Eventers ...what would you do if ...

TracyP said:
Spottedcat - well done!

I agree with 90% of your list!
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Thanks! As I also run my own successful business (well, it pays the mortgage and pays for me to event etc), so I fulfil Jemima's criteria of employing people who know how to run a business, do you think BE would like to give me a job? In fact I don't want a job, I'm happy running my company, I'll settle for that position on the sports committee I mentioned ;)
 
I think there should be a set level of prizes/money at BE90/100. I am lucky in that i have been well placed at BE90 and sometimes prizes go to 10th with very generous prizes up to say 5th and then saddlecloths or hoofpicks and treats up to 10th. One event i went to a couple of weeks ago only gave prizes to 3rd. I have also been to an event that gave a prize to 1st then baseball hats up to 6th and nothing else! Dont get me wrong, i am just delighted to get a place and a rosette but i do think when we pay so much to enter and subscribe there should be a level playing field for prizes.
Also, the fact that one event can charge maximum entry fee with lowest level prize money and the next event charges minimum entry fee with higher level prize money!
 
Find a way somehow to reduce entry costs so at least Fairycakes and Dark_Knight could do BE again;), if they could be reduced enough other daughter would love to start and I might even get to event as well:)
 
Create more opportunitys for juniors, being a junior myself who's competing at intro with a horse i've bought on myself, i'd like to have training for us at intro, which is now only available at PN/JRN level, which im not ready to do [partly because of my injured pone]. Trying to bring back old events such as spring hill and markyate ect.
 
Bring back proper junior and pony classes. I couldn't event until I was 16 and had to be riding a horse over 16hh. Made the whole eventing scene much more special and professional.

Bring the courses back to the old days!!! Back to 3ft 6ins for PN and straightfoward.
 
Tash28 said:
I agree, its like saying we should make seperate classes for the professionals because all their 5yo's doing BE100 were at least £15k and they are paid £500 to compete it and do the best on it. (I know they are thinking of doing this (grrr)). Only the minority of teenages have no appreciation for what they are doing, how much it is costing etc. I did ponies and i'd say no less than 90% of kids on the circuit worked hard to get there, producing thier own ponies and we were all so appreciative of being able to compete alongside adults and professional. It had always been my dream and i was bought my 3yo pony from the sales for under £1k and took her to novice and ponies myself.
Plus, equestion is the only sport where people of all age, sex and level compete together and to me this is one of the best parts of the sport...why change it..? rant over.! :D
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Totally agree (and believe me I am well past the teen stage myself :D ). I have absolutely no problem competing against teenagers or professionals and it baffles me why others tend to look around the warm up at who they are competing against, instead of knuckling down and concentrating on themselves. As has been said -if you are competing against professionals or people on more expensive horses than yours, just work to up your game - not try to have that competition removed..
 
i'd increase the training availiable to people of all ages, lower down the levels, form a type of amatuer team thing, where by there were competitions & leagues at the lower levels,

saying that, i am one of those who doesn't have a problem with competing against Pro's, and even entered a 90open section just to get a run, (what a shock, i really did feel useless!)

it's just be nice (for me, with kids & a job) to be able to compare against people in the same boat, kind of yummy mummy league!!!

personally, having come back to BE after a break, i haven't got much to complain about, yes entry fees are more expensive, yes, prize money is not very good, but TBH, it's my hobby, now i've got children it's just good to get out, i spend just as much (probably alot more TBH) galloping about out hunting, just to have a good chat, (well not just that, but YKWIM)

the thing i like about eventing is that any horse can event, and with the right schooling, any horse can do ok, compare this to point to pointing, which i do love & have serious cravings to get back into, where you enter a ladies race on your averagly priced racehorse, only to find some of the very best Foxhunter horses are also entered, starts to get a bit frustrating!!
 
I would have a minimum prize and make it equal for all sections of that level at each event for BE90 and 100. For example I won a BE90 last year and I got a Rambo saddlecloth with a RRP of £19.99. The guy who won the other BE90 section (prize giving at the same time) won a John Whittaker bridle!!!!! The person who came 6th got the same saddlecloth that I got for coming 1st!!!!!! When I queried it with the organiser they said it was down to the sponsors and nothing to do with them. I was very pi$$ed off as I had paid over £65 to enter the class.

I would also make the dressage at BE90 and 100 less influentual by changing the scoring system. The other week in a BE90 I was 20th after dressage, and after a double clear and finishing on my dressage score managed to move all the way upto 19th!!!!!

I would also like to see a best owner/rider prize in each section, especially novice and above, as at these levels the sport is very pro dominated, so humble little owner/riders like myself who are very unlikely to win, and lucky to scrape a lower level placing gain some recognition. There could be an owner/rider league table at each level, with prizes at the end of the season for those at the top of the leaderboard.
 
At the moment i would make it so i could actually validate my horses reg so i could enter something!

I would make it easier to get money back on withdrawals, horse reg and rider reg when stuff beyound your control happens.

Cant think of anything else at the moment but think theres lots of things that could be done differently!
 
Why on earth do they insist that riders who are sponsored that the sponsor joins BE? Both BS and BD (which mini TX has joined) dont insist on this - you just have to comply with their regulations with regard to size of logo etc. OK my business pays mini TX's membership etc, but adding the company on adds another £115 ish and for what, exactly? Just another excuse to make money no doubt.

Another thing that really jacks me off (I dont event - too dam old and too dam busy with work and running daughter around), is that it can be very geared to the pros, whose requirements are very different to the amateur. They dont get a voice and its all about 'names'. Sorry to rant on, am a bit peed off after some recent issues which I dont want to go on about, but its not all about the famous names you know. Wake up BE and listen to the vast majority of your membership.
 
Flawed arguments about 'expensive' horses. My 5 y/o is doing BE100 at the moment, and as such, if I were to sell him I'd ask £10-£15,000. I've had him since an unbroken yearling. However, I'm not a pro, I'm an amateur who gives a ****, spends a lot of time riding, training, watching, listening, reading, thinking, doing. It appears to be working (and the unsolicited offers on my horses, and requests for teaching speak something...).

How do you differentiate between a pro, an amateur adult on an expensive horse, an amateur adult on a schooled-from-scratch horse, an amateur adult who should really learn how to ride properly, a kid on an expenisive produced pony, a kid with a bit of flair who coaxes their family pony round etc etc.

To all these debatees, grow up a bit, put the work in and you can win against the 'expensive' people and the pros. And no, I'm not filthy rich and in a high-paid job, I just work hard.
 
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