going affiliated [showjumping]

[MissyThea]

hi everyone!

this is a bit of a vague question, and i'm quite unsure how to word it best [sorry in advance !.. ]

is going affiliated worth it? if so, why?

how expensive does it end up being?

i've had a quick look at the BSJA site and i'm completely confused [its been a long day to be fair, i should probably look when i'm more awake! ..]

thanks in advance xx

 

[Shay]

Depends on where you live and what you want to do!

The courses are set to a particular specification so you tend to find a more uniform course and jumps sometimes of a better quality that other venues. But many affiliated venues also host unaffiliated shows so you can get the same course etc.

As you rise through the ranks you can grade your horse and at higher levels you have the chance to compete for fairly decent money. But if you are not going to get to county level or above that probably isn't too much of a draw. Not all unaffiliated shows offer that sort of prize money -although some do. Once affiliated you are barred from competing in unaffiliated shows offering decent money so you can't do both which is probably fair enough.

You can qualify relatively easily for multi day shows - especially pony shows, and if good enough have a chance at the premier shows. But there are unaffiliated series such as Trailblazers, British Riding Clubs, Pony Club, Cricklands and Sunshine Tour UK who all offer pre qualified multi day shows. I'm not sure about BRC but the others all prohibit riders who have competed affiliated to a pre determined level.

BS in particular is very expensive. (Mind you we event now which is worse!) You have to affiliate both the horse and yourself. Unless you have a discount through pony club or BRC you are looking at just over £200 per year just to affiliate. Then entry fees (around us anyway) of between £30 and £50 per class. In contrast an unaffiliated show at the same affiliated venue is usually about £12 to £15 per class. You can compete on a day ticket which is - I think £20 per day and entry fees. There is an option for Club membership which is cheaper - you compete for points not prize money. They introduced that since we switched so I'm not up to speed on that.

You can access specific training both through club membership and the Academy. But you can get training through BRC and Pony Club as well. And privately of course!

It really comes down to what you want to do. If it is just to tootle out from time to time and have fun BS is probably too expensive unless there are no other decent venues around you. If you want to press on and have a shot at the big leagues then BS is probably the only way to go. If you want something in the middle it will depend on what is available to you locally in terms of BRC, PC etc.

 

[Carefreegirl]

If you're a member of a riding club you get a big discount on BS membership so that's worth looking into.

We very rarely go UA now but BS on a ticket as works out cheaper than membership for me, horse, horses owner etc (we don't want to register her as mine :wink3

The tickets round our way, Keysoe, Addington, Bury Farm, Houghton Hall, Quainton, Glebe farm vary from £4 to £7 per class.