what are peoples opinions of the pre-intro BE?

Mixed feelings really.
I think there is a market for them but to be honest I do see it as dumbing down a bit. I appreciate that there are a lot of positives but realistically Intro isn't that big and I think is sufficient for a lowest level.
What I can't understand is if they are serious about bringing in this pre-intro, why it isn't open to 4yo
 
money making idea only......... IMO, i think if you want to compete at these height there are plently of good local venues who run events at this height etc at half the cost....... and messing around with affililating etc.........
 
i think it's good, actually. it's another base layer on the pyramid that will help BE to pay for the top levels, isn't it. and there are always going to be people who are happy to compete over fences of that size, but not any bigger, so it's good to cater for them.
i must admit though, i knew quite a few people who competed at Novice for ages, until PN was introduced... they very gratefully started doing PN instead, and never went back up again. i wonder whether the same might happen with Intro?
should be open to 4 yr olds, but with a maximum of, say, 4 runs allowed total in the year, i think, to stop people from pushing them too far too soon (because it's 'affiliated' so presumably will make them worth more than doing local stuff, etc?)
 
i have mixed opinions.
I am in ths situation with a youngster where i think that even in a relatvly unhorsey compared to some areas of east anglia there is enough unaffiliated events to go around until i am ready to intro.
 
I think it's a good idea. In some areas there are a lot of unaff competitions, but you have no idea (without first going along) what standard they'll be at. With a BE sanctioned event, you know that there will be a consistent standard of ground preparation, sensible striding and safe constructions. With an unaff event, you might get that, or you might get a random collection of jumps.

Safety is potentially more important lower down the levels, the riders may not have enough experience to judge what is and what isn't reasonable and safe.
 
I don't think I would ever enter one as I am very lucky to have West Wilts on my doorstep that does really good unaffliated ODEs and HTs so I would begrudge paying the extra money to do a BE one.
 
I think it's a bit ridiculous TBH... Most horses are easily capable of intros, and seriously, if you want to event you should be comfortable at AT LEAST intro height IMO (sorry if that sounds quite mean)...
 
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I think it's a bit ridiculous TBH... Most horses are easily capable of intros, and seriously, if you want to event you should be comfortable at AT LEAST intro height IMO (sorry if that sounds quite mean)...

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There are a lot of areas in the country though where the unaffliated ODEs are abysmal. You wouldn't want to ride a donkey round them. So I think they do have their place, and they are probably more of a rider educating exercise than a horse one.
 
I think it draws away from riding club competitions and local/unaff...

Also, it takes out the prestige of affiliated eventing, it should be something to aim for and be proud of when you reach it... not have the bar lowered for you
 
Having watched some of the SJ at one of the trial events - yes most horses would have been capable of intro but the riders were not! I think it's a good idea in the way they are being run where there is an accredited trainer helping people do it right as well so hopefully they can progress safely. In our area the unaffiliated events are now few and far between. Riding clubs struggle to afford to run them with the cost of the paramedic cover required. So unaff only really works if you've got a local centre running them.
Having said that I agree that affiliated is something you aim for and has some prestige and I'm not sure I'd have paid to affiliate at level lower than intro.
 
Good money maker.

I dont think it's a great move for the sport though, where do we go next? The number of intermediate and advanced tracks is falling and pre-intro is not encouraging 'proper' affiliated horses and riders. I'm of the view that affiliated should be difficult and something to aim for. But then I also think that BSJA 75 and 85cm classes are ridiculous!!
 
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I think it draws away from riding club competitions and local/unaff...

Also, it takes out the prestige of affiliated eventing, it should be something to aim for and be proud of when you reach it... not have the bar lowered for you

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Totally agree, affiliated such be something you have to work towards. Most decent unaff in my area have the lowest class at intro height, the ones that are lower are the badly organised/ poorer courses
 
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But then I also think that BSJA 75 and 85cm classes are ridiculous!!

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totaly agree, more so than the eventing in that there are more unaff sjs which are run all year round, as opposed to the eventing where there are less courses and only run part of the year...
 
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Good money maker.

I dont think it's a great move for the sport though, where do we go next? The number of intermediate and advanced tracks is falling and pre-intro is not encouraging 'proper' affiliated horses and riders. I'm of the view that affiliated should be difficult and something to aim for. But then I also think that BSJA 75 and 85cm classes are ridiculous!!

