Why do people affiliate?

Bernster

Bernster

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With the weather getting in the way of everyone's fun, I thought I'd keep the forum a bit active by posing a question instead. Why do people affiliate? What's the advantage over unaffiliated?

Lots of venues near me use the same BD judges, so unaff should be a consistent standard. The venues are pretty good, as they do both BD and unaff. And they also do a range of qualifiers, leagues and championships, so there are bigger events to aim for. And once you get some BD points, it can disqualify you from some unaff events.

I'm mainly thinking about dressage but it seems like it could be similar for jumping as well, but I have less experience of that. For BE, I think there are fewer unaff events around and the courses are not as good.
 
Many reasons, some of them might be a bit bound by geography.

Judging here is patchy at unaff, some shows use BD judges but others don't especially to run the higher classes - I've done unaff Medium which was judged *incredibly* kindly by a BD trainee :o there are no unaff classes above medium around here either.

Plus for me the organisation is usually quite a bit better at BD shows, it's noticeable having attended unaff one day and BD the next at a few venues recently, that the BD days run a tighter ship - scores up quicker etc which means a shorter day out for the horses.

In addition... without wanting this to sound snooty because I did a lot of unaff at the start of my competition career and it definitely has its place... a more civilised experience in the warm up! Granted some BD days are a bit wild (winters at Summerhouse last week was a case in point) but on the whole the riders are more experienced and adhere to school rules a bit better. You don't tend to get a lot of kids on ponies, for example - of if you do, they tend to be incredible riders! Having braved a weekend unaff day with Salty, I'll not be repeating it... BD all the way now! I affiliated Kira immediately for exactly that reason.

I also like the championship structure that BD offers, it's not perfect but the rules are there and it gives me a framework to judge my own progress *more or less* against my peers.

I affiliated BE because there were not any unaff options beyond trappy PC events, especially once I wanted to do 1m+ :)
 
I don't know about dressage but I have just affiliated with British Showjumping. I decided to go for it for several reasons:

- You can qualify for second rounds and championships. I would LOVE to qualify for Aintree at the end of the year and 5 double clears would get me there so it is a really exciting target to chase.

- You can win prize money! Unlikely but you never know.....

- You can start building up a competition record/points which does not matter very much because I will never sell Amber but again it is a tangible marker of progress which I personally find inspiring and motivating.

- Some of the unaffiliated courses I have done have been dodgy to say the least! Bizarre striding. Weird angles and turns. Bad surfaces. I am assured that affiliated courses are built better.


I have affiliated BE because I want more choice - I have competed unaff for 2 seasons now and there are only 2 venues anywhere near me that I like. And my kids want to do them!
 
As I was writing the first post, I did think about the fact that there isn't much at the higher unaff levels, so it makes sense that once you get beyond the lofty (for me) stages of Prelim and 80, unaff probably doesn't offer you much!
 
When I was living in England I used to showjump BSJA as it was at the time. I was within an hours drive of about 3 decent show centres and, if I had wanted to, i could have accessed a show most days of the week within about 2 hours drive.

Here in Northern Ireland things are a little different. I don't wish to jump high any more and I now just go unaff SJ at venues I know build a good course.

My main focus is now dressage and I will compete my young horse this year in prelim and novice at unaffiliated events before moving on to affiliated (or registered as they call it here) next year as I would like to compete at regionals and hopefully nationals in the future.

Most months there are only 2 registered dressage shows in this area but could travel further afield to get an extra show in if needed for qualifying scores. Unaff there are classes up to medium at some venues but would probably just do them for practise.

When I was younger I felt the need to compete every weekend but now I'm happy with twice a month
 
Because I like seeing my results on the BE website :p

I think it used to be the case that you got a better standard of competition at a BE event, but nowadays I don't think that really is the case - most unaff ODEs I am aiming for are run by BE venues over BE courses? The good old days of 20 years ago where you had unpinned portable fences and dodgy striding distances don't really exist around me any more, as all the local XC schooling venues have closed.

I am actually wondering if I will bother affiliating this year at all, as I can find a good quality ODE every month around me all through the season and that is all my funds allow - I expect if we do manage to be of a reasonable standard I will enter BE on a ticket, just for my original reason :D
 
Good question. It's probably mainly historic prestige for me, because I like being part of a national structure. I have to say, with dressage I enjoy competing affiliated and unaffiliated just as much around here, but wouldn't bother with unaffiliated beyond elementary.

