what does 'give and retake the reins' mean?

[horsemad]

I'm having another go at a dressage competition on Saturday - since I didn't disgrace myself at the last one, I thought I'd give it another go:D

This one I'm doing is Prelim 13 and I have to 'give and retake the reins' over the centre line :confused: I've never encountered this before and I'm not quite sure what it means. Does it mean lengthen and shorten the reins, or do I just hold my hands forward for a couple of seconds? :confused:

[MeMe]

You move them forward and back, but it should be one smooth motion, so you move forwards on 1 stride, hold on the 2nd stride and take back on the 3rd stride.

[baxter]

exactly what MeMe said, they use it a lot in the Novice tests, it's to assess your horses self carriage, and your use of hands....
Good Luck!!!:)

[MeMe]

And boy do I hate the G&R in Nov 24, across the diagonal in canter!lol

Dont mind it on a circle in canter, but hate those diagonals with a passion!

[horsemad]

Brilliant - thanks for that!

Oh my goodness - 'self carriage' - that sounds a bit advanced for me and my old girl :eek: Still, I'm really only going for the day out and to have some fun, don't think we'll be coming back with any rosettes :D

[baxter]

Full Steam ahead to the corner, Choo Choo.... with steam coming out the back-end.... that's what usually happens on those ghastly diagonals....:D :D :D

[DITZ]

It helps to collect your horse prior to this movement so that he doesnt nose dive. There needs to be a clear give and retake and the contact needs to be released for 2 to 3 strides before you retake.

[MeMe]

lol yep, diags are bad enough anyway without a GR!

Last one read ' excellent balance, well maintained canter, dead straight. Rapidly losing balance and running on 4hand after GR!' lol

3 strides in all for the whole process is plenty for a GR you dont need to hold it for 2-3 strides, it just has to be a clear motion and hopefully your horse wont use it as a sign to run off with you:rolleyes: :D (mine goes yeha!)lol

[horsemad]

hopefully your horse wont use it as a sign to run off with you:rolleyes: :D (mine goes yeha!)lol

Actually I think I will have the opposite problem - I reckon Cindy will interpret the giving of reins as a sign that she is about to finish work...and she will try to come back to walk when I retake the reins :o At home, I would growl at her at this stage and remind her to keep going, but then shouting and growling aren't really 'the done thing' in a dressage arena :D

[DITZ]

dont need to hold it for 2-3 strides
No I think you do, BD rule book says 2-3 strides. I was marked down for it before so I asked the judge and your hands should be without contact for 2 or 3 strides before retaking.

[eventerbabe]

it's there to test your horses self carriage. don't just throw away your contact because that will look horrid and also unbalance your horse. as meme said, it's a smooth, fluid movement. try not to push your hands forward and up, because technically you aren't really releasing the contact that way, push your hands forward and down. i'm sure it has to be executed over at least 2 strides. last time i was dressage writing the test involved a give and retake (was BD novice champs) and it really was poorly done by 99% of the competitors!!

[MeMe]

No I think you do, BD rule book says 2-3 strides. I was marked down for it before so I asked the judge and your hands should be without contact for 2 or 3 strides before retaking.

I use the 2-3 strides as I described and have never been marked down for it, infact I get 'clear give and retake' alot mostly under affiliated judges.

I wonder if it depends on the judges take on the 2-3 strides?

[Bay Mare]

I didn't realise that they did G&R in Prelim :eek: I thought that you started that malarky in Novice :eek: Obviously avoided that particular test well ;)

[MeMe]

Prelim 13 and 14 where new this year, G&R in trot in them, Novices are G&R in canter :)

Think they are trying to bridge the gap between moving up levels.

[Bay Mare]

Oh right .... that explains it then, thanks :) I've not seen a dressage test since I got the Saff monster. I was wondering what the heck was happening, goalposts moving further away and all that :D

[MeMe]

Just to say I double checked this movement with the affiliated judge I was writing for yesterday.

G&R is in the rule book as '3 strides', but this IS translated into one for giving, one for released and one for taking back, all smoothly though.

You do NOT have to show 3 strides completely given.

[horsemad]

Thanks very much for all your replies. Not that I need have worried overly about this particular movement, because I did a bit of a rubbish test overall and I came last :o My wee Cin was just not on form at all - very erratic, not at all forward going, and the poles at the corner of the arena were VERY scary! The sand was also very deep, which I don't think she liked.

Oh well, I'll maybe give it a try one more time before I give up :)