BE new 60cm class.

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Velcrobum

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As per title BE are introducing a new 60cm eventing class. Not sure what I think about that as part of me thinks it is dumbing the sport down to much BUT given the old way of getting XC experience was hunter trials of which there were many many available and now are not. I guess BE is hoping to cash in before the unaffiliated providers of competition get there.
 
I don't possibly see how allowing a sport to be more accessible, and thus inviting the money injection from a much larger subsection of the equestrian community, can possibly be a bad thing. It's not like they would have any material impact on the top levels or the talent/commitment/achievement of making it there.
 
Oh goodness, whatever next!
When I started eventing, the lowest level was Novice, 3foot 6 in xc and 3ft 9 SJ.
Then they invented Pre-Novice….I remember Mark Philips writing in H&H that it was a bad idea and lowering the Sport! Then some time later they brought in Intro, it looked ridiculously small! Eventually it all changed to the 80, 90 and 100 we have now below Novice.
I realise with the expense of everything and so many Health and Safety Rules that it gradually became impossible for Riding Clubs and Pony Clubs to put on the lower levels for people to learn before they tried Affiliated, so British Eventing filled the gap. But 60? Surely not? My grandchildren were jumping 60 at unaffiliated things by the age of about 7 or 8, it’s barely 2foot.
 
Chiffy said:
Oh goodness, whatever next!
When I started eventing, the lowest level was Novice, 3foot 6 in xc and 3ft 9 SJ.
Then they invented Pre-Novice….I remember Mark Philips writing in H&H that it was a bad idea and lowering the Sport! Then some time later they brought in Intro, it looked ridiculously small! Eventually it all changed to the 80, 90 and 100 we have now below Novice.
I realise with the expense of everything and so many Health and Safety Rules that it gradually became impossible for Riding Clubs and Pony Clubs to put on the lower levels for people to learn before they tried Affiliated, so British Eventing filled the gap. But 60? Surely not? My grandchildren were jumping 60 at unaffiliated things by the age of about 7 or 8, it’s barely 2foot.
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Yes it is tiny, but so what?! It’s not as if it is a being run as a replacement for the bigger classes. BE is struggling, it needs a shake up to continue; look at the enormous popularity of the Cotswold cup which starts at 70.

There is no benefit in affiliated eventing being an elitist sport, which if it is no one jumping less than novice is welcome. I’ve not jumped competitively in a long time, but jump judge quite frequently. I’d certainly give a 60cm class a go if I had the right horse to support the sport, but would never have a crack at PN height.

I think it’s a great idea, and will hopefully provide a bit of a stepping stone for those wanting to get a feel of affiliated competition
 
What is the dressage phase for 60cm?

It's 2 ft exactly; with so many places doing arena eventing ODEs now unaff I'm surprised they think there will be participants. Surely cheaper and easier to just go along to your local unaffiliated than have to go and join BE first. though accessibility is always good I just don't really see what gap this is supposed to be filling.
 
FieldOrnaments said:
What is the dressage phase for 60cm?

It's 2 ft exactly; with so many places doing arena eventing ODEs now unaff I'm surprised they think there will be participants. Surely cheaper and easier to just go along to your local unaffiliated than have to go and join BE first. though accessibility is always good I just don't really see what gap this is supposed to be filling.
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There is no dressage phase, it is arena eventing. And you don’t have to be a BE member unless you want to go to the championships
 
A local event that regularly sold out and often over ran because it had so many entrants, was a 'baby' xc event. Classes started at 1 ft and went up to 3 ft (I think). The chance to do a 'proper' event but on a smaller scale was unbelievably popular, so there's definitely a market for lower fence heights for adults.
 
Struggling to really get my thoughts together on this - pro they need money and if that helps then great. Negatives are that affiliated was always meant to be the higher levels of the sport, UA & RC caters to those below that. Some of the people jumping the 80cm were quite scary and shouldn't have been eventing (sorry, being blunt and definitely some not all!) so what will the 60cm be like?! Although I do appreciate that it is arena eventing not full eventing.

On that will there even be many venues that can cater to running a full BE and an arena eventing?

I think my overwhelming thought is that 60 shouldn't be at affiliated level.
 
Squeak said:
On that will there even be many venues that can cater to running a full BE and an arena eventing?
.
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This is a series designed to run on all weather surfaces totally independent of any BE event. All of the fences are knock down, so a shortened course of SJs and then Working Hunter style fences.
Should it run under an affiliated body? I don’t really see why not- it gives a standardized set of rules and a clear qualification/ championships structure that it can be hard to find when random venues just run their own thing
 
I love that it makes the sport more accessible but am quite relieved to hear that it's arena eventing.

As a fence judge, my local venue held an UA 60cm event and it was absolutely terrifying. Give me an Advanced class any day! Kids on ponies whizzing round, overtaking nervous adults that were likely out to gain confidence. Hearing about horses getting more and more het up over the radio. Being passed at speed once/twice is all part and parcel of it, but three or four times wasn't doing nervous riders any favours. The number of falls was huge. Let alone refusals and eliminations. That was the only time it ran.

As a shorter arena event, this is a fab way for people to get into the sport and I'm really pleased that people will have the option to affiliate even if they don't think they'll be bold enough/capable of doing 'proper' xc. We had similar comments when they brought in the new 1* and imo that's been a great thing.
 
Jinx94 said:
I love that it makes the sport more accessible but am quite relieved to hear that it's arena eventing.

