teapot
Well-Known Member
A friend’s coach went xc at 7.30pm the other week… wonder what time prize giving was for that section?!
Eventing 2025
- Thread starter TheMule
- Start date
LEC
Opinions are like bum holes, everyone has one.
In last 2 years there has only been two formal prize givings I have attended and one was at a new event and the other at a regional final. Everything else is pick your rosette up from secretaries. They just are not a thing anymore. Pros don't attend them as too busy, their owners are not that bothered if it's at a 100 as they expect the horse to go onto better things and so it's the people like me who are often in lower placings who go along if it works out. In past you would receive prizes in kind but now it's prize money which you have to apply for after the event if you are high enough in the placings .
RachelFerd
Well-Known Member
Another weekend out eventing - two on the bounce! Not our original plan - we were intending to go to Catton next weekend instead, but it being cancelled meant we re-routed to Epworth instead.
This is the first time that Epworth have run a novice track and they really squeezed all of the distance they could out of their fairly small site in order to create a 5m20 novice track. They were clearly very excited to be running at this level for the first time, so I'm glad they were rewarded with two decent novice sized novice sections, and a small open novice too.
We were in the ON - did a dressage that I thought felt a lot better and softer than last week, so of course it scored exactly the same mark - hahaha might as well roll a dice (33.5). I thought the SJ was quite up-to-height and a fairly twisty track for eventing, mainly becuase it is in the arena. My horse generally jumps better on grass than on a surface, but he was actually almost over-enthusiastic in the ring and just rolled one upright after a switchback turn where I didn't sit him up enough. SJ was causing a fair amount of trouble throughout the day - I think up-to-height, twisty, light poles, a few spooky fillers - certainly created some variance in scores!
The XC track (the new novice track) seemed quite fair - on the smaller side dimensionally but with a few nice technical questions to check horses were listening. Would certainly make a nice first novice for anyone with a horse that they didn't want to jump huge fences on, but wanted to test their accuracy and rideability training. I had a nice spin round - my chap probably found it slightly small in places and I actually had to work a bit to back him off his fences (which is unusual for him - I'm more often using loads of leg!) but we had a nice spin round. I was playing the game of trying to see if I could finish on the optimum time exactly, but I misjudged and ended up a second over. Finished the day on 37.9 - last week we finished on 38.3 - we're nothing but consistent.
Although I went XC after 6.30pm, I'm pleased to report that the results were much more efficient here and I accidentally stumbled on the prize giving as I went to collect my dressage sheet, so we picked up our big orange 7th place rosette. Amusingly that was 7th of 8 because those open novice horses all had a lovely easy time and made mincemeat of the day. The two normal novice sections had much more mixed results.
This is the first time that Epworth have run a novice track and they really squeezed all of the distance they could out of their fairly small site in order to create a 5m20 novice track. They were clearly very excited to be running at this level for the first time, so I'm glad they were rewarded with two decent novice sized novice sections, and a small open novice too.
We were in the ON - did a dressage that I thought felt a lot better and softer than last week, so of course it scored exactly the same mark - hahaha might as well roll a dice (33.5). I thought the SJ was quite up-to-height and a fairly twisty track for eventing, mainly becuase it is in the arena. My horse generally jumps better on grass than on a surface, but he was actually almost over-enthusiastic in the ring and just rolled one upright after a switchback turn where I didn't sit him up enough. SJ was causing a fair amount of trouble throughout the day - I think up-to-height, twisty, light poles, a few spooky fillers - certainly created some variance in scores!
The XC track (the new novice track) seemed quite fair - on the smaller side dimensionally but with a few nice technical questions to check horses were listening. Would certainly make a nice first novice for anyone with a horse that they didn't want to jump huge fences on, but wanted to test their accuracy and rideability training. I had a nice spin round - my chap probably found it slightly small in places and I actually had to work a bit to back him off his fences (which is unusual for him - I'm more often using loads of leg!) but we had a nice spin round. I was playing the game of trying to see if I could finish on the optimum time exactly, but I misjudged and ended up a second over. Finished the day on 37.9 - last week we finished on 38.3 - we're nothing but consistent.
Although I went XC after 6.30pm, I'm pleased to report that the results were much more efficient here and I accidentally stumbled on the prize giving as I went to collect my dressage sheet, so we picked up our big orange 7th place rosette. Amusingly that was 7th of 8 because those open novice horses all had a lovely easy time and made mincemeat of the day. The two normal novice sections had much more mixed results.
