What is the UK system?

[Saucisson]

Ok, so here I am approaching middle-age in the depths of Southern Belgium.

I intend (hope ?) to start competing this year in very small regional 80cm jumping and regional 60cm XC (maybe 80cm XC at the end of the season ).

Apparently, I need to have a licence (insurance/registration etc). However, to get the licence I have to do a riding test????? It includes dressage, jumping and a little bit of XC?????? Not a problem really - I'll train for it (my horse know his stuff better than me ).

OH asked if I had a UK licence - I had to stifle a guffaw as the last time I really rode in the UK was in 1990 on an untrained Arab, galloping around the stubble fields of Lincolnshire. No licence required at this time

Is there a UK licence or do you register/affiliate (not entirely sure what that entails) with BE/BS/BD?

 

[NoCollection]

There is no UK equivalent of your licence, for which quite a lot of us are very grateful. You don't need to pass any kind of test to compete in the lower levels of BE, BS or BD: to move up the levels you need suitable qualifying results at the lower levels.

 

[Saucisson]

There is no UK equivalent of your licence, for which quite a lot of us are very grateful. You don't need to pass any kind of test to compete in the lower levels of BE, BS or BD: to move up the levels you need suitable qualifying results at the lower levels.

Thanks for responding. It's all a bit of a mystery to me!

Do you not need to qualify to go to BD/BE/BS?

What do you need to do to "affiliate"?

I'm quite happy for the test here, it is a benchmark and I don't dispute it

 

[CrazyMare]

Thanks for responding. It's all a bit of a mystery to me!

Do you not need to qualify to go to BD/BE/BS?

What do you need to do to "affiliate"?

I'm quite happy for the test here, it is a benchmark and I don't dispute it

No need to qualify to 'go BE/BS/BD'

To affiliate, you pay your fees - owner/rider/horse registration, pay your class fees and away you go.

You have to achieve the low levels to reach the high levels.

 

[Gamebird]

?

What do you need to do to "affiliate"?

Have the ability to part with scarily large amounts of money without a second thought and also the patience to navigate illogical websites and fill out forms where they want to know everything barring your granny's inside leg measurement!

I think this is why there is so much debate here (both on HHO and in the wider competition community) about whether ot not people are fit to compete. No-one judges whether you are safe or able before you are allowed to compete at affilliated (or indeed unaffilliated) level so the only yardstick is the opinion of your peers and of course your results.

If you jump in at the deep end and start BD at, say, Elementary level (third level up) and do consistently badly and score 50% time after time you are not putting anyone in any danger. You're probably embarrassing yourself and your associates but that's all.

In BSJA you can start where you like (as far as I'm aware) and there are certainly plenty of examples of people competing who might not pass a test of their ability at that level. They may be on a decent, generous horse and getting OK results and think that they're capable, but the standard of riding may not be all that good or safe.

BE prevents you from starting any higher up the ladder than BE100 (~1m) with good reason. There is a serious safety factor involved. However as witnessed on this forum there are numerous examples of people competing at this and higher levels whose ability at the level is questionable and compromises their safety.

I've run out of time, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that some sort of licensing is not necessarily a bad idea. How we'd ever police it I know not, and whether it's necessary to jump a 60cm XC course I would doubt but it's an interesting question!

 

[Saucisson]

I've run out of time, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that some sort of licensing is not necessarily a bad idea. How we'd ever police it I know not, and whether it's necessary to jump a 60cm XC course I would doubt but it's an interesting question!

Well I think it's a good idea too. I'm sure it can only be a good thing for horses generally if a minimum standard of ability is required before thrashing around showjumping courses.

The licence also acts as an insurance policy so I'm guessing the test is also a requirement from the insurance providers.

It all sounds a bit pricey for you chaps back in the Motherland! So you have to pay out to BD, BS & BE if you want to compete in all 3?

 

[Orangehorse]

So you only have to "join" once and can go to affiliated dressage, show jumping and eventing? I think they do this in France as well, and I thought it was a good idea.

Here you have to join separately, and a Riding Club if you want to do those competitions,and then there is the breed society if you want to do their competitions, and then if you want to support BHS that is another fee. Then there is the local Trec club if you want to join, and then the Western Equestrian club. It all adds up to a lot.

 

[Rosiefan]

And what's more, they all have different rules about the correct dress, use of tack, whips, spurs etc. It's a bit of a minefield but lots of people do it

 

[Sanolly]

Sauccison this sounds very similar to the French Gallop system. If you like I can PM you a link to a forum in France that will know more and might be able to help you?

 

[Saucisson]

And what's more, they all have different rules about the correct dress, use of tack, whips, spurs etc. It's a bit of a minefield but lots of people do it

Goodness me! I bet those people have to take twice as much stuff to comps just to make sure they get it right

So you only have to "join" once and can go to affiliated dressage, show jumping and eventing? I think they do this in France as well, and I thought it was a good idea.

Here you have to join separately, and a Riding Club if you want to do those competitions,and then there is the breed society if you want to do their competitions, and then if you want to support BHS that is another fee. Then there is the local Trec club if you want to join, and then the Western Equestrian club. It all adds up to a lot.

I believe you only do the test once but you do have to renew your licence every year which is over 100 euros (I think). Generally here, the regional competitions are broken down into their regional organisation. But, (I may be wrong) I think that if you have your licence with one you can go and compete within the other regions (might have to pay a bit more).

I haven't that much of a clue really as OH has competed for 40 years and generally goes to the nationals. He hasn't much of a clue either because he's such an old f*rt that none of this legislation was in place when he first qualified for national comps.

