Veteran Showing - help!

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Annagain

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Since M isn't doing quite so much these days I thought I might have a go at some veteran showing this summer. He was fairly successful at working hunter and hunter classes (just locally, nothing to any great standard) back in the day and is still nice and supple and loose at 22 as well as, of course, (along with his brother) being the most handsome beast known to man so I'm hoping he could do ok. The topline he lost over the winter is returning and by the end of summer he should be looking his best. He has a few scars from having sarcoids removed as a 5 year old but I'm told these shouldn't matter and it's against the rules to cover them up? When he was younger, as he was iron grey, they blended in with his coat and weren't obvious but now he's white they really show.

I've done a bit of reasearch and I have to say I'm stumped. There seems to be two organisations - Senior Showing and Dressage and the Veteran Horse Society - who both seem to run very similar competitions. Is one better than the other? Can you do both? There are more VHS classes in my areas so will probably go with that one if there's no difference but there are one or two SSD ones too. I can't make head nor tail however about qualification for either organisation? They talk about 1st and 2nd round qualifiers (which is easy to understand) but also about direct routes. Does that mean at certain shows, if you qualify you go straight to the final? Do you have to be a member to do those shows? I understand for 1st rounds you don't have to be a member but if you get a 2nd round ticket you have to register bfore you can attend those?

The plan is to go to one show local to me in July to have a look at how it all works and then there are two others not too far away in August and September which I'll have a go at. If anyone has any experience of these classes they could share with me I'd be grateful. Does the judge ride them? M always did well with ridden judges as he's such a gentleman so I'd be more than happy with that but I'm guessing they might not as it might be a bit much for oldies to be standing around for ages and then have a stranger ride them.
 
I did a bit last year with Millie and enjoyed having something else to get our teeth into, though I have to admit I am NOT a showing fan and I wouldn't be in a rush to do any with Kira :p I did find it was a nice atmosphere though, as everyone was enjoying their dear oldies and it was generally supportive and helpful. So that's def a plus.

In terms of the 2 organisations, hopefully someone with a bit more nous will turn up but I agree it's a muddle! I joined both SSADL and VHS because I had shows under both orgs within my usual travelling radius. As it happened I couldn't make it to either of the second rounds that we qualified for in the end but I was already registered at the time of entry (mainly because I wanted an age badge :p)

The VHS has a really helpful FB group and i think they are good if you need to contact them around rules etc so have a look for that. By contrast I found the SSADL comms a bit jumbled but the shows were fun all the same.

I did mainly small hunter, equitation and riding horse classes where the were split (VHS did a big spring show near me last year) and then just did the age classes where they were included as part of a "normal" show. Did my local county show as well which was fun. Never saw a judge ride, it mainly took the form of a go-round in w/t/c, then line up, individual show, then the placings & lap of honour :D

Was a nice thing to do and quite easy on the horse physically. If I wasn't so busy I'd pull Millie out of the field and do a few more, but the orange girls are fighting over the horsebox as it is ;) I hadn't done showing before so I also did a showing clinic through TSR which was useful because I have the dressage way of going drilled into me, and they wanted her to be more open and bizarrely less forward, but also more, um, "expressive"? basically every time I asked how I could do better they wanted to see the horse was enjoying itself (being tanked off with in medium trot doesn't count apparently :p)

eta, yes don't worry about scars etc, Millie had some and also an ugly fetlock but it's all just battle scars and so long as he is sound it won't matter a jot.
 
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Thanks - that sounds like it could suit us. M can do a good job of trotting round looking pretty without getting the engagement he needs to do really well at dressage so more open and less forward would be great! He's also nice and calm cantering in a group but still enthusiastic. It's been years since I did any showing and that was with my Welshie (M did his with his owner) so going to have to brush up on etiquette and attire for a hunter! He does have a nice double bridle but he'll have to make do with his GP. I'm not so serious about it that he needs a new saddle! All our local shows with classes are county standard except one (which luckily is the first one I'd go to) so I think I'll try to find a local unaffilated one to get out to before that.
 
I’ve done a fair few successfully at local level. I was put off VHS by the standard of judging I saw at a qualifier. It didn’t affect me so not sour grapes because I voluntarily retired as my boy was so badly behaved :D. They seem to place an obviously lame horse first.

At the Sunshine Tour again I thought the ridden veteran oddly judged with stunning veterans placed below some obviously not so stunning ones. Mine wasn’t placed but that was understandable because he first showed some issues (not going forwards into canter) that initially I put down to riding in a Pelham but then realised he had developed an issue striking off which had only just manifested itself.
 
On another note, I've seen discussion on another thread about showing people hating rugby pelhams. I'm pretty sure this is what M has (not my bridle, it's what his owner used to show him in) but I'll have to check. Would it be the end of the world? I don't want to shell out loads, we might hate it!

Sussex - I know what you mean I did some local ones with my old boy 20 years ago and they just seemed to give it to the oldest horse no matter what!
 
