Trailblazer Finals - Cost of Entry etc

£19 maintenance when your horse causes no damage at all is a total fiddle!

It costs a fortune to go to these venues & when you look at the cost of entry plus the number of entries & the amount of prize money it becomes clear that someone somewhere is making a hell of a lot of money......... but it isn't the riders!
 
There is no prize money or even prizes in kind.
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The entry booklet says-
The winner gets a Championship Rosette, sash, cup & perpetual trophy.
2nd gets a Reserve Championship Rosette & Medal
3rd gets a rosette & medal
Rosettes to 10th.
I would expect the winner & maybe second, at what is a national championship, to at least get a prize of some sort... maybe a rug like Milton Keynes 3 day?
 
I won Reserve in 2002.....and won a £10 feed voucher
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The winner was far luckier....I think she won a £20 feed voucher
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Sash and rossies were lovely, although I will say the standards in rosettes had dropped by 2003 (we were 5th that year) and they werent as nice! I think it cost us about £200 for each of those years - two SJ classes and a warm up, + stables (took own bedding). There was no car park charge though!

It is a wonderful experience, but I dont know I'd be able top afford it now if thats how much it has gone up
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I think it would be a brilliant experience for my lad, but again :O at the cost! It was like that when I took my 148cms, and boiling hot. Another thing - its meant to be for amateurs, so the rule is no JAs allowed, but I overheard a girl saying to someone, "Well my pony is only one pound off JA now which is lucky." How is that fair? She was competing in the BSJA show held a few days afterwards and wanted her pony to settle in.... but I had to compete against her on a 16yo pony who had never jumped a round of BSJA in his life, never experienced that kind of atmosphere and was jumping round with a girl who had only been jumping 18 months! We got there through hard work and then had that to put up with! Plus, we qualified at 90cms only to discover a 1m20 wall in the jump off. So, rant over... a worthwhile experience, but not at that price.
 
Yep, I considered competing at these a few years ago but the cost was just a joke IMO.

For the past 2 years Ive gone to the BRC Horse Trial Champs which are only about a 15 min drive away over the same weekend!! Works out cheaper (although my RC pay for it!). I did go to Trailblazers in an evening just to see what it was like - TBH I much much prefer the Horse Trials, the Trailblazers seemed to be full of young girls in short skirts and high heels waiting for the disco...! and they jumped up until 10pm at night which I wouldnt have liked. And the stabling and parking is WAY nicer at Offchurch too :P
 
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