Ideas for "weatherproofing" your season - for an upcoming H&H feature

E

EllieH

Member
Joined
20 April 2010
Messages
10
Visit site
To what extent is it possible to “weatherproof” your competition season? So many shows and events went down the pan last year, leaving horses and riders box-walking. I am researching a feature for H&H that looks at ways you can plan your season (whatever your discipline) to try and minimise having to rely on good weather to get out and about.

I would love to hear from anyone who managed to beat the elements in 2012 by taking a different approach to training and competing, or who has adjusted their plan of attack for 2013, mindful of last year’s bad weather.

Ideas so far:

Online dressage competitions – will not be victims of bad weather. Have you taken part in these? How do you rate them?

Arena eventing – is this a good fall-back plan in case of sustained bad weather?

Only enter competitions at venues with ground better suited to wet weather in 2013? Avoiding showjumping on grass, etc.

Condensing training into several two or three-day sessions at a venue that also hosts competitions. For example if you visit a big competition centre it is sometimes possible to take part in a training clinic on Friday, an indoor event on Saturday and a BS competition on Sunday, making the most of your trip. Has anyone done anything like this?

If you have any comments on the above, or any new ideas, and would like to be included in this feature, please email: elliehugheswriting@gmail.com.
 
It's only 'grass only' events that were really an issue.

I know of very few SJ and Dressage shows that were on surfaces which were cancelled.

Therefore this year along with my BE membership i have also re-registered BSJA so that if we do have an awful 'summer' again then I will go out showjumping without having to pay for day tickets.

I also went arena eventing a few times last summer in between cancelled events.
 
Royal Leisure have a good idea having an indoor warm up and indoor SJ course. The ride between to rings is covered too.

Most BSJA this year has been on and the beauty of paying on the day means if it is horrid, you don't lose entries.

It is the grass venues that suffer most and BE. Am planning on showing this year too, so hoping that the sun makes an appearance this year as most is on grass!
 
I found arena xc to vary in quality. One place has a full set of arena portable xc fences whilst another has few tarps and some scary fillers.
I prioritise my trainer having an indoor arena so that i could guarentee a happy working environment without a drowned horse.
Having organisers text or facebook if they arent running has made it easier to avoid useless trips out and i really appreciate them calling off in good time. We all know after atrocious weather they wont run but if they dont make a call then there sometimes is not much option but to go.
Organisers that can fit in short notice late entrants should be eligible for some sort of award!
 
I was not affected at all but I had only planned to do a half year on a ticket because I changed jobs and needed to make sure that was stable before committing to the expense of eventing.
BSJA with its 6 month membership is wonderful. I did a fair bit of BSJA at places like Hand and was not affected by the weather and it was a lot cheaper than committing to the expense of eventing.
I see very little point in arena eventing so do not tend to do it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top