a view from the side... i've been fence judging this weekend....

diggerbez

diggerbez

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... and i've had a great time :D the sunshine helped (athough now i am sunburnt and feel ill so possibly might have sunstroke :rolleyes:) and the lovely friendly people at Kelsall made it a great time. i do have a few observations though:

1. the best riding i saw all weekend was in the under 18s Open Novice (sorry i don't know what the hell this is shortened to!)- very neat and tidy throughout the whole class, made it look very easy! :)

2. the falls i saw were mostly caused by people going far too fast (including one in the water :rolleyes:)

3. and finally...if you are out competing and have 3 stops because your horse is napping at the fence...please then leave when you are asked to. had one girl today, who was very polite, but also very insistent that she wasn't leaving until she'd "got a lead" over the offending obstacle. not only is this against the rules but really unfair on the horse you are following- what if it doesn't like being chased??? i can totally sympathise with having a nappy horse (been there got several t shirts in a range of sizes) but BE is not for schooling- go unafil and sort the problem out please :p

4. wear suncream :o
 
Does Baz Lurhman know you stole his words??? :p

Sounds good fun - it's always rather better when the weather is good! A bit naughty of the rider to try to get a lead though :o

Well done for putting your time in (which I will do this year, just as soon as I can leave my horse for more than 2 hours at a time!!)
 
Having had somebody trot round a BE100 until I overtook them to "get a lead" I can confirm it is not nice, especially when you are on an ex racehorse, who certainly doesn't like being chased. Never been so fast in my life!!!!!
 
Which fence were you on - I was on 15! I am also burnt to a frazzle but was very sad to leave to head back down south at 6. I totally agree with you about the standard - I was very impressed with the JRN (yes still that to me!) riders, there was some very tidy and mature riding from them. I saw a girl in the Novice take a lead after a fall at the skinny brush, not on - we were commenting as we had trouble timing the two at our fence as they were so close - I then realised that someone was standing next to us videoing - I actually hope they heard our comments as they were only 5 secs behind the horse in front! It was generally a good day though, lovely lunch and bacon butties as well!
 
I don't know, I was so cross as this horse trotted out the start box, and away up the hill. By the time it was time for me to go (2 mins between horses) the horse was still in sight at fence 4. I knew I was on an ex racer who wouldn;t do well catching up to the other horse, so asked the steward for more time before setting off. They wouldn;t let me saying it would make them late. I set off flying out the startbox, caught up with the horse by fence 6 and had quickly overtaken it. Carried on flying roung the course, could work out why my mare was going quite so fast, wasn;t until i finished and finally slowed up I realised the person who I had over taken was right behind me. The rider then rode over and thanked me for giving her a lead! I was stunned! I did make a complaint which BE upheld, eliminating her. Apparently it would have been to dangerous to try pull either of us up as she was so close behind me. I wasn't very impressed by the too fast time pens I got which cost me a placing.
 
charlimouse said:
I don't know, I was so cross as this horse trotted out the start box, and away up the hill. By the time it was time for me to go (2 mins between horses) the horse was still in sight at fence 4. I knew I was on an ex racer who wouldn;t do well catching up to the other horse, so asked the steward for more time before setting off. They wouldn;t let me saying it would make them late. I set off flying out the startbox, caught up with the horse by fence 6 and had quickly overtaken it. Carried on flying roung the course, could work out why my mare was going quite so fast, wasn;t until i finished and finally slowed up I realised the person who I had over taken was right behind me. The rider then rode over and thanked me for giving her a lead! I was stunned! I did make a complaint which BE upheld, eliminating her. Apparently it would have been to dangerous to try pull either of us up as she was so close behind me. I wasn't very impressed by the too fast time pens I got which cost me a placing.
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Yeah that's not really on :( I had three refusals today so kept on going, got to the lake and had to circle to let someone trough and then had a loose horse gallop behind us nearly putting us in a hedge after the last! I wouldn't dream of getting a 'lead' from someone, that's what xc schooling is for. (Which we will be doing a lot of :p)

It's so dangerous, especially if you don't know the horse you were following. Charisma was not impressed!

Well done OP for volunteering :)
 
now_loves_mares said:
Baz Luhrmann - Wear Sunscreen? Don't tell me I'm the only one old enough to remember it?? :o You know, the "song" that's a speech given at a graduation ceremony? Completely unrelated to fence judging I'll grant you :)
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kirstyhen said:
It's not that old a song, you probably have to be young and trendy to know of it... ;) :D
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Like me then :D I knew what you meant NLM
 
Sportznight said:
Like me then :D I knew what you meant NLM
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kirstyhen said:
It's not that old a song, you probably have to be young and trendy to know of it... ;) :D
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Phew, glad I'm young and trendy :D:D

