Question for Riders at Medium or above

PaddyMonty

PaddyMonty

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Just musing on ways to solve my lack of horse competing and had a thought.
Once a rider has ridden above a certain level they can no longer compete in prelim regionals etc.
This might pose a problem when bringing on a young horse and its early education.
Do people in this situation just skip prelim or do you think they would be interested in a fairly experienced rider who has no aspirations beyond prelim / novice competing their horse in the early stages.
If this is likely where would I start looking for such an owner? :confused:
 
I'm a group 5 rider, and have just started taking my very green horse out. I'm planning to just do a couple of prelim open shows to get her going & then move on.
TBH the new structure that they will be bringing in will probably solve the problem to an extent.

Quite possible that such an owner exists though, I personally didn't enjoy prelim enough to want to do regionals first time around, but I'm sure there are others with mega horses who may be interested.
 
Its a while since i've ridden medium but i would just do H/C with my own horse to give it experience and not worry about whether it went to regionals or not at prelim level, as would expect it to go on to higher levels anyway.
However, I do know someone who competes high level and they let their groom/trainee ride the young ones at prelim., normally for other owners though.
I think you would need to be riding for someone first (or already know someone) then get offered the ride on one of their youngsters (or a youngster at their yard). I may be wrong, but I am not sure there would be many owners wanting a rider they knew little about competing a youngster, as the initial competition experience can affect them for ages (good and bad experiences) plus there is insurance etc. to worry about. Basically, if i didn't ride myself and had a talented youngster then i would rather pay a top rider to ride H/C than an unknown rider to compete for a small prize.
To get competition experience, i think it would be easier to try to find owner/riders who lack a bit of confidence and would be happy for someone else to do a bit of competing so that they can see their horse out there doing something before they give it a go; or just because they want to see their horse doing something. Or sorting out 'quirky' horses that work well at home but may have an issue or two at shows. If you were successful doing this, then you could also get your name known and be offered better and better horses to ride.
Just my opinion though!
 
Thanks both for your comments.
wkiwi - I'm not looking to gain comp experience as have been competing for over 40 years, mainly BS and BE.
Now looking to compete at a lower level. Had my first taste of BD last year when I was asked to school/compete a rather nice lad. Took him from not competing to regional qual in 8 weeks and finished with a top 10 at regionals. Would have been higher but he injured his back which prevented me from schooling until day of regionals. Owner now taken over the ride as horse has got over the OMG stage. The last 10-15 years I've spent riding for owners, mainly the quirky / tricky sort. Thought this idea might be an way to still compete at lower level but on nice horses.
This was him at the regionals
DSC06745_zpsfcc15f28.jpg
 
I haven't fully got my head around the new BD competition structure but 'think' you may be able to complete at Regionals at the lower levels.
 
It would kill THAT idea, yes. Lots of people moaning about the new structure but actually I think it could be brilliant for riders starting again with youngsters.

The idea about taking green horses out for their first shows has still got legs though, but wkiwi is right, you will need to make a name for yourself - word of mouth is probably the best thing to get nice rides.
 
I suppose it might depend on what the horse is aimed at. If for sale to an amateur market then just maybe having a decent high group rider around would be beneficial. But to be honest, most of us who are riding medium+ and intending to keep the horse long term aren't going to be too bothered about doing prelims, and if we want to do a couple then we can do them as open/gold/HC or whatever the structure allows.

If you are looking for rides then probably either your wussy RC rider with a bit of money, or a sportshorse dealer would be the way to go.
 
milliepops said:
The idea about taking green horses out for their first shows has still got legs though, but wkiwi is right, you will need to make a name for yourself - word of mouth is probably the best thing to get nice rides.
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Ok, will look at that route. Slight problem with not actually riding atm but perhaps I'll have a conversation with two well known trainers / judges in this are that I trained with. They may well have pupils who would like a crash test dummy.
 
You might have more luck with the green owners ;) My horse is capable and schools a decent elem at home, but my mind turns to mush in front of a judge and for that reason I have been sticking to unaff. I'm thinking of getting a friend to do his first few BDs just so I know he won't get laughed out of the ring :p
 
PaddyMonty said:
So how would I find these green mush brained owners? Certainly something I would be happy to do if I could find the people needing this help.
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Perhaps try contacting local RCs, let them know you're available if any of their members would be interested? Flyers at local livery yards and competition venues?
 
I don't know much about the new BD rules as it has been a few years since I competed BD. But when I was riding full time I use to compete a lot of young dressage horses at the lower levels as their owners were not allowed to (and didn't enjoy it anyway). I would take the youngsters out for a bit of experience a couple of times at novice and prelim and then a year or so later they would go straight out at medium. It was great for me to get the chance to ride some fantastic quality horses and get the chance to compete at the regionals etc. (albeit mainly on something that is piaffing round with its eye balls on stalks).
 
I would classify myself as a green mush brained owner, so I reckon that idea has legs. In terms of where to find them, local trainers/instructors, RCs or the dreaded facebook might be good routes. I'd certainly be interested in someone helping me with my boy, who is green but talented and it'd be great for him to get some experience with a better rider in his early days. Downside, as you've already experienced, is when the owner catches up or gets confident and wants the ride back!
 
Bernster said:
Downside, as you've already experienced, is when the owner catches up or gets confident and wants the ride back!
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I don't actually mind that. My last ride I pretty much forced the owner to take over the ride as the time was right. One ride I persuaded the owner to sell the horse as although he was perfect for me, he was way beyond what she needed at the time. If it is made clear what my role is up front then anything is fine with me except producing a horse to sell FOC.
Shame you're not closer, I be happy to give you a hand.
 
eggs said:
I haven't fully got my head around the new BD competition structure but 'think' you may be able to complete at Regionals at the lower levels.
Click to expand...

Yes it will I understand end of the year we can enter gold prelims section x
 
I too think over horsed RC riders are the way to go ;) I've known a fair few ;).

Though maybe half wouldn't have wanted the help.
 
PaddyMonty said:
My concern with this route is I don't really want to compete at RC level which may be a problem.
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I think RC owners would be happy to see their horse doing more at bigger competitions. The best thing would be to advertisement in your local area (e.g. notices up at shows etc.), and ask your previous owners to give you references.
 
Ditto, there are lots of people out there that would like to see their nice horse competing, and sort of had that plan but are too nervous to do so themselves. The only potential issue would be if you put points on their horse and they still wanted to do prelim in RC teams..

I'd actually send an email to some secretaries and ask if they would pass it on to their mailing lists, if you don't ask you don't know.
 
I would be happy to pay you to help me & Trev at comps if/when we get going again (currently 4 weeks post KS surgery). He can be a complete **** at comps & I would be glad to either pay you to be the crash test dummy at the first couple of comps, either sj or dr, or pay you to keep me calm & focussed while he's having a meltdown. At some of the big venues e.g. Keysoe etc maybe you could have a couple of protegees on the go at once to make it worth your while? I am more or less competent, but if he's being a complete & utter **** in the middle of lots of other horses, I get flustered when I ought to be able to manage, IYSWIM...

T x
 
Of course I will help you but you certainly don't need to pay me. You come under the friend group so no charge whether I'm riding or just ground support. Actually wouldn't be a charge no matter what horse I was riding but only do ground support for friends.
Just let me know when you are ready to go play.
 
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