Affiliated or unaffiliated

[parkbren]

Hi

I am doing some research for my uni work and looking into whether people prefer to take part in affiliated and unaffiliated events.

I am interested in what you prefer and why you prefer this or even if you don't compete what you would prefer. It can be within any discipline.

All Comments will be appreciated

Many thanks

 

[rara007]

Bit of an odd question? Depending on the aim I prefer both! Affiliated for high standard of judging and being able to compete at national level, unaffiliated for training, cost and ease.

 

[kc100]

Unaffiliated (dressage) for me - main reasons as follows:
- The two venues I use in my local area use BD listed judges for the unaff competitions so the standard of judging is the same as an affiliated comp
- Unaff is A LOT cheaper in terms of entry fees
- No pressure of having a bad score on the horse's record (I part loan my horse and wouldnt want to get a crappy score on horses record as I'd feel bad for the owner)
- Lots of things to work towards in the unaff comps - Trailblazers champs, Badminton Grassroots dressage, one venue has a league with a prize to the person with most points, other venue runs summer and winter unaff champs.

I'm not particularly experienced when it comes to dressage, I've only really been doing it properly for a year and dont yet feel comfortable to join BD or compete against the big flashy horses they have at BD comps. I write for one of my local venues most weekends and often write at the BD comps, and the types of horses there are quite different to an unaff. At unaff you have a good mix with lots of different types of horses so you feel comfortable with whatever horse you are taking. Whereas the horses I see on BD days are 90% WB, great big horses, very muscular and pretty flashy. This might just be the one venue I write at (never seen any low level BD at other venues - only GP so that cant count!) but despite my horse being a WB, and she is flashy, she is also very badly behaved and I would feel pretty embarrassed in the warm up ring with her next to these amazing looking creatures.

I will say though, if I can sort naughty mare out this year, I'd like to affiliate later in the year/2015. This is because I feel there is more structure to BD, a set route to progress and more to work towards. I like the idea of area festivals/regionals/nationals and I can only imagine how amazing it would be to get to nationals, that is the pinnacle of the sport really. So whilst getting to trailblazers champs would be amazing, it is not really putting yourself up against the 'best' in the sport. Eventually if I can get a horse good enough to progress up the levels I'd like to see how far I can go, and for that I want the structure and community of BD.

So at my current level with current horse I prefer unaff - but the ultimate aim is to affiliate.

 

[tinap]

Showjumping..

It's my daughter who competes so I'm talking about what she does.

When on ponies, It was almost always affiliated. Not enough unaffil ran big enough classes & she didn't feel comfortable entering 85/95cm when the pony would normally do 1/1.10m affil. Also all the BS classes she did went towards a qualifier, be it Blue chip, 2nd rounds, Scope etc so felt like they were for a reason.

Now she has a young horse which is BS registered. However, most of the shows she does at the moment are unafil. This is mainly because the horse is not yet consistent & BS classes are much more expensive to use for experience. Unaffil courses are usually well built so for her she prefers to do those for now until the horse is more established x

 

[LaurenDobson]

Showjumping I prefer affiliated.
I've jumped unaffiliated for years and have just affiliated and it's such a difference. No offence to children but you go to unaffiliated comps and they charge around in the warm up, cutting in front of you and push in when it comes to order of jumping! Also around me the centres that host affiliated are so much more established and better organised!
Plus now i've affiliated I've started at the bottom so my classes are early, whereas unaffiliated I'd be waiting around all afternoon for the higher classes.

 

[PaddyMonty]

No offence to children but you go to unaffiliated comps and they charge around in the warm up, cutting in front of you and push in when it comes to order of jumping!

Same happens at affiliated just its the adults doing it!

 

[blood_magik]

It's not about preference for me at the moment - it's about choosing a show that caters to our needs.
I have an older horse who's just getting back into jumping and a younger one who I'm still trying to get used to.
The older boy is jumping unafiliated as the affiliated comps at home start at 90cm, which is a bit much for him right now.
I'm jumping UA with the young boy as well at the moment because there's less pressure and they're a bit more relaxed. the smaller classes mean I can concentrate on riding rather than worrying about the height of the jumps. I'm generally a nervous wreck.

The only advantage that affiliated has over UA for us right now is that the classes aren't split into horses and ponies but then again, you can still end up hanging about for ages at affiliated shows.

 

[pipsqueek]

Same happens at affiliated just its the adults doing it!

True at times!! But generally - aff:- horses only, no kids charging about in mixed classes, courses well built, qualifers to aim for & BS record of your winnings, some prize money as well as a rosette, also there are professionals there you can watch & learn. unaff:- classes not until late afternoon, no prize money, kids everywhere!!