What Would You Do? (Riding Etiquette)

[Wellspotted]

You're riding on the rail in the arena. It's a big arena, with a dressage arena in the middle (separated by low dressage rails), and between the dressage arena and the actual arena rail (fence) is a good wide track with some jumps.

Another rider is in the arena with you, riding on the rail with you, between the jumps and the fence.

There is room for several horses in this big arena, room for each to work on a separate track.

I was riding out there a week or so ago, and the only other rider kept coming up from behind and passing me in the narrow space between a jump and the outside rail. He didn't go inside the jump to pass, where there was plenty of room, and he wasn't working in the dressage arena (20 x 60, so plenty of room). Every time he came up behind me, his horse did something (I couldn't see him back there) that spooked my horse. This happened twice. I tried crossing the middle of the arena so that the two of us would have the whole arena between us, but he would trot (I was warming up at walk) and then pass me in a tight space. Finally I positioned my horse so that we were standing still, facing the other ride and his horse. I thought this might keep my horse quiet.

His horse acted up again as they passed us, which made my horse spook even more.

Finally I said I would go ride outside the arena. I don't like riding outside the arena, but I felt forced out of the big arena because this guy just didn't seem to be able to give us some room.

What would you do? Would you say something? Ride outside the arena?

[Alagirl]

Sometimes you have to speak up, or move out of the way.

Had that happen to me once, indoor, plenty of room for 2, me on a greener than grass TB youngster, the other guy on a huge Keuring drop out Dressage star...I mean he about rode over us.

I eventually did not use the indoor (no options to ride elsewhere) when this person was around, and I was too young and shy to tell him to go numb himself and respect my space, as I was/am not the best rider I was fully cognicent of the arena rules and stayed out of his way, he deemed it not necessary to do likewise.:eek:

In short, sometimes an unladylike 'FO is appropriate! :yes:

[Sport]

Trying hard to figure out the set up, but could you have worked within the dressage to be away from him, especially if you were walking.
When we are walking whether to warm up, or cool down we give the right of way to the horses that are working at the faster gaits.

[Donkey]

What would i have done? - If i didn't feel like I was about to die I would have stayed and made my horse work through it. Win-win for both of you if you can use each other to school your horse to deal with similar situations. Otherwise I'd move (as I had the issue) or go and lunge before returning to deal with it.

ETA - I once was in a situation where the arena was VERY busy and I was on my at the time very green horse. One of the people in the arena was an older kid galloping a pony stud. My horse was a little 'up' when having the pony speed by so I asked the kid to please give us lots of room. Well it took her about 5 minutes to forget about that and we had a pony come whizzing up behind us and the next thing I know my horse took off broncing across the arena, we eventually parted ways and we both (my horse and I) ended up on the ground (she fell after I came off)(we were both OK). So now I try not to ever rely on someone else to modify their behavior for my benefit. If you do not feel safe dealing with the situation you should do what you have to do (leave,lunge etc) to be safe but aim to get to the point where you can deal with the situation.

[pAin't_Misbehavin']

It sounds like the other rider was being a bit of a jerk - didn't he notice he kept spooking your horse?

But I probably would not have said anything to the rider. I kind of like to seize those "teachable moments" and work on getting my horse not to spook.:)

[SkipChange]

Just say, "Hey my horse is funny about being passed. So if you don't mind try to give us some extra room when passing?" You can add "my horse gets nervous and I would hate for him to act out and hurt your horse or one of us."

I ride at a barn with a bunch of wild children and when I brought my new young jumper there he had never been in an arena with other horses and apparently never seen ponies :eek: I just politely told them to give me lots of space. After a few ponies dared to get too close and homeboy did some fancy acrobatic maneuvers he soon got a reputation as "crazy" and I was avoided at all costs :D (*After given time to adjust and practice passing in close quarters he has learned it's not that scary. He is now a solid citizen who can handle being passed :D as long as it's not a mare in heat :lol:)

[mvp]

In this order

Get out of the way several times, as you did.

Ask the guy to choose a different track. He may not notice what happens to you and your horse after he cruises by.

Leave the arena, look pissed about it. Don't actually get pissed about it. Find something to teach your horse outside that day.

