Just when you thought your show was expensive...article from USA re: Pony Finals

[BunnyDog]

Another fun article from the USA

https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2019/...V2FampCIRJwfSVdY_0es4DAoC4u2j9wxVWmQWoAB95l5w

This show, Pony Finals, starts this week and the prices listed in this article are 3 years old and pre-Covid. So they've all gone up. Especially shipping and anything to do with travel.

Remember too, this show is for children. Honest to god. Top age for this is 18.

ENJOY!!!!

Emily

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Sheesh! That's a considerable amount more than doing the winter Sunshine Tour in Spain!

With all that, it's no wonder that when folk get relocated to the likes of the UK they scratch their heads in puzzlement!

 

[Quigleyandme]

Bloody hell!

 

[j1ffy]

I think the 'extras' (as viewed as such from a UK perspective) are interesting. When I think of the stay-away dressage shows that I've been to, the vast majority of amateur competitors here would:

- Look after their own horse
- Not have a trainer with them or onsite
- Live on pot noodles / heated-up leftovers / bacon sandwiches plus gin / wine brought themselves
- Drive their own pony / horse to the show and sleep in their lorry / trailer
- Walk / cycle around the site

All of which really keeps the cost down!

What is the $35 per day for 'ticketed warm-up'?

 

[BunnyDog]

I think the 'extras' (as viewed as such from a UK perspective) are interesting. When I think of the stay-away dressage shows that I've been to, the vast majority of amateur competitors here would:

- Look after their own horse
- Not have a trainer with them or onsite
- Live on pot noodles / heated-up leftovers / bacon sandwiches plus gin / wine brought themselves
- Drive their own pony / horse to the show and sleep in their lorry / trailer
- Walk / cycle around the site

All of which really keeps the cost down!

What is the $35 per day for 'ticketed warm-up'?

Oh I agree. I do all my own things, try to find ways to stable off the grounds, but local so Cudo can also have some turnout.

I groom myself and pack my bedding/hay to come from home since show hay is typically 3x the normal prices. We tend to stay in hotels, but in moderate weather, if John wasn't along for the ride, I could live in my trailer happily and easily.

What is the $35 per day for 'ticketed warm-up'?

That's to school in the rings and practice over the fences before they show each day.

Em

 

[j1ffy]

That's to school in the rings and practice over the fences before they show each day.

Em

? I can only imagine the reaction if show centres here started charging for warm-ups!

 

[RachelFerd]

? I can only imagine the reaction if show centres here started charging for warm-ups!

And to think people over here like to have a whinge about a £17 eventing start fee (to pay for essential ground maintenance...)

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

? I can only imagine the reaction if show centres here started charging for warm-ups!

Sshhhhhh!!!!!!! Don't give them ideas!!!!!!

 

[conniegirl]

Makes my week at CHAPS champs a few years ago look positively cheap. Think that cost about £600. 1 pony, 2 classes each day, silver stabling. Slept in the lorry, ate takeaway or cooked in the lorry.
Did my own plaiting.

no trainer needed at a show, If you have done your homework before hand.

Rosettes are won at home you only go to shows to pick them up.

 

[BunnyDog]

I mean I think there are some people that fare better when inexperienced, nervous or just young as in a child, with guidance as they're learning.

I can go alone now all the time. I couldn't when I was 11, 15 or even 17.

Here's a winning round from the Handy section of the pony medal class. (Judged on rider position, and tidy efficient lines)

This is the daughter of Shane Sweetnam.

Don't forget too that some of these kids, statistically anyway, are living their parents dreams. Maybe doing it because they have to and are expected to. So maybe not holding onto all the lessons as well as people genuinely passionate about the sport.

Em

 

[The Xmas Furry]

How old is that child?
If this was style position and line, then her lines were good. I wasnt impressed with her bumping on the saddle in canter quite frequently tho.
We have some very tidy children here in cradle stakes, nursery stakes and in the bigger children's classes and the top of the line riders are very neat indeed.

 

[Tiddlypom]

That young rider is rising to the canter . Is that what it takes to win such a class?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

That young rider is rising to the canter . Is that what it takes to win such a class?

I wouldn't call that rising to the canter. I would say she can't sit the canter but can't come up into a forward seat foe the round because she has no stability through the lower leg as she is over her knees. They wouldnt be winning in the show ring over here anyway.

These american show class type things the horses and ponies look so boring and brain dead!

 

[conniegirl]

I mean I think there are some people that fare better when inexperienced, nervous or just young as in a child, with guidance as they're learning.

I can go alone now all the time. I couldn't when I was 11, 15 or even 17.

Plenty of tiny kids compete at very high level in the uk without an instructor on hand at all times.
On our working hunter classes (so jumping & showing with a style mark for jumping):
Tiny tots- child not exceeding 9yrs old
Cradle stakes - child not exceeding 11 years old
Nursery stakes - child not exceeding 12 years old

I think the minimum age allowed in tiny tots is 5yrs old, i know of a few 6yr old happily popping round tiny tots classes.

 

[Cloball]

On a side note did that sign say Kickapoo ponies? New designer cross breed? They'll cross anything with a poodle these days!

I used to hack to shows with my mates, occasionally someone else's mum would show up with a haynet we attached to the car window ?. Someone else's mum took me to A and E once no ambulance fee for me.

 

[stangs]

That young rider is rising to the canter

If this was style position and line, then her lines were good. I wasnt impressed with her bumping on the saddle in canter quite frequently tho.

I wouldn't call that rising to the canter. I would say she can't sit the canter but can't come up into a forward seat foe the round because she has no stability through the lower leg as she is over her knees.

