Moulton College Northamptonshire and British Dressage!!

[Taboo1968]

Big article on the fact that Moulton College is now a dressage academy??? And how wonderful it is that it holds these affiliated events now as there is nowhere else in Northamptonshire that does etc etc....

BUT..... are these shows going to be run at the same standard as the current ones? Totally disorganised, no refreshments, no food etc etc?

Cant wait for the first one in June, but will be checking it out first to see what its like, as not wasting time spending hours at a venue where you cant even get a drink!!!

Anyone else got any views on this?

 

[Partoow]

Totally agree with you. There is more to being a dressage center than a good surface! It is about the atmosphere and the all round facilities , it one of the reasons they have had problems getting judges;i assume, as the one and only time i have entered a competition they cancelled due to lack of judges.
Why spend good money on classes when you and your helpers have a miserable day, not everone have lorries with living in and you need a good cuppa to relieve the tension!!!

 

[catembi]

Yes I'd agree re refreshments. We went to a jump cross in the middle of nowhere once & there was a caravan with a toilet in it and ZERO refreshments. You'd think at the very least someone could have gone to Tesco's & bought a few multipacks of Coke cans, esp as xc makes you v hot & thirsty...

Haven't been back.

 

[iamlovingmyjob]

"BUT..... are these shows going to be run at the same standard as the current ones? Totally disorganised, no refreshments, no food etc etc?"

was this aimed at moulton college? because if it is then i disagree, i am a student at moulton college, and have worked on the show days and i find that most of the shows are organised (some are run by the degree students), there is a brand new canteen where there is refreshments and hot and cold food available until 2pm when it shuts. Sorry if you think this of our college but i disagree

When was the last time you came to moulton?

 

[Ash the arab]

I can back you up on this one!
i regularly compete at Moulton and the improvement in the running of the shows has been brilliant over the past 6 months.
There is a canteen - that has been open at every show since the new school has been used. The only problem is that it is not situated next to the arena like most show centres.
Whilst the shows are still pretty much run by the students, again there has been huge improvements in the organisation of it all. I have complimented the managers on how things are better.
I think competitors need to realise that Moulton is first and foremost an education centre and whilst we all want to go to well run shows we can't expect Moulton to be run like places such as Addington.
I will carry on supporting Moulton,as long as they keep putting on events that suit me!

 

[Ferdinase514]

Yes, but if it wants to be a well supported competition centre, it needs to be well run, whether being run by students or not, otherwise competitors will not want to go there.

Haven;t been to this venue si am not commenting directly.

 

[Ash the arab]

I do agree with you - and students will not learn anything from a badly run show, but what i am saying is there has been a vast improvement in the running of the shows over the past few months. Moulton college has had a bad reputation for a long time due to the poor shows - and rightly deserved (i competed at alot of them, everytime i would say 'never again')!! But hopefully things are on the the up! And as it is only 1 mile from where my horse lives this is good news!

 

[iamlovingmyjob]

where abouts do u keep ur horse in northampton? i have been at the college for 4 years and i agree the shows used to be really bad but now that we have had the new indoor school built and everyone getting their arses into gear the shows are getting better and we have had lots of positive feedback from competitors(sp)

 

[Ash the arab]

Ash lives near the church in moulton, although you may not have seen him at shows - he has been off for 7 months!
I usually come along on a 17.2 dark bay (Joe).

 

[iamlovingmyjob]

oh i no where u keep ash now, i think i remember u on joe, i will keep a look out for u at the next one, u may have seen me i walk round with a little westie called smartie and talk to yard staff and lectures, i have a coat with emily cross groom written on it

 

[Taboo1968]

[ QUOTE ]
"was this aimed at moulton college? because if it is then i disagree, i am a student at moulton college, and have worked on the show days and i find that most of the shows are organised (some are run by the degree students), there is a brand new canteen where there is refreshments and hot and cold food available until 2pm when it shuts. Sorry if you think this of our college but i disagree
When was the last time you came to moulton?

[/ QUOTE ]

The last time I was at Moulton College to compete dressage was December 3rd 2006 which was definately less than 6 months ago and there was no refreshments whatsoever...... (again) so how the canteen has been opened for a good 6 months is a little confusing.....

I'm afraid the college has a long long way to go before being recognised as a dressage academy given previous performance.

Lets face it...... There is going to be indoor tennis courts next door, not a good atmosphere for participating in dressage and on the other side are the football pitches, which are very nice and green and as yet have not been galloped across by a loose horse and there were no gates last time! (at least when it was badly run before, there was a safety barrier to stop the horses getting out onto the road - well thats when anyone bothered to close it - which I did on numerous occasions when attending events there a few years ago!)

As I said in my previous post...... I shall be spectating the first time to see how things have improved before even considering competing there..... Once bitten, twice shy etc.

I presume we will be honoured with the presence of qualified judges now?

 

[Nadia]

It seems Moulton are really trying, as they have also had some bsja there recently.

The new surface is good, as is the outdoor, there *are* alot of bad things too, but from years past i'd say its definitly much better.

 

[PaddyMonty]

I still think they have some way to go in the organisation. Reading the rule book would be a good start.
Last dressage comp we attended (feb 2007) you were not allowed to warm up around or inside the areana despite being sufficient space to do so. You had to make do with 10 mtr rectangle at entrance.
Scores were not published so you had no clue as to how you fared against the competition. One score sheet didn't have any mark for 2 movements and wasn't pick up at scoring.
At the BSJA trial run the canteen closed just after lunch.
Sure it is getting better slowly but there is still along way to go before it becomes a professionally run comp centre.