human level, it’s unfair to our stewards – those heroic people who stand in the sunshine and rain, making difficult decisions to keep the show on the road.
The bigger issue is that we don’t have enough stewards to police every warm-up at every competition. Plus, we don’t have enough judges brave enough to call out bad riding in a test.
If the existing judging guidelines were enforced more clearly, stewards might not be under so much pressure. That said, a bit of common sense from an experienced steward still goes a long way.
Have we created an aura of perfection around dressage where no one famous can have a bad day? In showjumping or eventing, our idols regularly end up with their faces in the dirt, but dressage can be seen as protective of its stars.
If top-level riders were routinely marked down or even rung out if they were having a bad day, then the sport would have to come to terms with the fact that even our best combinations are not perfect, God-like beings.
There would also be more understanding that when horses have a bad day, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are in pain. Perhaps the key is to make dressage a more objectively judged sport. But to do that, we need up-to-date, robust guidelines for those overseeing it.
My thoughts on resistance bands
Resistance bands for riders have become a bit of a thing. Do I like them? No! Are they safe to use while on a horse? Not always.
Some companies are now selling these and offering accreditation to fit them on other riders, in just a matter of days. That can’t be right…
No horse or human body is born completely symmetrical. We need to work sympathetically with what we’ve got. And why extend your legs by riding without stirrups, only to put bands on and compress the muscles again? Resistance bands might be fashionable, but they’re not for me.
● What changes would enable stewards to do their job even better? Write to us at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance for your letter to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine
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