It's not rising to the canter in usual meaning of the term, where you rise every few strides to regulate the rhythm. It's 'posting the canter', where in theory she should be using her knees and lower leg to absorb the momentum, meaning she lands lightly on the horse's back. Posting the canter is becoming increasingly common in the working hunter/equitation sphere in the US, so, regardless of whether she could actually sit the canter, she's probably been instructed to ride it like this.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

It's not rising to the canter in usual meaning of the term, where you rise every few strides to regulate the rhythm. It's 'posting the canter', where in theory she should be using her knees and lower leg to absorb the momentum, meaning she lands lightly on the horse's back. Posting the canter is becoming increasingly common in the working hunter/equitation sphere in the US, so, regardless of whether she could actually sit the canter, she's probably been instructed to ride it like this.

That said, it wasn't consistent and looked very novicey. Hence my 'bumping' comment as she wasn't posting or sitting, she looked rather uncomfortable.

 

[stangs]

That said, it wasn't consistent and looked very novicey. Hence my 'bumping' comment as she wasn't posting or sitting, she looked rather uncomfortable.

Yes, sorry didn't mean to quote you in that post. But I personally didn't think she looked too bad. Unbalanced, yes, especially on the downwards transitions, but a distinction has to be made between coming out of the saddle unbalanced when you're trying to sit the canter versus when you're trying to post it.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Yes, sorry didn't mean to quote you in that post. But I personally didn't think she looked too bad. Unbalanced, yes, especially on the downwards transitions, but a distinction has to be made between coming out of the saddle unbalanced when you're trying to sit the canter versus when you're trying to post it.

No probs.

I'm just amazed that if that is a high standard there, then we are very fortunate with the v good standards here at BSPS, NPS etc at upper levels, paying far less for everything at stay away championships and even pony purchasing!
Mind you, Charlotte DJ started off in BSPS ridden and whp classes and look where she is now ? she was always a neat little rider way back when ?

 

[scats]

Posting to the canter is quite common in showjumping, even in this country. You see a lot of pros doing it.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Posting to the canter is quite common in showjumping, even in this country. You see a lot of pros doing it.

Oh, I completely agree, I do sometimes but that's more from the polo side. This just wasnt consistent at all, hence my initial comment above.

 

[RachelFerd]

I mean I think there are some people that fare better when inexperienced, nervous or just young as in a child, with guidance as they're learning.

I can go alone now all the time. I couldn't when I was 11, 15 or even 17.

Here's a winning round from the Handy section of the pony medal class. (Judged on rider position, and tidy efficient lines)

This is the daughter of Shane Sweetnam.

Don't forget too that some of these kids, statistically anyway, are living their parents dreams. Maybe doing it because they have to and are expected to. So maybe not holding onto all the lessons as well as people genuinely passionate about the sport.

Em

Beautiful soft balanced riding. The criticism on here is nuts!

 

[ihatework]

The American hunter/equitation scene is so very different to what we are used to in the uk. These kids are just riding how they have been trained to. They would get as much of a shock to ride competitively in the UK as a British kid would have to ride in the US scene. I wouldn’t say either is necessarily better/worse, it just depends on the end game.

I don’t like how reliant the US culture seems to be on their trainer/barn.

 

[fetlock]

That said, it wasn't consistent and looked very novicey. Hence my 'bumping' comment as she wasn't posting or sitting, she looked rather uncomfortable.

If she was on a pony that decided to put in a last minute stop, she'd be clearing the fence without the pony and landing face first in the dirt.

I think it would do ok over here if it was in a cradle stakes class, as it looks like a safe little pony that would carry its little rider round but its way of going is lacking the oomph for the 133cm class (guessing that's around the height of the pony) , assuming it would pop round the larger heights over here, that is.

 

[RachelFerd]

If she was on a pony that decided to put in a last minute stop, she'd be clearing the fence without the pony and landing face first in the dirt.

I think it would do ok over here if it was in a cradle stakes class, as it looks like a safe little pony that would carry its little rider round but its way of going is lacking the oomph for the 133cm class (guessing that's around the height of the pony) , assuming it would pop round the larger heights over here, that is.

In this country we are obsessed with defensive riding positions in ponies that are essentially running away/running through the bridle.

 

[fetlock]

Blimey, the top hunter pony prices over there.

This pony is lovely, but so is the £100k/£123k price tag

https://www.bigeq.com/horse/listing/woodlands-against-the-wind-welsh-pony-hunter-33878/

Another very nice pony. This one is a snip, in the £66k - £92k price bracket

https://www.bigeq.com/horse/listing/woodlands-against-the-wind-welsh-pony-hunter-33878/

 

[Quigleyandme]

Would have liked to see her give her pony a pat.

 

[Nicnac]

Like the $15 night watch fee. With the amount of tack thefts here at big shows it would be money well spent!

 

[BunnyDog]

Like the $15 night watch fee. With the amount of tack thefts here at big shows it would be money well spent!

Not so much for Tack thefts. More often than not the tack is kept locked up in the trailer which is NOWHERE close to the barns, like more than a half mile away. This is a paid service where folks walk around and keep an eye on the horses for distress, colic, lack of hay/water.

At Upperville in June my night watch person LOVED Cudo. I gave her all the permission in the world to add water if he ran low. And gave her the nod to give him 2 treats a night as well.

He looked very bright in the mornings and she came and watched me compete one day at the end of her overnight shift. It was a lovely experience and I was grateful to have her have eyes on him when I was asleep.

Em

 

[Nicnac]

^^^ Ah ok but that's also a service worth paying for as allows you to sleep easy.

Do you have much tack theft at US shows? We have had some significant ones here recently including saddles and other tack taken from the trucks that people were sleeping in.