One-handed Riding Causes a Stir
By Patti Schofler
boy’ pat on the dash board? Clearly that’s not an issue in driving your car like it has
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become in dressage. Uproar rained down on social media when international rider Tristan Tucker, an Australian dres- sage and natural horsemanship trainer based in the Nether- lands, was eliminated for patting his horse on the shoulder and behind the saddle during an Intermediare 1 test at the CDI3* in Uggerhaine, Denmark, last summer. The elimination also caused the FEI and USEF to push out a rule clarification updating rules for 2018. No, petting the horse is not the issue. Dressage judges
do think rewarding a horse in that manner is a good thing, says FEI 4* judge Mike Orsinski. “If you keep both hands on the reins and pat your horse, that’s okay. In a standard dressage test, you must keep both hands on the reins, except during the halt salute.” But what if your nose itches or a fly nearly goes
in your eye? Can you take one hand and scratch your nose or adjust your hat that’s nearly fall- ing off? And what about a freestyle? Is a one- handed ride a problem? And is it clear what the correct penalty is for the pat behind the saddle, which would require a free hand?
THE INCIDENT THAT WENT VIRAL The inspiration for updating both FEI and USEF rules was Tucker’s Intermedi- are ride on his eight-year-old gelding Jewels Sir Weibach (Sir Donnerhall I x Don Schufro), whom he describes as inexperienced. “He has quite a bit of tension and was hold- ing his breath, so the canter-trot tran- sition at C at the end of the test was late,” he told Horse & Hound. “So then on
86 March/April 2018
river’s education handbooks harp about keeping both hands on the wheel. But does it make excep- tion for rubbing your nose, adjusting your hat, or for that matter, rewarding your car with an ‘atta
the diagonal in the extended trot, when I could feel tension, I rubbed him (behind the saddle) a bit and he started to breathe again and let go in the body. I was in the moment and I was trying to reassure him. I rubbed him on the wither and he was then really relaxed.” After the final halt, German judge Gotthilf Riexinger left
his post at C to inform Tristan he was eliminated. And then social media exploded.
RULES CLARIFIED Since that incident the FEI and USEF have taken great pains to clarify the rule affecting one- and two-handed riding in a standard test. For a considerable time, riding with one hand in both FEI
and national freestyles has been in a sense rewarded by rais- ing the score for the performance’s degree of difficulty when executed with technical correctness, provid- ing the one hand isn’t making exaggerated motions. Should the rider appear to try to influence the public with the free hand, the judge should deduct .5 points from the harmony mark. If the rider removes his or her hat to influence the horse’s impulsion with the hat, the judge should give the rider an insufficient technical
score for the movements involved.
Likely in response to the
incident in Denmark, the FEI Dressage Technical Commit- tee initiated a clarification to Article 418 of Chapter 1 – Dressage “to ensure fairness
in judging related to article 418 and riding with both hands.” Today the rule now reads: “Riding with both
hands is obligatory at FEI Dressage Events. When leaving the arena at a walk on long rein, after having
Spain’s Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz on Fuego XII at the 2011 European Dres-
sage Championships riding one-tempis with one hand in their Grand Prix Freestyle.
Tazz
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