Marshpiper
Well-Known Member
Such a shame that you, for me, spoilt a nice report on an event by saying that the results were much more efficient than your last event….once again criticising that particular events scorers….who I might add were under a lot of pressure due to queries on those scores….which held up the results….
RachelFerd
Well-Known Member
So I'm not allowed to be impressed by an event being pleasingly efficient?? Bizarre
TheMule
Well-Known Member
MP…. I started this as a nice supportive thread where people can share the highs and the lows of their eventing season. It's not a place to come and pick holes in someone else or to get into arguments- go back to the SV thread if you want to carry on with that.
RF- he looks fab, what a little star he is, and, as you so, so consistent now it must just be a joy to ride him
Marshpiper
Well-Known Member
So I am not allowed to defend the very people who make events possible…..if you had been a scorer/secretary/organiser at the first event mentioned and criticised and then seen that criticism repeated in another post, would you not be upset and wonder why you gave up your time?
I did say it was a nice post until the repeated criticism…..
Plus you have decided I am not allowed my opinion on certain posts because you disagree with me…
RachelFerd
Well-Known Member
Oh don't be a tit - the prizegiving was not advertised, the secretary could not confirm a time nor location and it was taking place more than an hour after the class has finished - and more than 7 hours after the class has started. It's the first time in 20 years of eventing that I haven't stayed to collect a rosette because it was simply taking the p*ss. As are you
And thanks @TheMule - he's an absolute legend and a joy to ride
Marshpiper
Well-Known Member
Actually no I am not, but you are…..Oh don't be a tit - the prizegiving was not advertised, the secretary could not confirm a time nor location and it was taking place more than an hour after the class has finished - and more than 7 hours after the class has started. It's the first time in 20 years of eventing that I haven't stayed to collect a rosette because it was simply taking the p*ss. As are you
And thanks @TheMule - he's an absolute legend and a joy to ride
Tiddlypom
Carries on creakily
I thought that you said on another thread that admin were going to let you reuse your old username which you believed to be Twiglet, thought there is another HHO Twiglet (still around IRL, but who hasn’t posted in a while) who isn’t you?
How is recovering your old username going?
Marshpiper
Well-Known Member
No, I said I had contacted them, they came back saying they had no record of the email I had sent them, I had, when I checked it, ended the email in dot com, when it should have been .co.uk
I sent them another communication saying this and, as yet, have not heard back from them….
At no time did I say that the admin were going to let me use (reuse) what I thought was my old user name…
I will contact them again now, asking and saying people are asking how this is going…
I have just sent them a message…
I sent them another communication saying this and, as yet, have not heard back from them….
At no time did I say that the admin were going to let me use (reuse) what I thought was my old user name…
I will contact them again now, asking and saying people are asking how this is going…
I have just sent them a message…
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TheMule
Well-Known Member
Please don’t give MP any more time or space on this thread, it really detracts from it being a nice place to swap adventures. Unless they want to contribute an event report, in which case, they are very welcome!
j1ffy
Well-Known Member
Really lovely to watch - well done!
As a BDer, it blows my mind that (a) an average affiliated event would have a prize giving these days, and (b) that if they are taking place, the times wouldn't be clearly stated. (a) because in the digital age a sponsor will get far more publicity from post-event social media than an announcer mentioning them during a prize giving, and also horse welfare - e.g. my loan horse won't pee away from home (unless in a stable), I always try to get away as quickly as possible as a result! And (b) because there would be plenty of ways of communicating a prize giving other than a PA system that often can't be heard from the lorry park - a WhatsApp to prizewinners could be easily done (and automated).
Marshpiper
Well-Known Member
I have just received an answer back from Admin, thank you to them for the very quick response it is much appreciated…
They cannot answer specific enquiries re accounts unless asked by PM from that account but they have kindly told me that the user name “twiglet” is NOT associated with the (very old) email account that I sent…
As I have only had three email accounts and no longer have the one concerned I must apologise to the correct “twiglet”and anyone else who was annoyed re me saying I thought that was mine…
I do hope this can end the controversy….
I am sure Tiddlypom or Themule will pass this on
They cannot answer specific enquiries re accounts unless asked by PM from that account but they have kindly told me that the user name “twiglet” is NOT associated with the (very old) email account that I sent…
As I have only had three email accounts and no longer have the one concerned I must apologise to the correct “twiglet”and anyone else who was annoyed re me saying I thought that was mine…
I do hope this can end the controversy….
I am sure Tiddlypom or Themule will pass this on
ihatework
Well-Known Member
Yup, the world has moved on!
My (or should I say my horses) eventing season has been a little sporadic!
