Ridden Showing - competing in one day

[Perissa]

How far/long would you travel to enter a ridden class to travel home the same day?

Would you consider 2 to 2 1/2 hour trip (each way) too far to travel up to a show, do a ridden class and then come home again?

What if you had to leave at say 5am?

What is the longest you have travelled to a show (ridden) to return the same day?

 

[minesadouble]

We have done 2 and a half hours to the Great Yorkshire - and were actually on the lorry for more than 3 hours by the time we queued to get on the showground!

I wouldn't hesitate to do a 3hour journey if it was a big show/qualifier, wouldn't do it for a bog standard show though.

 

[ironhorse]

We used to do 2.5 hours when I was showing a ladies hunter -that was my maximum with him because he was a big guy and only just fitted in the lorry!

Most of our shows are now 3hrs away, and we have competed our older horse on the same day as the outward and return journeys, although she has a stable as the shows tend to be 3 days and I always allow her a good hour and a half to chill before getting ready for the class.

Not sure I'd do it with a youngster, and TBH it used to take a lot out of the ladies' hunter who was in his teens, but as we only showed every 3 weeks he had plenty of recovery time in between.

 

[Sessle]

It'd depend on the level of the show, if it was county and qualifiers then I would probably do 2/3 hours each way, but a normal local show most I'd go to is an hour each way.
I know some people do more than this, one recently left at 3am!

 

[Walrus]

My friends who show at top level (RIHS / HOYS) will leave at 2am to travel through the night to chase qualifiers. We're North Yorkshire and they'll do Bristol in a day and the class could be a morning one! Crackers - but seems to work, they are very successful!