Working full time and competing?

LEC

LEC

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22 July 2005
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I notice BD does a lot mid week around my area and BE seems to be heading towards mid week stuff more and more. BSJA does not do very much mid week round me but could be different in other areas so my question is......

Do you think affiliated competitions think enough about the majority of their membership? Do you think they cater to pros too much and that their is a bias towards them? Do you think the affiliated societies think enough about their amateur competitors?
 
From someone who works full time and competes most weekends i find myself going to the same venues every month. Tbh with you altho there is a BD competition i could get to nearly every weekend, i find it boring going to the same venues all the time. There are other venues near me i'd like to go to, but they always seem to hold things in the week which i find really frustrating.

Sometimes i take the odd day off in the week and go competiting, but only if its an important competition (like tomoro im competing at Wellington in the AF).
 
I think they should cater more for competetion series 'true amatuers', still with framework of main comp (as i do like competeting against professional riders)
Also i find having to take time of work to do important comp aswell, which can cause a bit of plate spinning!!!!
 
At the end of the day most of the mid week competitions are full. It is always going to be a very difficult balancing act but generally I think they have got it right. I do feel BE perhaps are the ones that struggle most to accomodate the working riders.
 
but at least they have mid week and so u dont get balloted out as easily at the weekend...imagine what the numbers would be like having no mid week competitions cos all he pros would take their many horses to weekend competitions and cause classes to be evn fuller!
 
Maybe I get frustrated by it as ambitious but financially my hands are totally tied by having to work full time.
 
Hmmm...this is an interesting one
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From a BSJA point of view in Kent / Sussex I would say that over the winter months the emphasis is on the Amateur competitors and so most show centres run the smaller classes and only at weekends. Royal Leisure is the notable exception in that it runs an 'Amateurs' style schedule on sundays and a 'Pro' style schedule on tuesdays. This is reflected in the bigger tracks being run on tuesdays. In the summer months I would say the spread is more even but then there are more shows to choose from.

Although I don't compete in BD or BE events it does appear that all the BD events around our way are run midweek. I had put this down to what I perceived (possibly incorrectly!) as an older age profile of people doing BD...and possibly also that the other people doing BD would probably be 'pro' event riders using it as practice for BE. As for BE events I think most run weekends around here but with some exceptions. It seems to be the further flung events that run weekdays
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I think the BSJA amateur series is really good. Obviously one or two things could do with tightening such as Louise Saywell being in the finals last year but every time I compete in one they are always really full and well supported. I find BSJA pretty good round here I think all of it at the Hand runs at weekend unless they do a big show which runs over a couple of days.
 
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I think the BSJA amateur series is really good. Obviously one or two things could do with tightening such as Louise Saywell being in the finals last year but every time I compete in one they are always really full and well supported. I find BSJA pretty good round here I think all of it at the Hand runs at weekend unless they do a big show which runs over a couple of days.

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I agree the Amateur classes are very good and in fact the rules have been changed slightly this year to prevent anyone who has represented their country in the past few years from taking part. That said, the 1.20m's classes haven't been terribly well supported or available again this year to the extent that anyone who qualified in a first round is going straight to the finals as was the case last year.

The other thing that I find a little strange is show centres that run Amateur schedules midweek....when their very target audience will be off being 'professional' at whatever else it is they do to fund their 'amateur' hobbies lol!
 
I'm lucky in that I have a lot of holiday and flexi time, so getting time off in the week is not a problem, I still have 35 days holiday to take by May 08
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With BSJA around here it tends to be Summerhouse on a Tuesday, and then shows like Dorset which run over 3 days.
 
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I'm lucky in that I have a lot of holiday and flexi time, so getting time off in the week is not a problem, I still have 35 days holiday to take by May 08
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With BSJA around here it tends to be Summerhouse on a Tuesday, and then shows like Dorset which run over 3 days.

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HOW much time of
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Yup that the prob im having at the mo! i work monday to sat and then get 2 sundays off in 3 weeks (i work one in 3 weekends) do trying to do things on sundays is almost impossibe! went i to book gatcombe sat off today - had entered there as knew it would be my sunday off!! and boss had a little fit as i only went back today!!
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so glad i booked weston week off when i finished in may!!
 
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I'm lucky in that I have a lot of holiday and flexi time, so getting time off in the week is not a problem, I still have 35 days holiday to take by May 08
crazy.gif
With BSJA around here it tends to be Summerhouse on a Tuesday, and then shows like Dorset which run over 3 days.

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HOW much time of
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I started with 38 days leave as I bought some over from last year, next year my basic entilement goes up 5 days to 30, we also get special days of for the queen's birthday and other stuff and then we can take up to 3 days a month flexi - and I make at least 30 mins a day on that. Not having a horse to ride all summer has meant no shows - no time off so I have loads spare. Can't go on holiday as stupid OH is SA and he isn't allowed in 95% of the world without a visa and now his passport is disappearing for I don't know how long while the govt. decides whether he is allowed to stay here or not. Admittedly I do go to the US a lot - but thats work - honest
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I'm quite lucky as the nearest competition centers to me tend to hold weekend competitions (I compete in BD). Also, my work is open on Saturdays so I am able to swap a weekday and work on Saturday instead if I have to.

Where the real difference comes in is training. I find it very difficult to go for training without having to take an afternoon off work. People who don't work full time don't have to worry about that. In winter I have to share the school with soooo many other people as everyone want to ride at the same time after work. This makes running through tests rather difficult. Luckily my work is pretty flexible and I can get away quite easily! One good reason to keep the job whenever I'm tempted to chuck it in.
 
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