Solihull Unaffiliated ODE

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spotty_pony

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What is it like? Thinking about having a go at the 80cm class next month. :)

Is it all run on grass? What is the going like? Can I get away without studs at this level?

Thanks :)
 
Lovely venue, really friendly and they do a lot of PC there so course are usually sensible and encouraging. When I was watching BE there the SJing was on a surface but don't know for the unaff. It was also an indoor warmup for the SJ. I may well be doing the 80cm ODE so might see you there!
 
i think they build small and encouraging, its not a long course, you can see it all mainly from the lorry park. i love it there its so friendly.
for pony club they do it all on grass (dr, sj and xc) but for normal unaff odes ive seen them do the dr and sj on a surface (usually the sj in the indoor) or just the sj on a surface (outdoor).
good luck!
 
Dressage on grass, SJ on a surface. Its my favourite venue, I was about to enter on line when the bloody horse (TB!) twisted a shoe sinking a toe clip in his sole and earned himself some unpaid leave!!!

The Dr is very quiet, you have a lovely large warm up and go into a seperate field for the test. SJ is on the big outdoor with a large warmup space indoors.Always seems a bit small to me compared to other venues. XC course is just lovely, can't fault it! Enough questions without being scary!
 
Solihull is my local & my horse did the 80 there last year, SJ was small and on grass but be aware they have beefed up the XC this year. But as others have said not too long & relatively flat.
 
QR - what's the 90cm like? I did the 80 a couple of years ago and didn't much like it. Found the course didn't run well and the ground was horrendously hard. However, we've got a lot more events under out belt now and done some 90s already so am hoping the fact I didn't like the course might be more to do with inexperience than anything else?!

Horse is pretty bold XC and v honest. No idea what the course is like but he isn't ditchy or bothered by water.
 
I walked the course on Saturday (was schooling in the little paddock 70 is big enough atm) the ground was good but the water jump was dried up, the course is usually well looked after for events though. There are some new jumps, look wide to me but I'm a jumping wimp but nothing too technical
 
duckling said:
I have plenty of course photos from previous events on www.facebook.com/unaffiliatedxccoursephotos - if you go to the Albums page and scroll right down, you'll find an album called West Mids - Solihull :)

Unfortunately it doesn't work so well on a mobile or tablet version of Facebook, a computer is best.
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What a fab idea! I have just dipped my toes into ODE's and very much prefer to have a nosey at the xc course before I enter (for my own peace of mind that I can do it!) and this will help hugely!

I am thinking of entering the Solihull 80 as well :)
 
Use Shoestring Eventing for Solihull. It will be run over the BE course, or something v similar. Shoestring is more up to date than the unaffil XC course pics FB page - the BE90 is showing from this year.
 
naza said:
Do you have a direct link to your Solihull album?
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Will get you one when I'm on my laptop tomorrow as unfortunately the mobile site doesn't work properly.

chestnut cob said:
Use Shoestring Eventing for Solihull. It will be run over the BE course, or something v similar. Shoestring is more up to date than the unaffil XC course pics FB page - the BE90 is showing from this year.
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Yeah it's a pain - I really struggle to get the same level of interest in taking course photos from competitors at unaffiliated events :( it's a constant battle and doesn't help that there are so many of them! I even had one cheeky woman send in her course photos and tell me I'd have to pay for the privilege of using them! Errrrm, I do this voluntarily to help out other riders and it takes me between 5-10 hours a week of my own time, bog off :mad3: Sorry, rant over..!
 
Lauren_abigail said:
What a fab idea! I have just dipped my toes into ODE's and very much prefer to have a nosey at the xc course before I enter (for my own peace of mind that I can do it!) and this will help hugely!

I am thinking of entering the Solihull 80 as well :)
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Thank you Lauren_abigail, glad you like it and hope it's useful - just replied to your Crown Farm post, have an album of past course photos from there on the site :)
 
I'm at Solihull this weekend. I will try to take photos, I've sent them in before, but I'm relying on my temperamental phone that stops working regularly for many many reasons!!!
 
If it's been dry, just hope they've worked the ground as otherwise it will be rock hard. Covered arena surface is very dusty too which is worth bearing in mind if there are any respiratory issues (horse and rider!).

Their events tend to run smoothly though. I've done the DR and SJ of ODEs on both grass and a surface there, ground conditions dependent.

Try not to come off in the water, it's a bit grim!
 
Looking at the be90 course pics on shoestring eventing it seems they've prepared their take off and landings well. It was rock hard when I went a couple of yrs ago. I will probably enter but just take it easy between fences.
The other option is the unaffil at LandS Eventing (church farm Bury?? nr Solihull). Their ground is really great although I found the xc very odd. It flows quite well but some of the jumps were very bizarre. Solihull looks a much more inviting course and your sj is on a good surface. sj at l&s was massive on hard ground iirc.
 
I'd go for LandS over solihull every time. Offchurch is a super course and it's nice to have a challenging XC over a big standard brush/log/roll top course. I fence judged at their last event and ground was spot on.
 
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