If this happens more than once and doesn't work or they guy is rude, speak to the Ruling Body at your barn about the problem.

[Gloria]

If you feel so uncomfortable, why don't you simply ask him to give you more space? He might have felt that was plenty of space. Different people have different perspective you know.

Or if it were me, I would seize the opportunity to school my horse. If you want to show, or if you want to go to trail ride, or if you just want to ride while others are present, sooner or later you will need to school your horse so another horse passing by will not bother him. Many times it is not an option to have plenty of space and I want to make sure my horses are OK with it. I sometimes ask other riders to pass me very closely at various gaits for this sole purpose.

[mjrtango93]

It sounds like he was using you and your horse to school his horse on passing. You mentioned 2 times that his horse was doing something when nearing you that would spook your horse. Sounds like he has a horse that isn't great about passing in tighter quarters and he was making you his guinea pig. If you don't ask them to modify the bahavior I doubt he is a mind reader, then again if he was using your horse to school his, it might not matter to him anway.

[Tif_Ann]

If I were warming up at the walk I would have either moved to the inside track that you mentioned that the OTHER rider could have moved to or just stuck to the rail and worked on my own horse's reaction. It's not the other rider's job to control your horse. Sounds like he was having a bit of a problem with his own horse on the passing, and was probably getting slightly peeved with you for not yielding to the higher gait. I've always been told that "Slow on the Inside, Fast on the Outside." So to me, YOU should have been the one to move to the inside track.

[mjrtango93]

I've always been told that "Slow on the Inside, Fast on the Outside." So to me, YOU should have been the one to move to the inside track.

I've typically heard opposite, slow horses walk on the rail, working horses to the inside. It keeps the walkers in one place and the people in faster gaits can circle, change direction, jump without running over someone walking.

[Tif_Ann]

I've typically heard opposite, slow horses walk on the rail, working horses to the inside. It keeps the walkers in one place and the people in faster gaits can circle, change direction, jump without running over someone walking.

I'm sure it's heard both ways - I even googled it and the first few "arena etiquette" posts that came up all say slow to the inside ... might be a regional thing. Jumping is an obvious distinction as the jumps are not typically set up on the rail.

[mjrtango93]

I'm sure it's heard both ways - I even googled it and the first few "arena etiquette" posts that came up all say slow to the inside ... might be a regional thing. Jumping is an obvious distinction as the jumps are not typically set up on the rail.

Could be sport based as well, which could be part of the OP's problem. :D

[starrysky]

I would speak up. After the first time this caused an adverse reaction in your horse, I would specifically ask him to give you more space - even suggest that he pass to the inside of jumps. He is not going to know it bothers you if you don't speak up. You may think he'd notice your horse spooking, but if he is concentrating on his horse and his ride, probably not. Not defending the guy here, just saying speak up.

[Gloria]

If I were warming up at the walk I would have either moved to the inside track that you mentioned that the OTHER rider could have moved to or just stuck to the rail and worked on my own horse's reaction.

Not necessarily. In Dressage, it generally mean walk on inside/pass on outside. In hunter, you walk on rail/pass on inside. Quite confusing when you have people of different displine trying to use the same arena.

[Tif_Ann]

Not necessarily. In Dressage, it generally mean walk on inside/pass on outside. In hunter, you walk on rail/pass on inside. Quite confusing when you have people of different displine trying to use the same arena.

See, I asked my sister too - she went to William Woods University and was taught there that the slower gait goes to the inside - and this was in dressage, western pleasure, and h/j. So maybe regional? I know in shows, h/j, you pass to the inside ... very confusing.

[tangledweb]

I don't get why speaking up is so hard.

Maybe he was passive aggressively hinting that you should move off the rail while walking by passing close, and you were passive aggressively hinting that he should give you more space by working outside the arena.

If either of you had said something it might have been resolved really quickly.

[Alagirl]

This guy did the equine equivalent of tailgating.

And at a narrow spot in the arena as well.

There are always ways to work on stuff, either way around, but just riding up somebody's heels when there is no good place to get out of the way is beyond rude.


How about a stern 'Excuse me, what do you think you are doing?!'

[pAin't_Misbehavin']

Finally I positioned my horse so that we were standing still, facing the other ride and his horse. I thought this might keep my horse quiet.

