Should I or shouldn't I ...??

[Hollyhorse]

Hi, ok here's my situation! Advice needed pls

I have a 5 rising 6 year old ISH who I bought feb 07 and took to 2 intros and 4 pre-novices last summer (pleasing results, got better and better). I'm at university and luckily have him at a livery yard while I'm at uni, but can't travel anywhere. Fortunately there are competitions held at the yard and so since september I've been doing BSJA competitions 2 or 3 times a month (BN, Disc, 1.05) and BD competitions (Nov/Elem) once a month. He's been going really well, jumping double clears, usually winning/placed, so am really confident that his SJing and dressage are more than ready for the BE season.

I have a month holiday at easter when I take him home and then I come back to uni until I graduate in June. What I can't decide is whether to affiliate him for the whole year and do 1 or 2 intros during my easter holiday (Belmont Park and Larkhill) or to affiliate for half a yr n compete him when I get back in the summer. If I do the first option then I will only have a few wks at home before the first comp to do some XC schooling and hope he remembers! If I do the latter option then I will have about a month to do some XC schooling before I can compete (think half yr registration starts in july?).
I'd preferably like to get him doing something in easter because then I can go straight into pre-novices when I go home for the summer because otherwise by the time I go home I've missed half the season! But then the last thing I want to do is to enter an intro to find that when I go XC schooling just before that he's forgotten all about it and needs several sessions and I haven't got time!

Any thoughts?

Any advice appreciated!

 

[Thistle]

So is he still a grade 4 horse? I would guess so.

I always reckon that for grade 4, 1 years membership = 4 horse day tickets.

So if you will do 3 events with him after the summer it is worth reg him now and do an Easter one too.
Maybe go back to Intro for the first one as he hasn't been schooling much and just hack round.

With ballotting these days day tickets always go first so worth being a full member

If he has been doing BSJA and hacking he should be fit enough.

Either that or try the half year option but find some unaff events at easter.

 

[Hollyhorse]

yeh still grade 4 - he's only 5! Last yr was his first yr eventing so did a few intros then a handful of pre-novices. My plan is to do approx 2 events every month after I get back in june so prob about 9 events, and I hope to upgrade him to novice at the end of the season (assuming all goes well etc).

If I do something in easter then it would def be an intro so if he's acts a bit green he isnt going to scare himself. He's very fit so that isn't a prob. I think the thing is when I introduced him to XC jumps last yr (he'd done NOTHING before I got him) he was seriously awful but after MANY sessions he started to get the hang of it and then got better and better and I can now see him becoming a bit of a XC machine! I just think he might be silly and spooky after so long not XC jumping if I take him to a comp without doing several schooling sessions - he has a heart attack SJing if he hasnt jumped for 2 wks!!

 

[dieseldog]

Have you been to Belmont before? It is a pretty boring/not very good event. I wouldn't get all excited about doing it. You could spend the money on Hunter Trials or XC schooling.

 

[Hollyhorse]

No I've never been to Belmont before. What do you mean when you say it's not very good? If it's boring then does that mean the XC jumps are easy in which case it would ideal for his first event (not v challenging so doesnt matter if he's a bit spooky)??