Have the days of the have a go fun show disappeared?

[QUOTE="Surbie, ]I'm in the process of organising exactly that for my local RDA in July and we are hoping to have lots of people come. Without hijacking this, I'd love to know which classes were the most fun - basically so I can pinch them for our one! Fancy dress is a given...[/QUOTE]

Horse most like its owner was popular, some owners really dressed like their horse!
the usual prettiest mare/gelding
hairiest horse (interesting as some clipped ones entered)
biggest bum (horse!) but the judge did say that was the hardest to judge, so the biggest horse won as theoretically he had the biggest bum
longest forelock
prettiest eyes
best moustache / beard (they had limited entries as only had best moustache but if say and/or beard more equines would have been eligible)

This was an inhand show so no 'idiot' galloping around, relaxed and friendly, ideal for the novice, like me.
 
Chuffy99 said:
Think how many Jill went to in the Ruby Ferguson books, I dreamed of hacking to a show and tying my pony up under a tree?
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I've done it! Hacked down wearing a backpack with my grooming gear, headcollar, in-hand waistcoat and cap, and the essential hip flask!

The whole Pullein-Thompson vibe was slightly ruined by the amount of hi-viz plastered on top of my lovely tweed, but self-preservation triumphed over hiraeth.
 
Surbie said:
I'm in the process of organising exactly that for my local RDA in July and we are hoping to have lots of people come. Without hijacking this, I'd love to know which classes were the most fun - basically so I can pinch them for our one! Fancy dress is a given...
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Which RDA? IIrc you're near me, and I'm always looking for shows to spectate/volunteer at if I'm available.

As for ideas, possibly a little too fun, but a bareback class?
 
millikins said:
GBEC have no shows planned this year. One of the local riding clubs has none planned as far as I can see, the other has one. Even Cranleigh's off.
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Ah didn’t realise they’d not got shows, know the evening dressage is back so presumed shows would be too. If @Surbie can find previous years schedules or photos there might still be some inspiration there
 
My local riding club has cancelled their shows a few times because of lack of entries. They usually have a fun ring running along side the more traditional classes and they have very few entries. Because they’re held outside on grass they’re quite susceptible to poor weather making parking Horseboxes etc. a nightmare and people either not entering at all or not turning up on the day even if entered. Plus if you have to hire equipment it can quickly become a loss. Event cancellation insurance is prohibitively expensive now over recent years they’ve also lost club fields and can no longer run a Hunter trial.

I managed to find a couple shows last year to go to one of which had qualifiers for various championships including the Hickstead Sunshine Tour for amateur combinations. Of another two I wanted to go to one was totally cancelled due to lack of entries and the other changed due to a storm to a date which I couldn’t make. I also had an arena Le Trec cancelled due to lack of entries. This meant I missed out on doing something else so was pretty annoyed.
 
Horse most like its owner was popular, some owners really dressed like their horse!
the usual prettiest mare/gelding
hairiest horse (interesting as some clipped ones entered)
biggest bum (horse!) but the judge did say that was the hardest to judge, so the biggest horse won as theoretically he had the biggest bum
longest forelock
prettiest eyes
best moustache / beard (they had limited entries as only had best moustache but if say and/or beard more equines would have been eligible)

This was an inhand show so no 'idiot' galloping around, relaxed and friendly, ideal for the novice, like me.
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I still vividly remember being a teenager at a local show and losing 'Hairiest Horse' to a clipped, hogged cob. I was on a feathery Friesian with mane down to his knees. Apparently he 'wasn't the hairy type' ?!
 
I'm running exactly this in May. 36 classes, from x pole working hunter up to 1m. In hand and ridden classes, equitation and all the fun classes too, inc fancy dress.

4 of us organising, and we'll need 10 odd helpers inc 1st aid.

It will be pre entries, but also entries on the day, at and extra £5, but that covers as many classes as you want to enter.

Every class is sponsored, every winner gets a trophy. Champs x 3 and a supreme.

We call it the "not" fun ( to run) show!
 
I did these when younger and had no transport so the YO would drop me and my pony off and mum would drive behind. Quite often the pony would be tethered to the fence on baling twine (we did the same at pony club camp). My pony was a cheeky, try it on sort but loved handy pony and we won a few of those classes! I still have many of the rosettes and scribbled the classes and year on.