BE used to be a have to do, but now not so much. Eventing-wise I wouldn't bother affiliating until I had had at least one season unaffiliated these days.

If I was showjumping then I would affiliate straight away as the unaffiliated courses are so hit and miss

I don't really care about the online records thing - due to a typo and then correction, my BE record is split between two names and my BD record, well, no idea, it says something different every time I check, plus I have two. BS should be correct, but I haven't been affiliated in over 10 years. The records are quite useful for the horses though
 
milliepops said:
In addition... without wanting this to sound snooty because I did a lot of unaff at the start of my competition career and it definitely has its place... a more civilised experience in the warm up! Granted some BD days are a bit wild (winters at Summerhouse last week was a case in point) but on the whole the riders are more experienced and adhere to school rules a bit better.
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Dear god yes... Although I will be seeking out crazy-busy unaff competitions with the orange one, just for horse practice. I reckon the average local warm up is as bad as any polocrosse match ;)

I affiliated Fergus with BD because I wanted more consistent judging, and because there aren't that many unaff events which run above novice round here, and back then we had loads of affiliated stuff. The judging was a bit less hit or miss at BD (with some odd ones!). Now he's not affiliated as we're playing at other stuff and I've never really enjoyed competing enough in any sphere to want to pay out and travel as much as I'd have to, in order to make it worthwhile.
 
I affiliated BD because I wanted to get a record of my competitions without having to join a riding club (which is affiliated ultimately in its own way).

Since doing so, it is noticable that it is a bit less stressy (for me) being at BD over unaffiliated. People just get on with it and they don't mind if I do the same. Round here, at unaff people get a bit gossipy and off if you don't ask them their life story in the warm-up.

Also, I find that unaff seems to be marked more leniently so great on the one hand, but certainly with Nugz I feel more of a sense of achievement when I do well in BD.
 
I affiliated BD pretty quickly, only doing a handful of unaff shows before. It was partly due to what DabDab said above about being part of a national structure - I never got the chance to do Pony Club when I was younger, and haven't found a decent RC to join, so that really appealed. I also really liked the idea of working towards 'bigger' championships. A few smaller venues that do unaff dressage round here do championships/series, but I'd love to go somewhere bigger/different for a qualifier or championships. The entry fees aren't too much more expensive either. I was also totally inspired by the Diamonds in the Rough girls (I've got a sensitive little TB).

We'll event this season, but I doubt we'll affiliate. BE is way too expensive, and we've got plenty of great venues that run both BE and unaff.
 
BE for me. 1. There are no BE or unaff events 'locally' and if I am to travel, I can be confident that if it is a BE event that everything will be as good as it can be with consistant fence heights... nothing trappy. 2. Its easier to plan a season with BE as all the events are on one calendar.
 
Pretty much all of the above :)

I affiliated with BE mainly because I wanted to qualify for Badminton :D I think the structure in all the affiliated bodies gives you lots to aim for.

I've also found BE opens up a lot more venues and dates, I did a season UA with Ruby, then a bit of both last year and theres definitely more choice with BE, however the UA's i went to at BE venues were just as well run/ organized as their affiliated counterparts.
 
I affiliated BD after competing twice unaffiliated - just to check that my mare would enjoy going out. I like the structure, and the relative consistency of judging, and the chance to qualify for things.

The closest venue offers unaffiliated classes up to novice alongside the BD classes, however, I felt that BD let me compete against others of a similar level. The unaffiliated often has very experienced combinations in there (round here it seems to attract bored eventers waiting for their real fun to start!). At least with bronze the competition feels more on a par.

I also liked the opportunity to go to petplan and to aim for regionals in the future. I am just club at the moment, so relatively inexpensive. And I can upgrade before the PetPlan comp in May.

The venues round here don’t seem to do much above novice unaffiliated, but maybe I haven’t worked out where to look.
 
I affiliated BS first as when I got my first competition horse he was already registered and it was a life long dream haha. It was a huge deal for me.

I then went BE as there wasn’t as much unaf around here then and the courses were hit and miss. Again, horse had done it before and it was a dream of mine.

I’ve stayed BE since in order to do championships and I love gaining points and atmosphere. I’ve flirted with Novice which doesn’t exist much unaf.

