Are less people competing?

[Bobthecob15]

Lots of shows near us haven't had the best attendance lately, I keep seeing posts online begging people to enter or events can't run...is this a national thing? Are less people competing than they used to? Do you think its a cost of fuel thing?? I wonder...

 

[paddi22]

For me it's a definite cost of fuel thing! I'm very conscious of where I drive to and am only picking essential shows

 

[GreyDot]

Definitely fuel - not many affilliated shows running at my level near me - have to now make a 3 hour round trip and it's the fuel which puts me off.

 

[Bobthecob15]

Definitely fuel - not many affilliated shows running at my level near me - have to now make a 3 hour round trip and it's the fuel which puts me off.

I did wonder about that, it certainly makes us think twice about going out!!

 

[Leandy]

There is a long thread on this about three below this one....

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Yup can’t afford the whole experience anymore with the cost of fuel. Had to move Faran to a yard closer to home due to the eye water cost of fuel so competing is out of the question

 

[nikicb]

There is a long thread on this about three below this one....

Link..... https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/...ng-training-due-to-the-cost-of-living.819459/

 

[MagicMelon]

My father in law is a BS judge and he has noticed a big drop in entries, he thinks because of fuel costs. People used to travel lorry loads of horses up from further south for shows up here but now arent doing that. Personally, I'm very conscious of it. Ive recently lost my job too so feeling the pinch and only doing certain events this summer, all of them local. Distance will play a big part. Generally Id only usually travel for eventing but with my "local" (1.5 hours away) having just announced its closing, eventings died a death in my area now and no way Im driving 2+ hours with the fuel. Im very lucky I have a BS venue 30 mins away where I go most of the time. Its really sad and I really hope we dont keep losing more and more venues. Russia has a lot to answer for!

 

[marmalade76]

The number of people competing unaff has been dropping for getting on for twenty years. Local unaff shows would often not pack up until well into the evening, these days the few unaff shows left are all packed up by about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

 

[Pokitren]

My father in law is a BS judge and he has noticed a big drop in entries, he thinks because of fuel costs. People used to travel lorry loads of horses up from further south for shows up here but now arent doing that. Personally, I'm very conscious of it. Ive recently lost my job too so feeling the pinch and only doing certain events this summer, all of them local. Distance will play a big part. Generally Id only usually travel for eventing but with my "local" (1.5 hours away) having just announced its closing, eventings died a death in my area now and no way Im driving 2+ hours with the fuel. Im very lucky I have a BS venue 30 mins away where I go most of the time. Its really sad and I really hope we dont keep losing more and more venues. Russia has a lot to answer for!

It's all coming down to the fact that there will be local sites with a higher value (the business has to be profitable). Or they will not open at all and competitions will not be held.
Russia will respond.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

We are so lucky in our area that we have quite a few equestrian centres in easy reach. But for example, the weekend just gone, 2 had unaff jumping and one had dressage. These comps are within 20 mins of each other!! Surely a little forward planning would help? The numbers were low for each comp unsurprisingly!

 

[shortstuff99]

Definitely less competing now. Riding club area qualifiers used to be rammed with 100s of competitors and now we are having to combine areas to scrape together enough competitors to make it viable.