Article 14 — Tack and accessories

TACK

The type of tack is free. That it does not match the chosen theme is not penalised: with Spanish music and dress on that theme, one may ride in a classical saddle and double bridle.

Riding without tack is allowed: the competitor then performs the whole program without a bridle, from the start.

Removing tack during the program means elimination. Such a gesture belongs to display rather than competition; besides the danger it creates for the pair, it breaks the continuity of the dance for the sake of a coup de théâtre.

RESTRAINING DEVICES ARE FORBIDDEN — running martingale, German reins, side reins, and any device constraining the position of the head or the neck.

ACCESSORIES

The whip is allowed at Amateur and Pro Inter levels only. It serves only to give impulsion: any other use, or excessive use, is penalised. The same applies to spurs.

PRESENTING ONESELF WITH A WHIP AT A LEVEL WHERE IT IS NOT ALLOWED MEANS NOT BEING RANKED, whether it was used or not. This is not a minor fault: at those levels, doing without the whip is part of the very definition of the level. Coming with one means competing in another category.

At live competitions, the supervisor points this out before entry to the arena and allows the whip to be set aside.

THE WHIP IS SEEN. Even where it is allowed, simply carrying it counts towards the overall impression, whether the competitor uses it or not. It marks schooling still under construction: the pair that does not need one shows more. Choosing to carry it is a choice that reads, and it may be enough to separate two close performances.

An accessory carried by the rider is admitted when it serves the theme and stays under control. What the ban aims at is gratuitous accessories, those that hide the horse, and those the pair does not control.

AN ACCESSORY IS JUDGED IN MOVEMENT. An object perfectly acceptable at the halt may become a nuisance in the gaits. A sword, a cape, a piece of armour or of costume that flaps, rubs or strikes the horse disturbs it throughout the program, without anyone being able to foresee it at the check. The competitor must have tried the complete outfit, in the gaits to be shown, before coming to compete.

THE HORSE DECIDES. There is no discussion as to whether an accessory disturbs the horse: if the horse shows that it does not agree, it disturbs. Its reaction is proof, and it is enough.

THE PROGRAM IS THE WORK OF THE PAIR ALONE. No outside assistance is allowed while it runs: no object may be handed to the competitor, and no intervention from the ground is permitted.