上周日自习课去马场前台要李SIR的鞭子，小姑娘一脸诧异的说“哪个教练呀？他鞭子没放这里呀”“别人的也成，以前我也用过别人”叽歪了半天，还是我相熟的大姐出来帮我解围，前台小姑娘才千百个不愿意的借了一支给我，这一事件也让我决定自己买一根儿，原来骑肉肉的时候从来不用的，后来骑上了Jaszmin，腿力就显出不够了，总是需要威摄一下或是提示。

    但舞步鞭需要多长才合适呢？以前上课我从前台拿的鞭子有长有短，大概100-120CM之间。人马合一的马鞭除了很短的，都是120CM的，拿到手感觉怎么那么长，难道是我买错了？到网上查了查得到的结果是，不论在美国还是在欧洲120CM是最长的限度，不知道做为一个新手，用这个是否太长了呢？是不是110CM的更合适一些呢？

1.In the US, the maximum length for a dressage whip in competition is 120 cm, including lash.

You can school with a longer whip, but I try to keep most of my things legal for the show ring. The tack store personnel should be able to tell you what is legal in the UK,

The most important thing to me is the balance in my hand. I don't want a whip that is too heavy or light when I hold it, and I personally do not like a whip that is 'whippy' I prefer them to be very stiff. When they are too flippy, they sometimes will hit the horse even if I don't mean to.

add-- sorry, I didn't look at the little flag closely enough; no harm meant. And yes, at a dressage competition here they do measure the whips. Very anal of them isn't it? In Europe, the FEI says that 120 cm is max, but they measure not including the cap, and in reality, they don't measure, it's just on your honor not to have too long a whip. In the US, our poor technical delegates have to run around measuring whip length and spur length and type before riders enter the arena. They also check the bit type to be sure it is legal. No wonder we dressage riders have such a stuck up reputation here!

2.Dressage whips are up to 43 inches（110CM） long, including lash or popper, and are used to refine the aids of the rider, not to hurt the horse. They generally ask for more impulsion, and are long enough that they can reach behind the rider's leg to tap the horse while the rider still holds the reins with both hands. The shaft is slightly flexible and tapers to a fine point at the tip. A similar, but slightly longer whip is used in saddle seat style English riding.

3.Work out roughly where you hold your hand when riding, then to measure back to just past where the saddle goes in a fairly straight line.
The whip wants to be long enough that it clears your leg by a fair distance, but remember that it should be backing up your leg aid, so when you use it you should be able to flick it and it should tickle up just in the area just behind the saddle so that your horse is associating your leg aids and the whip.

You can then take the measurements with you - and find a schooling whip that matches up to the length you've chosen. Hold it in your hand and make sure it's sitting in your hand well, I don't like the chunky ones they sometimes do as they can often be quite heavy on your hand.