Changiing disciplines. And a little update

madhector

madhector

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www.darlingdressage.co.uk
Hello, havent been on here for ages, is all change at mine...

I have given up eventing and taken up pure dressage, think I have been itching to do it for a while but it wasnt until I ended up buying Tricky that I really made my mind up. He was bought as an eventer but it soon became aparent that he was an out and out dressage horse. I think working with him made me see how much I enjoyed that side of it.

So, just wondering how many people have made the switch? And for what reasons? Any regrets?

I miss jumping a bit but not enough to make me drag the showjumps out....

And for those that are interested, Tricky Kid in action....

167682_10150362484860251_855640250_16545410_224238_n.jpg



:)
 
He is very smart! You are still clinging on to your eventery hat though so perhaps you haven't completely given up ;)

No advice on changing disciplines, but if the horse excels at dressage it will be interesting to see how far you can take him :)
 
icestationzebra said:
He is very smart! You are still clinging on to your eventery hat though so perhaps you haven't completely given up ;)

No advice on changing disciplines, but if the horse excels at dressage it will be interesting to see how far you can take him :)
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Haha...the hat is needed. Even if I have given up jumping, it doesnt mean he has....although we are improving.
 
He is stunning and seems to look like he's enjoying the dressage.

I changed from eventing to show jumping (not totally the same) because I totally lost my nerve xc. I miss it like crazy but I know I won't do the horse or myself any good by pressuring myself into it. If I ever become more confident (which I hope one day I will) I would like to start eventing again.
The biggest issue I faced was meeting new people at comps as I got so used to seeing all the eventers when I started pure show jumping I felt like the newbie but that only lasted a couple of months.
 
Looking good Madhector, nice to see you around again :)

Haven't really changed discipline as such, just came to understand the importance of flat work...and I'm a dressage diva through and through now
 
I've seen a couple of updates on Facebook, and he looks fab :) Nothing to stop you doing the odd bit of jumping/XC to add a bit of variety anyway, just cos you decide to compete in one discipline, doesn't mean they lose the ability to do others ;)

I have also turned my back on eventing for the time being, it doesn't have to be permanent :p

Good luck with him :)
 
Hes gorgeous - whats his stats? (sorry if i've missed these previously on a post!)

I've not changed disciplines, although i used to jump a lot (i know, shocking!!) however when i got Bloss and realised she was more a dressage horse i was definitely converted! I hate jumping and so does she which is lucky! Now i've got my 3yr old to break in am not looking forward to the jumping part and might send him to someone to do that bit!
 
Welcome to the dark side!

He looks stunning! Have you been out with him at all?

Well I wouldn't call it changing disciplines as I am not exactly proficient in either but I gave up SJ and the odd event in favour of dressage because I was just too scared of jumping and it wasn't really fair on anyone.
 
Booboos said:
Welcome to the dark side!

He looks stunning! Have you been out with him at all?

Well I wouldn't call it changing disciplines as I am not exactly proficient in either but I gave up SJ and the odd event in favour of dressage because I was just too scared of jumping and it wasn't really fair on anyone.
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Took him out last year to do a couple of afiliated prelims, and now just bringing him back into work after a month off with the snow... Hoping to get him out to do some novices soon and get him qualified for the regionals
 
Hey,

He looks fab :) Glad you are enjoying him - its what its all about :)

I know what you mean about eventing tbh- i have no desire to get out there either!

Will have to catch up soon

x
 
Stopped eventing last year after 10 years of BE and eventing up to 2*. Now do BS, gave up for lots of reasons. Wish I'd given up years ago, my bank balance would be much healthier if I had. Thought I'd miss BE a lot...don't, BS much cheaper, I didn't have all the facilities to make training/fittening simple so no more nightmares of where I could gallop the horses. Can compete every week if I want without having to travel 100s of miles and don't have to enter competitions weeks in advance not knowing if my horses would be in good form to compete. Hardly ever affected by the weather and no difficult decisions as whether to run or not if the xc ground was a bog or concrete. Much less likely that my horses got injured..that is a huge plus and often come away from a BS competition IN POCKET!...no contest then for me. Hope you enjoy the change too, sometimes things just become a habit and people don't ask themselves if they are REALLY enjoying what they and their horses are doing. I eventually did and have no regrets except wish I was better showjumper!!!
 
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He looks lovely - good luck ;)

I use to compete in working hunter at novice and open levels - in 2009 we decided to do a local ODE with both my boys and ended up doing well and they both enjoyed it. Last year we did 2 x county shows and have to say i got so fed up with waiting around only to be bought in towards the end which i felt was because i wasn't part of the professional bunch. The novice use to do quite well a few years ago (he's a proper 'hunter' as i would say and can carry on all day) but judges now seem to prefer more of the lightweight show hunter type so even with many clears he was always at the bottom. The open horse can be a bit of a 4 faulter but even though he got placed at HOYS a while back he doesn't appear to be liked much. It's gets you quite disheartened :(
They both now event (unaffiliated as can't afford BE) but up to BE100/ novice level and we got some good placings last year. It turned out to be a good decision for all 3 of us.....and OH who is a lot happier walking round cross country courses and putting studs in than stood outside a show ring for 5 hours :D
 
I have changed from show jumping to showing as don't have the nerve/confidence to jump at the level I would want to compete at. I probably do miss the cut and thrust of jumping against the clock and obviously with jumping it is much more black and white, since if you have a pole you have a pole, it is not subject to a judge's preference.


Good luck with your dressage, lovely photo.
 
I have half changed disciplines. I still have one i'm going to event. The horse that has changed is now doing dressage, he has evented upto novice but just didnt have the heart for the XC where as he is so trainable on the flat it seemed unfair to him to keep pushing with the XC when he has talent and enjoys the dressage. I also love schooling and i have found that you achieve things far quicker with dressage (on this particular horse anyway) and more consistently, maybe that should tell me to stick to dressage rather than bother trying to event lol. Going out winning everytime definately helps and that never happened to me eventing :)
Your horse is lovely! Good luck with the dressage.
 
Really good to hear from you, your new lad is stunning.

Think I might be joining you and be doing more dressage than jumping this year, will have to see how my old broken body holds out over the next few months:(
 
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