Talent Spotting

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evenag114

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Hi All

Just wandering if anyone has been to a talent spotting competition? Unfortuately I'm very much of the opinon that at (gulp) 24 I'm pretty much past any junior things now however I chose uni over competing so only have my self to blame. What sort of level is everyone/horse? Was thinking of just going and seeing what happens but think i may make a huge prat of my self. I am only competing at novice and both my horses are ex racers, each with complications, so I figure we are not really talent spotting material.

Just looking for conformation really!!!

evenag114
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I did it back when I was 17 and came joint 3rd in the last year of the old style finals when it was at Talland, there were regionals and only 6 reached the final which was all on borrowed horses so my info is possibly not that relevant as it has changed massively since then!

All I will say is they are looking for neat effective riders but you don't have to be superstars. I did the first round at the time on my trainers horse which I rode for the first time the day before and I did the regionals on a borrowed 5yo showjumper who had been ridden in draw reins all its life (and god did it show) which i rode briefly the day before but I still qualified!! Lots of people had fancy horses but when you swapped round thats when the judges really took notice.

Really had fun doing it must say, most importantly relax.

and to put you at ease when I did it I hadn't competed above Elementary but i had ridden lots of different horses/ponies. They were looking for riders who got get a tune out of a strange horse and make improvements in it's way of going. There were some very well known young riders who didn't get through at regionals as although they were very very good on their horses they were no where near as effective on a strange horse
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I did it last year when i was 23.

I wouldnt do it again. The winner of each age group was a BYRDs rider, and they all trained with the person who judged it. Not my idea of very fair......also i didnt agree with who won my section - her horse did it all for her, then when we came to swap horses she couldnt get the horse she swapped onto to do anything, yet she still won.
 
You see thats what I am worried about P_G. Not so much me getting on others' horses but both mine can be tricky. If sprite gets excited he can rear for England or whip round (or both together which never ends well!) and Micah would have to have a weight limit on him as he has had back issues in the past and I'm not prepared to risk it as he's very sensitive.

I think I may just go and watch the one at manor farm in cambs instead.

evenag114
 
i definately wouldnt take your horse if it can rear - thats one of the reasons im not doing it this year as Archie can be really hot and can rear when hes nervous. You'd get thrown out straight away if your horse did that with someone else on at the Talent Spotting!!

It was ok when i did it on Bloss last year, as shes quite a difficult ride - the girl who rode her couldnt even get her to canter
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I was going to do it but my horse can be a bit temperamental and I can't see anyone else putting up with it! Was going to go last year with my pony but was advised against it as have heard that it can be a fairly negative and can leave you feeling quite bad if you don't do well, but I've never been so don't know for sure!
 
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