The younger one had a very timely planned holiday while the ground was rock solid. She missed her winter break as was in rehab following her accident, so managed 5 weeks with the sun on her back (and is now brown rather than black
). Happy to be back in, and all being well will be registered with a half season ticket and aiming for Swalcliffe.The older one a mixed bag. From wins to retirements! Sadly my health (and resulting financial status) means the adult choice is to sell him so he is now with a very good pro friend for assessment, a handful of runs and sale. There will be a lot of tears in IHW land selling my first homebred.
iknowmyvalue
Well-Known Member
Glad you had a good day, love watching someone going round the bigger tracks making it look small!
I wondered how they’d cope trying to run a novice length track there, so glad it worked and they had good support! Used to be my most local event and I went a lot UA and BE. They always seemed to be friendly, efficient with fair tracks. Usually a nice place to step up a level. Always had an enjoyable day out, plus decent chips (which is important)
Gutted we’ve had to withdraw from Launceston, it’s our closest event now after Bicton. But they’ve moved all entries to Sunday, and much as I was tempted to try and make it happen, trying to run there and make it to Bristol for a 4pm flight plus dropping the lorry off to be repaired on the way probably wouldn’t have been a very sensible decision…
We are at Oxstalls on Sunday and am currently hyping myself up to enter a BS Disco class the following weekend
myheartinahoofbeat
Well-Known Member
Not in the league of other eventers on here but I went low level eventing last week. Only 80cms as I haven’t evented for a couple of years and long story short, I dont have anything to ride competitively atm.
Soooo…. my husband very kindly lent me his beautiful ISH that he showjumps mainly. I’ve only ridden him a handful of times and have never done anything competitive on him. I’d not even done a cross country jump on him before the warm up.
He did a rubbish dressage as as a show jumper he can’t see the point but then a lovely DC to finish off in 4th!
I loved every minute
I’m going to do a 90 on him next.
Soooo…. my husband very kindly lent me his beautiful ISH that he showjumps mainly. I’ve only ridden him a handful of times and have never done anything competitive on him. I’d not even done a cross country jump on him before the warm up.
He did a rubbish dressage as as a show jumper he can’t see the point but then a lovely DC to finish off in 4th!
I loved every minute
I’m going to do a 90 on him next.
TheMule
Well-Known Member
Oxstalls BE100 report
So, we headed to Oxstalls after a significant break between Chard in April and now, largely due to rubbish BE calendar, but I'm not that upset about it due to the hard ground conditions we have had. I have continued doing a fair bit of BS with Nova in the meantime and he has picked up several wins, but we have also been having some annoying poles down so I have sought a bit of help with this. Turns out I have been riding the canter too forwards and flattening the jump which takes a bit of his scope and carefulness away. So 2 really useful sessions working a bit more on the right canter and jumping him through a grid built quite short and I feel like he have our ping back so was excited to try it out.
I also have had to have a bit more of a warm up plan for the dressage because I tend to dribble around and then get a bit worried about other people riding near me (he is a bit horse shy) and lose my shapes. Anyway, I was pleased that our warm up went to plan and the trotwork in the test was far better than it has been in his 2 previous events this season. Unfortunately the tension just bubbled up in the canter and he ended up changing behind multiple times and cantering in his last trot movement
He is quite sensitive and knows it's wrong to change behind which then just unsettles him more and so he does it more! He just is one that tries hard and doesn’t like to get it wrong. All you can do it bring him back to trot and quietly ask again and just pat and reassure him. A disappointing 36.3
SJ we niw have a much more rigid warm up plan which I'm very pleased with, he was pinging. I went in the ring and stuck to the plan and he jumped super. I held him close to the last double and he had to be clever and careful but luckily he was, so he finished clear.
Xc had nothing that concerned me- it's a perfect first timers course at every level there so it was a good one to get us going again. He is a really good xc horse as he just travels really sweetly, stays on his lines and isn’t spooky, but we do tend to be a bit slow so, with perfect ground and lots of opportunities to take tighter lines I wanted to have a crack at it. I didn’t wear a watch as I wasn’t competitive so just rode to feel and ended up with 2.8 penalties for going too fast which I was delighted with! That meant we lost a lower placing but we did get our DC and a Regional Final qualification.
There will be a vlog on YouTube later for anyone that likes that kind of thing
He took off a mile away from this one and it actually felt like flying. I swore a bit on landing!
So, we headed to Oxstalls after a significant break between Chard in April and now, largely due to rubbish BE calendar, but I'm not that upset about it due to the hard ground conditions we have had. I have continued doing a fair bit of BS with Nova in the meantime and he has picked up several wins, but we have also been having some annoying poles down so I have sought a bit of help with this. Turns out I have been riding the canter too forwards and flattening the jump which takes a bit of his scope and carefulness away. So 2 really useful sessions working a bit more on the right canter and jumping him through a grid built quite short and I feel like he have our ping back so was excited to try it out.
