unaffiliated bigger than affiliated?

Gembo

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27 December 2010
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i know that isleham is a good example of this, in the 3ft4 there they had a be intermediate log combination :L i think it must be because for affiliated there are so many rules on what is allowed and isnt the courses are all very similar in technicality ect. however showjumping is the complete opposite a british novice at the jays is the equivilant of 3ft3 unaffiliated there purely because they build them small with no spread at all is this the case everywhere and should things change ? i certainly think they shoud otherwise heights will become misinterpreted.
 
The standard of unaff XC courses is why I started this website:
www.facebook.com/unaffiliatedxccoursephotos

There are many really good unaffiliated XC events with fair challenges and well built/maintained fences, but they do get a bad name by those who e.g. stick a metre high wall in a 2'6 class... I do think people should support their well run local unaffiliated events though, it would be a shame to lose them. Prize money's often better than BE too! ;)

The website is there for people to get an idea of what sort of course they are likely to be getting when they enter an unaffiliated event but I really need more! If anyone is heading to a hunter trial/unaff ODE or has any course photos from unaffiliated XC events over the last year please do send them to me so I can add them to the site - xcpics@hotmail.co.uk

Thanks :D
 
We do a lot of PC stuff (in your area, from your posts- area 8 PC).

We have found generally the courses are harder than you'd expect at BE100 for PC intermediate. However, this is mostly because at BE100 you're at the beginning of your career, on the lower rungs. However, PC intermediate (the same height) is only one step off being at the top of the tree in PC terms so needs to be challenging.

This is very obvious at bigger events. Al did Burghley PC ODE round the 1m class and the course was very technical and up-to-height. Lots of learners, but things like three big steps up then 3 strides on a dogs leg to a big pimple fence, a skinny log then a step into the water, big brush to a corner, etc. that simply wouldn't happen in BE comps at BE100.

We're lucky with places like Forest Edge reasonably close, because they build properly but some places 1m would look small in a 90cm affiliated class. But the rate of people wanting to do these classes unaffiliated is very low so you have to balance it all out. Keeping it standard is nigh on impossible, especially when you compare how the classes need to be perceived by the competitors.
 
but i still think there should be more of a similarity between the two so that the difference is less. i think it leads to problems in two way. less people will affiliate 1) bs- they wont find the courses manageable after being used to jumping round unaffiliated courses with non exsistant spreads and 2)british eventing- less people will join as they can go and jump round courses that are more challenging , and it also causes problems for unaffiliated as less people will be inclined to support their local shows as the classes are inaccurate and they will go places where the heights are fair
 
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