BE - just in it for fun?

kzb

kzb

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I'm just curious how many eventers on this forum are just "in it for fun" like me? While I am a competitive person, my mare is not the most consistent and as a result I'm never really placed. I got lucky last year and had 3 top tens at be90, but all the other events I was waaaaay out the placings, usually with a ton of sj poles (even though we never touch poles at home or in lessons.. Sigh!) and a bad dressage lol, but she is an XC machine. I aim to go out and have a fun day - anything extra is a bonus!

I'm stepping back up to be100 with my pony as the XC is not challenging us at all, but I feel I will be even less competitive at the 100s against the big names and flashy horses that finish on 20s scores, which does make me hesitate! I would love to qualify for grassroots with her, just as something to aim for, but I just am not sure we ever will!

Sorry if that turned into half a whine ;) I adore eventing, I plan my life around it but I do occasionally wonder why, after a bad day! Not that I would ever give it up..! :)
 
Not an eventer but I am the same with SJ. Mine is a bit of a lazy lump so while we always go clear, we never ever place. I really couldn't care less, we have a great time and honestly, getting rosettes isn't all it's cracked up to be :) I would rather enjoy myself than feel any sort of pressure to achieve.

Keep going and just have fun. After all that is what we have horses for.
 
I am in Aus, so we don't have BE. Our equivalent is EA and we don't tend to have the caliber of high level riders you all get over there. Where I live our big names are Sonja Johnson (Beijing sliver medalist) and Jess Manson (won the Australian International 3 Day in November on Legal Star in 2014). Scores in the 20's are really rare (if not unheard of). We have a few talented up and coming riders, but the rest of us are in it for fun.
For me personally, I just go out and try to improve each time. My pony is a challenging ride and I am still trying to work out the best gear to run him in after about 2 1/2 years and my TB has just moved up a grade to EvA80 and is still pretty green, so at the moment we are just cruising around trying to get him confident. If I place, great... It's not my main goal though. :)
 
My horse is competitive. He does a nice test, is careful SJ and rarely looks at anything XC. However as a mummy with very young children I simply do not have the time or the nerve to take it seriously!
Last year we did one USEA (American) three day event, I had not done an event for two years and yet we came 2nd. However the stress of the 3 days really took the enjoyment out of it for me!
I have now decided to focus on Showjumping as my horse really loves the jump off's and we are good at it. It's much less stressful, it's quick and easy and we can fit 3 classes in one day.
However I will do another event. Not sure when but I will do it when I can relax and enjoy it. Most important thing is I enjoy the weekend next time and not fuss so much!
 
I have always done it for fun but that doesn't mean you can't progress too. If you like doing the bigger jumps then go for it regardless of where you end up; BE100 is still not very big, so i would try it and consider it as jumping experience rather than a competition. Don't look at the final results, and don't pick up your dressage sheet - just ask yourself if you were better than the time before or learnt anything new. However, having said that it doesn't mean you can't work at getting better. Yes, and beat the good riders as if they are at that level they will only have younger horses anyway!
Re the dressage - that is fixable, you just need a good trainer who understands the type of horse you have (many xc machines start off bad at dressage). You might not end up in the top three after dressage but you can certainly move up the rankings (been there done that got the t-shirt; even ended up leading after dressage once in NOvice on an ex-racehorse that had hysterics at his first few shows). Re the SJ, because it is something just happening at events it is probably tension in you or the horse so again it is something you can work on and fix gradually.
In the meantime, have fun and think of it as a 'work in progress' as it takes the top riders many years to get to the top anyway!
You might want to also look at some of the photos of top riders when they were starting on ponies/first horses etc. Some of them have terrible jumping positions and from the photo that is by your name it looks like yours is already good so consider yourself part way there already!!!
 
I think everyone who events is in it for the fun & the love first even the pros as its not an easy life!

For me its to give my mare the experience & see her develop as a young horse (6year old) I've owned her since 2 1/2 & it has always been my goal.

I'm competitive against myself. I would be more unhappy coming 3rd if i know we hadn't performed how we can than coming 23rd if we have performed better than i though, suppose that's the nature of bringing on youngsters
 
Ah, this does make me feel better :) I think I was on a bit of a whiner last night!
I don't think it helps that I used to groom for an eventer before a career change, so I've been surrounded by those smart horses, groomed up to 3* and ridden some lovely horses at events that found dressage very easy, although the ones I rode were nowhere near the XC horse that mine is. I picked up a bit of a mentality that my horse was "not talented" there, and it took me a while to get out to slump and really love competing her for fun once I left.

