Arena, competition and scoring
Where a class happens, how it is run, and how a judge writes down what they saw.
All-around
An award for the horse or rider scoring across several different classes rather than winning one. Rewards versatility over specialism.
Amateur
A similar status to non-pro, defined slightly differently by each association. Worth reading the rulebook before entering, not after.
American Paint Horse Association · APHA
The registry for the American Paint Horse, which requires stock-horse bloodlines as well as the coat pattern.
American Quarter Horse Association · AQHA
The registry for the American Quarter Horse, and the largest breed registry in the world. It also approves shows and records points.
Bit check
Equipment inspection at the gate, on the way in or out. Illegal bits and shortened curb chains are found here, and cost the class.
Centre line
The line straight down the middle of the arena, from A to C. Most dressage tests begin and end on it, in full view of the judge.
Class
A single competition within a show, defined by what is ridden and who may enter it.
Control of paces · MA
The TREC phase where a horse is asked to canter slowly and walk quickly down a marked corridor. Slower canter and faster walk both score more.
Division
How a class is split so like competes against like — by rider status, by age, or by how much money the horse has already won.
Drag
Harrowing the arena surface level between sets of runs. Which drag you draw genuinely affects the ground you compete on.
Dressage letters
The markers round a dressage arena — A, K, E, H, C, M, B, F — that a test names its movements at. The order is memorised, not deduced.
Footing
The prepared surface of an arena. Depth and moisture decide what is safe to ask for, and a reining slide needs particular ground.
Go-round
One complete pass of every entry through a class. Big shows run several, and add the scores or keep the best.
Halter class
A class judged on the horse's conformation, shown in hand rather than ridden. The horse is the entry; the handler only has to present it.
Jackpot
A class where the entry fees are the prize money, paid back to the top placings. No ribbons necessarily, and no added money.
Judge
The official who scores the class against a written standard, and whose card is the only account of it that counts.
Manoeuvre score
The mark given to one movement within a pattern, from minus one and a half to plus one and a half in half-point steps, added onto a baseline of 70.
National Cutting Horse Association · NCHA
The association governing cutting, and the body behind the Futurity that the whole three-year-old year is aimed at.
National Reined Cow Horse Association · NRCHA
The association governing working cow horse, where a horse is asked for a reining pattern and then a cow down the fence.
National Reining Horse Association · NRHA
The association that writes the reining patterns, trains the judges and keeps the money records the sport is ranked by.
No score
A run that broke a rule badly enough to be thrown out rather than marked down — off pattern, wrong equipment, or two hands on the reins where one is required.
Non-pro
A rider who has never been paid to train or show horses, competing in divisions closed to professionals. The definition is written down and enforced.
Obstacle course · PTV
The TREC obstacle phase: up to sixteen obstacles from a published list, each scored on style as well as on getting through it.
Orienteering phase · POR
The TREC navigation phase: copy a route from a master map and ride it at a set speed, scored against checkpoint times rather than against the clock.
Pattern
The set sequence of movements a class is ridden to, published in advance. Riding the wrong one is a no-score, not a deduction.
Penalty
Points deducted for a specific named fault, listed in the rulebook rather than left to the judge's taste.
Quarter line
The line halfway between the track and the centre line. Unmarked, which is what makes riding it straight an exercise.
Rail
The fence line of the arena, and the name for a class ridden round it as a group rather than one at a time.
Riding arena
The fenced, surfaced space a class is ridden in. Standard western sizes matter, because a pattern is written to fit one.
Ring steward
The official running the gate and the order of go, and the person to ask rather than guessing when something is unclear.
Round pen
A small circular pen, usually fifteen to twenty metres across, used for groundwork and for starting young horses.
Scribe
The person writing down what the judge says while the judge keeps watching. The handwriting on your sheet is usually theirs.
Show points
Credits recorded by a registry for placing in approved classes. Enough of them earn titles, and they follow the horse for life.
Track
The path along the arena wall the horses work on, and the word for how many lines of hoofprints a lateral movement leaves.
TREC · TREC
A competition of practical trail riding in three phases — navigation, control of paces, and an obstacle course. French in origin, and the acronym stays French.