Goring completely cancelled

[Thistle]

Why oh why, given the forecast and the previous rain could this decision not have been made either late last night or earlier this morning. I understand that the event really wanted to run but if the state of the ground was such that a nights forcasted rain meant cancellation I do wonder how it would have held up anyway.

Last night plaited 2, kept them in (normally out), went to bed early.

This morning got up 4.30, loaded tack into lorry, groomed etc. Left 5.45am.

Goring text systen does not appear to work as times not texted so 6.20am pnone OH and wake him up, he checks BE and surprise surprise it's cancelled.

Turn round at next junction and head home.

This jolly jaunt this morning has cost me 1/4 tank diesel too.

 

[LisaHughes]

oh for goodness sake! How on earth can a decision be made any earlier than as soon as it is light enough to properly assess the grounds & the day's likely weather conditions? The local weather forecast did NOT give the rain we had last night. You took a calculated risk & plaited, loaded &| left 1/2hr before you were told that the decision would be made (by the TA not the organiser & purely on the grounds of safety). The organiser took a calculated risk & didn't take the easy option of cancelling. You have lost a few hours & some diesel money but just think about the what the organisers & especially the traders have lost. I asume you aren't someone who earns their livelihood from participating at outdoor events because if you were you would know that the amount you are out of pocket is very small fry by comparison. I take my hat off to the organisers for trying to soldier on & give people a run & I sincerely hope they don't see this thread as I would hate for them to jack it all in & for another local event to be lost. I also think you can hardly blame them for the fact that the text system doesn't work as they are no more in control of how & when texts are delivered & arrive than they are of the weather - they are not doing it jusdt to spite you, you know!

 

[Thistle]

Just telling it like it was for me and probably countless others.

Yes I did have to leave 5.45, if it had run would the dressage have waited half an hour just because I stayed home to check the internet?

No I am not someone who does this for a living, I am however a busy mother with a child who doesn't ride also, this child was injured playing rugby yesterday and I felt so guilty leaving him at home today. At least I now get to take him to A&E!

As I said to you yesterday and in my post here, I fully appreciate all efforts made to run the event.

BTW much of our business is weather dependant but we would try our best to ensure participants are not left out of pocket.

Metoffice had an Amber alert for heavy rain for the reading area last night for over night.

Of course all events want to run, just as all us competitors want to compete, however there does need to be effective communication between the 2. Us competitors pay a large sum to compete, I know it gets ploughed back into the sport.

BTW whilst you are telling me just how selfish I am I would like to point out that not only do I give up a great deal of my time for helping at events both BE and local, I also am involved in a major charity and as a family company we also sponsor a number of BE events - so yes I am aware of how it affects people. I am still entitled to my feelings though.

 

[Mel85]

It's very frustrating. I have to say I was so convinced last night that it wasn't going to run that I didn't bother plaiting or even cleaning my boots! I would have been in a flap and a panic had I been proven wrong, but as it is I only spent an hour cleaning tack and packing lorry last night!

Everyone wants these events to run, just makes far more sense to call it off last night when it was obvious it wasn't going to run.

I also volunteer at a number of events and know how much work goes in.

 

[lucretia]

slightly agree with thistle really. i discussed said event with best friend professional eventer last night at hlf past eight because i dont live that far away and he has a three hour drive. it was raining here then and i told him there was no possibility it could run then. i think i posted something to that effect yesterday in response to someone else asking.
i judged in the area saturday morning and where i was the grass arena was bordering on unsafe to ride on there so really i just dont see how goring thought they could go. bet thistle not the only person who had to set out before dy break. as for checking the ground in the dark, that is what torches and headlights are for isnt it?
i know the organisers are always desperate to run but sometime you just have to bite the bullet, especially when you consider the price of diesel and the fact that a great many of the lower level competitors almost kill themselves to afford their eventing, their suppport is what enables BE etc to run higher level classes and it is they who generally supply friends to help. i think its bad that any descions of this sort are left so late, particularly when this wasnt a freak storm the wweather has been rubbish all week.

 

[Thistle]

Thanks Lu, there was me thinking that I was just a selfish cow!

 

[lucretia]

i dont think i said that you werent a selfish cow as well

*runs, slips in the mud and curses thistle*

 

[Thistle]

make sure you don't land on a Thistle when you slip then!