I imagine it’s lack of volunteers, lack of fields and health and safety. I can’t imagine you can just plan a show without some sort of formal risk assessment now?

Interesting that some people on this forum miss this sort of show yet can be quite negative on people “having a go” at other things. Is there a link? Is the lack of very casual, low level local shows also forcing people on too quickly?
 
blitznbobs said:
Having been involved with riding club for many years - the problem is getting people to help set things up and put things away. Its usually run by 3 or 4 people who don’t get paid and to run a show takes a lot of people. Some people will help, most wont and then the most annoying people say they will then dont rock up on the day. From my local experience committees that run these events are old (in their 70s often) and the younger members that come on board dont seem to want to do the nitty gritty of cleaning up and roping rings, fastening jumps back together or standing in the pissing rain all day long to organise these events… land to do them on is also hard to find and the big equestrian centres charge large sums to do anything which makes these ‘day out ‘ shows for little ones harder to justify… i dont think a lot of people have the time, inclination or gumption to get things going again… which is very sad.
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Our hardest worker, and general goffer was in her 70's. I am not as quick as I was, but it used to annoy me that people would stand about chatting, while she did the graft of three.
 
A big reason a lot of local shows no longer run is probably down to the cost of public liability insurance. When I was on the RC commitee our events were covered by our BRC insurance which made them viable.

I also agree that it is very difficult to run a showing show without a reasonable number of volunteers. Our shows were great fun but it was always the same people that did all the grafting.
 
Lack of suitable places to hold them I expect. I used to hack to these sort of shows but they lost the land to hold them on. They were busy shows as they were strategically placed within hacking distance of a few yards and with many people not having their own horse transport they were well attended. I was able to win the RC points challenge without having transport as I could hack to all their competitions.

People who have their own transport tend to be more competitive and would not bother with these sorts of shows and would be chasing qualifiers. I wonder also if people have higher aspirations now lots more people wanting to do eventing, BD. The roads are also more dangerous and I expect the days when groups of children on hairy ponies that lived out hacking to shows have gone.
 
I was lucky that we had a trailer so took own pony to shows but the local riding schools would often have a truck and load shed loads of ponies on to them to go a show. Definitely far more of the cattle trailers and cattle trucks than the posh transport around these days.
 
We have a fantastic mini hunter trials near us, they allow adults to go round the tiny course (max 1ft 6") and if you fall off you can get back on again. No one minds if you miss fences out and they do pairs classes too. XC goes up to 2ft 6 I think. There's also a clear round and you could do tiny x poles if you wish. It always overruns as the classes are so popular as it's a great outing for kids, young or inexperienced horses and nervous novice adults. I'm hoping to do the baby class this year, we've not jumped for years and quite frankly if I can get her round on our own without too much napping it will be a win!

The 'no pressure' tiny jumps classes that allow adults to enter are always so popular, it's a shame there aren't more. Not all of us adult riders are brave.
 
We are in the South Hams, in Devon. This year will be the 50th anniversarry of our local village show! 41 classes with trophies and cups.
Sat 4th June. come and join us!! Fancy dress to 100 cms SJ. In hand, side saddle, cobs, WH, the lot!
 
Fjord said:
The 'no pressure' tiny jumps classes that allow adults to enter are always so popular, it's a shame there aren't more. Not all of us adult riders are brave.
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My yard ran something like this for Christmas, starting with poles on the ground and going up to 80cm. It was so popular that we're planning another one for later this month.

This time, I might put my crosspoles all the way up to the first hole, rather than just resting them on the foot of the stand!
 
Our riding club run shows every month and the schedule contains all the usual fun classes for the littleys - nicest tail, pony judge would most like to take home etc., jumping from on and off lead rein at 30cms, to 1mtr., lots of in hand and ridden showing, equitation and working hunter. We also have a competition for the best onsie!!!! Membership has increased over the last couple of years, so we must be doing something right.
 
I do miss the mixed shows of my RC youth - we had monthly showing and SJ shows and a monthly dressage one in the summer when grass arena was all ok. I do see some fun shows at times this way - but not much and v little in way of a mix with SJ etc. we also had gymkhana games which was my fav bit....if they brought those back here I would be doing it!! A bending race or a rescue race and I would want that rosette
 
Pippity said:
I've done it! Hacked down wearing a backpack with my grooming gear, headcollar, in-hand waistcoat and cap, and the essential hip flask!