I have to remind myself sometimes that she has come on a long way from where we first started! I was pushed up to be100 quite early in my first year of eventing, so our results were quite awful that year. I stuck at 90 last year and she really feels ready now. We do produce a much nicer test these days - we have got in the 20s once! - but she's generally a mid 30s horse who sometimes takes a pole or 3. I am planning on lots of practise this year to work on the bad areas, but it will be easier once I've passed my trailer test (right now I work weekends unless I book them off for events, and that's the only days my mum can take me out) She's a lovely horse and gives me a great ride, and I do have absolutely loads of fun :) even when the rest goes wrong, I come back from XC smiling!

She is my world and I'd never sell her, I do it for the thrill (there really is nothing else like it!! :)) If anyone competes at the North Yorkshire/North East/East Midlands events and sees me, I want to make some eventing friends!
 
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kzb said:
I have to remind myself sometimes that she has come on a long way from where we first started! '...and I do have absolutely loads of fun :) even when the rest goes wrong, I come back from XC smiling!
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Yes; very very important to remember this!!! Remember too that she is probably also thoroughly enjoying the cross country (in horsey equivalent terms) and doesn't care what the dressage judge thought or whether her score is higher or lower than the horse in the next trailer at the end of the day!
Keep having fun and keep smiling.
 
Really interesting thread for me because I had a shocker at the weekend where Madam decided two hooves were better than four in the dressage. At the end (after my salute) I just put my hands wide and shrugged at the judge, she smiled, wound down her window and just said "we all have days like this my dear, just smile". BUT I was really upset - my mare has never been easy in the dressage - whatever I try she is just incredibly tense and sometimes it boils over. I was ready to withdraw - it just felt as if all my hard work (and I do put a lot in) was worthless but friends rallied round and convinced me to at least warm up for the showjumping and see if she was listening in there. She was and we just had an unlucky pole and then she flew around the xc as if it wasn't there. :)
I think for me it's not about the placings but more about our results being a reflection of the hard work I put in - if that makes sense? I too would love to get to Grassroots but I think to get there you have to have a horse capable of "in the 20s" dressage and I don't ever think we will be there so I need to accept that......
 
Yes, totally in it just for fun. Same as the rest of the people doing 90 and 100, I would love to qualify for Grassroots at Badders but whether that will happen or not who knows! Mine is a little ex racehorse whom I got just over 2 years ago off the track having raced nearly 30 times. She's 7 this year and in her first year of fully reg BE (did a few on tickets last season). She does a nice dressage, good SJ (generally clear, not usually more than 1 down) and XC is coming. Has been more looky XC than anything else though did double clear at Tweseldown for the first event of the season last month with a 32 dressage. We did have time faults (as you can imagine she's a speedy little thing but I forgot to change her bit for XC so had slight break failure so wasted time slowing down!).

We do have the odd stop XC, I think through greenness but she's such a sweetheart I'll carry on with her and see where it takes us... She has had dressage in the 20's a couple of times so it's there.

You've got to do it for fun when you're doing 90/100!! :)
 
Goodness, it's far to expensive and time consuming to do if it's not fun. I used to groom for my daughter, her last horse was always well up the rankings after dressage, rarely went clear SJ and usually flew round the XC. We used to say that at least with 3 disciplines there was usually something to celebrate and we'd play the game of working out where she'd have come if she hadn't rolled that pole or two. i lost count of the competitions that she "nearly" won!
 
wkiwi said:
Re the dressage - that is fixable, you just need a good trainer who understands the type of horse you have (many xc machines start off bad at dressage).
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Oh I hope this is true!!!! My horse is 6 this year and due to a bit of a stop-start education thanks to awkward livery yards and a bout of colic our schooling isnt as far along as it should be, nor does she particularly enjoy it....jumping on the other hand has proved to be easy for her!!