I now affiliate all three as I work a lot of weekends so weekday BS and BD keeps me from hating my job haha plus it’s rare to find unaffiliated dressage elementary plus here. My mare is also very solid at grassroots level (would go a lot further but a nasty fall has killed my nerve for the foreseeable future over bigger fences) and frankly with a good affiliated record, she has become very sellable if I should ever need to. I don’t intend to, I don’t do selling and have kept my horses for life BUT if it all went wrong especially last season when my nerves rubbed off on her and she stopped going xc, it meant she will have a useful life doing something different - she’s a lovely horse and despite being a lovely hacker, she isn’t the type people would want for a happy hacker so it helps to guarantee her future if she has a concrete record.
 
It was really the next step, I did riding club dressage at first but there came a point where it didn't have a lot to offer me. The summer area qualifier was the only one you could compete at and qualify individually at the time, it's nice being in a team but we weren't a competitive riding club and anyone who wanted to give it a go was encouraged to be on a team so the teams never got to the nationals but I could and did individually. Other problem with riding club dressage was we competed on grass for qualifiers and nationals, fine when the weathers good but some summers the ground has been exceptionally hard. Once you're doing elementary it becomes a lot harder to find unaffiliated, my local riding club has stopped offering elementary as no-one entered the last couple of times, at most I've competed against 2 others compared to a more reasonably sized class at BD. I like having something to work towards, I like working towards regionals and then at regionals competing in a large class at a higher standard. You can't hide in a bigger class, I found unaffiliated it was all too easy to be a big fish in a small pond when there's a big wide ocean next door that you could explore and find your place in. It costs a lot more BD but I was occasionally getting prize money.
 
For me, a lot of the unaffiliated dressage shows are during the week, which for me is just not possible even if its an evening show.
I also prefer the judging standard of affiliated, as the unaffiliated ones are often judged by people with no real qualifications orexperiance, so you can potentially end up with a really over inflated score - which to me is pointless. I would rather have a realistic score and constructive criticism to improve.
But not only this, personally I need something to aim for. So the advantage to competing BD is all the Area Festival and Regional comps.

But I don't affiliate for showjumping or eventing as I find the unaffiliated comps are fine for the level I am at (70/80 Eventing and 80/90 SJ). But from speaking with friends that event BE they find the affiliated events run much smoother and better times. They don't often run late, and results get posted quickly.
That is my only criticism with the unafiliiated ODE's. But that much depends on the club or venue running it, last yer the PC ones were far more efficient.
 
I cant speak for BD as I dont do dressage (bar the odd unaffiliated if I absolutely have to). Im not a member of BS or BE right now as I cant afford BS at the moment and there's so few BE events remotely near me that its not worth joining, but I was a member of both for years previously. BS shows generally have much better built courses as quite often unaffiliated courses are built for ponies as well so the distances are always a bit short and choppy. You obviously win money too which is rather a big draw, I feel at least I get something back rather than unaffiliated where it just goes down the pan. BE-wise, their XC courses are far better than most unaffiliated courses and their events are so much better run. I do love BE events, we've lost lots in Scotland nowadays though and they're so expensive to do so I only do about 3 local ones a year on a ticket now :(

If you're affiliated, it also adds value to the horse as you have an official record of its winnings.
 
I wholly agree with what others have said about more civilised warm ups. I occasionally do an unaff comp and the warm ups are often chaos.
I like the structure doing affiliated, and like seeing our progress. There's lots to aim for and each competition is usually a step closer to whatever we're aiming towards.
However, I can't deny it, I do find BD a tad frustrating as my record is usually wrong and it takes them weeks to update it. I've thought about quitting affiliated a few times but keep on going back for more so generally, I do like it and prefer it to unaff.
 
BD for me, nicer warmups, like the sections so I'm not against people in prelim that have ridden at nationals comps or 4* eventers
Prefer the comps you can qualify for as unaff have a low thresh hold so feels like I've achieved more and have a clearer path to follow
Usually more consistent judging
 
Personally, it felt like progression. I like that there is a record of scores and placings, so I can easily track progress. I like the championships as well, although I've done a few unaffiliated ones too, which were also awesome. I also appreciate the consistency of judging (which is largely present) given the training required to be a listed judge.

I do dressage :)
 
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