New to BD... any advice? :)

BenvardenRach2

BenvardenRach2

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I'm seriously thinking of becoming a BD member and completing my gelding 'officially'.

We have ridden a few of the prelim tests at various events dressage & mini ODE's scoring no less than 71% always received positive comments. He is a small horse however covers the ground very well & is expressive. I've come to the realization that jumping will never be his forte and we actually both enjoy dressage!

Do you dressage folk have any advice, recommendations you could pass on before we start our dressage venture?

Thank you!
 
Jump in with both feet and have fun!

Don't worry about the size of your horse, my 14.2 welsh will hopefully be making her PSG debut this year and has received decent scores and nice comments from Prelim right up to Advanced.

Have a look at the BD website and see whether you might enjoy doing things like My Quest which has its own championships - but if not, then there is plenty of other stuff to aim at - there are new Bronze champs which are designed to people new to each level, there are area festivals and regionals to aim for too.

I'd have a look on facebook for your BD region to see whether they have any membership offers going on, sometimes they do deals for new members at certain events so it's worth sending a quick message or email to ask - if you don't ask, you don't get :wink3:
 
Go for it! I took my horse who didn't want to event BD and ended up taking him advanced. As milliepops says there are lots of opportunities to aim for. My one piece of advice would be to get lessons with a decent trainer who teaches riders competing at a high level BD as they will help you reach your potential and not put their limits on you, as some riding club level instructors do. I definitely found BD the most accessible of the 3 disciplines to progress through the levels and get to championships. Good luck!
 
KittyH said:
My one piece of advice would be to get lessons with a decent trainer who teaches riders competing at a high level BD as they will help you reach your potential and not put their limits on you
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^^ definitely agree with this! And again, don't think that you need a big posh horse for this, decent trainers will help you get the best out of any and every horse. :) aim high and keep on dreaming :)
 
Just do it! I did a handful (if that) of unaff dressage tests then decided to affiliate. We've got loads of good venues near us, and I figured I may as well crack on with BD rather than spending ages 'getting ready' for it. As has been said, there are loads of different things to aim for, and I find it much more motivating knowing that we're competing towards something/a series rather than just a one-off.

We stick out like a sore thumb in a jump saddle and tweed, and I won't lie, the first time we went I almost put him back on the trailer and went home due to the sheer number of posh horses, posh jackets and posh saddles! But I've found the comments to be really helpful and encouraging, and can't wait to crack on again this year.
 
My Irish Draught went from show horse to dressage horse last August and has already been to the BD Draught Horse Champs. At the moment we are still competing at Prelim level, but we are dabbling at home with changes and sideways stuff, piri's etc (for fun in training) and will be stepping up to novice this season. We've got the Pet Plan first rounds to do in June and will be aiming for the bronze league top 30, as well as another crack at the DH Champs again. There is plenty to aim for at the lower levels for sure. Mine is most definitely not a typical dressage horse and what he lacks in expressive movement, he more than makes up for with his accuracy, rhythmic paces, correct way of going and rideability and consequently pretty much each time he goes out he wins. I know as we step up the levels it will get harder, but that's the beauty of it, you start to test yourself and find out where your limits are (or not).

Just bare in mind that if you are getting 70+ scores at unaffiliated they are likely to drop by about 5% at affiliated. That doesn't mean you are worse than you thought, just that you are being more accurately marked. Ours dropped a little to start with but climbed back up to our unaffiliated scores as we progressed. its about reading the judges comments and also making sure you are accurate in your test riding - centre lines, circles, riding marker to marker etc, etc. You might get a 7 for a centre line at unaffiliated if its straight but off the centre line or on the centre line but not straight. At BD you'd get a 5 or a 6.

Good luck.
 
Have you got any venues locally that do both affiliated and unaffiliated? Most venues up here are and the you can compete unaffiliiated but be judged by a listed BD judge. I have found that it's rare to be marked down in BD compared to unaff if it's a listed judge. In my area I have 4 venues about an hour away and the classes aren't big enough to separate the unaff with the affs so the judge doesn't necessarily know which is which so won't marked harder. If your BD venue does offer unaffiliated I would do a few of those. Riding clubs up here often have leagues for unaffiliated so it's possible to have things to aim for unaffiliated. However, there is much more scope with BD bringing out new championships left right and centre! There is a lot for to aim at in bronze which is what you will be starting as and you can dabble at higher levels if you wish and come back down (though you may have to change to silver!).

I enjoy competing both unaff and aff - i can't afford for both horses to be affiliated so the more all-rounder type sticks to riding club. There is much to gain when you compete against yourself especially if a venue uses a certain judge regularly as then you can see if there are improvements and where they want you to improve. As always there will be a difference in marks between judges so never be too disheartened if there's a fluctuation in scores :)
 
milliepops said:
Jump in with both feet and have fun!

Don't worry about the size of your horse, my 14.2 welsh will hopefully be making her PSG debut this year and has received decent scores and nice comments from Prelim right up to Advanced.

Have a look at the BD website and see whether you might enjoy doing things like My Quest which has its own championships - but if not, then there is plenty of other stuff to aim at - there are new Bronze champs which are designed to people new to each level, there are area festivals and regionals to aim for too.

I'd have a look on facebook for your BD region to see whether they have any membership offers going on, sometimes they do deals for new members at certain events so it's worth sending a quick message or email to ask - if you don't ask, you don't get :wink3:
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Thank you Milliepops, I must say your horses look lovely in your banner!! I like the idea of the bronze champs - I'm reading more into this!
Fab suggestion for the facebook pages I've had a look and joined some in my area thank you :D !
 
