Reinsmanship pattern question

[targetsmom]

Our Pinto shows have an Amateur Reinsmanship class, which often has a pattern. The pattern for our next show is:

From line complete a figure 8, halt, back, and return to line at trot.

My question is if/how you would acknowledge/salute the call judge (there will be more than one judge) when you start and finish the pattern? I usually salute the judge the way I would at an ADS show (before the pattern) but not sure if that is the way it is "done" at a breed show. And make eye contact/nod at the end???

Any other advice appreciated!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Hmm, good question! I would, but am not sure how this would be formally done. I think if it were me I'd nod/acknowledge the judge when they tell me it's my turn (saying "Thank you, sir" or "Yes ma'm" depending on how they asked me to proceed and touching my whip to my hat brim), do my pattern crisply and accurately, then return to line and set up formally and make eye contact to acknowledge that the pattern is not completed until you are lined up again and the judge dismisses you. Treat it like a showmanship pattern and you should be okay.

Leia

 

[targetsmom]

Thanks Leia - and thanks for mentioning showmanship. By the time I get to the Reinsmanship class I (and most of my competitors) will have done 2 showmanship patterns, 2 trail patterns, an obstacle driving pattern..... plus hunter & jumper patterns and three other driving classes, so we will have lots of pattern practice with these judges! (And a couple of halter classes and a color class too).

 

[RhineStone]

Many times at ADS shows, the judge will indicate when you should salute, before and/or after the pattern. If not specified, we usually salute after, but in this case, considering that "return to the line at a trot" is part of the pattern, my guess is that the judge will not even be watching when you stop at the line up. They might start the next competitor even before you stop. That being said, you may be asked to start your pattern even when the competitor in front of you isn't finished. So this makes the roundness of the circles, the squareness of the halt, and the straightness and williness of the back the major aspects that the judge is looking for.

So I guess you are going to have to gauge if/when you can get the judge's eye and if it is appropriate to salute. I would NOT do it in the "middle" of the patten, say after the back, as that is not what is called for in the pattern. If you are the only one in the class, I would impress the judge and spectators and do a salute and the beginning and the end if you can have the judge's eye.

Otherwise, get a salute in during the inspection when the judge approaches. Gentlemen should remove their hat. THAT would be impressive in a breed show.

Myrna

BTW, we watched a large Regional Arab show while we were at the KY Horse Park for the CAA show. A while back after watching an AMHA show online, I was shocked that the drivers "collasped" in the line up. Those competitors at the Arab show "collasped" in the line up, too. So I guess it is a breed ring thing. We went back and watched the carriage show in the other arena, and those competitors didn't let down. It sure was neat watching those drivers all dressed up and "sitting pretty". The Arab line up looked like a mess (It wasn't even much of a line). Of course, over the weekend, I heard on the loudspeaker from the Arab show, "Calling class number 226, Half-Arab Western Sidesaddle Equitation for Jrs. 10 & under whose parents don't own the horse" (Just Kidding, but they did call over 200 classes!

How many different ways can you show a horse!)

 

[targetsmom]

Thanks! Well, I just realized that I copied this exactly the way it was written in an e-mail and it doesn't say what GAIT for the figure 8!!! I will for sure have that clarified before my turn. What I have done in the past is to walk out of line and stop and acknowledge/salute the judge right before I start the TROT for the figure 8.

I think you are right that the judges (4 of them!) may be watching the next competitor while the previous one is returning to the line, because by this time (early evening??) they will be as anxious for the day to end as the rest of us!

 

[RhineStone]

You are LUCKY that the pattern was emailed to you in advance! I have never seen a posted pattern at an ADS show. (Oops, they did post it at Walnut Hill....) They just normally announce it in the ring!

I love to be able to "ponder" the pattern and really determine where I am going to make turns and transitions. Maybe that is why I was able to place 2nd at Walnut Hill out of 15, because I did have that time to think about it. I know that I have lost Reinsmanship classes in the past because I have forgotten part of the pattern, only having heard it once or twice while sitting in the cart in the line up.

That being said, DON'T BE AFRAID TO CLARIFY AN ANNOUNCED PATTERN! At the CAA, they announced that we were to leave the line up to the west and begin the pattern. It was a fairly circular arena, and I had NO IDEA which way was west! I was looking all over the place for some sort of sign (no windows that I could see, either, to see where the sun was), when the ring steward told me to go "that way". My husband told me later that wasn't west!

Myrna

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Great advice from Myrna, I was hoping she'd chip in.

I too suspect the judge will be looking at the next competitor before you finish the pattern but that doesn't mean you don't need to finish crisply and stay poised in line. Doing anything else would give a very poor impression should he (or any of the other judges) happen to glance back at you for your number or to get another look at that impressive mini they liked.

What I have done in the past is to walk out of line and stop and acknowledge/salute the judge right before I start the TROT for the figure 8.