I do know that there's a handicapping system in place though. For example, he can't compete his horse in a regional 60cm XC (my favourite ) because they've been successful in higher levels. However, he could take my horse last year because my horse had no experience and I could take his horse as I no experience

Sauccison this sounds very similar to the French Gallop system. If you like I can PM you a link to a forum in France that will know more and might be able to help you?

Thanks for the offer! But don't trouble yourself, I'll ask our yard owners as their in the know with these things (it's a riding school aswell). Especially as (see above) OH hasn't the foggiest!

 

[Gamebird]

And don't forget Tigers_eye - she's in Belguim too and will almost certainly have sussed the system

 

[trakehnersrock!]

Saucisson - not wishing to be rude, but how old are you (pm me if you like!!), as over a certain age you don't need to have your premier degré to get a competition licence. Oracle (aka daughter) not here at mo but she is the expert so will pick her brains later

 

[trakehnersrock!]

LEWB says if over 40 don't need brevets to get a licence of competition.

 

[tigers_eye]

And as with so many Belgian systems I find that yes, I have "almost" sussed this one, but there remains an exciting amount of doubt.

 

[louisem]

Hey 'Worstje'!
Take the brevet,it's really easy and then registering with the federation takes a lot of stress out of the insurance angle.....
Where are you by the way? )

 

[Saucisson]

LEWB says if over 40 don't need brevets to get a licence of competition.

Boo, I'm 36!

From what OH says it isn't too difficult (though maybe not for him ). My horse got 70% with OH when he did the same dressage test although he would obviously be somewhat disadvantaged with me on his back

OH "thinks" that there's two levels of test and I won't be required to do the trickier one as my rather un-lofty ambitions won't require it.

At the end of the day, if I can't do it then I probably shouldn't be competing really. I'm all for it.

I was just a bit embarrassed that when OH asked me, I had absolutely no idea about the British system at all although I was pretty sure you didn't need to do a test or have a licence.

 

[Saucisson]

Hey 'Worstje'!
Take the brevet,it's really easy and then registering with the federation takes a lot of stress out of the insurance angle.....
Where are you by the way? )

Hey Northener!

I'm between Charleroi and Namur (we prefer to stress the Namur side as you'll understand if you've been to Charleroi )

Oooh, we could have a meet-up! Anyone going to Waregem?

 

[Saucisson]

And as with so many Belgian systems I find that yes, I have "almost" sussed this one, but there remains an exciting amount of doubt.

Please tell me if you've sussed out the medical system too. As an ex-military man OH is proving to be somewhat "limited" on his knowledge of this too.

It's not the test that bothers me - it's falling off and having to pay the medical bills at the moment! What a palava!

FWIW, I have no idea about OH's level. I have a vague idea of which letter to look for on the result sheets but haven't really figured out the subtle differences between the letters

 

[louisem]

Had a meet-up with tigers-eye at Waregem,feeling very out of place at a 3-day event,but she repayed the favour at a 2* SJ venue recently.
And Ah, the Namur/Namen debate... lets NOT get into politics,eh? ;-))
Always up for a meet/beer, I'm near Antwerp.....

 

[Saucisson]

Had a meet-up with tigers-eye at Waregem,feeling very out of place at a 3-day event,but she repayed the favour at a 2* SJ venue recently.
And Ah, the Namur/Namen debate... lets NOT get into politics,eh? ;-))
Always up for a meet/beer, I'm near Antwerp.....

Cripes, your way ooop-Narth I think my horse's breeder is fairly close to you (horse is half Flemish, half-arab ). He's very much into endurance/arab side of things. I'm really hoping to finally meet him at Waregem as he wants to watch my horse do (fingers crossed) his first 90cm 3DE (not with me in the saddle of course )

We might be taking the horses for a little holiday near Antwerp in the spring, OH has a friend who's a dealer there with a nice big installation and plenty of good hacking.

 

[trakehnersrock!]

Sophie did her premier degré aged about 12 so I don't think you should have any problem
Now if Louisem comes down and Saucisson comes up and tigers_eye and myself stay where we are in the middle........

 

[Saucisson]

Sophie did her premier degré aged about 12 so I don't think you should have any problem
Now if Louisem comes down and Saucisson comes up and tigers_eye and myself stay where we are in the middle........

Or a beach holiday!!!!!! A group of us from the yard trucked the horses up to De Panne last year and they stayed in this place

http://www.tepaardaanzee.be/#/nl/wandelingen

It was brill! I can thoroughly recommend it, just a 10 min hack to the beach. (no connection by the way, it was just a lucky find).

 

[louisem]

Oooooh! Who? And Where?

 

[Saucisson]

Oooooh! Who? And Where?

Not sure where exactly and I only know his first name (OH is out at the mo - will get more info ).

 

[Cathy487]

Hi Saucisson!

I'm in Belgium too and have a license for dressage.

You have two options to get your license. You can apply as a local which means that you have to pass an exam (theory and practical) that proves you have basic grasp of horsemanship.

Alternatively, you join the relevant UK organisation (in my case British dressage) - you then ask that organisation to write a letter which states that you are authorised to compete. The Belgium body will accept that in lieu of the exam. You only do this once, you don't need it again for renewels.

To get your license, you also need to join a local riding club who will stamp your application. As you are in the South, you will be in the region LEWB, there are four different sub-regions in that region - there will be a list of clubs on the website. You can apply for a national or regional license, depending on the level and if you wish to compete in the Flemish region also.

Your horse needs to be microchipped and registered with the FRBSE (this is a lifetime registration)

Fell free to contact me again if you need further explanation. It took me years to work all this out.

 

[Saucisson]

Thanks for the info! I think I'll be doing the test, it'll be something to focus on if nothing else.