His horse acted up again as they passed us, which made my horse spook even more.

FWIW, this is what I generally do when we see a spooky monster. So I think you did the right thing there.:)

I also vote for passing on the inside, but then I ride h/j. I didn't realize other disciplines had different rules! I learn something new every day on COTH.:)

[Brigit]

Some people just have no arena manners at all. Sounds like this guy is one of those.
I was at a show once and this old guy and his crazy, green horse showed up. He had no control and pretty much stared at his hands the entire time. He kinda looked like he was sitting on the toilet reading a newspaper vs. riding a horse. It was entertaining to watch him attempt to jump in the arena by himself but when it came to being in a flat class with him.....scary. He kept running up behind everyone's horses, almost running into them and then cramming his way past between the wall and the other horse. :o and then completely cutting people off. It was brutal. I was sooooo not impressed. He was bad enough that before the flat class several of the other girls that had been to that particular show series before had warned me about him. I couldn't believe the ring steward didn't say something and excuse him from the ring. I actually had to turn and look at him several times and tell him to pass or get away from my horse. What if he had run over some little kid and their pony or caused a wreck??? In the lineup afterwards he tried to joke with me saying "Oh sorry about that, you're horse is just kinda slow". I tore him a new one, I didn't care if we were in the ring or not. I told him that perhaps if he actually watched where he was going, instead of staring at his hands, he could better plan his ride and not be running into everybody, it's called arena etticute, even the LITTLE kids know about it. I was so annoyed. And yes, after the class I did go speak to the ring steward and show management.
I make a HUGE point at teaching my lesson kids manners and how to pass properly and not run up behind each other and cut each other off.

Anyways, I would have said something to this guy in the arena. I'd do it politely at first "Hey my horse is kind of green when it comes to passing, could you please give us some more room when you pass?" and maybe even "Would you rather work on the inside rail or the outside? Then we won't be running into each other haha". And if he STILL doesn't get it, then I'd get snarky.

[goeslikestink]

You're riding on the rail in the arena. It's a big arena, with a dressage arena in the middle (separated by low dressage rails), and between the dressage arena and the actual arena rail (fence) is a good wide track with some jumps.

Another rider is in the arena with you, riding on the rail with you, between the jumps and the fence.

There is room for several horses in this big arena, room for each to work on a separate track.

I was riding out there a week or so ago, and the only other rider kept coming up from behind and passing me in the narrow space between a jump and the outside rail. He didn't go inside the jump to pass, where there was plenty of room, and he wasn't working in the dressage arena (20 x 60, so plenty of room). Every time he came up behind me, his horse did something (I couldn't see him back there) that spooked my horse. This happened twice. I tried crossing the middle of the arena so that the two of us would have the whole arena between us, but he would trot (I was warming up at walk) and then pass me in a tight space. Finally I positioned my horse so that we were standing still, facing the other ride and his horse. I thought this might keep my horse quiet.

His horse acted up again as they passed us, which made my horse spook even more.

Finally I said I would go ride outside the arena. I don't like riding outside the arena, but I felt forced out of the big arena because this guy just didn't seem to be able to give us some room.

What would you do? Would you say something? Ride outside the arena?



rider behind should have circled away from you but as there was an arena in side an arena then this would be difficult - as there was jumps in the way
in truth a hazzard and accident waiting to happen
inner arena should be cleared away or jumps should have been
you cant do both with laods of riders in an enclosed space its either or

but this is my opnion

anyways - if the horse spooked sound like he was up yeah bum
so the alternative is for you to ride forwards and keep ahead of him so he cant do that - so ride to the back of the ride - ie your 1st he was up yea backside then you - ride - to be behind him that way your in control of said horse you on and you can see the rider infront of you - so should be able to control your speed and tempo and control your horse so they dont interefere withone another

[twofatponies]

We always let the faster person have the right of way, so if they are trotting on the rail, and I am walking, I move to the inside and walk figure eights or circles to stay clear. If they are working on a circle, I stay at the other end on the other circle, etc. I try to watch where they are going and change my route to stay clear. If they are walking and I want to work at trot or canter, I might say "can I have the circle at the far end" or "can I have the rail" while they cool down/warm up or take a break.