I also have had to have a bit more of a warm up plan for the dressage because I tend to dribble around and then get a bit worried about other people riding near me (he is a bit horse shy) and lose my shapes. Anyway, I was pleased that our warm up went to plan and the trotwork in the test was far better than it has been in his 2 previous events this season. Unfortunately the tension just bubbled up in the canter and he ended up changing behind multiple times and cantering in his last trot movement
He is quite sensitive and knows it's wrong to change behind which then just unsettles him more and so he does it more! He just is one that tries hard and doesn’t like to get it wrong. All you can do it bring him back to trot and quietly ask again and just pat and reassure him. A disappointing 36.3SJ we niw have a much more rigid warm up plan which I'm very pleased with, he was pinging. I went in the ring and stuck to the plan and he jumped super. I held him close to the last double and he had to be clever and careful but luckily he was, so he finished clear.
Xc had nothing that concerned me- it's a perfect first timers course at every level there so it was a good one to get us going again. He is a really good xc horse as he just travels really sweetly, stays on his lines and isn’t spooky, but we do tend to be a bit slow so, with perfect ground and lots of opportunities to take tighter lines I wanted to have a crack at it. I didn’t wear a watch as I wasn’t competitive so just rode to feel and ended up with 2.8 penalties for going too fast which I was delighted with! That meant we lost a lower placing but we did get our DC and a Regional Final qualification.
There will be a vlog on YouTube later for anyone that likes that kind of thing
He took off a mile away from this one and it actually felt like flying. I swore a bit on landing!
Ample Prosecco
Still wittering on
Juat caught up on a few posts - I am still interesed in eventing even though it feels a long way off with Myka.... Or even Mylo.
BUT! Someone on my yard has a sweet and genuine horse. Jumps well but has never gone XC apart from the odd rolltop on a farm ride etc. Has never seen a ditch, never cantered downhill, never left a start box. The owner is young and quite novice but does want to event having done some SJ and dressage this year at prelim and 70. So they have asked me if I will get him out eventing so he can gain a bit of experience this season then she can ride him next season. I'll go to Somerford first and see what he makes of XC fences. Then to Eland to see what he makes of hills. Then decide whether to run him. If I do, it will be the Team ODE at Eland which is fun and starts at 70 though I'd plan to do the 80. It's a very exciting opportunity so hopefully it will be fine. Lottie had never gone XC either when I got her but she turned out pretty awesome at it!
BUT! Someone on my yard has a sweet and genuine horse. Jumps well but has never gone XC apart from the odd rolltop on a farm ride etc. Has never seen a ditch, never cantered downhill, never left a start box. The owner is young and quite novice but does want to event having done some SJ and dressage this year at prelim and 70. So they have asked me if I will get him out eventing so he can gain a bit of experience this season then she can ride him next season. I'll go to Somerford first and see what he makes of XC fences. Then to Eland to see what he makes of hills. Then decide whether to run him. If I do, it will be the Team ODE at Eland which is fun and starts at 70 though I'd plan to do the 80. It's a very exciting opportunity so hopefully it will be fine. Lottie had never gone XC either when I got her but she turned out pretty awesome at it!
iknowmyvalue
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you had a great run! Lovely photos too!Oxstalls BE100 report
So, we headed to Oxstalls after a significant break between Chard in April and now, largely due to rubbish BE calendar, but I'm not that upset about it due to the hard ground conditions we have had. I have continued doing a fair bit of BS with Nova in the meantime and he has picked up several wins, but we have also been having some annoying poles down so I have sought a bit of help with this. Turns out I have been riding the canter too forwards and flattening the jump which takes a bit of his scope and carefulness away. So 2 really useful sessions working a bit more on the right canter and jumping him through a grid built quite short and I feel like he have our ping back so was excited to try it out.
I also have had to have a bit more of a warm up plan for the dressage because I tend to dribble around and then get a bit worried about other people riding near me (he is a bit horse shy) and lose my shapes. Anyway, I was pleased that our warm up went to plan and the trotwork in the test was far better than it has been in his 2 previous events this season. Unfortunately the tension just bubbled up in the canter and he ended up changing behind multiple times and cantering in his last trot movement
SJ we niw have a much more rigid warm up plan which I'm very pleased with, he was pinging. I went in the ring and stuck to the plan and he jumped super. I held him close to the last double and he had to be clever and careful but luckily he was, so he finished clear.