The whole Pullein-Thompson vibe was slightly ruined by the amount of hi-viz plastered on top of my lovely tweed, but self-preservation triumphed over hiraeth.
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Me too during the year before Mum and Dad bought me a trailer! It used to take me about 50 mins to hack to the show and then I'd spend all day there before hacking back. We used to do daft things like that years ago. :p
 
One show I went to a few years ago was in someones' backyard, totally secluded, older sisters led their little brothers around in leadline, etc. Then when a girl on a pony fell off in the short stirrup class, they wouldn't let her get back on! I was appalled, because it was such a small show with rules that were very relaxed.
 
We still have Sykehouse show, our local agricultural show. Round us there used to be Thorne Show, Barnby Dun Show, only Sykehouse has carried on. Epworth Show is still on the go too.
 
I think a lot of it is to do with helpers and sourcing them. People will only give up their time voluntarily for a certain amount of time. To do it year in, year out is just asking too much. Also public liablity insurance is crippling for these small venues. I think that's why a lot of them have gone to pot.

Real shame, I used to love the local shows with their flimsy XC jumps, unrelated distanced, mixed height, show jumping classes and the chance to do a Chase Me Charlie from time to time.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
OP, if you want fun shows, you will have to volunteer to help to run one.
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I was on the committee running 6 shows a year for 3 years. Then some of the committee left and one person took over and has decided to aim at more 'upmarket' competitors than the fun side. The remaining older committee didn't find out they weren't committee anymore until they lost access to the groups and social media pages. I'm on the committee for two larger shows currently and have managed to get them to bring in riding club horse and pony classes and games for the children but as county shows they don't feel that having a fun section is something they want to do at the moment which is fair enough.
I volunteered to help run three fun shows over winter but that venue isn't available in the summer as they have alternate dressage and jumping qualifiers.
It's just a pity that it's going to be a two hour plus drive for the nearest fun show until the winter ones come back in November. I wondered if it was the same everywhere or if it was just our area
 
Tiddlypom said:
.

Handy pony! I used to do well at this!

I remember moving a full size stuffed dummy from one oil drum to another while mounted.
Open and shut a gate.
Jump into a little square, halt, turn on the forehand, jump back out the same way you came in.
Walk over a tarpaulin.
Duck under a washing line pegged out with clothes.
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I did a lot of Handy Pony in my youth. Still have a cup somewhere. My memories are of one task which was to tow a sack of straw with a rope and ponies flying up the field flat out with the judge screaming "drop the rope" ?
 
Backtoblack said:
Yes long gone,a neighbouring village ran a fun show untill around 5years ago when a local producer brought his top class show animals to gain experience,spolit it when he won all the time.
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We have a small hunting cob/pony that I hunt and my daughter competes on. We love the local show scene. However we have received some negative behaviour.....because the high powered mothers think we shouldn't be there as we don't do endless expensive clinics nor play the game of falling in-line with leading mothers. We couldn't give a monkeys, but they are intimidating to anyone who just wants a day out. I think they put off people, which translates to the lack of volunteers.
 
I have been involved with my Riding Club for many years. We no longer run shows because we cannot find any volunteers - they are all too busy. Weirdly so are the Committee!! We are covered by RC insurance but now we have to have a qualfied first aider at every mounted event. We have members who are first aid qualfied but none of those qualifications are 'good' enough for the RC movement and we have to send two members on a BHS first aid course (I wont tell you the cost because it is eye watering) and before they can go on the course they have to join the BHS although they are RC!! All those costs add up and the shows have to make that money back. Once you have jumped through those hoops you have to find a show ground. It seems that unless you have a proper surface it is not good enough. We used to have a field, a few posts and a bit of rope and hey presto you have a ring but no not nowadays. Finally you manage to overcome all these hurdles and the competitors want to enter on the day, if it is not raining, if it does not start too early or finish too late and is not too hot. If any of these do prevail competitors do not want to come and even more important do not want to pay!!

QED you now have no shows!!!
 
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