Working Equitation training...

Matafleur said:
Which rules do you think are holding back the growth? I personally could do without competing in tweed during the summer months! Generally the rules seem fairly light though.

It will be interesting to see how the sport evolves going forward. The numbers at Novice and Junior levels seem quite healthy but the top is really just 2 people. I suppose the bottom of the pyramid is always widest but it will be interesting to see how many manage to progress.
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They’ve banned unaffiliated competitions (not training comps) and kicked out two fairly new but high level competitors because they setup an unaffiliated series.

The two who were kicked out still love WE and encourage their students to go affiliated, the unaff series is designed as a stepping stone - not dissimilar to the training competitions we’ve done.

There will be three sides to the story of course but ultimately I don’t think it will be good for the sport in the long term - it’s a small enough community already and divisions will only weaken it :(
 
j1ffy said:
They’ve banned unaffiliated competitions (not training comps) and kicked out two fairly new but high level competitors because they setup an unaffiliated series.

The two who were kicked out still love WE and encourage their students to go affiliated, the unaff series is designed as a stepping stone - not dissimilar to the training competitions we’ve done.

There will be three sides to the story of course but ultimately I don’t think it will be good for the sport in the long term - it’s a small enough community already and divisions will only weaken it :(
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Aaaah, that explains the FB post a few weeks ago. I did wonder what had gone on to prompt that. It's tricky because they want people attend Regionals and Nationals, but the reality is that most people don't want to travel far to compete which means they are missing a large number of people.

Maybe a well organised unaffiliated series would encourage people to take it up and then progress to Affiliated later?
 
j1ffy said:
They’ve banned unaffiliated competitions (not training comps) and kicked out two fairly new but high level competitors because they setup an unaffiliated series.

The two who were kicked out still love WE and encourage their students to go affiliated, the unaff series is designed as a stepping stone - not dissimilar to the training competitions we’ve done.

There will be three sides to the story of course but ultimately I don’t think it will be good for the sport in the long term - it’s a small enough community already and divisions will only weaken it :(
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How do you ban people doing unaffilated shows? That seems really counter productive - isn't a thriving unaffliated scene how things become popular? Still, I vaguely remember the ructions when ABWE was set up so it doesn't surprise me all that much.
 
Matafleur said:
Aaaah, that explains the FB post a few weeks ago. I did wonder what had gone on to prompt that. It's tricky because they want people attend Regionals and Nationals, but the reality is that most people don't want to travel far to compete which means they are missing a large number of people.

Maybe a well organised unaffiliated series would encourage people to take it up and then progress to Affiliated later?
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That's a shame, I wondered why there was nothing locally. I would like to give it a competion a go but I wouldn't want to go far for a first try where I'd probably be eliminated.
 
j1ffy said:
They’ve banned unaffiliated competitions (not training comps) and kicked out two fairly new but high level competitors because they setup an unaffiliated series.

The two who were kicked out still love WE and encourage their students to go affiliated, the unaff series is designed as a stepping stone - not dissimilar to the training competitions we’ve done.

There will be three sides to the story of course but ultimately I don’t think it will be good for the sport in the long term - it’s a small enough community already and divisions will only weaken it :(
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Totally agree. To me the Regionals are a very long drawn out event. Adding unnecessary expense to a discipline there is no monetary reward anyway. They also seem to change the rules as they go and i know it has caused a few problems when events are run. The fact they banned the unaffiliated and caused such a fuss makes it look very unprofessional. Having been fortunate enough to see it in Spain, it is so very different! But i do wonder if they have made a large error of judgement in what they have done/ Only time will tell.
 
KC31 said:
Totally agree. To me the Regionals are a very long drawn out event. Adding unnecessary expense to a discipline there is no monetary reward anyway. They also seem to change the rules as they go and i know it has caused a few problems when events are run. The fact they banned the unaffiliated and caused such a fuss makes it look very unprofessional. Having been fortunate enough to see it in Spain, it is so very different! But i do wonder if they have made a large error of judgement in what they have done/ Only time will tell.
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I definitely agree with this. I'm doing a couple this year and have mentally prepared myself. I entered Hartpury last year, very close to me and they also had BD so handy I thought to pop over each day. Until my times were early for dressage and EOH at 8pm!!! Then back again for speed the next day. I just withdrew as I couldn't face it! I think it's a really great sport but it isn't exactly accessible currently.

The Spanish events look incredible, a totally different class.
 
Matafleur said:
I definitely agree with this. I'm doing a couple this year and have mentally prepared myself. I entered Hartpury last year, very close to me and they also had BD so handy I thought to pop over each day. Until my times were early for dressage and EOH at 8pm!!! Then back again for speed the next day. I just withdrew as I couldn't face it! I think it's a really great sport but it isn't exactly accessible currently.