That said we've had our share of "oops" moments, but we all know each other and everyone is responsible for doing a screeching halt if someone messes up and is about to run into someone else! :D

Communicating about what you are doing helps!

[lcw579]

Trying hard to figure out the set up, but could you have worked within the dressage to be away from him, especially if you were walking.
When we are walking whether to warm up, or cool down we give the right of way to the horses that are working at the faster gaits.


I'm also wondering why you didn't just go into the dressage arena? Was someone else using it? Seems that would have been the best solution, then you could have varied your walk with figure 8's and circles and your horse would have gotten over being passed by the other horse since he would have had more opportunities to see him coming and going. JMHO

[cajunbelle]

Change direction and say "left to left" meaning left shoulder to left shoulder, you do not need to go in the same direction...At my old barn there were lots of kids and beginners riding around, something you will always have to deal with. If you know what you are doing....... take control, not everyone knows ring etiquette. You can nicely pass your knowledge along to others.

[atr]

I generally try to make sure I'm riding towards people who are ring-challenged, so I can see what they are doing and take appropriate action.

Walking is generally off the track here too. Passing is left to left.

In this circumstance,I'd probably have stopped and asked him if we could work out a way of sharing the arena comfortably without getting in each other's way.

[Bluey]

One arena had large signs with:

"COURTESY ALERT
SLOW RIDERS
PLEASE USE
INSIDE TRACK.
THANK YOU."

Another right after that one:

"FAST RIDERS
LOOK AROUND.
IF OTHERS ARE
REACTING TO
YOUR SPEED,
SLOW DOWN.
THANK YOU".

If you had that in your arena, you could point to that second sign.;)

[FineAlready]

It sounds like he was using you and your horse to school his horse on passing. You mentioned 2 times that his horse was doing something when nearing you that would spook your horse. Sounds like he has a horse that isn't great about passing in tighter quarters and he was making you his guinea pig. If you don't ask them to modify the bahavior I doubt he is a mind reader, then again if he was using your horse to school his, it might not matter to him anway.

This. It completely sounds like this guy was using you as a training vehicle for his not-good-at-passing-other-horses horse. I've had it done to me before, and it is really annoying if the person does not ask and get permission first. The biggest problem is that if his horse is acting up, it can cause your horse to develop an unwarranted fear of being passed. I've agreed to be used in this manner to help train someone else's horse, but only when I'm on a been there, done that sort of horse that I know won't flinch no matter what the other horse does. And, only when having been asked first. I'd be very angry if someone just started doing this with no warning!

Your best bet is probably to just say, "Hey, please don't pass my horse so close - it really bothers him, and it bothers me as well." Say it in a nice way, but don't ask it as a question.

[Alagirl]

This. It completely sounds like this guy was using you as a training vehicle for his not-good-at-passing-other-horses horse. I've had it done to me before, and it is really annoying if the person does not ask and get permission first. The biggest problem is that if his horse is acting up, it can cause your horse to develop an unwarranted fear of being passed. I've agreed to be used in this manner to help train someone else's horse, but only when I'm on a been there, done that sort of horse that I know won't flinch no matter what the other horse does. And, only when having been asked first. I'd be very angry if someone just started doing this with no warning!

Your best bet is probably to just say, "Hey, please don't pass my horse so close - it really bothers him, and it bothers me as well." Say it in a nice way, but don't ask it as a question.


LOL, 'say it in a nice way'

The first time, maybe the second time.

Why are so many people going with 'get out of his way' when it's a 2way deal.

There is the honest to goodness 'I didn't know Dobbins was going to do this, sorry' and the 'so what if your horse spooks' the latter warrants a sterner answer.

Time spend avoiding others at the barn is lost on your own agenda. Like I said, as someone on the receiving end, it gets old in a hurry.

I find that an approach with controlled b*tchiness gets a lot of things done.

[LuvMyTB]

Ugh. I had someone do this to me earlier this year. Guy was "schooling" another boarder's rank, nasty horse, and kept coming RIGHT BY MY MARE to do so. After several passes, during which the rank horse would stop and rear or try and back into my horse, I asked the guy to "Please not get so close to my horse."

He responded with "Oh, you're fine." :mad:

I left the arena. And then left the barn shortly after.