That can work well, I'd just be aware that if the judges are in a rush sometimes that extra stop and salute can be annoying to them when it could have been done with equal correctness in line. I'm not saying don't do it, just be aware of their mood!

One thing I always remember about pattern classes is if I'm sure of something and every other competitor does it differently, I'm not going to go with the crowd. It's always scary to be the only one doing it another way but several times I've then stood proudly in line (feeling relieved!) while the judges put their hands on their hips and said that only one person in the entire class did it right and why did everyone else follow the first person who made a mistake? Don't second-guess yourself if you clarified the pattern earlier!

Leia (who's only entered one 14.2h and Under ADS reinsmanship class but won it with the only mini entered)

 

[targetsmom]

Leia-

Excellent advice about not following the crowd if you think they are all wrong. I learned that one the hard way in a Pinto Obstacle Driving Class where the entire class was DQ'd!!

I like the idea of the whip salute before leaving the line to do the pattern. No time wasted.

 

[targetsmom]

In case anyway was wondering how the class went... our bad luck continues. Princess colicked as soon as she got to the show on Saturday so we scratched all our classes for the second show in a row. We walked her, treated her, rented her a stall (good thing we brought a fan just in case) and by early afternoon she pooped and was better. We did harness her around 5PM and took her in the obstacle driving class but when we laft at 8PM they still had a lot of classes to go before Reinsmanship so we didn't even get to watch. And even if she had been healthy we would not have stayed that late to enter the class.

Our lesson elarned (if you saw the other forum) is that we will no longer give her any grain before trailering (bad grain this time) although we have been doing this FOREVER with no problems.

 

[RhineStone]

Sorry to hear that. We, too, have had minis colic on the way to shows. And we didn't give any grain before trailering. Some horses are just more susceptable to the stresses of showing and trailering.

Myrna

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I'm sorry to hear that. Mine get ulcers at the drop of a hat and Kody got a minor case of gas colic at Happ's once but thankfully they've never done anything bad enough to require a vet at the showgrounds. I carry Banamine and use my Ulcergard liberally and cross my fingers every time!

Leia

 

[LazyRanch]

I have been taking Rascal to a series of open shows. These are also breed shows, with points for Paint Horse, Saddlebred (this is a saddlebred barn), and American Show Horse registries. This year our local Miniature/Shetland organization sponsored a Pleasure Driving class for the mins, with a year end high point trophy. We also have the option to enter the Open classes, Pleasure Driving and Reinsmanship.

Since Rascal is trained as a Pleasure Driving horse, we have entered the series. He is flashy and is moving much better than last year. He is NOT a Reinsmanship horse, but we have been entering that class as well as the Open Pleasure and Reinsmanship. In all cases, we will leave the lineup, go to the rail, then come across to perform the pattern. This is usually a figure 8, sometimes a serpentine, but whatever the case, we will face our judge and salute. The judge will acknowledge us, we will perform the pattern and at the end of the pattern, we halt and I will nod to the judge, wait for acknowledgement, then trot ourselves back to the lineup.

I know Rascal simply isn't a Reinsmanship horse, anymore than Godzilla would make an equitation horse. But our manners are often what make the difference. We have won most of the classes, both in the Miniature and the Open. Several of the judges have gone over this point with the class afterward. So I would continue these habits at any show.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Since Rascal is trained as a Pleasure Driving horse, we have entered the series. He is flashy and is moving much better than last year. He is NOT a Reinsmanship horse, but we have been entering that class as well as the Open Pleasure and Reinsmanship. ... I know Rascal simply isn't a Reinsmanship horse, anymore than Godzilla would make an equitation horse.

Interesting statement.

I know that when talking ridden equitation there are definitely horses of which you'd say "So-and-so is not an equitation horse" because perhaps they take a lot of leg or a lot of active hand-riding or have an unpleasantly rough gait which is hard to sit smoothly and you can't hold an aestheticly pleasing form while riding that horse. What makes a driven horse "not a reinsmanship horse?" I would have thought with the ADS's focus on being able to drive WELL (not in a static outline) that handling a difficult horse with style and grace would actually get you more points than just plodding along with an easy deadhead, assuming both did the pattern well.

Leia

 

[RhineStone]

I questioned that statement, too. I know of horses that are difficult to ride in equitation because they don't like leaving the group to perform a pattern by themselves, but that is more of a training problem.

I have done decently in Reinsmanship even with a "problem horse". The video of Alax and I at Walnut Hill proves it!

He practically threw a fit to turn the corners by the "out" gates! (It felt worse than it looks on the video...

) I was so miffed at Alax that I was ready to go back to the trailer before the cut was called. Ironically, the judge must have forgiven that because I saw lots of other horses in other classes do the same thing. We ended up 2nd of 15. That goes to prove what I have been told and tell others, "always show to the end". You never know what the other horses are going to do, so just because your horse flubs up, doesn't mean the class is over!

Myrna