Good BE Novices for first-timers?

[Hollyhorse]

I have competed a lot at Intro and Pre-Novice level with several horses however this year I plan to finish the season with a few Novices

From experience I've found that Pre-Novice courses can really vary - one said in the schedule that it was a perfect encouraging course for first-timers at each level so I entered it as my youngster's first pre-novice and it was massive and really complex!
Now I'm a little hesitant about believing what the schedules say so was wondering (from anyone's experiences) which Novices within a few hours of Bristol are good for first-timers?!
Many thanks for your help!

 

[tigers_eye]

Think Goring would fall within your 2 hr limit - I did their second event as my horse's first Novice and thought it was nice and encouraging, although it had a couple of quite tough skinny questions with no alternative, so if they are a real issue it might not suit. Nice event though.

 

[BBs]

BCA? thats a nice Novice.
What about South of England?

 

[dieseldog]

I did Gatcombe as my first and only Novice, very flat and straightforward. Definalty within 2 hours of Bristol.

 

[BBs]

Oh yep Gatcombe is a nice novice.
Dont think we will be there this year tho, maybe next

 

[Sarah_Jane]

Mount Ballen big but straightforward quite close to you. Also Nutwell Court is very nice about 1hr and half from you.

 

[Thistle]

Poplar park last weekend is a very straightforward novice

 

[sw123]

Aston Le Walls is always a good novice, Berkshire College yes another one. Gatcombe is nice but more solidly built than some - encourages attacking riding, depends if you're that sort of rider!!