Charlimouse, that sounds a very frustrating experience. Glad she got eliminated for that behaviour though; albeit that doesn't help you much :(
 
hi Jane_lou - we were on 14 (16 in nov) all day today! where were you diggerbez? (also got very sunburned :() Agree, saw 2 taking leads - very naughty. Is that why one who'd missed a fence out got stopped? was confused by that as normally they just let them finish and then eliminate them :p
 
They didn't actually stop that rider, I don't think they got the message to the fence in time as as it was only 3 from home they let them run. I was actually suprised at the number of people who did miss out fences, there were at least 3 I think, as the course was strung I amazed they managed to miss anything!
 
now_loves_mares said:
Baz Luhrmann - Wear Sunscreen? Don't tell me I'm the only one old enough to remember it?? :o You know, the "song" that's a speech given at a graduation ceremony? Completely unrelated to fence judging I'll grant you :)
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I know it... And love it... And I'm only 19 :D
 
stroppymare153 said:
hi Jane_lou - we were on 14 (16 in nov) all day today! where were you diggerbez? (also got very sunburned :() Agree, saw 2 taking leads - very naughty. Is that why one who'd missed a fence out got stopped? was confused by that as normally they just let them finish and then eliminate them :p
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I believe at novice level they are supposed to know better hence trying to stop them-and letting them run at intro and pre-nov.
 
i knew what was meant by baz lurman! haha, but he had sunscreen...i had (or rather didn't have) suncream :p

i was on fence 7 (just before the water) so had a fair bit of entertainment :)
the girl asked if she could try a 4th time and i said "no sorry, please can you leave the course" and she kept saying he only does this competing, i need a lead etc etc (i know totally what she meant as used to have a horse that did this) BUT... its not appropriate to try and use a BE for schooling- i used to go unafil to do this (and try to find pairs classes or whatever if i needed a lead :) )...so then she stood to one side and said "you can shout at me all you want but i need a lead" to which i said "please do not follow this horse"- she let it get over the offending fence and into the water before trying to present hers at offending fence- which it promptly ran past...then she whalloped it a few times and then finally went home. she wasn't rude or anything and i know its frustrating but everyone has paid equal money and some people are just so selfish. Charlimouse- how annoying for you- glad she got eliminated ;)
 
was on fence 7 (just before the water)

Managed to jump that one :) and all the way round (!!) to the double of feeders before we ground to an annoying halt - report following.

Looking like volunteering will be the only way of me enjoying eventing for a bit :(
 
I'm suprised to hear competitors arguing with fence judges. If an official asked me to leave the course, I would - no arguing (however politely)
 
Zara asked Rosie for a lead over a fence in a BE comp once - Rosie said yes and it was fine - but I don't think she'd had 3 stops beforehand and she didn't then follow her closely so no problem. Think she'd have been furious if she was in your situation Charlimouse - how unfair :(
 
Hi Diggerbez

i'm the person who almost fence judged with you yesterday, sounded like your fence was way more exciting than the one i ended up at (number 3 - great view of the course and everyone bar one jumped it beautifully). I could have lent you my factor 30 suncream (having been burnt most years i've been there!)

We heard you over the radio saying that girl refused to leave the course!

Does anyone know where they eventually found that grey horse that took itself off round the course for ages?
 
Fence judging can lead to some interesting experiences...

I was at a PC do today - nearly got mown down by rider doing the wrong course - I had two coffins to judge that were next to each other, so I was sat by the one that "wasnt" in use. Rider just jumped straight through - I didnt have time to stop her. She got to next fence and then realised a problem, as FJ car in the way of the fence!

And I almost got to stop a horse at my fence (first time ever - bit of excitment), then I was told not to at the last minute poo all the excitement for the day over. (No-one was hurt!)
 
1. the best riding i saw all weekend was in the under 18s Open Novice (sorry i don't know what the hell this is shortened to!)- very neat and tidy throughout the whole class, made it look very easy! :)

:D glad you though us junior were good!! always nice to know. Have to say did think the new course was cracking and really rewarded bold riding :) good to have a change once in a while too!
 
Kitsune said:
I'm suprised to hear competitors arguing with fence judges. If an official asked me to leave the course, I would - no arguing (however politely)
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well exactly :rolleyes: hope she got told off :p

Lozz1- was nice to meet you briefly :D
the grey ended up all the way back near the farm i think but it was definitely caught. it was running around the water for ages having a whale of a time. think it was a bit fit ;)
was quite glad of the interruption- i needed the loo :o

harrietadams- glad you had a good day- any rosettes? :)

wench- i got all excited about having to radio a couple of falls in- bit worrying that i am so entertained by other people's misfortune :eek::o
 
yeahh :) lovely day and came away with 9th :D slightly disappointing show jumping or the rossie would have been red :P !! Very pleased with two phases!!
 
Sunday sounds like it was far more exciting than the Saturday :D We had very little happen at our fence which for a water jump was quite surprising! Thankfully everyone was very nice to us but you do get the odd ones who aren't
 
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