BE80

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AABBCC

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Just a post out of curiosity, I'm new to the whole competition world and have a few questions.
For a BE80/BE90 is it necessary for your horse to be on the bit consistently for the dressage, would it be looked down on if it wasn't maintained throughout?
How long does the XC tend to be for BE80 and how do you remember the course?!
Also, what kind of attire do you need up to BE100 (stock tie or can you just wear a regular polo? etc) and how would you structure the day? Meaning, if your dressage test was at 11am and the place was about 30mins by trailer? Sorry, for all the questions, I just want to be prepared for what the day could throw at us! :smile4:
 
It would be expected that your horse should be working correctly in the dressage - but if they all did that, it would be boring! It's not looked down on, just marked down, same as any dressage test.

If you read the BE rule book, it will give you the length of the course, the dimensions of the XC and the SJ and the restrictions on the types of fences you will come across. It'll give you details of the optimum time for each section too.

It also tells you what tack the horse can/can't wear, and the dress code for the rider.

If your dressage test was at 11, I would work backwards for what you have to do to be in the arena at 11. Say 40 mins to warm up - so you should be getting on your horse at 10.20, approx, depending how far the dressage warm up is away from your trailer. Then work out how long it takes to tack up, get yourself dressed, once you have been to the Secretary's tent to collect your number, get your hat tagged, pay your start fee etc etc - I usually allow an hour from arrrival to getting on but I would suggest you leave more time.

You also need to work out if you have time between the dressage and the jumping phases to walk the courses, or whether you need to arrive early enough to walk the xc before the dressage. It normally takes about an hour. There are slots in the day to do SJ course walks - you need to find out when they are, and make sure that they are for your class.

Have you never been XC before? The fences are numbered and the numbers are coloured, depending on which class you are doing. It will also say this in the rule book.

If you haven't been to an event before, I suggest you go to one on foot, to familiarise yourself with it, before forking out a huge amount of money for an affiliated event!
 
You sound as if you would benefit from having a good instructor to help with planning your competing and a few trips to BE events without the horse to get a feel of what goes on would also be very useful for you at this stage.

To achieve good marks in the dressage phase the horse should be working consistently into the contact, you will lose marks if it is not but if it is going fairly well you can get a reasonable mark even if it is a little on and off the contact.

A stock or shirt and tie should be worn for the dressage and sj phases.

The xc will be around 11/2 miles, it can be as short as 1, you walk the course carefully and make sure you see every fence, once you are under way it is usually fairly easy to remember.

You will find your day is fairly busy, you usually, but not always, have about 1 hour between each phase, just enough time to walk the sj/ xc if you are lucky but for a novice it often is easier to walk before you do dressage or even the day before to ensure you have really learnt the course, once the competition is under way there is plenty to do taking care of the horse, warming up, cooling down, washing off, grooming, changing his kit and yours, remembering where to go etc etc.

There is plenty of info on the BE website, take a look at the coaches in your area as they will be able to guide you through everything as it really is quite intense if you want to do well and enjoy the competing.

https://www.britisheventing.com/asp...+/+British+Riding+Clubs+BE80(T)+Championships
 
Reading your post, you come across as very inexperienced about the whole thing. Surely you would be better off doing unaffiliated (some are even run over the BE course), save yourself a lot of money and disappointment if it all goes wrong. Even at BE80, you may well be up against "pros", so it can be annoying when you come well down the results, even if you think your horse has gone well. Mind you, a double clear can bring you right up into a placing.
 
Its a fair question to ask out of curiosity OP - but I would have reservations about you trying an affiliated course this season. You've only just got your horse who has scared you. You are moving her from yard to yard a bit just now so she needs time to settle and you need time to adapt to her. You have a trainer which is really great. Perhaps aim for just some XC schooling this year and maybe a small unaffilliated hunter trial in the autumn if you have your other issues with her on the way to being resolved by then. I know you want to work your way up the levels and that she has previously done BE100 but Eventing particularly is all about being safe and not going too far too fast.

If you haven't already perhaps join the BE U18 academy for your area and start training over some of your local courses. You mentioned pony club in an earlier post and that too is an excellent way to start out a competition career. Most of our top riders started out in pony club. I completely udnerstand you have this new horse and you are eagerly looking to all the wonderful things you can do together - but make haste more slowly!
 
People tend to be really good at dressage at BE events so if you want to be anywhere near then yes your horse needs to be working in an outline.

I agree with the others I think you'd be better doing some unaffiliated first. It's a pain and expensive to enter BE, plus it's of a high standard so you really want to know what you are doing before you go.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm not thinking of competing affiliated any time soon, I'm just curious. Probably going to come across a inexperienced again but, where can I find out about unaffiliated comps? pony club?
 
AABBCC said:
Thanks for the replies. I'm not thinking of competing affiliated any time soon, I'm just curious. Probably going to come across a inexperienced again but, where can I find out about unaffiliated comps? pony club?
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It depends which area you live, but often the BE venues will run an unaffiliated event after the affiliated event.

Often run by the Pony Club, local riding clubs or the venue itself.

Facebook is great for this sort of thing, or collar someone that events and I am sure they could give you some suggestions :)
 
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