My friends and I all purchased only the dressage ticket package. We were very disappointed with Friday’s program. Yes, it was wonderful to see Rosamunde, and it was kind of fun to see some BNTs riding in costumes, but at a $90 face value ticket price, it didn’t really seem worth it. The attendees who purchased the jumping package for the same price got to watch four days of actual competition.
[QUOTE=catzndogz22;8114129]
My friends and I all purchased only the dressage ticket package. We were very disappointed with Friday’s program. Yes, it was wonderful to see Rosamunde, and it was kind of fun to see some BNTs riding in costumes, but at a $90 face value ticket price, it didn’t really seem worth it. The attendees who purchased the jumping package for the same price got to watch four days of actual competition.[/QUOTE]
It was fun…but yeah, I have to agree. $90 for that? Not sure it was worth it.
I agree
I agree
Agree. I enjoyed it, but it really lowered the “value” of the dressage package as a whole.
Well. I enjoyed it, and loved it, and thought it added very well to the whole dressage experience. Very enjoyable watching some of those top riders that didn’t have the horses to make to the final. Dressage does not need to be stuffy.
I didnt find it stuffy, just not enough competitors to make it worth the $90 ticket
[QUOTE=Gloria;8114584]
Well. I enjoyed it, and loved it, and thought it added very well to the whole dressage experience. Very enjoyable watching some of those top riders that didn’t have the horses to make to the final. Dressage does not need to be stuffy.[/QUOTE]
I enjoyed it as well.
And it was an excellent chance to get some of the up and coming US horses in the arena and get them used to the atmosphere of international competition.
PS – Without buying all three days, you not have been able to purchase the seats you had. Just a thought.
My friend and I thought they should have combined the Friday dressage showcase with the Saturday jumping program. Otherwise, I have to agree with those who think $90 was too much for the Friday dressage showcase. Saturday’s jumping showcase wasn’t much better. At least the Duel in the Desert was enjoyable.
Yep. They did this last time, too. I knew when they would not say what they were doing this is what was going to happen. It was fun, but it was fluff. They are definitely turning people off by charging full price for the warm up day and entertainment day.
I agree they should have combined the dressage and jumping. I saw one day of the jumping competition besides the warm up, and it was great.
They aren’t very honest about it. What if they do this in Omaha and don’t tell anyone what’s really going on? They aren’t going to be able to truck in a bunch of riders.
Agree… I would have enjoyed it more without the costumes. Thought that was silly.
So it seems like most of us agree. Again, I thought it was fun to see some of the other horses and riders, but if I had known what the program was ahead of time, I would have simply purchased the best tickets available for the two actual competition days rather than the whole dressage package.
Having said that, if anybody from Omaha is paying attention, I have some ideas that would make for a much better value for our “off” day tickets.
How about one of these or some combination of two or more:
- Carl Hestor (Axel Steiner, Hilda Gurney, Jan Brink, etc.) clinic with horses at different levels in their training. I’d have no problem paying $90 to audit one of their clinics.
- Stallion show / NA Breeders showcase. North American breeders always fret that they don’t get the credit that they deserve. Horse buyers argue that shopping for horses in Europe is easier because the can see so many more horses in a one week period. Why not give breeders a centrally located venue to show us what they’ve got? I get goosebumps watching videos of the European stallion shows, complete with crowds that CLAP. (Yes, even German crowds have been known to clap for horses they like, contrary to those who suggest otherwise.) How great would it be to host something like that in a central US location?
- Tempel Lippizans show. There’s more to dressage than what we see in the show ring and the Tempel Farms are a mere 6 hours drive from Omaha. Tickets for their shows normally run about $25, so $90 might not be a good value as a stand-alone act, but maybe combined with something else would be a satisfactory alternative.
Oh yeah, I do also like the idea of adding a jumping ticket to the dressage package. My friends and I bought tickets to Thursday’s speed jumping and we LOVED it. I’m not sure my heart could handle four whole days of jumping, so I would never buy the whole combined ticket package, but it was great to spend one evening to see what those other riders are up to. WOW! It also reminded me of why I switched to dressage way back when.
On a side note, did anybody else notice that the face value on the Freestyle tickets were $25 LESS than the Dressage Showcase and Thursday’s Grand Prix? What’s up with that? The $55 face value for the warm up is the only one that makes sense.
We had Plaza tickets; the Freestyle ticket says $115, which is $25 more than the $90 Grand Prix and Showcase tickets. The Showcase was fun for a change, but I agree that $90 for it, if bought separately, does seem a bit steep for what it was.
We also bought Thursday night Jumping tickets (way up in the balcony) from people who couldn’t attend and enjoyed it for a change in pace. It was exciting and took me back to my (very) long-ago jumping days; it was fun to hear all the clucks from the audience encouraging the horses. In 2007 and 2009, we stayed for the Sunday final, but our schedule didn’t allow that this time around. The reviews I’ve read of this year’s Sunday course make me feel that perhaps I should be relieved that I wasn’t there.
[QUOTE=mroades;8114594]
I didnt find it stuffy, just not enough competitors to make it worth the $90 ticket[/QUOTE]
Agreed.
It was fun. And I was absolutely blown away by Sanceo. I may be alone, as I haven’t read any raves, but that was the one horse who took my breath away all week.
But it wasn’t worth the money for what we got, fun or not.
My idea for the next Event would be to do a masterclass… I Always enjoyed watching Videos and it would be awesome to watch one in person
I love everything in it, especially the costumes. That showgirls outfit with gigantic headdress was quite impressive. Love the Percheron team too. I too wish there were more entries, but can’t say $90 is not worth it, for what I imagine went into creating it.
It did not meet MY expectations. It WAS fluff, and expensive fluff, at that.
I would have preferred to see the Freestyle warmup instead, if that had been open to all, and at a reasonable time. Like the Wednesday warm up period.
But then, what “extra” would the VIP ticket holders have had? Previous WCs had the GPS for those riders not making the cut for the Friday event. Some of the suggestions above would be great, I hope the organizers are reading.
[QUOTE=keysfins;8117936]
But then, what “extra” would the VIP ticket holders have had?[/QUOTE]The VIP tent alone made it worth it.
Please tell us more about the VIP tent!
It’s Vegas. It needs fluff, more expensive, ridiculous, outrageous fluff, better, lol. Quite a great refresher from the funeral procession atmosphere customarily seen at regular dressage shows, I’d say. Got to show folks that dressage can be silly and fun too. I have to admit, I was very much ready to be entertained, and the fact that the riding was exceptional, the costumes outrageous, the thundering Percheron amazing, all just made them more enjoyable for me.