 

[LisaHughes]

I live less than 10 miles from the event & the met office didn't have an amber alert for here & met check wasn't showing anything other than light drizzle - I keep an obsessive eye on the forecasts as I have an old pony that can't cope with the wet & based on the various forecasts I left him out. It hasn't rained here today & has even been sunny. I didn't actually say that you were selfish (although on the occasions that i come onto this forum I am always struck by the fact that rightly or wrongly your posts are normally moaning about the times you have been given, refunds or whatever) but you must of course take my comments as you see fit. Lucretia I assumeyou are playing devil's advocate as you can't seriously be proposing that something as important as checking ground conditions on an undulating course could be done by torchlight? I agree with your comments about the grass roots membership & I would think its exactly those people that the organisers were trying to give a run to. After all many of them won't exactly have had value for money this year between ballotting & cancellations. Who would be an event organiser - you are damned if you do & damned if you don't! its hard to imagine that an event like Goring is a particularly viable commercial proposition so what is the incentive for the organising team to struggle on with it if their best efforts provoke such a negative response?

 

[Casper_cb]

I was just wondering, when events cancel but have run day before dressage do they usually post the results of the dressage on BDWP?

I just want to know my scores. They'd not written then up on Friday following dressage and on Sat when we got to the event we did not get the call in time and the sheets were not there. I can understand for safety, getting ambulances up and down the hills it had to cancel, frustrating we did not get the call in time but our own fault really for not ringing the hotline every 5 minutes, but over £150 in diesel and £20 in start fees is a lot for two tests (hoping I get my entry fee back). I agree it had been wet and they obviously thought long and hard about cancelling but IMO Borde Hill had been wetter as was Ebbesbourne wake and the Riding Club Championships had foul weather and the ground was horrid and still ran. I think that was why I took the risk of driving and leaving early on Sat for my SJ and XC.

I hope the loss of both their events this year does not mean they don't run next year as the course looked great, the ground was good when I walked it, ironically there was very little water in the water fence, it looked like it had dried out, and for once the SJ looked up to height and what I'd expect for a later in the season PN. Fingers crossed it runs next year.

 

[lucretia]

PMSL it will be a squashed thistle if i do!!

 

[Wiz]

But at 8.30 on Sat night at Goring Heath it wasn't raining and the arenas that did run the 2 sections of dressage weren't even slippy and hardly cut up. I've certainly ridden on a lot worse. The showers that we had yesterday were v localised. Friends got wet and I didn't within a few miles. It rained at 4 o'clock this morning which wasn't forecast. Events can't be cancelled on the basis of a weather forecast or we'd harldy get any run at all! And we all know how reliable the forecast is......! They can only go on what actually happens. I think the big problem at Goring is that bascially the ground was ok but there were a couple of places on xc where the vehicles couldn't go and that's the problem of an undualting course.

 

[Huggy]

QUESTIONS FOR B.E. See Saddle-up/Goring/BusyMum/Hambledon HT. Should B.E. disassociate themselves from egotistical organisers who feel they can choose who can/can't compete at B.E. events. BusyMum discredits Hambledon Estate and its owners.......and Organisers generally. Secondly it would be good for B.E.to give some explanation such circumstances re cancelations. Conditions locally were bad, B.E. website continued to run the statement WILL DEFINITELY RUN!! So it would appear that their could have been pressure to run. T.A. and B.E. please respond?

 

[Thistle]

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Maybe this would be better asked on the BE board

 

[LisaHughes]

HHO must be delighted that this lively debate has produced a new member........... but perhaps you should look at your rule book & note that it is clearly stated that an organiser has the right to refuse any entry, and I have to say that I have had nothing but support from BE, selectors, JRN co-ordinators etc when it comes to dealing with "difficult" competitors & their families & funnily enough those people tend to be on the radar screen anyway. You might also like to note that it is possibly not coincidence that certain people get ballotted a lot - why would you want to give preference to someone who is going to be troublesome as opposed to someone who will be genuinely pleased to get a run? It seems to me that people who bitch & moan about every little thing as opposed to trying to see the positives, have a much harder time getting through life! I don't think I see your point about pressure to run, perhaps you could clarify..... I also don't think you were reading the same websites as me as the "definitely will run" was followed by a caveat about the weather. You may well have a point about egotistical organisers but i don't think any of us believe we can control the weather & I for one would not want to disregard any advice I was given about possibly dangerous ground conditions in terms of not being able to get the paramedics to the right place quickly enough.