KittyH said:
Go for it! I took my horse who didn't want to event BD and ended up taking him advanced. As milliepops says there are lots of opportunities to aim for. My one piece of advice would be to get lessons with a decent trainer who teaches riders competing at a high level BD as they will help you reach your potential and not put their limits on you, as some riding club level instructors do. I definitely found BD the most accessible of the 3 disciplines to progress through the levels and get to championships. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Will defo be getting some lessons from a BD instructor! Thank you Kitty
 
pixie27 said:
Just do it! I did a handful (if that) of unaff dressage tests then decided to affiliate. We've got loads of good venues near us, and I figured I may as well crack on with BD rather than spending ages 'getting ready' for it. As has been said, there are loads of different things to aim for, and I find it much more motivating knowing that we're competing towards something/a series rather than just a one-off.

We stick out like a sore thumb in a jump saddle and tweed, and I won't lie, the first time we went I almost put him back on the trailer and went home due to the sheer number of posh horses, posh jackets and posh saddles! But I've found the comments to be really helpful and encouraging, and can't wait to crack on again this year.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with you there if I;m going to do it I may as well kick myself up the bum and get on with it! I just have a GP saddle so I'll be in the same boat as you there! My horse is a show hunter type - not a fine slender type haha! Thank you Pixie always great to receive nice comments
 
KautoStar1 said:
My Irish Draught went from show horse to dressage horse last August and has already been to the BD Draught Horse Champs. At the moment we are still competing at Prelim level, but we are dabbling at home with changes and sideways stuff, piri's etc (for fun in training) and will be stepping up to novice this season. We've got the Pet Plan first rounds to do in June and will be aiming for the bronze league top 30, as well as another crack at the DH Champs again. There is plenty to aim for at the lower levels for sure. Mine is most definitely not a typical dressage horse and what he lacks in expressive movement, he more than makes up for with his accuracy, rhythmic paces, correct way of going and rideability and consequently pretty much each time he goes out he wins. I know as we step up the levels it will get harder, but that's the beauty of it, you start to test yourself and find out where your limits are (or not).

Just bare in mind that if you are getting 70+ scores at unaffiliated they are likely to drop by about 5% at affiliated. That doesn't mean you are worse than you thought, just that you are being more accurately marked. Ours dropped a little to start with but climbed back up to our unaffiliated scores as we progressed. its about reading the judges comments and also making sure you are accurate in your test riding - centre lines, circles, riding marker to marker etc, etc. You might get a 7 for a centre line at unaffiliated if its straight but off the centre line or on the centre line but not straight. At BD you'd get a 5 or a 6.

Good luck.
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Ooo Kauto I feel we may be in the same boat here my boy is a show horse we compete in show hunter pony/small hunter classes, he is probably a similar build to yours! Thank you for your advice, I'm expecting to be judged more harshly.. like you said I need to get my circles and center lines nailed to bring up the 'easier' marks. Thank you
 
coss said:
Have you got any venues locally that do both affiliated and unaffiliated? Most venues up here are and the you can compete unaffiliiated but be judged by a listed BD judge. I have found that it's rare to be marked down in BD compared to unaff if it's a listed judge. In my area I have 4 venues about an hour away and the classes aren't big enough to separate the unaff with the affs so the judge doesn't necessarily know which is which so won't marked harder. If your BD venue does offer unaffiliated I would do a few of those. Riding clubs up here often have leagues for unaffiliated so it's possible to have things to aim for unaffiliated. However, there is much more scope with BD bringing out new championships left right and centre! There is a lot for to aim at in bronze which is what you will be starting as and you can dabble at higher levels if you wish and come back down (though you may have to change to silver!).

I enjoy competing both unaff and aff - i can't afford for both horses to be affiliated so the more all-rounder type sticks to riding club. There is much to gain when you compete against yourself especially if a venue uses a certain judge regularly as then you can see if there are improvements and where they want you to improve. As always there will be a difference in marks between judges so never be too disheartened if there's a fluctuation in scores :)
Click to expand...

I think we do Coss! that sounds great actually, thank you for that tip i will defo give some unaffiliated a go! But yes like the sound of the bronze!
Thank you Coss, really appreciate it
 
Make sure you read the rule book - there is no point in losing marks or being eliminated for breaking some rule.

Don't look at the other horses in the warmup thinking how much posher / better / whatever they are than your horse - you have every right to be there.

Don't worry if your marks are lower than at unaff - that is normal.

Enjoy it.
 
Definitely go for it. I took the plunge late last year and so pleased I did. I took club membership which covers prelim bronze and is much cheaper. I can then upgrade to full membership to enter pet plan rounds later this year (I gained the qualification whilst a club member).
I think I’m a bit unusual as no difference in my scores regardless of whether affiliated or unaffiliated or even online!
And I’m another on a non-typical dressage horse whilst wearing tweed!
 
I have never done BD, but have you ever been a writer for a judge? I would definitely recommend it, because you get the judge's eye view of the competitors and it will give you a lot of information on how a test should be ridden and some of the mistakes riders make (if you judge doesn't want you writing an essay on every competitor!)

So you can see the nodding heads, riders looking down, stiff arms, unsteady hands and you resolve never to look like that!
 
People think it's such a big thing going affilliated. It's really not. When I joined I was half expecting rich snooty people and tbh have always found all BD comps extremely friendly. It really is for everyone. If I can do it, you definitely can !!
 
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