I am hoping to BE for fun, I doubt Ill be competitive, my horse probably will be but the jockey has never BE'd so its new to both of us
 
'almost there' - I am presuming that she is alright doing dressage at home. If so, then you could try this: go to unaffiliated dressage days, pay for the tests (as many as you can afford as often as you can afford) but ask if you can just spend the time doing small circles i.e don't try to do a test as such. I have never met a judge that miinded someone doing this (gives them time for a quick cuppa). An alternative to paying for each test is to find a friendly centre and ask to use the arena for schooling between classes, although be aware that they may want to harrow or something instead and may charge anyway, but you could get a longer period in there. prepare and warm up etc as if you are competing.
The principle is that they soon realise that the arena and show atmosphere is quite boring and not always linked to the fun jumping stuff. I have used it for ex-racehorses straight off the track (combined with going along to local pony club rallies where ponies are whizzing all over the place) and it doesn't seem to take them long to 'disassociate' the dressage arena with competition, so long as you don't go back to only doing tests at events.
 
wkiwi said:
'almost there' - I am presuming that she is alright doing dressage at home. If so, then you could try this: go to unaffiliated dressage days, pay for the tests (as many as you can afford as often as you can afford) but ask if you can just spend the time doing small circles i.e don't try to do a test as such. I have never met a judge that miinded someone doing this (gives them time for a quick cuppa). An alternative to paying for each test is to find a friendly centre and ask to use the arena for schooling between classes, although be aware that they may want to harrow or something instead and may charge anyway, but you could get a longer period in there. prepare and warm up etc as if you are competing.
The principle is that they soon realise that the arena and show atmosphere is quite boring and not always linked to the fun jumping stuff. I have used it for ex-racehorses straight off the track (combined with going along to local pony club rallies where ponies are whizzing all over the place) and it doesn't seem to take them long to 'disassociate' the dressage arena with competition, so long as you don't go back to only doing tests at events.
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Thank you for the time and great ideas but no we have tried all that. She is not easy on the flat anywhere including at home (bought as a showjumper with no discernible flat work training at age of 8) - after lots of rehab physio wise (muscles all in the wrong place) we started again - ie 8 yr old body with 4 yr old education but worse - I have tried de-sensitising her by taking her out but not competing, I have tried a pro rider riding her in test to check it wasn't me. She has had every physical exam possible and is fed nothing. She is a very very clever mare and just always looks for the complication even where there is none. This is why I think she may always be like this which is a shame because she has nice paces and is soo talented jumping...sorry OP didn't mean to hijack :)
 
A lot of us do it for fun here in Ireland - eventing Ireland have amateur classes at intro,pn and novice level. They are really good fun and friendly, i love the classes. There is even a amateur championship at end of season which i hope to get to this year - looks like fantastic fun! :D

I do it for fun - i dont have the money or time to compete against the big boys but i love eventing and i miss it (waiting till exams are over before eventing again lol) but can't wait to get back into it!
You can still compete in the other classes if you want as a lot of pros tend to have young horses in the smaller classes so don't necessarily do as well as hoped :)
 
I definitely did it for the fun. I was always bottom after dressage but could reliably pull up after the sj and always clear xc. 13th was my usual ending place ! I don't believe his dressage was fixable. He was calm, straight, accurate but off the leg and downhill. Judges hated him. However, I always was confident xc and it was a blast. Started at Pre-Novice with him (I had already jumped him for 3 yrs up to Newcomers) and did a few Novices.
I remember one day, he boiled over in the sj and he had 5 down due to exhuberance. He still blasted round a tough Novice course & I had the biggest smile on my face after that.
After I lost him I had a horse who was up there in the dressage but was iffy xc and it just wasn't the same sliding down the table !
 
We're not competitive. Horse loves his xc, but we're pants at dressage.

Out eventing this weekend, we had an absolute fit at the monsters in the hedge by the judge's car. Spinning round and attempting to cart me back to the warm up. Watched the video of the test when I got home, and realised...we've improved! Last year, he would have continued the hissy fit throughout the test. This year, he actually concentrated for some of it.

However, we did then have an argument in the xc about which fences were ours - he thought the Nov looked much more fun than the 100, as he's far braver than I am :D
 
Interesting thread!

I have had a complete attitude change this year - going out to have a fun day... First 2 events of the season I can honestly say are the best I have ever had!
Like everyone I would LOVE to compete at Badminton in the Grassroots Championship but the reality is, it is never going to happen. These championships are largely for the 'elite' grassroots competitors - when I have looked in previous years the same names keep cropping up... But I am never going to be at the proper Badminton either so I have stopped dreaming and am enjoying where I am at.

I have even dropped down to BE80 so there is zero pressure. I am hoping to move back up as the season progresses but if I don't ... then who cares!

I am enjoying trying to improve and like everyone get frustrated if its not happening but eventing is about the whole day ... walking the course, sitting in the sunshine, good company ... a total package.
 