Xc had nothing that concerned me- it's a perfect first timers course at every level there so it was a good one to get us going again. He is a really good xc horse as he just travels really sweetly, stays on his lines and isn’t spooky, but we do tend to be a bit slow so, with perfect ground and lots of opportunities to take tighter lines I wanted to have a crack at it. I didn’t wear a watch as I wasn’t competitive so just rode to feel and ended up with 2.8 penalties for going too fast which I was delighted with! That meant we lost a lower placing but we did get our DC and a Regional Final qualification.
There will be a vlog on YouTube later for anyone that likes that kind of thing
View attachment 161861
View attachment 161863
He took off a mile away from this one and it actually felt like flying. I swore a bit on landing!
View attachment 161865
It was a really lovely course that rode really well. Inviting, and reasonably straightforward but enough things causing issues that it wasn’t just a dressage test (I didn’t look at stats for the 100, but certainly in the 90)
iknowmyvalue
Well-Known Member
How exciting!
TheMule
Well-Known Member
Thank you! The 90 certainly caused the most problems. I thought it was quite cleverly designed to test your ability to get on a good line as nothing was just straight in front of you.
How was your day?
iknowmyvalue
Well-Known Member
We had a good run! Slightly frustrating dressage as having not done it for nearly 12mo he decided to start waving his tongue around 5mins before we went in. Not sure why, didn’t do it at all today but we weren’t doing flatwork.
Jumped a lovely, if speedy, DC. It’s feeling like our confidence is really coming back now which is lovely. Made it all feel very easy, but I do need to remember that now I’ve let the handbrake off I need to take longer routes so we don’t have to come back to trot to avoid speeding penalties!
Toying with the idea of doing a 100 before the end of the season but will need to think carefully and pick the right event and right timing. Big is fine unless it’s super skinny (triple brush/brush nest style), would rather avoid technical for his first one. Thinking about Bovington in October if it runs, but not sure if it’s sensible as it will be our final run before Bicton 3DE and no option for a reroute if it goes wrong. There’s also Little Gatcombe 2 weeks before, which I think has the same organisers as Oxstalls and looks broadly similar fences on XC app so that’s also a contender but haven’t been there before…
We are now regularly jumping 1-1.10 courses in lessons, with the odd 1.15+ fence thrown in. Hopefully doing our first BS Disco on Saturday, so if we do decide to step up this season we should be reasonably well prepared
LEC
Opinions are like bum holes, everyone has one.
Little Gatcombe is lovely. Water causes most issues as quite spooky. The calendar in SW is crap from Sept onwards - a bit depressing. Otherwise Pontispool is another to go to as will be cotswold cup but lovely fair courses and Sjing on a surface so a good boost for you before heading to Gatcombe.
TheMule
Well-Known Member
Fantastic, well done! He looks like a very happy boy in his jumping.
I did Gatcombe last year as Nova's 2nd 100 and it was lovely- they had quite a technical angled double early on but otherwise everything was straightforward and lots of the same fences as Oxstalls.
iknowmyvalue
Well-Known Member
He should be fine with that, he’s not generally spooky once he’s going and if anything its good to have something to back him off!
I did think about Pontispool CC, though currently trying to swap work weekends so I can go to Chillington RFs on 13/14th and I’d likely be swapping to that weekend (we’ve got 3 regional tickets already so may as well use 2 of them, because obviously Badminton GR is the dream!)
Ok sounds like it definitely a contender, just need to not have any wobbles this year! We’ve been working insanely hard on angled fences over the last few months, and actually our whole XC warmup plan is based round it now, so I’m hoping we’d stand a reasonable chance for those time of questions! (It’s a weird warmup plan really, but it seems to really work for us)
Been having some sports psychology sessions as well, following some recommendations on here, which fingers crossed seem to be helping
Orangehorse
Well-Known Member
I went to watch at Oxstalls at the earlier event this year. The ground was very good and I thought that any horse would learn a lot from the course as there was such a variety of fences.
doodle
Well-Known Member
Could I be pointed in the direction of any eventing vlogs that I can follow?
LEC
Opinions are like bum holes, everyone has one.
Our absolute favourite is Justine Ward Eventing
TheMule
Well-Known Member
Simon Grieve has been doing a few which are great. Justine Ward has a seriously cool horse and is documenting her progression to Intermediate level. EMD Eventing is interesting and includes plenty of training etc. ELS Eventing has a nice young horse just starting out so interesting to watch that process. This are my top choices- I like channels which are a bit educational rather than just documenting a story