when to affiliate?

[spooks]

how do you know when the times right to affiliate ?
my daughter wants to and her horse is more than capable. it is her who holds him back at the moment as she doesnt have that much experience in the ring. ive said to her once she is confidently jumping 3ft courses and going clear then id let her try on a day ticket. she is currently jumping 2'6 (the horse is 16hh and cant be arsed with these small jumps lol ) as although she has been riding on and off for 10 yrs this is her first year of doing the local shows, she is going to do the 2'9 classes at the last few shows we do and we will get him out over the winter to give them both some experience..she has jumped this horse over a 4ft fence and reguarly puts him over higher then 2'6 at home, but doing a course that height is a different ball game, she originally wanted to affiliate in 08 but is now aiming to do it next yr. what height do they need to be successfully jumping before i even consider letting her affiliate?
thanks in advance

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

It is difficult to say when it is the right time to affiliate. It appears that confidence is the main problem you have. Forget that the horse has jumped a 1.20 fence. As you rightly say jumping one fence is totally different that jumping a full course. The main difference jumping an affiliated course is that the fences are full up to height and with the right size spread. A 3' fence locally looks & invariably is a lot smaller than when you see it in an affiliated ring. Basically get out to as many shows as you can & gradually the confidence & ring craft will grow. As I've said in another post you can also rent an arena the day after an affiliated show for not alot of money. Have half an hour, the fences will still be still set up and you can have a taste of affiliated jumping, although without the atmosphere, and see how you cope with it. Really get as many miles on the clock as you can & as your daughter's experience grows so will her confidence & that of your horse. I hope this helps? Good Luck for the future.

 

[Shrimp]

Before I affiliated for BE, I spent a year doing Pony Club 3' events and then entered a BE intro at the end of the season (which unfortunately was cancelled due to the weather). This helped me build up my confidence at low key events before tackling affiliated. The atmosphere at an affiliated event is quite a bit different to an unaffiliated, its generally alot busier but usually more organised! I'd say get out and get enough practise at a level unaffiliated before tackling the same level affiliated.

 

[LEC]

I would suggest joining a RC first as they have some really great events up to intro level BE. Also if you are a member of a RC you then in turn get some great discounts at BE and BSJA. RC is a great way to ease into affiliated and also means you can do PC open events which are often restricted to RC or PC members. I started riding again after 5 years and found RC a great way to have cheap lessons and get myself sorted again before I evented on day tickets. This year I have got more serious about it all and joined BE and BSJA as full members!

 

[Rambo]

When she is happily jumping DC at local riding club / pony club open level then she is ready to affiliate imo. Local opens are between 90cm and 1m, which is really the entry level for affiliated SJ'ing. Forget 1.20's for now, a 1m will look big enough to start with

 

[aliacc]

my 16 yr old daughter affiliated this spring..she had previously jumped 85/95 cm unaffiliated only a couple of times on her young mare she is bringing on, . She was nervous but hasn't regretted it...although she has got lots of 4 faults, but has won £31!

She started on 90 and 1 m.....Novice and Discovery. The jumps are more substantial that the local shows/ Trailblazer..and more varies in terms of doubles/fillers etc..

She got a Pony Club discount - which brough the price down a bit..but as the classes are dearer, about £14/class, the local shows are a better idea until jumping clear at about the 90 cm level I think

Ali

 

[SpruceRI]

I always think you need to be happily jumping Unaffiliated Opens (3ft 3" - 3ft 6") partly because it's pointless joining BSJA if you're only capable of jumping one class (British Novice) and also because Unaff SJ is generally not up to height and width like BSJA is. Even then, BN can come as a bit of a shock if you're only used to jumping weedy courses.

Although I last belonged to the BSJA in 2001 I gather there are more classes at the lower level than 5 years ago.

I'd only want to join again to be competitive, so if I'm not at least getting placed in those Unaff Opens then I'd not consider BSJA. To me it's a waste of money otherwise.

 

[MagicMelon]

Affiliated is different from unaffiliated. The courses do seem bigger, wider and better built (but they need to be better ridden, ie. lots of related distances etc.).

