french people or people in france!

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almorton

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my friend is moving over to france, the place is Valenciennes, northern France, area 59, about 1/2 hour from Lille, not far from Belgium border. i said id ask about the horse situation in the area as she will be looking at getting one on arrival!
are there any decent yards / competitions nearby?
what are the competitions like over there, how do they compare to here, would be looking at, say, BSJA Bnov, disco etc and BD to elementary / medium? obviously starting from basics!
any advice?
thanks in advance!
 
She hasn't done her homework has she! It's totally different in France! There are no riding clubs like we have & she will have to pass a health check before being allowed to ride anywhere. The competitions are also different. We have (French)friends living near Lille & I don't think it's a very horsey area. They think we're rich - because we have a horse! She needs to live there for a while & suss out the situation before getting a horse.
 
I live in the West of France and have never had to take a health check. I have my cavaliers licence with the FFE so am def legite!!! I do believe we are slightly different here as in we have the galop exams and I think you need to pass a certain amount before entering comps (not entirely sure though as don't compete). Also dressage comps are few and far between, its mainly CCE and CCO (CCE is dressage, cross and showjumping, CCO is showjumping. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong anyone). Also I live in a small village where loads of people have horses and its not snobby at all. All walks of life have horses here. I am definately not thought of as being rich because I have a horse. I keep him a local livery, which I also believe is a lot cheaper than England!!!! Maybe we are very different to the North of France, its quite possible that it varies from department to department. Hope this helps a little bit.
 
As a further suggestion, advise your friend to look on the FFE website, and go onto a Forum like Total France, or Anglo Info,there is a horse section on there.
The replies you have had are very good, I live in the SW so dont know anything about the north,certainly in many aspects, things are different.
As for the medical, true, I have to see my Doctor each year, to get a medical certificate for competing in Equestrian Sports.Luckily my doctor gives me a good checkup,I have heard some doctors ask you to complete pressups etc!!
JC
 
Ahhh, you see I don't compete which is why I don't have to do a medical. Although the first response did say to ride anywhere you need a medical, not just to compete. So I'm not completely stupid (hooray!!) Where abouts in the West of France are you JC?
 
I live in the west of France , the Maine et loire dept and find that horse riding is much more accessable than in the Uk. By this I mean that riding schools seem to be more relaxed, less snobby and significantly cheaper. There is good hacking available in most areas, but riders here do not expect cars , lorries or motorbike to slow down much when they overtake you,; you very much have to try to avoid waving at people like you own the road, as they do in the UK, or you will be up for some criticism.
I have mine at home so can'tspeak about livery costs but they will prob be cheaper, other costs like farrier and hay and feed are similar, and stock up on wormers b4 you come as they are expensive here, (I buy online from UK).
There are a few other differences, some amusing like 'galop' means canter and 'canter' is used to describe a flat out gallop! All French equines have to be chipped.
I had to have an attestation medicale when a did a TREC , but this involves nothing more exerting than writing a cheque to your local GP, and before doing this it is worth seeing if they are going to need a medical for anything else , as it's cheaper to get them all done at the same time. I don't compete, but as per previous posters I concur that showjuming and dressage comp info is best found on the FFE website. They do not seem to have been afflicted by the showing thing over here. People tend not to dress up in tweeds etc, unless I guess you're at Fontainebleu and often don't wear helmets, indeed one woman at my riding school doesn't , nor do the instructors.
Hope it goes well.
 
I am about to move to France in September and here's the result of my research so far:

- to compete you need something, this seems to differ depending on who you talk to. Officially you need Galop 7 (to pass this you need to pass Galop 1 to 6 first), you can get the Galop books off Amazon, they are not particularly challenging. You can do the Galop tests dressage only if you don't want to jump. According to some people your local instructor may certify you for Galop 7 without passing the exam as such. According to some people you can get a letter from BD to show the level you have competed at instead of the Galop test. Conclusion: things are not as clear as they are in the UK and there may well be wiggle room.

- horses are very popular in France. Everyone in our area has horses, people from all sorts of backgrounds. For hacking ideally you need to be near forrests or routes randonnees (kind of bridleways). Traffic is less likely to accommodate horses, BUT there are more routes with no traffic than in the UK. This site will show you routes in your area (routes randonnes are marked in a continuous black line at the 'ville' level of the map) http://loisirs.ign.fr/RechercheGC.do

- competitions: the North near Samuir is by far the most popular area, the middle has almost no horses at all (people report moving away from the Limousin because of lack of vets and farriers), the South is not as bad as the north. SJ is the most popular activity with endurance being very popular. You can check out competitions in your local area here: http://www.ffecompet.com/php/main.php?fonc=accueil&t=1175958413950&t=1275990990021

- vets, farriers, etc. Farriers are not regulated in France, beware. Vets are plentiful but like in the UK it may be best to look for an equine specialist. Vets tend to do teeth and backs, although in some areas you will find physios. Saddle-fitters are tough to find. Feeds are quite different: haylage is difficult to find, chaff and other fibre foods are not regularly fed, but more companies are catering to the needs of British horse owners. There are some large internet companies that sell horsey stuff, e.g. http://www.equiphorse.com/. This website shows you equine businesses near you http://www.terre-equestre.com/cheva...val-tarn-81/centre-tourisme-equestre-tarn.php

http://www.lexiqueducheval.net/lexique_sommaire.html Equestrian vocabulary in French and there is also a Horseman's dictionary in English/French/German you can pick up at Amazon.


Don't forget all horses in France must be microchipped, registered with the Harras (http://www.haras-nationaux.fr/portail/) and public liability insurance is arrange through household insurance.

As I say, we haven't moved over yet, so apologies if any of this is incorrect!!
 
Going off the France topic here, I used to live in Italy years ago, and competed in affiliated eventing. You had to pass exams for each level of competition you competed in. I was able to get a translation of exams I'd done in England (BHS stage 3 in my case) and the Italian board allowed me to enter at certain levels without doing any tests.... You may be able to do this in France too (although after 2 years living in France too, they are probably more insistant on French exams...)
 
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