Some great replies. I'm glad I'm not the only one who does just occasionally wonder why I spend all that money.. then I remember how much I love the sport. :) I am hoping to one day jump her around a Novice. I think if grassroots is beyond us then that gives me something else to aim for, even if it is in the distant future!!!

almostthere said:
I think for me it's not about the placings but more about our results being a reflection of the hard work I put in - if that makes sense? I too would love to get to Grassroots but I think to get there you have to have a horse capable of "in the 20s" dressage and I don't ever think we will be there so I need to accept that......
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I think you hit the nail on the head there... it's not necessarily even placing but feeling like you are getting an improvement to reflect the work that goes in!! If I went out and was pleased with the dressage, rolled one pole or clear sj and went clear xc, I would be ecstatic regardless of where I end up on the leaderboard.

oldie48 said:
Goodness, it's far to expensive and time consuming to do if it's not fun. I used to groom for my daughter, her last horse was always well up the rankings after dressage, rarely went clear SJ and usually flew round the XC. We used to say that at least with 3 disciplines there was usually something to celebrate and we'd play the game of working out where she'd have come if she hadn't rolled that pole or two. i lost count of the competitions that she "nearly" won!
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Me and my mum do that too... hee hee!

naza said:
OP how big is your pony if you don't mind me asking?
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I call her "pony" but she's a 15.3hh tank! TB x cob. I'm still fairly new to this forum so I don't know how photos are usually shared here but hopefully this is a link to a pic of my lovely girl! this was at our first event this year at norton disney.

http://i1307.photobucket.com/albums...d-4c2e-4b4c-9c8e-45024e203ab3_zpshui6zzsh.jpg
 
My horse got 42 in the first BE90 Regionals we went to. In 2weeks we're off to Grassroots for the 2nd time (this time BE100, last year BE90) - He couldn't work in an outline when I got him. He came 6th at the Elem Winter Regionals 2months ago with just shy of 70%. Last year he won the Prelim Regionals and went to the Nationals. He was honestly near the bottom of every class when we first started eventing. Now I expect top 6 after dressage consistently. It is doable! He is an ordinary TB x Welsh and isn't flashy but he's now very correct and obedient. I event because it's the ultimate challenge and it is fun but I am competitive and so I do put an awful lot into trying to do the best I can every time. If I've done that then I'm happy no matter where we come.
 
I have just bought a horse to do BE on for fun .
I am older and just did not want a young horse again .
So I cleared out my horse buying slush fund to buy a 14 yo advanced gelding who sailed through his vetting is exactly the right size for me he's a beautiful horse and he's lots if fun the only thing is I am having so much fun I fear I will not round to going to any competitions .
 
star said:
My horse got 42 in the first BE90 Regionals we went to. In 2weeks we're off to Grassroots for the 2nd time (this time BE100, last year BE90) - He couldn't work in an outline when I got him. He came 6th at the Elem Winter Regionals 2months ago with just shy of 70%. Last year he won the Prelim Regionals and went to the Nationals. He was honestly near the bottom of every class when we first started eventing. Now I expect top 6 after dressage consistently. It is doable! He is an ordinary TB x Welsh and isn't flashy but he's now very correct and obedient. I event because it's the ultimate challenge and it is fun but I am competitive and so I do put an awful lot into trying to do the best I can every time. If I've done that then I'm happy no matter where we come.
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As I have said to you before - Monty is my inspiration and I do hope that mine gets there eventually. Physically she is fine - now "straight" and correctly muscled but I wonder whether her brain will ever allow her to just relax???
 
at the end of the day you can teach dressage of course talent helps but it is easier to teach my old boss had a horse who went 3* & his dressage was terrible but sj & xc he was amazing

You cant teach a horse to be bold & brave, that's their nature. You can help the more timid 1s but at the end of yhthe day they will always have that "what if" nature & if you want to have fun, its not something you want to be sat on really!

I'm in North east/ north yorkshire :) I'm off to northallerton this weekend then Richmond in 2 weeks time then haven't decided after that
 
Having recently fence judged at some BE events my daughter and I were wondering why some people do it. At the last one there were lots of eliminations around the XC
Course and there are also the horses that nap all the way around. Considering the cost of entering and transporting the horse there, is it fun???!!!

To add - I know every horse has it's off days but looking at BE records of some horses, it appears to be the norm
 
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kassieg said:
at the end of the day you can teach dressage of course talent helps but it is easier to teach my old boss had a horse who went 3* & his dressage was terrible but sj & xc he was amazing

You cant teach a horse to be bold & brave, that's their nature. You can help the more timid 1s but at the end of yhthe day they will always have that "what if" nature & if you want to have fun, its not something you want to be sat on really!

