Judging School Handbook - American Morgan Horse Association

Western (Stock) Seat Equitationby Don BurtPortuguese Bend, CaliforniaRider’s Basic Body PositionAs an equitation rider enters the ring, he presents acomposite picture to the judge. Care should be takenthat all body parts be coordinated to make a free,natural, quiet picture. A rider should never lookstiff, but should be straight, square and graceful.Head: Should be alert, lifted in line and in balancewith the body. It should never be carried, turned ortipped down. Their eyes should always focus in frontand thirty to forty feet ahead of the horse.Shoulders: Should be square in our basic position,with one hand over the horn and the other on thethigh. There is a decided tendency to carry theshoulders holding the reins forward, this can beeliminated by slight turn at the waist, to line up yourshoulders. Shoulders should never be carried back orhunched.Arms: The upper arms should fall freely down theshoulders toward the hip bones. Never let arms betight against the body nor allow them to fly with thehorse’s motion. The forearm, holding the reins,should be parallel to the ground. All handlingshould be done with hand, wrist and by bending theelbow. The bend in the elbow is of paramountimportance as this provides a cushion of the horsesmouth. The off forearm should be bent to conformwith the angle of the upper body and thigh.Back: Should be straight, not stiff, and preferablywith no arch or slump.Hips: Should be directly under the shoulders andhip bone should be tilted slightly forward. Themotion is found at the jog and causes the saddle tomove on a horse’s back. This motion can cause sorenessin the horse’s loin area.Seat: The seat should be deep and always in the centerof the saddle. The rider should never sit onhis/her tail bone. The rider’s spine should always bein line with the horse’s spine.Thighs: Should be kept firmly against the saddle.46Relaxed contact, but no rolling or rigid gripping. Thethigh angle should be more downward than forward.Knees: Should be slightly bent, rolled in snug andwith steady contact. They must not be gripped orloose.Lower Legs: The lower leg placement is of extremeimportance to maintaining proper placement of theentire body. The legs should hang down straightbelow the knee from a side view. From a front view,they should hang naturally away from the horse. Thelower leg should never dangle, be spraddled wide orthrust forward. Too great of an effort to hold legs tooclose to horse results in faulty turned ankles, incorrectlyplaced foot pressure, loss of knee contact andlooseness of thighs.Feet: The ball of the foot should make contact withthe stirrup with the entire width of the boot sole.Pressure should not be put on the ball of the foot,but rather on the heel so the heel will be down. Feetshould be held naturally, neither extremely turnedin or out.Rider’s Motion and PositionThis category is very hard to put into words as itencompasses the conformation, gaits of the horseand build of the rider. To generalize, the less motionthe rider has, the easier it is on the horse and themore attractive it is for a judge.Walk: This may be the most important gait you willexecute during a class. Remember, first impressionsare important when entering a show ring. Anymotion or equitation fault evident at the walk willbe much more pronounced at the faster gait.Jog: Keep a slight up and down motion to overcomethe side-to-side tendency promoted by the diagonaltwo-beat gait of the jog.Lope: Here we get into the problem of the thrust ofthe hindquarters of the horse. A rider must keephis/her body either with the horse’s motion or slightlyahead of the motion. If this is not done, you will