British Dressage - What would you do?

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mrsh2010

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So this year I made the decision to fully move up to Novice BD, as both my horse and I were getting bored in the Prelims, and the basics are all there for Novice.

Things started pretty good, with 65-68% scores, so my instructor said I should enter in the Silver, as this would allow me to gain Regional Points, where as the scores as Bronze wouldn't.

Our scores dropped a bit to 62-64%, but we've stuck at Silver.

This weekend we did pretty well, with a 66% and a 65%, however being in Silver as a hobby rider, we were just outside the placings. If I'd been Bronze we would have been 2nd in both tests.

So do I drop to Bronze or stick it out as Silver?

We are never going to "win" at the regionals, to be honest we're not likely to get in the top 10, not against all the flashy horses and full time riders. I don't have a school and I work in an office 5 days a week.

I'm just so confused. Much preferred the old method.
 
I have not needed to look at all the new rules, they are so complex until I need to I am avoiding it, to me it depends what you want to get out of competing, are you using it as a stepping stone or just having fun, if the latter then compete in the Bronze and enjoy getting a rosette for your efforts, there must be an area festival or another championship you could aim for other than regionals, maybe join your local RC and try and get a place on their teams to give you another option.
 
Just depends what you want to get out of competing. If you're in it to enjoy yourself or if being in the silver is deflating you a bit and you're not worried about going to regionals then go back to bronze and just keep trying for petplans. If you want to push yourself and your horse then stick in the silver.
 
I know at Prelim that you can ride at Silver not get the scores and use them for Petplan at bronze (provided you are eligible)
Equally i think that you can do bronze petplans and silver regionals at the same level now.
So you will still get to ride at both.
Depends if want you want is a rosette at the end of the day or to go to regionals
 
It depends what you want to get out of your competing - would you get more pleasure out of qualifying and competing at regionals, even if that means you don't place or get rosettes most weeks, or would you rather come home with rosettes most weeks and not go to regionals?

Which section you enter will not affect your score, but it may affect your placing. If you do bronze you could still aim for AF which gives you a big competition to win for (in theory they should be less competitive although they are not always).
 
If you really feel you will never place at regionals why would you ride silver? Does a placing at petplan not mean just as much to you as "normal" regionals would?
If you really think you would never get anywhere doing silver and the on to regionals then why bother with Silver. Stick with bronze would be my advise
 
Its as the others have said - it depends what you want to achieve from competing, and what is more important - your scores, or a rosette. I personally would much prefer to be getting my points towards regionals, and I wouldnt care where I was placed (rosettes dont bother me); placings ultimately are not going to help me progress but scores do. You can be first in a class of only 2 riders scoring 62% sometimes, or you can not place and go home without a rosette but achieving higher scores like you did this weekend.

With the new system you need to pick what you are aiming for really - Bronze if you want to do Petplans, Silver if you want to do Regionals. There are fewer pro's (albeit still some flashy horses) at Petplans though so you are never going to escape it. However as an owner of a baby 'flashy' horse (he is a WB if that is what we declare flashy as these days) I know he is an absolute muppet at times, and often long for a sensible hairy cob! Just because you dont have a horse with huge extravagant paces doesnt actually put you at a disadvantage, it just means you have to work hard on the areas where you can beat the flashy horses.

The flashy ones will always score higher on paces, that is a given - they are purpose bred. However your horse can score just as high, or even higher, than the 'flashy' ones in areas like submission, suppleness, harmony, relaxation and rhythm. I've worked a dressage venue for a few years now, and the highest score I ever saw awarded to any combination there was 82% which was a lovely 14.2 chestnut cob, complete with feathers (FYI Gareth Hughes, the Eilbergs and various other pros come to this venue). The rider is a very talented young rider, I'll give her that, but she still goes to school like most 17 year olds and doesnt have vast funds to spend on fancy trainers for her and the cob - they have a local dressage trainer who doesnt cost the earth, but they do incredibly well because of how good the cob is in all areas, not just the paces.

Dont think about yourself competing against the fancy pants horses and riders, you are in silver and the really fancy ones will be in the gold section. You are up against a mix of people including other amateurs, so stop trying to write yourself off before you have even got there. Your scores are very respectable and clearly improving, you should be really positive about getting 65% and over, that in itself should be a win for you. There's still plenty for you to work on, so keep trying and judging yourself on against your previous performances - not other people. Your horse can get to regionals at Novice level, and there is no reason why you couldnt place in the top 10 either - providing you are constantly working on what the judges are commenting on in your sheets, and working to improve the areas that can be changed in your riding and your horse. Just because you cant get a huge flashy trot doesnt mean you cant get everything else spot on.

Keep positive, keep working on the areas the judges have highlighted for improvement - and take it from there. There is no reason you cant achieve whatever you want to achieve, just make sure you are getting your priorities correct; if winning is important then go bronze, if your scores and a chance at regionals are more important then stay silver.
 
Thank you KC. You just reminded me what I often tell people! Dressage is about competing against yourself and previous scores.
Time to get the self believe back and kick start the fire in the belly!!
 
I'm another who isn't interested in the rosettes - it's more about the steady improvement and relationship with my horse. I decided at the start of the year to aim for Prelim Regionals and Novice Areas, so it was easy to decide to pick Silver for Prelim and Bronze for Novice. If we end up getting a lot of Novice scores over 66% then I may feel a twinge of regret that we didn't go for Regionals, but ultimately I'll also feel well ready for Areas and we get to experience Regionals at Prelim anyway!

This is my first year of BD though, so I guess I may feel differently once I've done the rounds a few times ;)
 
In theory your scores shouldn't drop going from Bronze to Silver - it's still the same judge and most likely they won't actually know which section you're in, so it's maybe more to do with nerves that they have. Why not stick with Bronze this year, do some Area Festivals, see if you can get to Hartpury AND try to improve your scores at the same time (you'll still be able to see where you would have come "overall" after all). And then seeing as I read in a thread on the BD forum that they're talking about changing eligibility for Silver AGAIN next year you'll know a bit better where you stand.
 
God knows - I just saw something a while back (I think from Winnie) saying they accepted that the Silver sections were too big, there were people competing in those sections who BD didn't really intend to be able to (who should be in Gold) and that they were going to make some tweaks to eligibility. Whether it'll actually happen or not I don't know, but TBH I've only just renewed my membership because the changes put me off - and having seen that post I'm just going to do Medium bronze, aim for an AF and hope that it all works itself out somehow. I'd like to do Regionals again, but for the incredible amount of money it costs and the fact that I know I'll be up against most of the amazing pros who live and ride where I do I can't justify the cost just to make up the numbers - especially as there are a number of excellent unaffliated championships around here.
 
The section you are in should not make any difference to your score, it is usually the same class and same judge who most likely would not know what section you are in but will just judge what they see and will not adjust the marks they give for a Bronze rider or a Silver rider.

I would say that you can only be in Bronze once, you can never go back to Bronze once you have won too many points for each section so unless you really want to go to the regionals I would stay in Bronze for this year.

Also if you percentages are 65 - 68 they are not high enough to get you from Regionals to Nationals so Regionals would be the end of the line whereas if you stay in Bronze you have a chance of Pet Plan semi and then getting through to Pet Plan final.

Only my thoughts on it you are the only one that knows what is important to you.
 
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