I'm in North east/ north yorkshire :) I'm off to northallerton this weekend then Richmond in 2 weeks time then haven't decided after that
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What day are you at Richmond? I'm in the BE100 on the sunday :) I was going to do brooksby melton before realising it was cancelled so will just spectate at bramham since I've already booked it off work, then doing skipton. It's easier for me to plan way in advanced because I work weekends, then I can make sure I've booked them off!

asmp said:
Having recently fence judged at some BE events my daughter and I were wondering why some people do it. At the last one there were lots of eliminations around the XC
Course and there are also the horses that nap all the way around. Considering the cost of entering and transporting the horse there, is it fun???!!!

To add - I know every horse has it's off days but looking at BE records of some horses, it appears to be the norm
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This is what makes me sooooo glad my horse is a super duper xc horse!! When I was a groom I rode a lovely grey id x connie for a lady. He'd previously done a lot of dressage but he was a bit sluggish and backwards. He would always do a beautiful test, sj clear (or occasionally one pole) but lordy he was hard work to xc. It was kick kick kick. And if he completed clear he was quite often in the top 10, but he just was not a natural xc horse and I did have a lot of issues before managing to get him to learn to just go forward and gallop. Even then, he had off days. My horse was a breeze after him, I always tried to xc him first because mine required less energy!
 
I'm coming at it from a bit of a different perspective - I can do the dressage but having Evented years a go to a decent level I then lost my bottle a bit and doubted being able to do it at all so I gave up really and took up dressage instead. Then I bought an unbacked rising 5 year old bred solely for eventing, cue me deciding to give it a go again. I am competitive but realised previously I hadn't been putting in enough effort to XC and SJ practice so I've been making a real effort to do that and it's paying off! My problem is that I can't do any grassroots things and I would love to do a championship but it could only be the Novice Champs - which I'm not sure I have the bottle for! I think the horse does so will just have to see!

I would always prefer a keen jumper over something that can do the dressage but you have to drag round the XC, it doesn't bode well for wanting to move up the levels if thats the case! I think the dressage can always been improved.

I'm east Midlands and off to Richmond on the Sunday in 2 weeks!
 
I've got a horse that could do an amazing dressage test....if he wasn't so petrified of the dressage boards *sigh*, usually clear SJ and just started to come in clear on time in XC, then it all fell apart last weekend....dressage was a 38.8 after warming up beautifully, SJ 3 poles although tapped 5, XC we had 3 refusals, so unlike him.

So it's back to the drawing board for a month to see whether it was just the grass/excitement that blew his brain or just his hearts not in it.

My instructors words were he needs to want to do it, if not it's time to either sell him if you want to even or change career (although to what we have no idea) but I do know I was really enjoying it, improving each time and that's what I aim for, a knock to both our confidence is making me reasses what we both want!

Becky
 
I have fun doing it, but generally I am there to try and win something / get decently placed. Even with a young horse I'm taking "for experience", I always secretely want to do well. Personally I find BE far too expensive to do purely "for fun", although saying that I never won a BE event - usually top 6 but I struggled with the dressage (I'll never ever be a 20's person, even if I was on a grand prix horse I'd cock it up!), a placing was enough to keep me happy. I had to do a PC organised cross country last week (purely because I can't afford BE right now and there isn't any around here anymore, and there's so few unaff XC courses that beggers can't be choosers!) - and even against kids and it being my horses first ever XC competition, I was still highly competitive... it's terrible! But it is to to with my horses and my training at home, if all goes well then we should be in the placings is how I think of it. If we're not then we're not doing something right at home so I'm always a bit disappointed. Even with a young horse, if I had a stop at XC or SJ in competition I'd be horrified! Dressage I'm not so bothered about because I know it's me and my nerves that screw that up, no matter how nicely we do at home I can never recreate that at competition so if we just stay in the arena and manage the movements were we're meant to then I'm happy!
 
Thinking back to when I was more serious it was fun but I had strict goals I set out to get my horse to advanced and do three stars and I did that once that was done I realised I did not want to do more I saw that it would fit in to the rest of my life .
But I still want to do well and by that I mean I want to come home thinking I did the best job I can in each phase I would not enjoy myself otherwise .
I can't imagine how it will feel to do a BE again soon I will have to make a plan , new jumping saddle will arrive shortly the saddlers bringing studs and body protectors next time she comes it's getting a bit ekkkkkk.
 
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