pro reaction to grassroots at Badminton

It is great for the grass roots competitor to say "I am riding at Badminton" and to have had this to aim for, but I have a lot of sympathy for the 4* competitors too. It isn't really going to be the same each day is it?
One day there is going to be a cross country competition going on, the next day's not. And if you are one of the people who have to ride in the horse for 3 hours then they are going to be less than delighted if a loose horse comes galloping past. Of course in theory the horses should be obedient, but horses haven't read the book have they.
 
I personally think that it would have been better to have totally separated the two competitions at least timing wise and maybe this is a step to take to bring the pros on side another year.Please nobody taking part in the grass roots take offence but it is just a bit of fun to you to be at Badminton competing .To those at 4star it is the pinnacle of the sport and has taken anything from 5 to 10 years to get the horse to this level of competition with very few opportunities to compete at this level so any distraction will not go down well.
I realise that the grass roots riders are exited but to listen to some they expect the pros to welcome them with open arms this is unlikely to happen, and the truth is very few of the spectators going will show interest in the grass roots at all.
 
What makes you think that the grassroots riders think that Badminton is "just a bit of fun"?
It is as much the pinnacle of their dreams as the 4* is for its riders.They have worked as hard as any 4* rider to get there. They mostly have to work to keep their horses and then fit in lessons, practice and getting horses fit around it.
They may not have worked their way up through the levels but they have probably ridden and awful lot of horses before they found the one on which they could achieve this. About 3000 riders started out on this journey and they have every right to be proud of their achievement.
How many of you actually know a 4* rider who is up in arms about this? I think the majority are of the 'lets wait and see' opinion. I am sure that afterwards there will be lots of discussions and consultations but meanwhile we should be wishing ALL the competitors lots of luck, a great weekend and to come back safely.
 
popsdosh said:
I personally think that it would have been better to have totally separated the two competitions at least timing wise and maybe this is a step to take to bring the pros on side another year.Please nobody taking part in the grass roots take offence but it is just a bit of fun to you to be at Badminton competing .To those at 4star it is the pinnacle of the sport and has taken anything from 5 to 10 years to get the horse to this level of competition with very few opportunities to compete at this level so any distraction will not go down well.
I realise that the grass roots riders are exited but to listen to some they expect the pros to welcome them with open arms this is unlikely to happen, and the truth is very few of the spectators going will show interest in the grass roots at all.
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Having spoken to a couple of people yesterday to get the 4* perspective it rapidly became clear to me how little understanding they have of the arrangements for the GR, and how the rumour mill has swung out of control (as usual ;) ). For instance, they seemd to think that the GR competitors would be integrated into the main event, in the same way as for instance at a one day running N and Adv, they are worrying about space in the lorry park, crowds in the stables etc. Of course, this is rubbish, the GR is being run largely separately, and the competitors will have no access at all to the "hallowed areas" of the 4* event, they are just being given (very generously, in my view) normal spectator season tickets which give them no additional access. Of course, the GR lorry park and stabling is nowhere near the main event's.

One person I spoke to seemed to believe that the less knowledgeable spectators will muddle the GR fences with the 4* and think "That's not very big!" :p Personally I think this is laughable - in fact, the presence of the GR fences just serves to show how enormous the 4* ones are - it can be hard to keep your perspective otherwise, particularly now you can't actually walk up to the fences.

The one point I think is a potential issue is this one about how close the XC goes to the dressage. Until we see how it works on the ground it's difficult to know whether it will be a factor or not - if it is, I'm sure they will change it for next year, but tough on those who are affected this year...

I do, however, think it is vital that the 4* competitors remember where the financial roots of the sport are, and recognise that without the GR competitors and those like them there would not be a 4* event or an olympic sport at all. Rather than denigrating the GR Champs and moaning about it's presence at their previously exclusive party, they should be working positively to make this new move work for everyone and for the good of the sport. I suspect there may be some teething problems which will need sorting but that doesn't mean the whole idea is a bad one, let's just learn from whatever happens this year and improve on it for everybody for 2011.
 
I think having grassroots is a brill idea....allows people like me who have 0.01% chance of riding at 4* badminton, enjoy the astomsphere and have a good time.....
 
