BSJA / Trailblazers - opinions please

C

chester1234

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 May 2008
Messages
2,242
Location
S. Lincs.
www.lkequestrian.com
Following on from some recent comments made to me, I feel the need to ask you [as a lot of you are very good at voicing opinions
wink.gif
] whether BSJA riders should compete in Trailblazers events?

The reason I ask is I have been slated for doing a 95cm Trailblazers on P. However, I did the class 8 mths ago, when he'd done about 4 BSJA competitions with no winnings or DC's, and had done two intro's.

Quote: "if you didn't want to look like a pot hunter then you should not have put the video of you doing 95cm trail blazers on you tube, it is a show jumping event held for unaffiliated riders across the UK. i.e not you."

I did one event on him?
confused.gif
surely if I was a pothunter there would be a heck of a lot more videos of him doing trailblazers [which he has not done since.] and I would be doing second rounds / champs with him? I know of one junior rider who has been at the finals the past few years with her foxhunter pony - as it is still JC there is no reason for her not to.

So, two questions really - a] was I totally wrong to take P for a 95cm trailblazers before the season started when the biggest course he'd done was 1m? and b] should affiliated riders and / or horses/ponies be allowed to compete?
 
From a BSJAer....depends on what level your competing at TBH.

If you are away jumping foxhunters and your horse has good results then no, its not fair! But if you are jumping BN then i dont see the issue?

From another side though...jumping newcomes/fox myself i wouldnt feel the need to do trailblazers if im honest...its not really furthing what im doing?
confused.gif
 
I don't know about Trailblazers as such as I show and know that I am not eligible for it but it seems reasonable to me as it was the level he was competing at then. In my early days of BSJA, we used to mix and match unaffiliated and affiliated all the time as did many other local competitors. I am all for following the spirit of rules as well as the exact rules but if there was a blanket ban on affiliated competitors doing trailblazers then surely that would discourage people doing trailblazers from affiliating if you see what I mean!
 
i think you are fine to do that, like you said, P had only done 4 affiliated events at the time, and i dont see anything wrong with what you did.
i think people should certainly be able to compete in them, but only if you NEED to jump at that height...i.e i would say it wasnt right if you competed regularly at Newc/Fox level bsja or Novice/Advanced BE and then entered a 95cm unaff...

but if you compete say Disc and below affiliated, or PN and below, i see no reason why not...as a lot of riders regularly combine aff and unaff in their comp schedules. also, if the horse/rider has had a confidence crisis (like me and bugsy have at the moment!) i think it is perfectly valid that they enter a smaller unaff class.

i fully intend to enter some 75cm, 85cm and 95cm unaff trailblazers at arena uk in the next month or two to try and give me and bugsy confidence as we are having a refusal crisis at the moment...but we are affiliated - if what that person says is true...then where else am i supposed to compete him to gain confidence??!! ridiculous.. xx
 
I dont mind BSJA riders competing in Trailblazers classes, especially when it is first round classes. Double clear will qualify you for the second round so it doesnt matter who you compete against.
Problem would arise if you compete in the 2nd rounds in classes but only if you are jumping newcomers and above for any Trailblazer class (maybe not 105cm class).
The problem is now that there are intro shows you cant say BSJA members cannot compete in certain class!

When you are jumping BN/disc I personnaly dont have a problem. You get unaffliated riders who are pothunters too!
 
Like most the others have said I think if you were jumping at Newcomers and above probably not but on the same hand though it is entirely up to you.
If you were going week after week and winning every time then maybe not but then again I dont think the majoroty of people would do as they would not be achieving anything surely?
Besides the Trailblazers prize money isnt going to make anybody rich is it!
 
I'm a BSJA judge, but I also judge Trailblazer competitions. I don't see the harm in affiliated riders going out and doing Trailblazers. Often it is a way of getting their horse over a certain type of filler, or they maybe having some refusing problems (rules in Trailblazers are that you are not eliminated until your 3rd refusal), so it helps you out with that.

As long as the unaffiliated prize money is no more than £10, I don't see the harm in it. If the rider is just out to win the £10 for an £8 entry fee plus £3 first aid, then hey ho.....
 
OMG hello Susan, long time no speak!!!!

Swiftly back to the OP - no, you did nothing wrong
smile.gif
I am off jumping TB this weekend and I have absolutely no qualms in doing so (as, quite frankly, I need more course practise!).
 
