Convince me to go Afilliated at Dressage.

Carefreegirl

Carefreegirl

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Thinking of affiliating next spring but what are the benefits ?

I know people always say you get better judges but I compete at Novice unaffiliated at the moment and always seem to have the same judges who my friend has and she competes at Elementary affiliated.

I know you can gets points etc but are the shows any better organised ?

I work 6 days a week so its not a case of I could attend anymore shows now than I already do.

So can I be convinced to part with my hard earned money ????
 
i'll be really interested to read peoples responses, i would love to affiliate too but transport is an issue and the cost.
 
I've just bitten the bullet and am competing affiliated elementary and can highly recommend it. Consistent judging, well run comps plus really feel like I'm getting somewhere :) Go for it!
 
Hmm, I'd say it depends on your aims... if you are happy at novice level and feel your local unaff comps are well run and well judged then I'd say you won't really gain anything...

If you want to progress up the levels, get points on your horses CV, qualify got champs etc then yes it will be worth it.

It isn't cheap tho, and I've just taken advantage of the free-horse-registration deal BD ran last month!
 
I'd say go for it... if you don't try you'll never know!

The standard is usually a lot higher, so you may need to up your game a bit, but it will hopefully inspire you!

If you are currently doing well at Novice Unaffiliated, I'd suggest starting affiliated at prelim - I always recommend to my pupils to compete at the level below which they are schooling at.

Good luck!
 
trottingpole said:
I'd say go for it... if you don't try you'll never know!

The standard is usually a lot higher, so you may need to up your game a bit, but it will hopefully inspire you!

If you are currently doing well at Novice Unaffiliated, I'd suggest starting affiliated at prelim - I always recommend to my pupils to compete at the level below which they are schooling at.

Good luck!
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We do well at Novice and my instructor says she's aiming us for Elementary next easter (She's very optimistic) Is there much of a difference then between the standard of riding / competition between unaffiliated and affiliated at the lower levels ?
 
Totally worth it. The shows are SO much better organised, I find the judges very good, there's loads of accesible training etc and the open / restricted sections make it all very fair and give you the chance to do well. Initial join up is tonnes cheaper than BE and I think the entry fees are quite fair. Plus if you do well you have the potential not only to win your entry back, but also mack profits :) I would say defo.

Haha I sound like I work for BD, I don't just love it. I won't be going back to unaffiliated
 
Almost convinced - good work HHO's :D. How do the training / clinics work ? Is it group lessons, one to ones. What sort of price and are they at comp centres or 'private' yards. Can you tell me who some of the instructors / trainers are. I'm based Bucks / Beds border.
 
Have you looked at the British Dressage website? That should give you alot of information about what they are doing in your area etc.

There is also the chance to try out for Teams which is really good fun!
 
I just got back into BD last weekend with my new ride and loved it, I'd forgotten how much calmer it all is. After having almost 2 years at unaffiliated it was brilliant to have the constructive and helpful test sheets again and it was good to know that I could hold my own against the serious dressage divas and not just the happy hackers who I'm usually competing against at my unaffilated local venue, all much fairer in my opinion.
 
Indi41, sorry can't quote as on phone. Yep looked at BD website and helpful but always useful to get the views of those that pay the wages. Apart from one friend and an instructor I don't know anyone else who competes affiliated as other 2 instructors are purely showing and purely jumping. Looks like I'm going to affiliate.
 
I agree that the standard is much much higher at BD, alot of the combinations at novice look like they are working easily at medium at home. The people that have paid all the extra money that it costs to go aff have done so because they have exhausted the unaff route and want to move on further.
I found that my scores where easily 5% lower on average for what felt like the same test at unaff. Its helpful to video yourself, watch objectively and then go and watch a few BD shows and see where you belong (that helped me alot)!

Or perhaps try going on a ticket before you commit to registering?
 
Blimey 5% is quite a lot though it's obviously all relative. If I went in a class with others who are working at medium at home I'd be last every time. Medium trot / lengthening is our weakest bit at the mo though it's improving every lesson. Lateral work is pretty good as is canter and walk. Good ideas about riding on a ticket, I'll do that after Xmas to see if worth joining now or wait 6 months. Thanks for replies.
 
Unfortunately videoing is not an option as I go to lessons on my own and all my friends find dressage boring so would be pointless asking them. Hubby would rather stick hot pokers in his eyes than watch dressage and his videoing skills are crap anyway !
 
You can go and do prelim without registering, you can maybe try that to see how you get on doing affiated and see what the competition is like at novice
 
i wouldn't do anything else anymore. We do the odd RC comp but mostly just stick to BD. I prefer to compete against quality combinations and feel such a sense of achievement if I do well, knowing I've (mostly) been judged fairly. We have been placed a lot at unaff previously but never quite had the same sense of satisfaction as never sure about the quality of the rest of the class even if a good judge. I would say if you're scoring mid 60's unaff novice then you could happily go straight in at BD Novice, but expect your scores to drop a little - on average probably 3-5% depending on judging. If you fancy a go then try a prelim as you dont need to be a member or do a Novice on a ticket. Then the other option rather than registering horse as well immediately is to become a full member and then you can do Training sections without registering the horse. You still get judged the same but you dont get rosettes or prize money. i've been doing that with my eventer this winter as he's not good enough to win prize money yet and I'm not bothered about rosettes. You still get to know where you would have come in the main class and get your sheet as normal so it's perfect for us and has saved me the cost of registering him.
 
What do the training sessions involve ? Oldencraig is a bit to far to go but have got Addington, keyso, Bury Farm and Patchetts all within an hours drive max so shouldn't have a problem finding somewhere.
 
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