Many breeding organisations include a subjective scoring of rideability by a professional rider into their evaluation of sports horses, but the consistency and reliability of the scoring system is debateable. The aim of this study was to investigate (i) whether professional riders agree in their scoring of rideability, and (ii) whether rideability scores are affected by rein tension, horse conflict behaviour, heart rate, and salivary cortisol, and (iii) whether riders induce different levels of conflict behaviour and physiological responses in the horses. Ten professional, female riders each rode 10 dressage horses (level M German scale; n = 100 combinations) through a standardised dressage test (10 min warm-up followed by a 4-min test) and subsequently scored the horses for rideability on the official 1–10 scale (1 = poor to 10 = excellent) from the Danish Riding Federation. Rein tension, horse heart rate, saliva cortisol and conflict behaviour were measured for each rider-horse pair. The riders were inconsistent in their scoring of rideability to the individual horses, e.g. scores for one of the horses ranged from 1 to 8. There was a significant effect of rider (P = 0.003) and the frequency of conflict behaviour (undesired head movements: P < 0.001, breaking the gait: P = 0.013, and other evasive behaviour: P = 0.032) on rideability scores, i.e. the more conflict behaviour the lower the score. There was no significant effect of rein tension and the physiological measures on rideability scores. However, there was a significant effect of rider on rein tension, horses’ heart rate and increases in saliva cortisol concentrations and a tendency for some types of conflict behaviour, suggesting that some riders induced more discomfort in the horses. Future studies could help shed light on which elements of riding style are particularly important for sports horse welfare. In conclusion, this study found a large variation in rideability scores assigned to ten sports horses by ten professional riders. Rideability scores were dependent on the level of horse conflict behaviour, but not rein tension and physiological measures. Further studies are needed to improve the objectivity, consistency and reliability of rideability assessment of sports horses.

许多育种组织将专业骑手对骑乘性的主观评分纳入对运动马的评估中，但是评分系统的一致性和可靠性尚有争议。这项研究的目的是调查（i）专业骑手在骑乘能力评分上是否同意，以及（ii）骑乘分数是否受到束紧张力，马匹冲突行为，心率和唾液皮质醇的影响，以及（iii）是否骑手在马中引起不同程度的冲突行为和生理反应。十名职业女子骑手，每人骑十匹盛装舞步赛的马（德国M级；n = 100种组合），通过标准的盛装舞步测试（10分钟的热身，然后进行4分钟的测试），随后按照丹麦官方的1-10评分标准（1 =差到10 =优秀）对马匹进行了打分骑马联合会。对每对骑手-马匹进行了牵拉力，马心率，唾液皮质醇和冲突行为的测量。骑手对各匹马的骑乘能力得分不一致，例如，其中一匹马的得分范围为1到8。骑手有显着影响（P = 0.003）和冲突行为的频率（不必要的头部运动： P <0.001，打破步态：P = 0.013，其他回避行为：P = 0.032），即骑乘性得分，即冲突行为越多，得分越低。束紧度和生理措施对骑乘性得分没有显着影响。然而，骑手对马tension紧张，马匹的心跳速度和唾液皮质醇浓度的增加以及某些类型的冲突行为都有显着影响，这表明一些骑手会引起马匹更多的不适感。未来的研究可能有助于阐明哪些骑术风格元素对于体育马的福利特别重要。总之，这项研究发现，由十名专业骑手分配给十只运动马的骑乘性得分差异很大。骑乘性得分取决于马匹冲突行为的水平，而不取决于牵拉力和生理指标。需要进一步研究以提高客观性，