I think it is completely fine as long as it is within the rules regardless of what level you are jumping at affiliated. People can sometimes be extremely petty, jealous and narrow minded
crazy.gif

As for pothunting aren't we all at competitions to be competitive?
confused.gif
If someone is better than me on the day it is pretty pathetic to moan they shouldn't be there just so I can do better!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
You could compete HC at intro shows i suppose?
tongue.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

i checked the bsja website show calender for the next 3 months and there are NO intro shows near me atall... the smallest affiliated class near me in 90cm amateurs or BN's...so if i want to do smaller (which i am with bugsy) i have to go unaff
smile.gif
xx
 
TBH I was @ the TB Finals this year and the 95cm / 105cm were quite challanging courses and probably more suited to people jumping the lower affiliated classes....................I jump both TB and BSJA
 
Anya - that was my thoughts
confused.gif
I took my pony to the champs a couple of years ago, and came away with a first prize, but the courses were a definate step up from the first and second rounds, and took much more walking and riding that the qualifiers necessarily did. Atmosphere also played a huge part in it. The 1.05m championship track could have been a BN / Disco 2nd round track tbh!
 
At least you lot can do TB, I'm not allowed because I am a senior with a pony, & the distances are "too dangerous" lol, luckily the BSJA are happy to take my money
grin.gif
 
Kizzywiz - I used to do TB first rounds on my pony (I was over 16 but took him in the pony classes) and was told it was ok to compete but I could never qualify to the second rounds as I was too old. This was over 3 years ago so things may have changed now but it might be worth an email to the organisers if you want to do some of the first rounds? I used to do the 95cm TB classes alongside senior BSJA with the pony too
smile.gif


OP - I don't think you've done anything wrong, ignore them
wink.gif
 
GO for it what.. I cant see the problem, in fact im not registering my 24 year old horse this year (refuse to pay BSJA fee of £100 to compete him around 1m), so might well join the trailblazer scene !!!
tongue.gif


Arent ponies allowed to compete against horses in these classes ?? So lets face it, us horses arent likely to beat some little whipper snapper anyway !!!
grin.gif
 
We competed at our first Trailblazers final this year, with good results, we compete unaffiliated, there was stiff competition, courses were upto height, technical and jump offs were very fast, I did not mind riding against affiliated horses.
 
Really dont see a problem with it. I took my new cow pony to trailblazers last weekend. Wanted to see what he did round a course before registering him. This thread reminded me we have qualified for 95cm second rounds and yes I will probably do them.
If affiliated people / horses weren't supposed to compete trailblazers then the rules would prohibit it. There does seem to be a group of people who would like every horse or rider more capable than themselves banned so they can win a rossette. Strange folk.
 
I compete in Open Unaffliated Classes that incorporate a TB qualifier, along with David Broomes and Ridgeway Rider. I don't think I can qualify for any of the second rounds as my horse is Grade B. I do it as I am really limited as to BSJA shows I can go to. If there is a BSJA show on that has classes I can jump I will jump there, but if there isn't I will go Unaffliated. For example there was not a single BSJA in the whole of september that I could go to.

The show centres want my entry fees and if BSJA riders stopped competing in unaffliated classes would it still be viable to run them? If you banned them would the centre still make enough money?
 
No, TB do not allow seniors on ponies to compete, because the courses are built on a horse distance so would be unsafe. This is of course complete rubbish, I train with a BSJA accredited coach who builds everything on a horse distance, & tells me off if I let her chip a little one in, so 2 horse strides must be 3 level ones for me, not 3 1/2 ha ha. We have done a few BSJA intro shows this summer, & she coped fine, so I would say TB are losing money. Several of the other championship qualifying rounds don't allow senior ponies either. Duckling - so are you saying that tho I am very old!! I could in fact enter the pony sections of TB, or the senior part but just can't do second rounds?? Not an issue at the moment anyway as she's off with a torn DDFT
confused.gif
 
Kizzywiz - I don't know if things have changed but when I did first rounds on my pony I always entered the junior pony sections. I always asked the secretary before entering if it was ok, me being 18 and officially too old, and was always told it was fine to compete in the first rounds but I couldn't ever qualify so qualification would be passed down the line if I placed - I still walked away with trophies and rossies though so it wasn't like going HC.

I'd email the Trailblazers organisers and see what they say, but I did this at a few different show centres and was always told it was ok
smile.gif
As I said though it was 3-4 years ago, so things may have changed. Would be a bit silly though if it isn't allowed, most of the unaff around me was TB so I would have really struggled getting out otherwise!
 
i dont see a problem with it really, take me as an example i have a 15 hand 19year old mare who ive previously competed up to fox level bsja, and she had 3 years off through injury. She got better and i wanted to slowly introduce her back to jumping so i did a year of tb/unaff comps before re-joining her to the bsja, and i didnt see a problem with it under the circumstance. my second horse is young and quite inexperienced and jumping bn and disc and i wouldnt have any qualms jumping the odd trailblazers 95cm/1.05m on her if necessary, i know full well shes too slow and to win anyway as ive not tested her against the clock yet!! so yes i think depending on circumstances its perfectly fine to do TB and i wouldnt worry about what those people said
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top