Anyone else love schooling but not enjoy competitions?

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maya2008

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I love schooling, I can get lost in what I am doing and the whole world fades away. Competitions though - stressful! Loading the lorry, getting them clean/tidy, tack clean, correct fancy show gear, warm-up woes etc etc. I would quite happily borrow a rider to compete my lot and just do the training myself! Anyone else like this? I'm debating trying some online dressage to see if that would make the competing more fun and less of a chore....!
 
Its usually as I'm driving there that I start having the "what am I doing here" thoughts.
At the mo I've been catapulted back into the early starts, having a green horse aspiring to prelims ? fortunately he's making enough progress at shows to make the effort worth it (and he hasnt got any white markings so cleaning is minimal ;)

I'm looking forward to getting Kira back on the road as shows are a bit more interesting then and I also often meet friends when I'm there.

When I'm rich and famous though, im definitely having a set of show tack that lives on the lorry! Packing and unpacking is the worst bit.
 
Yes me. I get crippling competition nerves (I've tried everything from Bach remedies and wine, to sports psychology!) and it's just no fun! And flipping expensive!! Add to that the fact that I'm totally disillusioned with BD who just don't seem to cater for true amateur grassroots riders, I think it's time to step back from competing and just enjoy my pony. I can still train, and I will, but I think my outings will be fewer.
 
Me kind of! I love the outdoor competitions in the summer, but I really don't like the indoor winter ones. They take all day, it's freezing cold every time. They also insist on stopping for lunch which makes it even longer. Its a perfectly reasonable thing to do, but when I'm wanting to get in and done it drives me mad. So I'm not doing them anymore! I'll spend the winter training and hopefully do better at the outdoor stuff next year. I'm loving seeing my little horse come on so quickly now I'm investing some time in her, so its well worth it to me!
 
I think I always just completed to justify the training now I mainly just do the training although I have had my new boy out a few times just unaffiliated .
I just don’t think I have got it any more .
 
Me.... I used to get so nervous I'd make myself sick. Just didn't enjoy it and I always felt I was letting everyone down if I didn't do well. So I stopped


The last time I 'competed' I was supervising some kids at the local show and the adult gymkhana games were short on numbers. I knew the organiser and was strong armed into borrowing a pony. Now that was probably the most fun I'd had in years at a competition ?
 
I don't like dressage competitions, partly because I don't like the hassle and the turnout, and partly because I don't really like a lot of what is rewarded in competitive dressage. I do very much enjoy schooling horses though, so I just don't compete these days.

I don't like jumping competitions because of all the hanging about, and anything I'd be taking out currently would be early doors stupid o clock starts and I'm lazy. I would do evening jumping, but I can't be arsed in the dark and cold. I may hit some up when the evenings get lighter and warmer.

I do (did) enjoy polocrosse (except when I was screwing things up for a team!), and barrel racing competitions. I don't mind TREC but I'm a bit bored with the local options there. I'm quite competitive in some ways, but I'm also quite lazy when it comes to wearing competition gear and plaiting up. I'm an imperfect human being, for sure.
 
I'm the same. I love schooling but I've gone off competing. I find it stressful and I'm a perfectionist so I don't just go for fun. I haven't competed since early last year and I'm happier without the pressure.
 
I'm fairly immune to pressure at shows now. Having a comedy dressage horse makes it a bit impossible to heap pressure on yourself and no one else expects anything either ;)

I'm really enjoying riding Darcy at his shows now he knows enough to not be a nightmare to handle alone. It's quite fun showing the world to him and I really dont care if we come last so long as he has tried. Half the time I don't wait for the sheets because I decide whether he did his job well or not and my criteria dont entirely align with the scales of training at the mo!

The thought of driving there and getting changed etc makes me roll my eyes but actually feeling the horses develop in that situation is quite enjoyable for me.
 
Yes I’m the same. Love schooling and training but not competing. I’ve never been nervous and used to do quite well and enjoyed it as a child and teen but I can’t hack stress and find it all stressful as I’ve got older. Can’t be done with the whole hassle of it all preparing, travelling, some of the stuck up people who take it all too serious and are darn rude. I no longer compete and haven’t since I had a snotty nose kid telling me her horse was better and I didn’t deserve 1st!?. Sore runner up. It was laughable. Pleasure rides only now for me.
 
I have to admt I enjoy both, but I absolutely prefer training to competing. I teach quite a few people who have very sensibly decided not to compete anymore because competing was very stressful for them, and without exception their riding has improved due to the removal of competition anxiety.
 
