Georgie Spence Wins unaffiliated combined training !!!!!!!!!

i would also like to say i know someone who was in the same class as her and she went to warm up for the sj after GS and had to put all the fences down as GS had been jumping at least 3ft 3 with huge spreads - didnt think you were allowed to jump any higher than the class and then not putting the fences down when she has grooms there to do it when the average hobby rider is there on their own i think is completely inconsiderate for others!!!!
 
Whatever happened to sportsmanship?

I would have been mightily hacked off had I been competing and missed out on a placing due to a pro taking experienced horses round. This isn't an achievement to a professional, but to an ameteur who had worked hard to get themselves and horse to that level it would have been and this professional has taken that away from someone. Poor show in my opinion.

Yes she has broken no rules etc and maybe the horses needed getting out, but go HC as has already been said.
 
I would too have been very annoyed if i had entered, espically if the showjumps in the warm up were that high as it is very annoying for others.

She may have had a reason but with four horses?!

I am entering an 85 cm comp this weekend, in prep for intro and havent competed horse for two years. If the practice jumps were 3"3 i would be in trouble....
 
Its getting a bit sad when local shows have to change the rules to stop pros on experienced horses turning up to nick the small amount of prize money off the regular amateurs.

Most shows rely on people's own sense of fair-play and sportsmanship to run smoothly, but if some pros are shameless enough to go and do this, they'll leave them no option but to alter the rules so they can't.
 
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i would also like to say i know someone who was in the same class as her and she went to warm up for the sj after GS and had to put all the fences down as GS had been jumping at least 3ft 3 with huge spreads - didnt think you were allowed to jump any higher than the class and then not putting the fences down when she has grooms there to do it when the average hobby rider is there on their own i think is completely inconsiderate for others!!!!

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well said. i hate people who do 'practice runs' especially in sj they have the jumps alot higher than in the ring which isnt allowed and tend to leave them that high as us mere mortals dont have grooms etc to put them done or up if we knock a pole, we either rely on kindness of others o get off ourselves.

also it was very unsportsmanlike to enter these classes, for novices like me
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i would of been very upset if i just got beat out of the rosettes because she wanted a 'practice run etc'
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Sorry but I find this really disgusting behaviour by a pro rider, pothunting at an unaffilated show, taking away a rosettee and prize money from the true amatuer competitors-who to just get placed is usually a big thrill!
 
It may just be that the horse needed a confidence boosting run, or a trip out that was less pressured than an event, it may have been misbehaivng at shows, really who knows why!
Has anyone looked to see if it's been competing to date recently, it may be a gentle re introduction to comp after injury for all we know.
Yes it is annoying when the big names appear in the lower classes, but as someone else said, it's also nice to hang a few scalps on your belt when you beat them.
Years ago when I had little money to compete my biggest rival at the local Riding Club dressage evented professionally. Whenever I managed to beat her (and we were 50/50 all of the time) it felt to me as though I had also beaten the people she was competing against elsewhere too, daft but it boosted my confidence a lot.
All the professionals have to start somewhere or sort their problem horses out, and it's possible it was a run to avoid making a very public fool of herself at a BE, so let's not judge without knowing the facts eh?
 
HH - the horse is running at Longleat Novice this weekend, one of them won its last Novice run, one came 17th at intermediate. Yes it could be a need for ring time, in which case in the spirit of sportsmanship why not go HC?!
 
Personally I think it portrays her and her fellow proffesionals in a very bad light, but there are some who do go HC.

Back in April I went to Richmond to do a similar competition with BE tests and equivalent classes. Libby Soley competed one of her top horses in the Novice (1m 15), she could of won that class by miles and was eligible to have run competitively but she made the decision to run HC, despite the fact it was an open class with jumps that were not dissimilar to the height she competed over affiliated.

This imo is how it should be.
 
so should 4* riders not take intro horses out as the riders have so much more experience? I actually think it is very patronising to just say anyone likely to win should go HC or move up, so others 'get a chance' That's not what competing is about-it's about winning or doing your best, if your best isn't good enough to win,work harder or change classes, don't complain that the winner shouldn't have been in the class. (for the record-I very rarely win or get placed, so not taking winners side here!)
 
HH- is it really possible that all FOUR horses needed a run when their BE records suggest otherwise? i don't question that she'll have had reasons- i doubt she cares about pothunting or £56 prize money- and its probably linked to getting extra runs of the dressage tests on grass or whatever (and someone made a great point about lack of unaffiliated over about 1m high) BUT its the unsportsmanlike nature thats what has really annoyed everybody. my grey in my siggy evented at pre novice- but was nappy and needed lots of unaffil runs. however, if i'd have gone in a beginners hunter trial at 2ft2 or whatever i would have run HC because the class was just not for me- and i haven't evented successfully at 4*!!!
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. as flame says unaffil centres don't have excessive rules because they rely upon honesty and commonsense of those entering...
i love beating pro riders at BE or BD but i expect to be competing against them at affil- i wouldn't at my local unaffil. i'd be really annoyed if i was in the class concerned- esp. given the use of jumps in the collecting ring
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so should 4* riders not take intro horses out as the riders have so much more experience? I actually think it is very patronising to just say anyone likely to win should go HC or move up, so others 'get a chance' That's not what competing is about-it's about winning or doing your best, if your best isn't good enough to win,work harder or change classes, don't complain that the winner shouldn't have been in the class. (for the record-I very rarely win or get placed, so not taking winners side here!)