TableDancer said:
I do, however, think it is vital that the 4* competitors remember where the financial roots of the sport are, and recognise that without the GR competitors and those like them there would not be a 4* event or an olympic sport at all. Rather than denigrating the GR Champs and moaning about it's presence at their previously exclusive party, they should be working positively to make this new move work for everyone and for the good of the sport. I suspect there may be some teething problems which will need sorting but that doesn't mean the whole idea is a bad one, let's just learn from whatever happens this year and improve on it for everybody for 2011.
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Ditto this completely - very well said :)
 
I do, however, think it is vital that the 4* competitors remember where the financial roots of the sport are, and recognise that without the GR competitors and those like them there would not be a 4* event or an olympic sport at all. Rather than denigrating the GR Champs and moaning about it's presence at their previously exclusive party, they should be working positively to make this new move work for everyone and for the good of the sport. I suspect there may be some teething problems which will need sorting but that doesn't mean the whole idea is a bad one, let's just learn from whatever happens this year and improve on it for everybody for 2011.
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As Badminton makes a lot of money every year it is quite hard to say that without the grassroots there would be no 4* or olympics.
All the 4* riders want is to be able to give their competition their full attention without distractions. There are many things they will have to cope with and fit into the next few days so their priority cannot not be making time for the grassroots champs. They have enough to do
This may sound harsh and it's not that I want to take anything away from the grassroots or their championship but in all walks of life one has to attain a level to be able to do certain things. Not everyone can go to university/the olympics/own a Ferrari/ etc. Why is Badminton different? Surely the point of being able to ride at Badminton is to have reached those lofty heights.
Having said that, the Championships are there so I hope that everyone has a great time and really enjoy the experience.
 
popsdosh said:
and the truth is very few of the spectators going will show interest in the grass roots at all.
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Well there are at least six of us going only for the grassroots. I'm just peeved I have had to buy a ticket for the Friday dressage when I don't have any particular interest in watching it.
 
oldvic said:
To say that the horses should be obedient and listen to their riders is idealistic and shows a lack of appreciation of how fine-tuned some of these horses are.
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Oh I have complete appreciation of how fine-tuned some of these horses are :) However, they SHOULD be able to concentrate whilst tannoys and whistles are going on, etc...it is not the first time they will have had to concentrate with these things going on and it won't be the last.

Take Olympia - the SJers have to put up with whizzing ponies, a crowd in their face, carts, music, lights, I could go on....
 
Weezy said:
Oh I have complete appreciation of how fine-tuned some of these horses are :) However, they SHOULD be able to concentrate whilst tannoys and whistles are going on, etc...it is not the first time they will have had to concentrate with these things going on and it won't be the last.

Take Olympia - the SJers have to put up with whizzing ponies, a crowd in their face, carts, music, lights, I could go on....
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True... but those doing dressage on the saturday won't have to contend with this...

Will be interesting to see how it all pans out in reality.

One thing I did note from the main Badminton website is that very little is made of the GR (yes, there is a separate site but) and trying to find out how to access it as a spectator is nigh on impossible. I'm making the assumption that you just go to the main event as normal and then can find your way to the GR area but not sure if this is right as I can't find any spectator info about it. I'm planning on going Friday as want to see the GR champs and also the dressage, and of course shop and will then watch the XC at home on Sunday as I really dislike the crowds these days and you get to see far more now it's on ref button
 
QR.
Any BRC members on here who have qualified for the grassroots champs,who didn't receive a message from the office, please note the coursewalk with Johnathen Chapman is at 12.45 Thursday, not in the evening as I previously posted.
 
Weezy said:
Oh I have complete appreciation of how fine-tuned some of these horses are :) However, they SHOULD be able to concentrate whilst tannoys and whistles are going on, etc...it is not the first time they will have had to concentrate with these things going on and it won't be the last.

Take Olympia - the SJers have to put up with whizzing ponies, a crowd in their face, carts, music, lights, I could go on....
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In an idealistic world maybe, but it is not as simple as that. These are very high couraged horses that need to keep a bit of independence to be good SAFE cross country horses. They are not specialists, they are Jack of all trades so have to overcome shortcomings be it in temperament, conformation, movement, etc. At 3 day events they don't have to cope with cross country going on which helps when you are asking more in terms of power and precision than in the warm up competitions where you are more prepared to lose a mark or two.

Show jumpers are completely different. They don't have to have the same level of fitness and, at top level, they have all those things on a regular basis, not just at Olympia. Most of them are controlled with draw reins in the warm up and they have fences to focus on. If a horse is unable to cope with a certain aspect of some shows there is another one the following week or very soon after. The next 4* isn't until mid June and failing that, Burghley in September.
 
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