vx111 sorry to chime in but we were schooling a young hunter on the other side and had a tractor trailer enter the area without stoping for us to move very unnerving and when we got to the side when her parked and idled schooling stopped . yes on the barn side near the stables we expected it but not threw the schooling ring . A few min later a crane was entering the gate. so there was that activity and Im sure you can imagine that on the grandstand side a crane and tractor trailer does not fit just look at the spacing . our horse was fine but I personally was not happy it occured . Im not use to schooling with tractor trailers moving in the ring . probalbly and a driver not knowing to wait for people to clear to the other side ,
I actually spoke to several YHUS folks who were very grateful to have a quiet schooling in the gold ring all to themselves. Why wouldn’t you school in the gold ring, which was totally open for the breeding class entries?!
I didn’t see any tractor trailer or crane. It’s not in the photo. I walked all around. I believe you if you said one came through towards the end of your schooling… but certainly it was not a demolition zone the way some have described it. And there was the gold ring to school in if it was at all hectic in the usual schooling areas?!
Activity is just in the nature of Devon. There’s a ferris wheel going with kids screaming on it, tents flapping, lots of people coming and going, water trucks, big trailers with the jumps being moves, horses of all different disciplines-- this is Devon. I think, on the whole, Sunday WAS quieter than Thursday. Whether it was a perfectly pristine pool of water or a construction zone is up for argument, I suppose-- but it was hardly MORE crazy/active than Thursday.
That’s a picture of what I believe was one of the last classes before YHUS, I don’t think it was an active construction zone by a longshot. I didn’t see one young hunter explode during the class this year, which is pretty unusual. Usually one or two go a little bonkers.
Guy McClain talked on the microphone and cracked his whip a bunch during my horse’s hack this year. I think the sound of whip cracking you can hear but can’t see might be described as a little unnerving.
When he did YHUS a few years ago, back when it was on Thursday, he was nearly head-oned by a saddlebred schooling in chains and had the Budweiser team come out with their horses, cart, dog, and all jingly regalia while he was schooling. IMHO 6 of one half dozen of another-- I’ll take a trailer and a crane over a giant team of horses making noise.
Clearly you can’t please everyone.
Regarding the triangle, Claudius, the judges of last year’s SBW (Debbie Sands and Sharon Stewart-Wells) are the ones who requested it, so I’m sure they liked it. 
When we were schooling it was still during the hunter breeding classes it would have been rude to school while other competitors we waiting to go into the dixon. so we were curtious. There were other people who were riding there mounts doing the same thing for yhus
Every other day of the show, people share schooling?! Had HB been on Thurs you would have had to not only share but you wouldn’t have even had the gold ring the entire time?! As mentioned, on Thurs the YHUS horses had to share with, among other things, carts and saddlbreds and jumpers.
Vxf, I am not sure why you are being so defensive. Some people are going to like the change, some are not, and all will have their reasons. I saw a crane come in, but can’t say when. Devon is Devon, it is true, but no matter how you wish this to be unanimously liked, that isn’t going to happen.
I looked at the YHUS lists, and it seemed that 99% of them were PA/NJ horses. I wonder if this has always been the case? I never paid attention before, but Scott Stewart and some other pros have had horses in this class in the past. Is this change eliminating that possibility because they will all be at the next show by Sunday?
YHUS has always been mostly local horses. Scott only took Glen Senk’s horses and back then Glen was local (back when he was at Urban). The horse has to be PA registered to be in the class.
This seems to be a classic example of “you can’t please everyone.” We got plenty of positive feedback about HB on Sunday and many of the statements are very misleading (I really don’t know what “crane” was on the grounds) but there’s an entirely other ring to school in so I really cannot understand why any minor commotion on back by the barns, if it happened, is such a tragedy. Or why HB people can’t share schooling with other HB people when EVERYONE ELSE at the show manages to share?! Talk about the first worldiest of problems?!
If you don’t like it, you don’t like it-- but at least be honest about what was going on. It was quieter by a longshot in the schooling as compared to Thurs.
I’m not saying it was not quieter alls I’m saying is regardless of that fact a tractor trailer pulling on to the grounds should at least not park in the middle of a schooling area while horses are schooling and I don’t think the Hb people holding there babies would have appreciated my Yhus cantering around them while they were trying to get ready for there class . But that’s just my thinking and apparently the thought of the other people in the same area as me . The crane came in around 2:00 pm but at least they sat near the barns when they pulled in . Call me crazy but I don’t school with large trucks pulling threw my ring a heads up would have been nice or a person coordinating that type of movement . Heck at local shows we have a person clear the ring for a water truck . Wonder why ? Safety maybe they just don’t pull in to the area without stopping and horse traffic at a show is Normal . The other thing normal us traffic ( motor vehicles not the normal farm tractors ) by the barns at Devon not in the schooling area by the bar.
Is this the horse?
Yep.
Fefe, maybe you and I mean different things by the term “tractor trailer.” To me that means a big rig, and I’m fairly sure a big rig did not drive onto the grounds. If you mean a larger size truck, yes, they come and go regularly during the show. Among other things, they take the jumps in and out of the ring. And since the only way into the two rings is through the schooling, yes they drive through the schooling. Yes, while horses are these. Yes, riders are expected to be in control enough not to run headfirst into large metal objects. Yes, the drags and water trucks do the same thing. Yes, right through the schooling ring. And the Wells Fargo/Budweiser coaches too. Yes, right through the schooling ring and everyone manages to not cream their horses into it.
Before YHUS were 2 awards ceremonies, (so one horse each assuming the winner went in with the horse), best yearling, best young horse… so we’re up to FOUR horses now… and before THAT were two classes with 5-6 horses each. So MAXIMUM we’re talking about 14-15 in hand horses and probably less because at any given time some of them were IN THE RING. So really more like 10 HB horses. I fail to understand why the YHUS couldn’t manage to share the gold ring with 10 horses in hand, but that’s just me. My horse managed to share the schooling area before YHUS with the same breeding horses AND people schooling for the jumpers AND people riding saddlebreds AND hackney roadsters… but hey, rose colored glasses-- life was perfect when HB was Thursday.
I’m really done arguing about it. There was no “crane” anywhere near the schooling area and there weren’t big rigs weaving in and out of the horses as they schooled. But go ahead and spin it however you want. If you preferred it being on Thursday, fine. I get it. You’re entitlted to your opinion. But at least be HONEST. There weren’t trucks driving in and out of the schooling all mayhem style. There was less hustle and bustle than on Thursday and probably no more motorized traffic than any other day of the show. The show wasn’t being torn down all around you. It was nice and generally quiet with a healthy crowd. Everything stayed open until after your class was done. You had the gold ring all to HB with no one else using it. A huge ring to school in that no one else got to themselves the entire show. In addition you had the schooling ring, which, yes, trucks sometimes drive through-- the same as they do every day of the show. You had loads and loads of stalls, meaning many people got to be stalled in the close, fully renovated, nicest barns when they for sure would have been in the far barns on Thursday. I could go on. But it’s all doom and gloom… it was a disaster and nobody loves you. I get it.
If you preferred Thursday, fine. We’re all entitled to our opinions. I wish to heck my horse who did YHUS had gotten to do it in the Sunday environment. I am pretty sure he would have done a heck of a lot better. He’s seen a truck, heck-- he RODE TO DEVON on a truck. But the coaching and saddlebreds totally blew his mind. I’ve have been THRILLED just to have to share with other HB horses. And, OMG, to have a CLOSE STALL?! I’d have just about died with joy!
I really preferred the HB on sunday, it was quieter for the most part and it was nice not driving home in rush hour traffic. Not to mention it was a day just for us, not sharing with the grand prix. There was a super good turnout of people there specifically to watch the HB.
However, the jump crew/footing/etc employees were in a hurry to leave and I had issues w/ tractors at 7am. I had one literally a few feet behind my colt as I was walking out of the schooling ring, he had no patience and I most certainly wasn’t going to go trotting out of his way. Also, the Gold Ring at times was PACKED with HB horses, no way could someone ride in there. Horses are already on edge without a u/s horse cantering around.
Overall, I loved the day and appreciated not dealing with the cart horses b/c they were pretty scary last year BUT the employees clearly had no consideration for the young horses when packing things up. Maybe consider having clean up day after the show is over (monday). I can promise you that none of the riders during the week would be ok with some of the things going on during the day in the schooling ring. It was very nice having the gold ring though 
[QUOTE=vxf111;7616157]
Fefe, maybe you and I mean different things by the term “tractor trailer.” To me that means a big rig, and I’m fairly sure a big rig did not drive onto the grounds. y![/QUOTE]
Um. Many tractor trailers drove on the grounds Sunday morning.
I do know what a big rig is, and I do know, for certain, vxf that many many senior week horses departed 2014 Devon early Sunday morning via big rigs pulling full size 48’ and 53’ trailers that pull in to the far side schooling area parallel to the restrooms/vicinity of barn 15ish. Trucks that size that ship Devon horses pull In to the grounds every day of Devon, and in fact moreso on the final Sat night and ESPECIALLY Sunday morning, many times pulling up to the far side in that further side schooling ring until they can get space to drive up the barn where their equipment and shippees are located. Fact.
Yes, large trucks and trailers ABSOLUTELY drive onto the GROUNDS. But not into the RING. Nothing that I think of as a “tractor trailer” (commercial big rig transport truck) but yes, large horse trailers do. Absolutely they pull in along Valley Forge, Dorset, and Berkley roads. They may pull in and along the barns. They do not drive through the schooling ring. They certainly do not drive around in the schooling ring. Perhaps they park NEAR the ring but not through it. Nor was there a crane operating in the schooling ring. There was/ always is activity on the grounds. That’s true any day, any time of the show. There is no day that you can go and there won’t be a horse trailer SOMEWHERE on the property. It is… a horse show?! That’s different than saying there were tractor trailers and cranes operating in the schooling area during the classes. And… frankly… it’s a horse show. There are going to be horse trailers?! I feel like that’s not an unusual distraction and sort of part and parcel of a horse show.
Bays, I am sorry the crew was quick to pack up and not patient. I walked around and frankly didn’t notice any more/less of that than you’d find any day of the show. The minute the o/f classes are done for the day-- the crew is whipping in and out of the ring to remove the jumps. That was ABSOLUTELY the case on Thursday. The SECOND YHUS was over the crew was rushing into the ring to set up for the next class. Which meant all the trucks loaded with jumps and dragging and folks scurrying around to set up. That’s an unfortunate function of a multi-discipline, multi-ring show with demonstrations and the like mixed in. There’s a lot of setup and moving things constantly. I am not sure you would have seen LESS of that had HB been on Thursday. I recall the early AM lunge/hack session in the dark Thursday AM and the water truck/drag crew was right on the horses’ @sses as the sun came up. If they were rude, I’m sorry-- I don’t think, however, that was a Sunday vs. Thursday phenomenon. I think you would have found that at any time, the crew is hustling to get stuff ready.
BTW-- for the staff that are truly staff and not volunteer (and I am sure you’re not suggesting that volunteers who already gave up 10 days in a row of their time to work for free outside all day long work an extra day just so no one is moving any jumps while any horse is on the grounds) I am sure it would cost extra to hire them for an extra day. I don’t know whether the cost of an additional day of paid labor is something exhibitors would want to cover especially when there’s bound to be some hustle/bustle anyway because it’s a horse show and that’s in the nature of a horse show.
Out of curiousity, what horse shows do y’all go to with no horse trailers, no jump changes, no ring dragging, no coming/going and where everyone sits in total silence, non-moving, like statutes as the classes go. I should have done THOSE shows!
Just to clarify, I’m not saying it would’ve been any better thurs. In fact, like I said Sunday is my day of choice But I do think that the ring crew was more concerned about getting out of the show than they were about the horses around them. That I do think would be different during the week since the show wouldn’t be over soon. Volunteers are great and did a wonderful job, I thank them!
Not that I have much dog in this fight, but a tractor trailer most certainly did drive onto the ring. He was promptly yelled at by officials, and had been told he couldn’t come on the grounds by the guys directing from the road, but he did anyway. And was completely disregarding anyone in the ring. I was hand walking a YHUS entrant and had to haul butt to get out of the way.
Unfortunately it was too late - and they let him stay because the thing was so big and there were horses schooling so he just parked.
[QUOTE=spacytracy;7616407]
Not that I have much dog in this fight, but a tractor trailer most certainly did drive onto the ring. He was promptly yelled at by officials, and had been told he couldn’t come on the grounds by the guys directing from the road, but he did anyway. And was completely disregarding anyone in the ring. I was hand walking a YHUS entrant and had to haul butt to get out of the way.
Unfortunately it was too late - and they let him stay because the thing was so big and there were horses schooling so he just parked.[/QUOTE]
Okay, I stand corrected. If this happened by accident by someone who was not allowed to do it, that certainly was not in the plan. It must have happened pretty close to YHUS because I did a walk around when the 3 year olds were going and everything seemed nice and quiet at that time. That sucks! I am not sure what the show can do about a person who disregards the show officials and the folks directing traffic though 
Sounds like by the time anyone realized he was going in despite being told “no,” it was too late. That does absolutely suck though.
The tractor trailer snuck in while the older guard while in the rest room. We were in Barn 22 by the gate and he raised holy hell about it. Our Ammy Handler was prepping her 2 year old. Thankfully he didn’t blink an eye. Ours are used to seeing the big rigs back and forth and most are pretty respectful of the horses in general, though clearly clueless with the babies.
I think there will be bumps along the way, but it seemed less chaotic to me on Sun than on Thurs.
The grounds guys or the jump rental company (?) thought they could get out early, since in the past the jumps were being used on Sunday. I’m sure management will figure out a way to deal with it next year, if it is possible.
You guys, I am sorry. That is absolutely rotten. What kind of a person drives into a place they’ve been explicitly told NOT to go?! Do you know who it was? Was the vehicle labelled?
I don’t remember but I feel like it was super shiny silver because the horse I was leading was not thrilled about seeing his reflection going past him. I was shocked that they had no regard for the safety of the horses who were being both ridden and led.