I dont even think its a case of getting round courses that are (Id say) at open unaffiliated level. Really, you need to be being consistenly highly placed before considering affiliating (or you wont win much money back!!). It is expensive so you need to be sure your going to do quite well at it!

 

[Peanot]

The BSJA have better built fences and courses and the striding is correct, compared to local shows. I think that as long as your daughter is jumping confidently over 3` fences, then I would tell her to give it a go as there are the new intro classes now which start at 75cm, 2`6". The horses also seem to jump better as they respect the more fuller fences. I have been riding and jumping in local shows for years, and enjoying it but 2 years ago, I afilliated as it is something that I have always wanted to do. I used to jump the 3`6" opens but the thought of afilliating used to petrify me, but they didn`t have the smaller classes then, the BN was the smallest at 3`-but someone has already said, they are a lot bigger and a lot squarer.
I missed out competing last year due to my husbands illness but we have now re-registered and we are out on the circuit again.

 

[spike123]

Reading this post is very helpful to me too as I have been considering going affiliated for some time now.My horse is more than capable and was previously registered as a grade c with some winnings.I myself have only competed at local level and riding club level and am totally confident over a 2'9 course and am regularly placed at this level.I have also jumped a 3'3 course and placed in that but at the majority of shows I go to the courses don't seem to go much bigger than 3' but are often tight courses and the striding isn't always good either.The riding club qualifiers run under bsja courses and I agree that they do seem a fair bit bigger and squarer than your average course but as the distances between fences are better they ride much nicer.So far I have been plenty confident tackling them.I am considering going to have a go at a BSJA intro to see how I do.My YO who used to jump affiliated seems to think that I am ready.It's me that is having the doubts about it.Would you think from what I have said that I am ready?

 

[spooks]

thanks for all the replies, my daughter realises that the fences are full up ,more solid etc as her friend is affiliated and we have often been to watch her and ash has even walked the courses to, i just want to go in with our eyes open , the other thing being she will have to join (when she does ) as a junior associate due to the horse being a 16 hander. he certainly pays a lot more attention to the bigger/solid fences as he thinks we are taking the P putting him over 2'6 even though he still does the job properly! shes only had him 4 months, and has been placed every class she has done him at 2'6 height. she now feels ready to tackle 2'9 /3ft courses, so will get them both out over the winter and see where we are at the end of it. she is in PC but cant try out for teams until may next yr as she transferred clubs and has to wait 14 months before she can compete for pc. i have also found that most local shows dont go much bigger then 3ft and they are small but will be good experience for both of them.thanks again for the insight

 

[bellgave]

Suggest your daughter goes to do some of the warm up classes. There are quite often 80cm classes over the same course of jumps etc to be used for British novice, Dicovery etc. That way, she can jump a well built track and only has to go up a few more holes to do British novice!! I prefer to start horses jumping indoors, as they dont have other distractions and for young horses the course tends to be over a shorter distance Also helps me as a rider!! If you dont push yourself you will never improve!! Bet she will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about!!

 

[KarenX]

You could always try a BSJA show on a ticket first, but sounds like she is ready to have a go. There is plenty of choice of classes now that the Amateur qualifiers have kicked off. Be prepared to be at the show for a long time though coz they get plenty of entries in these classes. British Novice is 95cm and might be a good starting point if you horse doesnt already have winnings of more than £100.

Have fun whatever you decide. As somebody else pointed out by pushing your boundaries you will improve.

Karen

 

[SpruceRI]

Spike123 - I'd say you were ready to have a go at BSJA.

I gave it loads of thought before I took the plunge, especially as I'm a fully grown Senior and my mare's only 14.3hh, I didn't want to make a complete fool of myself!

I tried competing (Unaff indoors) at all the show centres that held BSJA as well, because their unaff courses were pretty upto height and had correct striding, so doing BN and Discovery at the same places initially, wasn't then too much of a shock. As it was, we didn't make a fool of ourselves, had a really successful time and even qualified for the Scope Festival, though didn't go because it was too far away!