However, there were also exceptions: Karo officers of Shinpan (whose lords were in the male lineage of the Tokugawa shogun family) and Karo officers whose families were Karo to Fudai daimyo (daimyo who were retainers of the Tokugawa family from before the Battle of Sekigahara) were given the status of Hatamoto of the shogun family for generations, being entitled to have an audience with the shogun and to not alight from their horse at checking stations.
しかし、例外もあり親藩や、譜代大名の家老連綿の家系の多くには、幕府から、将軍家の旗本の格式を与えられ、将軍に謁見の資格を持ち、関所で下馬することを免除された。