The Spanish events look incredible, a totally different class.
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Oh goodness they weren't great times! We were at Hartpury and watched some of the Working Eq dressage, had friends who were there all weekend and it was a really long few days for them and the horses.

The Spanish is quite unbelievable and so much fun to watch.
 
Red-1 said:
I do Police Horse type training with all of mine. Previous ones have done Trec. Current horses do a garrocha, go over a bridge, open a rope gate etc. I am booked onto a 2 day WE clinic/camp soon with H. However, he isn't naturally the bravest, so we shall see! The idea of working hard in canter will horrify him LOL.

He is ID X Connie but can look quite Spanish in the way he collects.
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Drat. Been contacted by the WE camp organiser and it has been cancelled due to lack of interest!

They were good trainers too.
 
Just resurrecting this as I had an email from ABWE last night regarding a non-member issuing an ultimatum for the reinstatement of the membership of the 2 individuals who (I assume) had their membership revoked for organising an unaffiliated series.

It seemed like a very bizarre email and I have to wonder what on earth is going on with the organisation. It also seems that their highly regarded team trainer resigned as part of this whole drama.

I don’t know enough about everything that has gone on to take too much of a view but it seems odd that ABWE have taken the stance they have on this. Losing 2 successful and supportive competitors at the same time. It is not a sport with many people competing at the upper levels as it is! I hadn't realised it was so political and I'm not sure what's driving that. I'm enjoying the competitions I've attended (although very long days!) but I'm confused by the drama.

Not sure if anyone else on here is a member and had the email or can shed further light?
 
Matafleur said:
Just resurrecting this as I had an email from ABWE last night regarding a non-member issuing an ultimatum for the reinstatement of the membership of the 2 individuals who (I assume) had their membership revoked for organising an unaffiliated series.

It seemed like a very bizarre email and I have to wonder what on earth is going on with the organisation. It also seems that their highly regarded team trainer resigned as part of this whole drama.

I don’t know enough about everything that has gone on to take too much of a view but it seems odd that ABWE have taken the stance they have on this. Losing 2 successful and supportive competitors at the same time. It is not a sport with many people competing at the upper levels as it is! I hadn't realised it was so political and I'm not sure what's driving that. I'm enjoying the competitions I've attended (although very long days!) but I'm confused by the drama.

Not sure if anyone else on here is a member and had the email or can shed further light?
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I don’t know both sides of the story but I’ll drop you a DM with what I do know.

I allowed my membership to lapse as I knew I wouldn’t manage any comps this year (or even training so far!). It’s such a fab sport and a real shame. One of the members who was kicked out has sadly now quit WE completely, not even teaching others, while the other has bought a horse in Portugal and is going to compete there! It’s all a bit bonkers.
 
j1ffy said:
I don’t know both sides of the story but I’ll drop you a DM with what I do know.

I allowed my membership to lapse as I knew I wouldn’t manage any comps this year (or even training so far!). It’s such a fab sport and a real shame. One of the members who was kicked out has sadly now quit WE completely, not even teaching others, while the other has bought a horse in Portugal and is going to compete there! It’s all a bit bonkers.
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It is all rather bizarre isn't it? They seem to have really offended lots of people in what they have done. I am on a working eq chat group and from what i have read people are far from happy.
 
KC31 said:
It is all rather bizarre isn't it? They seem to have really offended lots of people in what they have done. I am on a working eq chat group and from what i have read people are far from happy.
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I'm really not sure why the unaff needed to be a problem? It's not like there are loads of aff to attend every weekend anyway. Most people would have to travel miles and when you want to grow a sport you need to make it easy for people.
 
j1ffy said:
I don’t know both sides of the story but I’ll drop you a DM with what I do know.

I allowed my membership to lapse as I knew I wouldn’t manage any comps this year (or even training so far!). It’s such a fab sport and a real shame. One of the members who was kicked out has sadly now quit WE completely, not even teaching others, while the other has bought a horse in Portugal and is going to compete there! It’s all a bit bonkers.
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That is really sad - I had started to really enjoy and benefit from the training too. Hopefully things might settle and improve?
 
Having read this thread this morning, good ole fb has shown me that a local riding club are holding WE training next week near Ludlow if anyone is interested.
 
Red-1 said:
I do Police Horse type training with all of mine. Previous ones have done Trec. Current horses do a garrocha, go over a bridge, open a rope gate etc. I am booked onto a 2 day WE clinic/camp soon with H. However, he isn't naturally the bravest, so we shall see! The idea of working hard in canter will horrify him LOL.

He is ID X Connie but can look quite Spanish in the way he collects.
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I read somewhere that Spanish horses could have ended up in Ireland from the Armada and having had an ID, a connie and a Spaniard I can believe it.
 
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