Perfect, I love it
This exactly!
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Here an 85cm class is below the real competition leve, only our equivalent of schooling shows have them. No license is required and no prize money is in it so to me there’s no way that it’s a Grand Prix. It’s a 15€ class that you win a trinket, horse treats and a ribbon. The riding level will also be dubious, you will be hoping the ambulance doesn’t get called in.
Sigh, no not everyone gets a prize for participating… but the winners get to win, no matter WHAT the height!
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I think it’s silly, too. But, I fully admit I’m judgey and I think a lot of things are silly (like wearing whites below 1.2m). In the end I don’t particularly care- it’s harmless, even if it seems inappropriate. If I saw that on the prizelist I’d probably make the same face I made when I saw children in shads for the first time, and then I’d shrug and move on with my day.
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I can answer that question because the show, if I’m thinking to the one linked earlier, is in my area… they’re expensive to enter, he gets sponsors and a decent amount of entries over the show year so the $$$ all basically goes into these classes. But if you look on show grounds live, no it was not a $10,000 class it was still good Money but was a $2,500 class with the winner getting $750. The same for the 3ft. And then the bigger classes were an “all in one $10,000 class” so they all did their respective heights and then scores combined to get the “overall winner”…!!! Slick marketing!
At many shows up here (mainly in jumpers but sometimes in the hunters) if you have a good show it’s consisdered a good show when you’ve been able to win you’re entry fees back… some shows (cough Brandon ) I’ve been known, in yes the hunters, to not only win my entry fees back but also stabling costs, trainer costs and almost my hotel!!!
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Ahh… Ok thank you for the explanation! Still $2500 for .85m is good money, where I live you don’t get $2500 till you get to 1.10m and most of the shows don’t offer a dime back at .85m.
Not a normal money class for up here either! Basically a once a year “special” to attract more entries. Yes we have money classes but generally the "stake/classic/prix " class at the lower heights is around $500 to $1000 depending on the show! The normal, everyday classes (hunter or jumper) are normally $0 or sometimes $100 classes
Royal winter fair in Brandon is an exception… you can even win $$$ in the undersaddle, show hacks and road hacks as well as the hunter classes, hunter stake classes (run as add backs) and classics and then their champion prizes are also $$$… it’s fabulous:)
I think it’s a bit silly of a name, but it’s not really that big of a deal. It does, however, remind me of a phenomenon that sometimes happens in my area, called the “variable height mini prix”. Sorry for the tangent, but this is a terrible, terrible concept that rewards the turn-and-burn at the tiny heights, and thus punishes the people trying to jump a little higher and, you know, not flip. All for the sake of giving the riders at the lower heights a “prix” to ride in that will have numbers to fill and justify the prize money. I think instead of those classes, they should be hunter classic format instead…Like the classic of champions or whatever that class is called at Blowing Rock, where the champions and reserves of each hunter division are eligible to compete at their height and specs in a hunter classic. It can be fun to watch, for example, a pony hunter give a green conformation pair a run for their money, without the danger element of the variable height mini prix.
It wasn’t to long ago on this forum that people were upset about a 3’3 Maclay Final. People were saying that the name of the final shouldn’t have the same name. It was prestigious & kids riding at that level deserved the right to not have to differentiate that they won the 3’6 section or have kids boasting they “won Maclay finals” when it was the 3’3 section.
They ended up changing the 3’3 section to National Horse show 3’3 equitation final.
I think Grand Prix riders deserve the same respect for getting to the highest level. I agree with the op
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A Shadbelly, whites under 1.20 meter, Grand Prix jumping .85 meters, Maclay Finals at 3’3" - That plays into some of the issues talked about by GM and Katie etc…
You have riders that may not have the guts, the horse, the money, the stamina, the training, the talent, the drive, etc. to jump much over 3’6" but want the prestige of wearing that shad or whites, or competing in a Grand Prix. This allows them to do so.
I wouldn’t say it’s dumb-ing down the sport - it’s creating an avenue not to step up to the bigger events for some riders. Leaving the sport with less American riders that move up.
Saying that, I do understand why it’s being done; as a business owner and former politician direction is often taken to create interest in something that may be failing. These type of incentives are created to get people to attend, participate and keep the event or sport alive. And people have fun.
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I don’t understand the desire to “dress up” where sport is concerned.
I remember feeling rather an ass when obliged to wear a tennis dress (whites) when I was an absolute beginner, taking lessons (rules of the club).
However, no child is required to wear a shadbelly in lessons.
I’d be embarrassed to wear a pro-cycling, skin tight neon suit when learning to ride a bicycle with training wheels in place. That’s my outlook only, obviously many people have no such compunction.
It does seem to be about the clothes, a “costume class” if you will, for some folks.
Whatever it takes to keep the industry alive I guess. No harm done, but it does seem odd to many of us. It’s old fashioned to earn the garb.
I think that with the denotation that the term “Grand Prix” has acquired in linkage with the premier jumping events of a show, calling a .85m jumper championship class a Grand Prix sounds a lot like calling the 3’3" equitation class at the National the “3’3” Maclay." Which got enough uproar that it’s not called that anymore.
Signed,
A talentless amateur who jumps 2’6" on a semi-retired grand old horse who was scoped out above the level 4’s even if my self had had the guts or depth perception to want to go higher when horse and I were both younger, and wore a shadbelly for a 2’6" mini-derby because the class specs requested formal attire. And because I’ll probably never again have an excuse to borrow a tail coat.
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I agree with the OP. The term “Grand Prix” does come with prestige. So what if you don’t jump higher than .85? Good for you for jumping around at a proper height and doing what’s right for you. You still haven’t earned the right to say “I competed in a Grand Prix,” I don’t think. I don’t have the resources or probably even skill to pilot around a huge course…and I still don’t think shows need to offer classes like a “.85 GP.” I personally like tradition and I’m not offended that I will never compete in such a class. That’s life!
I know a girl who teaches backyard beginner lessons and will be seen teaching in a summer dress and tennis shoes. You could say it’s ridiculous for her to dress the part at that level, but I say that correct attire is respectful to the sport at any level.
But I was kind of raised by overly traditional people who insisted you can never be overdressed.
This was a Canadian show.
That could explain so much.
Emily