If you want to go to Olympia you need to join SSADL, need to do a 1st round and qualify, join if you haven’t already and then find out where the 2nd rounds are and go champion. The direct qualifiers tend to be at bigger shows ie Windsor where champions in both in hand and ridden go through or like Suffolk where the in hand and ridden champion fight it out for the ticket. A
There are also chances to qualify at their championships but it is a society with its own rules and you need to read them well, last years first placed at Olympia lost the title after using black chalk.
VHS were the original society before infighting caused a split and still run shows and qualifiers but only for their own champs
 
The standard at SSADL is incredibly high, whilst it is an amateur class there are a lot of top class horses and ponies competing and the classes at the direct routes can be huge. 52 in one of the ridden classes at Windsor.
 
Having been a member of both societies I will say on paper there isn't much difference - the most obvious one being that SSADL have the Olympia qualifiers, so if you're aiming for this it has to be SSADL. You don't need to be a member for first rounds but you do for second rounds, and the direct routes just mean that you don't have to have qualified for the 2nd rounds, its a straight Olympia qualifier but I believe you do need to be a member. Its not just a case of winning your class though, you have to win your age class then take Champion to get the ticket, sometimes it is separate for ridden and in hand sometimes but not often mixed.
VHS hold area qualifiers and regionals working on the same principal as the Round 1/2 which can qualify you for their supreme of show on the last day of their VHS champs. I would say a similar standard within both societies but obviously with the draw of Olympia SSADL do attract a very high standard.
I will however say this...
If you want to go out and have fun with your veteran, VHS all the way. I will be careful how I say this but SSADL weren't exactly helpful to me and I think many have been put off with the mess at Olympia last year. Their rules regrading make up are bizarre...I did their Championship show for a few years running and whilst I enjoyed it I didn't feel it was friendly.
VHS on the other hand are as open, welcoming and friendly as you can imagine. Their Champs are great fun with a huge variety of classes for everyone. I am now a member of VHS only and whilst I would have loved to go to Olympia and did get close a couple of times, it wasn't worth the hassle.
The 2 societies are largely similar so it is up to you ultimately, both have similar membership fees and I certainly couldn't have afforded both but I think many do do both. If you are a bit unsure about anything the VHS facebook page is very active and you can always get help there :-)
With regards to strange judging, yes it does happen, and I've seen results that I didn't agree across many societies, not just veteran classes. The thing with veterans is there is such a hige range of animals forward, so it really is luck of the draw what the judge prefers, although all of course should be judged on their own merit. Please don't be put off just because of one class. Personally I also dislike the rugby pelham - however if its what your horse goes in and he's happy, who cares what other people think - and I doubt a judge will worry so long as he's calm and accepting of it (but best to check the respective rule books) - its mainly swales that are very frowned upon!
Good luck and have fun
 
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atouchwild said:
Having been a member of both societies I will say on paper there isn't much difference - the most obvious one being that SSADL have the Olympia qualifiers, so if you're aiming for this it has to be SSADL. You don't need to be a member for first rounds but you do for second rounds, and the direct routes just mean that you don't have to have qualified for the 2nd rounds, its a straight Olympia qualifier but I believe you do need to be a member. Its not just a case of winning your class though, you have to win your age class then take Champion to get the ticket, sometimes it is separate for ridden and in hand sometimes but not often mixed.
VHS hold area qualifiers and regionals working on the same principal as the Round 1/2 which can qualify you for their supreme of show on the last day of their VHS champs. I would say a similar standard within both societies but obviously with the draw of Olympia SSADL do attract a very high standard.
I will however say this...
If you want to go out and have fun with your veteran, VHS all the way. I will be careful how I say this but SSADL weren't exactly helpful to me and I think many have been put off with the mess at Olympia last year. Their rules regrading make up are bizarre...I did their Championship show for a few years running and whilst I enjoyed it I didn't feel it was friendly.
VHS on the other hand are as open, welcoming and friendly as you can imagine. Their Champs are great fun with a huge variety of classes for everyone. I am now a member of VHS only and whilst I would have loved to go to Olympia and did get close a couple of times, it wasn't worth the hassle.
The 2 societies are largely similar so it is up to you ultimately, both have similar membership fees and I certainly couldn't have afforded both but I think many do do both. If you are a bit unsure about anything the VHS facebook page is very active and you can always get help there :-)
With regards to strange judging, yes it does happen, and I've seen results that I didn't agree across many societies, not just veteran classes. The thing with veterans is there is such a hige range of animals forward, so it really is luck of the draw what the judge prefers, although all of course should be judged on their own merit. Please don't be put off just because of one class. Personally I also dislike the rugby pelham - however if its what your horse goes in and he's happy, who cares what other people think - and I doubt a judge will worry so long as he's calm and accepting of it (but best to check the respective rule books) - its mainly swales that are very frowned upon!
Good luck and have fun
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Thanks - we're definitely in it for the fun. I'm certainly not aiming for championships and won't be disappinted if we don't get there, but if we're lucky enough to, great! There are more VHS classes in my area so will probably go for those.

It's been years since he wore the pelham. I've been riding him 10 years and he's not worn it in that time so better do some work getting him back into it! His owner stopped showing him when he greyed out so much that the sarcoid scars on his chest were really obvious - until then they were the same colour as his coat so far less noticeable. Some judges picked up on them but you'd be amazed how many didn't. I've just done riding clubs with him so everything we've done has been in a snaffle. He's generally a happy and accepting chap though. I'm pretty sure he'll go in anything, it's more that we already have it.
 
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