Pre-entering for show-jumping

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ann-jen

ann-jen

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Following on from some of the letters/articles in H&H recently I wondered whether people thought this would be a good thing or not - to get a set time to go in a class avoiding huge pile ups in the collecting ring and loads of hanging around. (You can tell I would be a fan!) I find it much easier when I compete dressage having a set time than when I go SJ and either end up too early for a class and hang around forever or too late and am rushed.
Just wondered what everyone else thought.
 
I'm deffo NOT in favour, I like to decide the day before what horse/s we are taking to shows and hate the idea of paying entries up front in case we change our minds about going or a horse goes lame etc. I have found you can usually judge the amount of entries particular venue's get depending on what type of classes they are holding.
 
I don't think I'm in favour a a set time to jump, but I am most definitely in favour of advanced entries only. My local centre, Medstead do this for their unaff, and I have heard that Hoplands will be doing this for their BSJA. It will mean you have a pretty accurate start time for your classes and can then plan your day accordingly.
 
You wouldn't be able to rely on set times as no-one can predict how many horses will go through to the JO/2nd phase of each class. But I am in favour of entries in advance, then any entries after that charged double or something. That was how it worked when I used to ride in Belgium - then you would ring up a hotline and it would tell you how many were entered in each class.
 
I have to pre enter 10 days before, everything is done on line here,it took a while to get used to, and the only thing is if something goes wrong in the interim, but generally the system is better.Then you are e mailed with all the entrants and the approx class times. Afterwards, you are e mailed with how you did (!!), and everyone else for that matter. Oops, should have said, the French Federation Equestre.
 
Pre-entering at least seems a good idea then - in terms that if you then have a rough idea of numbers in each class then it would be easier to plan ahead. It sounds like this is already the case in Europe then?
Personally I would of thought it would be possible to make an approximate guess as to how many would go through to the JO in each class though and still be able to give times for the first round and then allow a certain length of time for the JO and adjustment of the course for the next class. Even if the JO went on longer or shorter than anticipated do you not think you would end up hanging around less than with the usual system? Perhaps it would just make 2 phase competitions more popular (which would suit me!)
Watching Olympia last week it would seem that everyone was given a running order and the organisers must of taken into account how many clears they were expecting and so how long the JO would take before the next class or demo started. Would it be much harder to do that at a grass roots level show do you think?
I can see it would be annoying to think if your horse went lame or there was a problem that meant you couldn't attend and you ended up losing an entry. I've had this happen to me ocassionally with dressage entries but usually I've been lucky that the secretary has allowed me to carry the entry on to a future competition - I suppose thats up to the discretion of each individual show organiser.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the system at Hoplands and what teething problems they anticipate and actually occur and then see if other venues follow suit.
 
i am originally from guernsey and at all shows (bsja, RC and PC) you had to submit your entries a week in advance, or more for the big shows. you could still enter on the day but would pay a late charge. i thought this worked well as you generally knew how long each class would take in advance. if you had to pull out for lameness etc you could defer your entry money to the next show. i have yet to compete in the UK and find it strange that this doesn't happen here.
 
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I'm deffo NOT in favour, I like to decide the day before what horse/s we are taking to shows and hate the idea of paying entries up front in case we change our minds about going or a horse goes lame etc. I have found you can usually judge the amount of entries particular venue's get depending on what type of classes they are holding.

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Agree completely with wonkey_donkey. Plus, I can drink coffee and natter while waiting - the highlight of my week!
 
Am 100% for it! In Spain we ALWAYS had to pre-enter, we knew what time our classes were on at, we didn't EVER have to arrive at a venue and wait for 2 hours to jump - I hate the system over here and will embrace pre-enter - also means I will sit down and plan a schedule and go out more!
 
Round here you can pre-enter for a pound cheaper and then when you get there you have priority over the people who've paid on the day. I like it like that
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It's not always like that but when it is it's great. Last time I was SJing they didn't give the pre-entries the first times and they didn't announce when the board went up for you to write your name down. As it turned out I was about 5th in in the first class and third last in the second so had bl00dy hours to wait whilst about 50 people went before me
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It was peeing down and I don't have a lorry so we had to hang around getting drenched
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I am for pre-entry as well. I loathe hanging around and would SJ far more if more guidance on times was given. I think a good idea would be to introduce 15 minute slots. Approximately 30 horses an hour can jump so you give 7 people the same 15 minute time slot and then another 7 people the next 15 minute time slot. That way people are still given a time but there is more of a leeway.
 
I don't like the idea of compulsory pre-entering for a number of reasons, one being that if you've gone well in the class you've just jumped you may want to try one bigger and then can't.

