Unaffiliated dressage championships

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tatty_v

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So pony and I managed unexpectedly to qualify for our local unaffiliated summer dressage championships at prelim level. I got all excited putting our entry in but when I checked the times today, there are 30 people in the class, most of whom are BD riders or pro riders riding multiple horses. Sojme are even competing at the Nationals this week. Maybe it was naive of me but I thought by sticking to unaffiliated (it's our first year competing) we would at least be up against some comparable opposition?! I'm trying to think of all the good points - takes the pressure off, might manage to up our game amongst such prestigious company, entry only cost a fiver as I had a voucher from the last time we got placed (!) etc, but I must confess to being slightly peeved! Is this normal?!
 
I believe it is relatively normal im afraid. Im sure there's reasons for it however, not just pot/trophy hunting. Its possible that that these riders might be using horses that are only just coming back into work or people are using these shows as training. Dont let it get you down though op - this is your opportunity to get out there in a realistic idea of BD standard. Just enjoy it!!
 
Is it a lot cheaper? Even the pros have to keep an eye on the pennies, especially with the baby ponies. If the same horses are competing BD nationals at Prelim then you could feel a little hard done to but if it's on their other mounts I don't think it's unreasonable. If you were doing BE90/100 you might see other pro riders in your class but they're not going to be on their 2/3/4* mounts are they?
 
It's £15 entry so the money thing makes sense I suppose, although the horses that some of them are competing have qualified for the Nationals so aren't so much babies! Still, we're staying positive as best we can :)
 
Could possibly depend on the restrictions or no restrictions of the class. Some championships specify that combinations are not to have competed bd, or gained so many points etc.
You qualified, you deserve to be there. Enjoy your championship and we would love to see some photos of the big event. Good luck x
 
Sounds a bit odd tbh! I know pros who take baby horses out unaffiliated to their first few shows (often H/C) but none who'd bother with unaffiliated championships! And the rules of our local one are like Charlie007 describes, combinations with more than so many BD points are ineligible or only eligible for specific sections.

I know of other people who compete affiliated at one level and unaffiliated at the next level up, to avoid getting points at the higher level before horse is properly established. Can't say I really understand all these competition tactics really, it's a long way over my head!

I understand totally why you might be feeling slightly baffled, but hope it doesn't stop you enjoying the championship and taking pride in doing the best you and your horse are capable of x
 
Charlie007 said:
Could possibly depend on the restrictions or no restrictions of the class. Some championships specify that combinations are not to have competed bd, or gained so many points etc.
You qualified, you deserve to be there. Enjoy your championship and we would love to see some photos of the big event. Good luck x
Click to expand...

Exactly this!

(it's also one of the reasons I don't compete unaff anymore)
 
Does Sound a bit of a strange one! But TBH don't be put off by competing against those who are affiliated. Just because someone has paid a membership fee does not mean they are better horse & rider combinations.
 
It used to make me cross, too. Pony and I had worked so hard and were just starting to see 65%+ at Novice, had qualified for the local championship and then the event before the championship along comes a BYRDS rider fresh from a win in the Netherlands and wipes the board at Novice and Elementary. Why, when pony is competing Medium? Then they had the audacity to quibble they only got 84%! We came second to them in the Novice, with a 20% difference. To be honest, it made me feel completely second rate and crap. Not because I wanted to win, but because in comparison it was obvious we were an amateur outfit and never likely to be up there with the big guns.

I asked the organisers why they didn't insist on HC if the combination had so many BD points. They stated they wanted to be non-exclusive. The more people competing, the better the reputation of the venue and they weren't going to have it any other way.

They came back the next weekend to compete at the Championships. And won both the Novice and the Elementary. I thought perhaps the pony was for sale, and they were trying to up the scores a bit. But the pony still has the same rider a year on.

I think you just have to say 'C'est la vie' and use it to aim higher.
 
Well we did it! It was quite scary on the day - the usual outdoor warm-up had been turned into the main arena (complete with horse-eating flowerpots!) and the warm-up had been moved to one of the indoor schools, which we'd never been into before and has a really weird entrance through a dark corridor. The carpark was also full of very swanky branded lorries, so our little trailer looked very out of place! Pony on the other hand was completely and utterly unphased by everything! I didn't warm up brilliantly as I still struggle to get what I need to get done at the same time as avoiding everyone else. The test itself went well, although I made one error of course (which was really annoying as I KNEW it was a quick turn off the circle to change the rein and yet somehow forgot on the day!) and I didn't push him forward enough. That said, we still came 18 out of 28 and the top four or five places went to the pro riders, who were 10s of %s higher than the rest of us!

With apologies for the quality of the photos (they are video screenshots as despite the posh flowerpots, there was no photographer!), here we are:



All in all I'm really proud of us both. Pony has never really done this kind of thing before and neither have I. He was so unflappable on the day it's really boosted my confidence, so we're going to have a bash at the winter series and see if we can qualify again :)
 
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