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4* riders HAVE to go HC at intro according to BE rules- so that possibly answers your question?
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intro is designed for muppets like me at the bottom of the ladder and its assumed that most 4* riders will be able to start their babies at Pre Nov or only do 1/2 intros HC before moving up
i don't think people are questioning pros taking babies out at lower levels- its when pros take experienced horses out to classes a fair few levels below what they were competing in that people are annoyed about. imagine turning up to local unaffil prelim 7 and finding laura B and mistral H in your class. i think you'd be pi$$ed off!
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there you go then, didn't realise that.
I'm actually not sure, does someone know the horses stable names and this is how they id'd the horses as as far as I can see the names are stable names?
 
i don't think that is the point people are trying to make.. i agree with the majority here, it's not on tbh.
the problem is a horse and rider combination that have been out competing at a much higher level to the competition in question. not only that, but said horse and rider have done very well at that higher level, competing just before, and entered up after, the competition in question.
if it was the same rider on a very baby horse, or horse that had had a bad accident, or riding green/naughty horse to help out a novice owner then that is different..
its not about 'not breaking the rules' its about good sportsmanship, if your out for experience (i.e. not to win!) then why not go HC?
 
So do you all suggest that a racehorse that is out and out favourite and odds on to win should run HC?? Simply to let the other runners have a chance of winning??
 
because 56 quid goes towards costs??? And the rules do not disqualigy them-if you don' want to risk competiting against better people, best to enter restricted imo
 
that's a totally different kettle of fish, don't be daft!!!!
i'm saying, if people are suggesting that she could be taking the horse round for experience of doing dressage on grass etc then why not run HC?
would you take the grand national winner (jockey and horse) to run round the local point to point course in an amateur class? (pls note, i don't know much about racing so i could be wrong but trying to use a vauguely similar example)..
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This is interesting.
I also agree with the majority (baaaa
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). For instance, my record at PN level is consistant with my horse, and we have competed at novice level. A couple of weeks ago I went to a local showjumping venue to pop around the 2"9ft class- which happened to be a qualifier for some unaff champs- with my horse, because the ground was too hard to jump (I only have fields), and I needed to pop her round some jumps before our PN 3 days after. There were loads of kids on ponies there who were out to qualify, and who were taking it very seriously.
I had originally entered the class as normal, but when warming up and hearing the kids getting excited about qualifying, I asked mum to go and change my entry to HC. I had the winning time with a DC, and would have felt really bad if I had taken away the chance of qualifying from the little girl who had come 7th. I felt really good about myself for entering HC. I don't see why GS didn't do the same. Would love to genuinely hear the reasons why actually...
 
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would you take the grand national winner (jockey and horse) to run round the local point to point course in an amateur class? (pls note, i don't know much about racing so i could be wrong but trying to use a vauguely similar example)..
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Errm, no - because the RULES wouldn't allow it
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there you go then, didn't realise that.
I'm actually not sure, does someone know the horses stable names and this is how they id'd the horses as as far as I can see the names are stable names?

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Using great powers of deduction you can go to the rider's website where the horse's registered names and stable names are both given. There is even a link to each horse's BE competition record.

I didn't suggest that the horse's were entered under their stable names to cover anything up (although others may take that view), or that the rider had in any way broken the rules. The whole point of my letter was I that I don't believe this was good sportsmanship. Believe me I looked at the situation and tried to think of possible reasons for the horses being entered before I wrote the letter, but could think of nothing that would excuse not running HC out of respect for the other riders.
When I compete I want a chance of winning, but I also want to have enough of a challenge to make the winning worthwhile. That, and a sense of fair play to other riders is why I would not enter my horse in a 2' jumping class.
It is a pity we have to rely on venues setting rules about who can enter instead of people's sense of fair play.
 
IMO its not a total different kettle of fish, trainers often run horses at a level lower, to sweeten them up.
I agree with those that think what she has done is ok, I think we should give the girl a break, we do not know all the issues, and unless someone talks to her we will not know them all.
As for all 4 horses, they all need exercising so fill the lorry up if you can.
I have also seen a pro loose their bottle in one afternoon, quite scary tbh.
 
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So do you all suggest that a racehorse that is out and out favourite and odds on to win should run HC?? Simply to let the other runners have a chance of winning??

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They would give the horse extra weight and therefore "handicap" it
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because 56 quid goes towards costs??? And the rules do not disqualigy them-if you don' want to risk competiting against better people, best to enter restricted imo

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i doubt it had anything to do with the price money being needed.. if a pro rider needs to enter an unaff comp to win 56 quid in prize money betwen 4 horses then they are in the wrong job!
i love having a pro or 2 in a section of mine at BE (i have no hope of beating them but one can dream huh!), but i expect the people who do 2'3" training classes as their main competitions would be a wee bit miffed...
 
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would you take the grand national winner (jockey and horse) to run round the local point to point course in an amateur class? (pls note, i don't know much about racing so i could be wrong but trying to use a vauguely similar example)..
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Errm, no - because the RULES wouldn't allow it
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haha, not surprising huh!!
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I wouldn't say I'm upset about her winning - it just goes against my sense of what is right and fair.
At the end of the day I do not believe it is right to run a horse this far below its affiliated level without going HC - had she not won I would probably have hoped the embarassment would have stopped her doing it again.
 
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