Likewise, often I get to a show and think, gawd I'm so nervous, think I'll do one of the smaller classes today. Would be well peed off to lose my entry if I couldn't swap classes. Bad enough all the money you lose if you can't make a BE event.

There's 2 indoor show centres round here that I often frequent because there's no late entry fee. Don't mind paying £1/class, but local centre that does Showing adds £5 late entry fee which I feel is a rip off, especially as they give only a rosette as a prize whether you're 1st or 6th.
 
Thats a good point actually. In some ways it would work out a good thing for me though as I'm such a coward at times - but if I had already entered I would feel I had to do the class even if I felt like backing out! On the other hand sometimes I might decide to do another class depending on how my first class went and so I guess I couldn't do that with a pre-entry system or I would have to pay extra - don't think I'd mind paying a bit extra so long as it wasn't too expensive.
 
I wouldn't want pre-entry on all classes. It wouldn't help much if they then allowed entries on the day as times would become a complete nonsense.
However, I would like class 1 to be pre-entry only, not entries on the day. Organisers could then set up a simple pre-recorded telephone message updated as the day goes on with approx start times for succesive classes. Wouldn't even mind if they charged a small premium for phoneing the line, say 50p. This would save a lot of hanging around for your first class whilst still giving flexibilty once you were there.
 
I dont like advanced entries simply because if you cant make it (due to weather etc.) some places can get uppity about giving you your money back. It would never work for BSJA because most competitors are so disorganised!

I think the only way to go is to say - so and so class "not to start before 11am" for example. Thats a bit more helpful.

I also like to be able to choose when to go in the class. So when Im on my own for example, I like to walk the course and then go about 10th which gives me time to go back to the trailer and warm up.
 
I wonder if accepting pre-entries at a discounted rate would work in the hope that the majority of people would want to pre-enter to save money and then just have to cater for a few extra entries on the day? The venue could then give an approximate start time for each class.
I'm usually at shows on my own too so I try to walk the course/warm up and declare in a similar way to you which I obviously wouldn't be able to do if I was drawn first. Although yesterday I seemed to manage walking the course, warming up for half an hour and then still going 2nd in the class! I don't suppose that bodes well for the efficiency of the venue that well. LOL!
 
Totally against it. I only pre entered once this year at Wales and West and lost all my entries + £40 membership as my horse pulled her shoe off on the mornig of the show, and was still a bit footsore after having it replaced.

I just phone up and ask what time they think my class will start. If your are jumping BN though it is pretty easy to guess what time the class will start as it is usually the first one.

My horse doesn't give a monkeys about sitting on the box all day so I don't mind sitting around for an hour and having a good gossip!
 
Actually when we go for the BN it is great as there is always a set cut off point for the CR so you are right its easy to judge the time to arrive/warm up etc. Its more difficult if we go to one of the rare intro shows held round here as the BN is then sometimes class 3 or 4. And don't even start me on unaffiliated! I had over a 2 hour wait for my class to start last week at an unaffiliated show despite ringing before I set off and a very disgruntled Jenny once we finally did get underway!
 
I'd like to try pre-entry as I get soooo nervous hanging around. With BD, it's much less stressful as you can plan your day to the minute. BD classes often have a break in them so maybe BSJA could have an 'empty' slot with a fixed no of spots so if you suddenly felt brave enough to do the next class, you could?

It's tricky esp when you're moving up a class to predict if you want to do it in advance, eg when I wanted to do my 1st 1 m 15, I waited until we'd had a storming Newcomers to make sure Cat was 'up for it'.

There has GOT to be a better system than hanging around til you & the horse are bored, cold & want to go home. A while ago, there was a lot of interest in whether sj is dumbing down - maybe half the reason why no-one's going for the big classes is that they've all got too bored or nervous waiting & have gone home??
 
i hate showjumping due to the hangng around all day and then only going in the ring for a few minutes. so pre-entering wld be great with alocated times, like eventing and dressage, works well there so can't see why it wouldn't work show jumping
 
I see your point but do you not run the risk of that in whatever you do. Eventing is even worse as not just £12 you face losing but £60.
I think BSJA has just had it easy and that people would soon learn to be better organised.
 
totally agree that the waiting around is ridiculous. I know that it takes practise to guestimate times for classes... i am yet to develop this skill! Why does SJ have to be different to every other dicipline? I think its time people and organisers orgaised themselves a little better and started pre-entering! (although i agree with entering 2nd classes if horse is running particularly well... the idea of the few open spaces is a good one).
 
I'm just going to wait until the summer when everyone starts moaning about BE and the (IMO) money grabbing antics they get up to when you withdraw and think thank god I Show Jump
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I have pre entered SJ at shows like Mid Somerset and then not gone its my look out and I just write off the money. Its easier to write off £25 than £60.
 
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