I was thinking about this yesterday. I def prefer the training and enjoy clinics and course hire. I don’t compete nearly as much. I always thought the training was to get to a camp but am now liking the idea that you just do it for fun and to progress, without needing to do comps at all. However, I will still do them as I’m better with a goal like that but mainly in the summer for small ode which seems more worth the effort, and hopefully team quest as I like the social/team side of that.
 
Tiddlypom said:
I always preferred the training to the competing. However, because I’m a lazy arse I needed the discipline of upcoming competitions to focus my training. Otherwise, I’d just be inclined to drift about thinking we were working well when we were not really working through and properly.
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Me too! I've found a really good instructor now and that's helped me a lot with motivation and having some direction thankfully.
 
Yes. It's not that I get nervous or anything, I just... don't care much for competitions. I'm not really interested in comparing myself and my horse to others, I am interested in our progress, in the education of the horse, in those moments where you can feel something click. I'm quite often asked why I don't compete but it just doen't motivate me.

I'd LOVE to ride grand prix some day. But I'd be just as happy doing it at home on a rainy tuesday evening in november as I would at a competition. Possibly even happier.
 
I love schooling and find it really enjoyable. My pony is capable of (or will be when we're back in action) doing a nice dressage test, but dressage really stresses me out. I forgot my test halfway through last year, and have lost my nerve a bit since then. I'm hoping to do some online dressage this year instead, as if I stuff it up, at least I can re-record it! I am also the sort of person who needs something to be aiming for however if not I will happily just do my own thing with no real direction (not that there's anything really wrong with that though!).
However, out showing I have no nerves at all and I actually quite enjoy it all! Jumping on the other hand... o_O
 
Yes me too! I love schooling and my aim is to keep us fit, supple and healthy, not to win rosettes or get a certain percentage. I am continuously wanting to improve so we have lessons where we get worked that little bit harder and my instructor gives us feedback and practical advice.
I go as groom to competitions with friends and Ive lost count of the times they come out of the arena smiling and happy with how it went, then they get their results and you can literally see them deflate in front of your eyes! And some of the judges comments are so vague they arent really useful as a training aid; its just criticism! Add to that the cost, the competition gear, the bathing, plaiting, travelling, the waiting about etc; its really not for me!
 
I love schooling. Hacking bores me senseless really, although I do it far more than schooling for the sake of the horses.

I love competing after I’m finished and Home, which does amuse me somewhat! The whole thing is a huge effort and I do wonder what on Earth I’m bothering for, but that buzz when you’ve been and done it is what keeps me doing it. I do actually like the process of being out at a competition, but it’s a lot of work single handedly.
 
I used to be more into the competing than training, although I did quite a lot of both. More recently I've become much more into the training as we are introducing new things which aren't in the tests we are currently doing. in fact, I haven't competed since August as I've been enjoying the training so much.
 
Lots of people are like this, hence the increasing popularity of an ever greater variety of clinics, facility hires etc. People love getting out and about somewhere new and enjoy the company also, but many don't want to compete. I'm not one of these, I love competing but it is what I observe.
 
I love training and like the idea of competing but generally don't enjoy it that much, but that's almost certainly because I don't perform as well as I would like to. If I am absolutely honest, I'd love competing if I was doing well. what I do hate is the dreaded warm up! I think I've been lucky so far, in that I have found other riders pretty helpful and kind and have thought my scores have been very fair.
 
Me too. I always used to say that I competed for ther social outing and the cafe and people thought just because I had a dressage warmblood at the time that I wasn't telling the truth. I'm hopeless at being judged, I spoil everything just as we cross the line at A. I can't be bothered to wait around for a one minute showjumping round and I only ever evented to get onto the cross country courses, which were fabulous.

I'm planning to try BD again this year because I've been told my horse is very talented and I'd like some objectives to aim for, but if I dont enjoy it I'll just train him up as high as we can go without competing.

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Maybe this sounds a bit strange but I'm learning more now. Before, I was schooling to do well in competition. Since I took the pressure off I have more time and have started trying different things. Schooling in walk was something I started doing that I hadn't before and it's helped me learn a lot. I've a better relationship with the horse too because competition brings out the crazy in me and I'm more relaxed with him now.
 
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mule said:
Maybe this sounds a bit strange but I'm learning more now. Before I was schooling to do well in competition. Since I took the pressure off I have more time and have started trying different things. Schooling in walk was something I started doing that I hadn't before and it's helped me learn a lot. I've a better relationship with the horse too because competition brings out the crazy in me and I'm more relaxed with him now.
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Not strange at all, I see this all the time, its lovely to see how things blossom with the removal of pressure.
 
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