BUCS riding?

[BronsonNutter]

As in the university riding stuff, not just a dodgy spelling of bucks

Basically, can someone tell me a bit more about it? From what I can gather you have to do a dressage test on one horse and a SJ round on the other, but what level/height are these at? And how often do they tend to have competitions etc?

Uni teams trial is next week, any help/advice is much appreciated! (just a little bit worried now )

 

[claire_p2001]

I don't personally have first hand experience of uni riding but my sister has done it and has really enjoyed it. At the regional level you do the dressage on one horse at prelim level and sj on a different horse about 2ft6, each member of your team rides a different horse a you get scored against the other uni's on your horse. In the dressage they mark like a normal test in SJ they mark on faults so CR adds 0 to your dressage score etc. When you get to the finals its like a knockout competition and you have to do a team test so all 3 members of the teasm go in the ring together like follw the leader!! As you go through each round it gets harder ending up with 1.25 SJ and Advanced Dressage. At the higher levels you get marked on style of SJ as well as faults. My sister got selected for the GB team so she gets to go on nations cups places like Germany, Sardinia, Ireland etc she loves it and has gained so much out of it I hope that makes some sense, its just what i have picked up from my sister.

 

[Thistle]

Dressage is a prelim/nov test after a 7 min warm up. Jumping is approx 90cms. It's judged entirely on the rider and effectiveness There are now style marks for the rider all all levels.

 

[Bee_1]

Hi,

I'm was on the A team for my uni last year(UEA) so think I can help you out!!

As Thistle (Hi mum!!) says, the dressage is at prelim/novice level-appendix 4 on this page shows the dressage test-http://www.bucs.org.uk/page.asp?section=6588&sectionTitle=Season%27s+Information+%26+Rules+and+Regulations.

Basically at the beginning of the dressage each person draws a number out of hat which shows which horse you will be riding, one person from each uni also rides that horse, which means that the horse will do the same dressage test 4 times, this can either be a good or a bad thing for depending on which order you are drawn to ride in!! Some of the horses i rode last year were very very tired by the time I rode them last....

You will have 7 minutes warm up for the dressage (1st person on each horse gets 10 to warm it up properly), this really isn't long so make the most of it.

Next is the jumping, this is supposed to be 90cm, but can be made smaller depending on the horses provided, especially since they all have to jump 4 rounds again!

This time you will have 5 minutes and 3 practice jumps.

For each phase you are marked on style, there are no marks in the dressage for the horses paces, only how you influence them. For the jumping you are marked out of 10 for each jump and then think there are 4 sections at the end for how you rode, lines e.t.c

Each person who rode the same horse is marked against each other, the person who did best on that particular horse gets 0 points and the other people get penalty points depending on how far away they were from the winning person.

The scores are then added together at the end to get a winning team and individual places!!

Think this makes sense, if not then let me know, which uni are you at?

 

[charlimouse]

Thanks for asking this as I have University riding team tryouts coming up, and was wondering what what involved. Fingers crossed my uni don't decided to do them too soon as technically i'm not supposed to be riding for another 3 weeks ! However I am doing flatwork on them, if tryouts are suddent spung upon me I may have to have a couple of crash course (hopefully not too literally !) jumping sessions to get my eye back in!!!

 

[horseywelsh]

I've been on the team all the time I was at uni and as a team we qualified for the regionals and nationals. Nationals are held at Hartpury and it was a fantastic experience. Others have already given a good idea of how it works/what it's about so I won't repeat. You also draw what order you ride your horse in, so you could be first on that horse for dressage/SJ or last, not sure wither is an advantage as usually by the fourth test/SJ round some can be quite tired etc.

At league round (which all team riders start off at) the standard of horses can be quite variable depending on the host uni/centre they use. Alot hold them at riding schools where the horses aren't used to being asked to go in an outline etc etc, we've had allsorts from tiny ponies, chunky cobs, exracers, shire horse etc so you need to be the sort of person who can adapt to ride any type and aim to get the best out of said horse in a very short space of time. I think it's brilliant, great experience and enjoy riding/competing different types. We have had the odd person who on their own horse has had some fantatsic results but as they are used to riding a proper "competition" horse and couldn't get much out of the types you get at the league round. Likewise vice versa etc. Very much depends on what uni you are at as some uni's have their own onsite equestrian campus (e.g lincoln) whereas other uni's have to do all their training and hold their competitions at a suitable near on riding school. Competition days are always great fun, and as a team we've always had a good day out. Think i've been fortunate to land on a team with like minded people where we have genuinely had fun, no b*tchiness.

Would encourage anyone to trial though, it is great fun and a chance to ride/compete if you no longer still have your own horse. Competitions are free too (as host uni club/sprt union pays), training is usually subsidised too

 

[BronsonNutter]

Thankyou! All very helpful, 90cm doesn't sound too big either - was worried that it might be 110cm in the first comps Especially seeing as I haven't jumped that height competively since about 2008...

I doubt I'll get on the team this year, because I don't really think I'm that good and will probably cock up at the trials, but I've got another 5 years to try But I don't mind riding other people's horses so I guess that's a bonus... Just that some people who are going to the trials seem to be doing BE novice or SJing at foxhunters etc, and I've never been affiliated!

Bee_1, I'm at Liverpool - amazing place! Think they do their training at Bold Heath if anyone's ever been?

Charlimouse, you will have absolutely no problems getting onto your uni team, even with a smashed up jaw! And if you don't, then at least you have an excuse Which uni are you at?

 

[dafthoss]

Oh I have mine soon to rather nervous about it now thinking about it. I have been assured that I will be ok by someone I know but its still not helping.

I'm trying to work on the theory that 90cm (thats what we have been told it is) will look smaller on a proper horse than on my pony and I am unlikely to get something as green as him in a competition, thats my line for now and I'm sticking to it .

 

[diggerbez]

Thankyou! All very helpful, 90cm doesn't sound too big either - was worried that it might be 110cm in the first comps Especially seeing as I haven't jumped that height competively since about 2008...

I doubt I'll get on the team this year, because I don't really think I'm that good and will probably cock up at the trials, but I've got another 5 years to try But I don't mind riding other people's horses so I guess that's a bonus... Just that some people who are going to the trials seem to be doing BE novice or SJing at foxhunters etc, and I've never been affiliated!

Bee_1, I'm at Liverpool - amazing place! Think they do their training at Bold Heath if anyone's ever been?

Charlimouse, you will have absolutely no problems getting onto your uni team, even with a smashed up jaw! And if you don't, then at least you have an excuse Which uni are you at?

good luck with the trials! Bold is one of my local centres and is a nice place but no idea what the school horses are like.
i did Uni riding teams for two years when i was at uni and i was even more hopeless than i am now- so sure you lot will be fine and have no problems getting on the team! our A team were amazing (one girl went on to win at the nationals i think and is now a pro dressage rider) but the B team that i was on was fairly average RC standard i would say. as above the horses you get given can vary a lot depending on the centre. our local centre was great and let us go and practice on our horses so we always did great at our home match. we went to one comp somewhere in warwick and the horses we were given were AMAZING- really enjoyed the whole experience- highly recommend it