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Totally agree
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"With a BE sanctioned event, you know that there will be a consistent standard of ground preparation"
haha Wishful, that really is "wishful thinking". i've seen deplorable ground preparation (read - none at all) at high levels. a high entry and start fee is no guarantee that they've done anything at all, despite promises.
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I'm still not sure whether it's a good idea or not, but it's sometimes a bit depressing when people mention intro height as 'silly height' stuff (I'm not saying that it's people one here), but for ponies like Pepper I think it's a great achievement to get round and placed at intro.
I'm also aware that people are not too happy about ponies competing against horses - but for someone as short as me I find it difficult to handle anything over 15.2
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So I guess if your view is that Intro height is small then you will be against the training classes but I do think they are better for riders who are possibly not as experienced as their horse, and therefore it prepares them & teaches them about the sport without having to go straight to 90cm fences..
 
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Totally agree, affiliated such be something you have to work towards. Most decent unaff in my area have the lowest class at intro height, the ones that are lower are the badly organised/ poorer courses

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But isn't that the point the people wanting the lower levels also want the better standard of course design so are going to go to BE because you hope that will be the case whereas at unaff you're never quite sure what you're going to get in terms of fences. Maybe what really needs to happen is a ODE version of trailblazers so there is a series of unaff at a set standard possibley with a champs etc ... After all the lowest level for RC qualifiers/champs is intro and there are plenty of people out there who would like to have a go at ODE but for what ever reason horse ability or rider confidence are not ready to intro as affiliating and doing intro would be the ultimate goal but one they wish to build up to not go straight in at. There's certainly a market and rightly or wrongly BE have got in there because no one else has.
 
I would really like to try an Intro with my horse this year as Eventing is always something I have loved the idea of. My horse is ready for this now as he has (and myself) taken a few years to mature. There is only one local place that holds a ODE and it in itself isn't anything worth aiming for and not suitable for my horse, jumps on top of each other, people from that yard doing better.... that kind of thing.
So for our first event if I found somewhere that did Pre Intro then I would go for it. We would all be paying our money and I don't see why people should feel like they are too good to be competing at the same venue or a member of the same organisation as someone not competing at a higher level - at that moment.
We should all be supporting each other and encouraging others to join our organisation and helping the sport grow.
 
I am rather disappointed to read some of the negative comments on this thread. I did some unaffiliated events last year and found the standard of safety and organisation very variable. The venues which run BE too are fine, but some of the others are disgraceful.

At 1, the XC controller, commentator and 1st aider was the same person! There was no proper medical cover, no vet cover and no farrier. I want to do BE because I want to compete in a safe, well organised environment.
 
Good idea in principle, certainly a money maker. I would probably use one for DA if there was one round here, as the existing Unaff ODE's are definitely not up to scratch. How many people tackle intro when they are obviously not ready, so why not let them tackle something less challenging & less likely to get them killed. At an unaff ODE no one is going to give you a rollocking for poor riding, at least at BE someone is keeping an eye on you!
 
I competed at one of these last year and it was fantastic. The organisation was fab, the people there lovely, it was a brilliant taster for BE and I would like to do another one or two before I do Intro. Intro has changed a lot in the past few years and asks quite a lot of questions, also BE events can be quite a lot more buzzy than most RC events so it is good for them to have a bit less pressure on them to absorb the environment. I think it is a good idea, and am surprised at such negative comments!
 
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"With a BE sanctioned event, you know that there will be a consistent standard of ground preparation"
haha Wishful, that really is "wishful thinking". i've seen deplorable ground preparation (read - none at all) at high levels. a high entry and start fee is no guarantee that they've done anything at all, despite promises.
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There is definitely a standard, the TD can prevent events running etc. The question is whether that standard is high enough...

Thinking about it, even BE venues don't necessarily have a vet on site other than for the BE event, some will warn their local vet that there is an event on (and check that they have a horse vet on that day, possibly), but they won't pay for the vet to be there all day just in case, others don't even tell the local vets that they are running something, and then you might have to wait for the on call vet to make it back from a call on the wrong side of their practice area or have a large/small animal vet out to a horse which has damaged a tendon. BE requirements for a Dr, Vet, all terrain ambulance and horse ambulance are fairly key safety features.
 
Well on one hand, it will make BE money.

However, if they introduce this level what's to stop them from introducing a training level for the training level for intro and then the unaffiliated events would go out of business and people would be forced to pay much more tp go to the same event with ''British Eventing'' stuck on the end
 
I may be in a good postition to comment on this, as I took part in both of the only pre-intro events last year.
They were an excellent success, and the classes were very full. However some fairly experienced riders took part in order to school greener horses, which disadvantaged people like me who were new to eventing, but I guess that is unavoidable.
The events were good to ease me into it, and the showjumping ending up being mini (only 2ft 3!), which helped me gain confidence.
However this year I feel no need for these events, because I'm hoping to start at intro level as the pre-intro isn't very challenging.
It was a good experience to have though!
 
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