This Year’s British Dressage Rule Changes – Are You Ready?
Each year British Dressage review their rules in order to make competitions as fair as possible. Any changes come into effect from the 1st December every year. With December fast approaching it’s important to know what has been changed this year and how it affects you and your horse. We’ll go through some of the biggest talking points from this year’s British Dressage rule changes so that there’ll be no surprises when they come into effect.
Legal Tack:
It’s an exciting time for fans of PS of Sweden as they have bridles that feature in the new additions of legal tack. Find out which bridles have been added for this coming year below:
Find out more about PS of Sweden here.
Other bridles added include the Passier Fortuna Double, the Shadow Horse Bridle with D Rings at Poll, the Stubben Freedom 2500 Snaffle, and the Osiris Bridle. Tota and PS of Sweden nosebands are being accepted now too. Click here to shop all bridles.
There are also 4 new bits allowed for competition this year which are the Bombers Flexible Mullen, Happy Tongue Ported Barrel, Eliptical Cable and Loose Ring Ultra Comfy. Click here to shop all bits.
Whip Usage:
You can carry a whip when competing at Premier Leagues (though selectors could specify if they want competitors to go without). However, if you carry a whip at Area Festivals, Regionals and Championships you will be eliminated. It used to be that you would receive 6 penalties per judge for carrying one in these classes but British Dressage felt that this penalty system wasn’t working fairly. Whips are still allowed in other national classes and four-year-old championships.
Number Of Judges:
British Dressage rule changes stipulate that all championships should now have at least 3 judges and they need to be positioned on both the long and short sides of the arena. There will always, for all competitions, be a judge at C, then there should be a second judge at either H or M (on the short side next to the judge at C) and the 3rd judge would be at B or E (one the long side not covered by the judge at H or M). Then, where 5 judges are present they should be positioned with three along the short side and one at B and one at E.
This means that there will be a better view of each competitor in order to have each movement judged more fairly. This could require some venues to make adjustments to accommodate this which will need to be done as soon as possible.
Competitor Numbers:
All competitors need to have their number visible from both sides. This can be on the bridle or the saddle cloth but if you fail to do so you will incur a 2 point deduction. They have made this change to help with identifying combinations from either side. It can sometimes be a struggle for the likes of judges, photographers, stewards etc. to know who you are if they have no number visible to them.
We hope you’re now all ready for your dressage competitions in the coming year and you understand the British Dressage rule changes. If you want any more information you can read the full British Dressage rule amendments here. You can buy everything you need for upcoming dressage competitions either online or in-store. Why not have a browse using the links below:
