BSJA Membership Poll

What would make you join BS?

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LEC

LEC

Opinions are like bum holes, everyone has one.
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Could you please fill in the poll if you jump!
In title it should read BS as well apologies!
Thanks
 
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I chose 'other'. I'd join if it were less expensive - eventing is my main discipline, and affiliating in bsja as well would be too expensive atm, though I'd like to.
 
I put other too. TBH it isnt just the cost of membership its the cost of classses. Round here its normally in excess of £15 & if you are a bit prone to having a pole down thats heading towards £2/jump. I am often tempted to jump a smaller class than I really need to practice round in order to earn a few £££s.
 
I would join BS if they had adults on pony classes, even just at the lower competitions. I don't fancy taking my 13hh fell to compete against 16hh or 17hh hand horses even though she can comfortably jump the heights.
 
Round here unaff can be so hit and miss so if you want to Sj, then BS is really the best option.
 
other.... if its legs were longer basically ;) will do the odd intro show if free tickets and do 80/90 but thats it.
 
useful poll, why are you running it just out of interest? and what do you mean by grass roots? i thought the BS had introduced intro classes?
 
Marleyboo - you are sure asking a lot of questions!! You will have to let us know by next week if you decide to join BS ;)
 
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I chose "other" for the same reason as many. For me it is too expensive. All the classes around here range from £15-£20. There are very few classes in which you are able to make your money back unless you start jumping Foxhunters, and we regularly have 1 or 2 poles so we would rather pay £5 for a class than £15+
 
BS membership only seems to work if you are in the right area. My area covers a large area but doensn't offer much in the way of training. Summer shows offer some BS jumping but because they are the only ones entries are huge and they are south of the area. There is one semi-permanent outdoor venue but it doesn't seem to have been running this year and the only indoor venue for winter is 70 miles away. Travelling to adjacent areas is just too far and living on the coast doesn't help.
Also there is no great history of SJ round here, not like in Yorkshire or the Midlands.
 
other.

i only go sj to practice for eventing so like to get steady clears rather than jump against the clock- we are lucky around here that there is plenty of unaffiliated.

also a local comp centre runs a clear round day from 80cm up to around 1.30m where the height goes up 10cm every hour- i can jump as many rounds as i like for £10.
 
I think that for Intro levels you should not have to pay membership till you have won over £100 maybe

obviously anyone competing BN and above will do though
 
lol, on the above point I do think at the intro levels you should be able to take the money home too without being a member, same as BD ;) :)
 
Other - too expensive to register a Grade A horses / rider if your only going to jump through the Summer or do 10 /12 shows a year.
 
I wanted to put 'other' as well! I think if they were better organised, that would help. I only join over the winter 6 months, but it really has been a nightmare when I go. I have only been for the first 2 classes but there are so many people and they/their pushy mothers put numbers in between numbers and the organisation is (to the ones I've attended) appalling!

They need to have a much more structured system. Although I think giving times for people would be unfair but perhaps asking for entries in advance and capping entries at X per class so that the next class will start at 10.30am or whatever.
 
:o
LEC said:
Marleyboo - you are sure asking a lot of questions!! You will have to let us know by next week if you decide to join BS ;)
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Yes I am, I am very interested in joining but do not want to pay loads of money for a crappy experience that lots of professionals use to do training rounds on and amateurs have no chance of winning anything in the lower classes, hence my questions!!! plus it is years since i SJ'D and then it was unaffiliated pony stuff so horse stuff new to me :confused:. Why the poll anyway? if you work for the BSJA tell me why there are no handbooks etc for amateur beginners like me? i think the website is poor. :eek:
 
I do not work for BS but I am often interested to know about people's experiences with things and what would be improved. Especially if their is a current zeitergeist in the forum and at the moment it seems to be BS.
 
JoJo_ said:
Put 'other' also as i'd be more tempted to join if it were cheaper too.
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Same here, although I voted for "more membership options available" as I thought this could include a cheaper alternative!! or at least a heavy discount on your first year. That would be good.
 
fuzz said:
I would join BS if they had adults on pony classes, even just at the lower competitions. I don't fancy taking my 13hh fell to compete against 16hh or 17hh hand horses even though she can comfortably jump the heights.
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Some of us on here looked at adults on ponies for BS, but there would just not be sufficient entries to make it viable. I jumped a 13.3 in seniors last year, it was fine, its not the height but the distances that are tricky because they are built on a horse stride. This year I have a new 14.2 & I have just registered her. Crazy Mare on here jumps a 13.2 in horse classses too, if you want to have a go you should, why not give it a go on a ticket. You will have some advantage against the big horses in the jump off, you can turn up much tighter. Wales & West has a 3 day amateur show next weekend, if you are near enough that would be a good one to do.
 
I ticked 'more training'.

When i was in Juniors they used to do an area lesson 4 times a year.
Seniors? nothing, unless you do bronze training.

I did get put forward to silver also - but, its seems there isnt much more out there.

I dont think BS(JA) needs to have more grassroots - i think it has been dumbed down enough with classes starting at 70cms.
 
More membership options to make it more affordable - I like many others can't justify paying to join BS or BD on top of BE. It's all very well them offering BE members a 3 month or 6 month deal, but by the time my horse has his break after the season then gets going again, I'm better off on a ticket. I looked into 6 month membership, but to make it worthwhile, I'd have to compete once a month in 2 classes. Perhaps they could offer a deal where you could pay a lesser yearly fee that allows you to compete on 6 days for example? If you want to do more, you could buy a ticket or pay the balance of the yearly membership. Just a thought!
 
I joined the BS as there is no challenge jumping unaff, it doesn't feel right competing against proper unaff combinations. Also the unaff classes round here tend to be badly built (apart from one centre) so I like that the strides etc are going to be right. I like being able to win money - sometimes I come back with more than it cost to enter. I like that I have to try harder to get somewhere. I like meeting up with all the friends I have made at shows. I like going to big 3 day shows with all the pros there and to be able to watch big classes.

As to class entry fees, I don't think the price can all be blamed solely on BS, you have to take into account the huge business rates and insurance that the centres have to cover.
 
Haven't voted but will vote 'other' when my computer lets me!!

2 things - in response to people on here saying BS class entry fees are too high, in some ways I agree, however BS is the only affiliated discipline in which, if you are placed, you HAVE to get at least your entry fee back as prize money. This, at least, is far better than BD or BE where there don't seem to be any rules or consistency about prizes (and I'm not being a snotty showjumper, I do lots of BD too and a lot of the time the classes are as expensive as BS and there's not even a chance of getting money back!!).

Sorry, little rant there...

But my reason for putting 'other' is that I think BS still need to make amateur classes for AMATEURS! I know the technical definition is someone who is not doing it as a profession, and some HORSES are discounted due to the money they've won, but there is no such rule for riders. I think (and I could be wrong but sure I heard it somewhere) that in BE, as a rider, if you've won a certain number of points you can't compete below a certain level, which I think is great. For riders with young horses, but who are very experienced and likely to do well, I don't see an issue with them going BN, Disc, Newc, Fox etc., but in terms of the amateur classes, I think the rider winnings should be reviewed as well as the horses'.

I know some people will say that that's not fair, as if you have more than one horse you will have more winnings as a rider, but why not rank the riders' winnings by the classes in which they were won, e.g. winnings from BN/Disc are not counted towards competing in the 90cm/1m amateurs, winnings from Newcomers and below aren't counted towards eligibility for 1.05/1.10 amateur classes, from Foxhunters and below aren't counted for 1.15/1.20's and so on... That way, people can do the amateur classes at a level where they can be competitive and not be competing against 1.20/1.30 horses.

Just an idea, but I think it's both workable and sensible, to give real amateur riders a chance!!

Sorry for the long email.... double choc chip muffin and hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream to those who got this far!!!
 
Oh, and also, for those who put 'more grassroots' - WHY!!!??? I don't mean to sound patronising or like a snob, but why do you want to pay to go affiliated and then jump below the 90cm mark? The thing about BS is that it's a progression from unaffiliated. Most unaffiliated shows go up to about 3'/3'6" and stop there, so the natural progression would then be to start doing British Novices.

I understand that a number of unaffiliated shows have 'questionable' course building but I really don't get why people would pay c. £200 a year to affiliate, and then only jump the intro classes.

I feel the same way about the 'training' classes in BE, and the Intro tests at BD. There's no issue with a show centre running unaffiliated in the morning, and then affiliated in the afternoon, so people can progress and then maybe have a go on a ticket before affiliating, but I just don't get the thought behind joining BS to start so low.

Really sorry, I know I'll upset lots of people saying this and I don't mean to, but it's really frustrating when a whole day at a show centre is taken up by classes from 70cm-1m when it could be used to start at BN and go up to 1.10! I'm thinking of a particular place when I say this, and the mad thing is they'll run unaffiliated on the Saturday and go up to 1.05 and then do BS the following day and the heights are smaller!!

Oh dear, think I might get jumped on for this one....!!!! :o)

P.S. I am talking as someone who lives in an area with a good unaffiliated 'scene' so may be looking at things from a slightly squiffy angle. And I'm hoping that my use of the word 'squiffy' will make the angry people less angry........
 
NAT i totally agree and the reason is that people like to be able to say "oh im affiliated" they never say im affiliated but struggle to jump a trotting pole. But thats the reality.
 
I voted other, same as everyone else really - cost.

Having paid BE membership the 6 months BS at £50 works out 6 classes on a ticket, assuming your not going to win any money, which we don't as going for nice clears not speed in the JO. As my horse is on holiday for 3 of those months it's 2 classes a month for Jan, Feb and Mar before the event season starts.

One suggestion I have made is for BS to do the eventing membership over 12 months but limit the number of classes you can enter. So that if events are cancelled, or for some other reason you want to go SJ in the event season you can go and do a couple of classes.
 
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