As a fence judge, my local venue held an UA 60cm event and it was absolutely terrifying. Give me an Advanced class any day! Kids on ponies whizzing round, overtaking nervous adults that were likely out to gain confidence. Hearing about horses getting more and more het up over the radio. Being passed at speed once/twice is all part and parcel of it, but three or four times wasn't doing nervous riders any favours. The number of falls was huge. Let alone refusals and eliminations. That was the only time it ran.

As a shorter arena event, this is a fab way for people to get into the sport and I'm really pleased that people will have the option to affiliate even if they don't think they'll be bold enough/capable of doing 'proper' xc. We had similar comments when they brought in the new 1* and imo that's been a great thing.
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I don't know wether to laugh or cry. Sounds like carnage or a thelwell cartoon.
 
Jinx94 said:
I love that it makes the sport more accessible but am quite relieved to hear that it's arena eventing.

As a fence judge, my local venue held an UA 60cm event and it was absolutely terrifying. Give me an Advanced class any day! Kids on ponies whizzing round, overtaking nervous adults that were likely out to gain confidence. Hearing about horses getting more and more het up over the radio. Being passed at speed once/twice is all part and parcel of it, but three or four times wasn't doing nervous riders any favours. The number of falls was huge. Let alone refusals and eliminations. That was the only time it ran.

As a shorter arena event, this is a fab way for people to get into the sport and I'm really pleased that people will have the option to affiliate even if they don't think they'll be bold enough/capable of doing 'proper' xc. We had similar comments when they brought in the new 1* and imo that's been a great thing.
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That is exactly what came into my mind, I fence judge at almost all the events in NI and the 80 scares me, for exactly the reason you say…
I know it’s arena eventing, but go to pony jumping and honestly, the speed of ponies is terrifying, stood watching with a very very experienced lady and sponsor a few months ago, it was a school jumping qualifier she turned to me and said, a child is going to be killed one of these days, unless they act to slow them down….
I am concerned that this 60 class could go the same way….
 
Marshpiper said:
That is exactly what came into my mind, I fence judge at almost all the events in NI and the 80 scares me, for exactly the reason you say…
I know it’s arena eventing, but go to pony jumping and honestly, the speed of ponies is terrifying, stood watching with a very very experienced lady and sponsor a few months ago, it was a school jumping qualifier she turned to me and said, a child is going to be killed one of these days, unless they act to slow them down….
I am concerned that this 60 class could go the same way….
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Tbh the ponies were the least of our worries! The fences couldn't have been any more straightforward and the kids were having an absolute ball. Plus there didn't seem to be a level of competitiveness that lead to harsh riding from the children as I've seen at 80s 😬 admittedly, I was on XC so didn't see any SJ!

We were definitely far more concerned about nervous riders that were almost grinding to a halt in front of the fence, with horses that got in deep and LAUNCHED. It definitely wasn't helping their confidence in the moment. Major kudos to the riders in that situation that kept going.

I'm hoping that the course designers will be mindful of creating courses appropriate for riders starting at 60cm. Fingers crossed that an optimum time will give riders a nudge to not ride it like they stole it!
 
What a joke IMO. Pre-novice should have been the lowest BE went (and yes I admit I have done intro's, but only because they were there!). BE is meant to be a level you aspire to, Pony Club and Riding Club are what you do first, then move onto BE if you want to progress IMO. Theyd be better just finding ways to bring the entry fees and membership costs down to encourage more people to do the classes they currently have.
 
MagicMelon said:
What a joke IMO. Pre-novice should have been the lowest BE went (and yes I admit I have done intro's, but only because they were there!). BE is meant to be a level you aspire to, Pony Club and Riding Club are what you do first, then move onto BE if you want to progress IMO. Theyd be better just finding ways to bring the entry fees and membership costs down to encourage more people to do the classes they currently have.
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And then we entered the current century where things change. Expectations change. Standards change. Costs rise.

If ‘we’ want to perform well as a country at elite levels then we need the infrastructure to support and fund this. This is what the grassroots level does

Anyway, BE100 is pretty damn different to the PN of old. Same height maybe, but technicality wise ….

Even many pros these days are popping around a 90 or two before a 100

As for 60cm arena eventing, I’m a bit meh, but equally it’s not harming anyone and if it brings in some revenue then great.
 
Isn't the issue with revenue the bigger classes aren't getting the entrants to actually cover their own costs anyway considering how much prices have risen?
Maybe you used to be able to put a 90cm with a chip van and couple of volunteer fence judges but now it's insurance, first aid training for volunteers, probably 1-2 ambulances on site, vet, ground maintenance, risk assessments, hire of portaloos and temp stables, speaker system, and probably a bunch of other stuff I haven't even considered but which events can't run without.
 
ester said:
But there’s much fewer PC and RC level ODEs than there used to be. Horses owner said 15/20 years ago they could go to one most weeks locally, there’s been maybe 2/3 this year, couple more if you include hunter trials.
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Surely this (fewer classes) was caused by BE deciding to open up more classes of a lower level…obviously wanting to make more money, then of course people wanted to compete at BE events…
I know that is exactly why our extremely good Riding Club event and indeed our very good pony club events over here finished….
Even hunter trials are basically non existent……
So instead of, for example many children getting a very good grounding at pony club events helped and coached by dedicated instructors, they head straight to BE…..missing out on learning about pony welfare, equipment, feeding for competition etc….
I know this isn’t the case for all, including amateurs, but I personally feel it was a backwards step…
I prepare to be admonished….
 
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