$$$$$$$
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I heard that theyāre going to require all riders to be microchipped as well (to prevent pros from disguising themselves as ammies) . . .
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Choked on my coffee 
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The point of my statement was your horses need that care yearly at minimum, so just have them chipped at the same time. But also, as Iām sure you know horses love to have extra incidental charges. Iām sorry but I refuse to believe the āit prices people out of the sportā by ONE fee. You spend more in lessons a week, shoes a month, board a month. Budget or not.
We need to track and identify horses better. Period. This is a very safe and effective way and honestly inexpensive. I donāt know a single vet that doesnāt have a scanner. If youāre doesnāt, you are probably remote enough you are dropping a good amount of money to travel to compete.
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I agree with you 100% that we need to be tracking horses better ( see my post above ) and if I had my way microchips would be required just like a coggins if your horse leaves your property. Thats not the requirement right now and according to some posts above horses arenāt scanned to see if people are complying with rules already in place . So I am not sure how helpful it is to add extra expensive for someone that wants to try the sport once or twice to see if it is something they want to do.
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I will add that I am all for microchips at training level and above , by the time you get to those levels you you show know the rules well enough to have your horse microchipped at a regular scheduled vet visit . What I am talking about is the grass roots first time competitors that want to try into/BN once or twice to see if itās something they would like to do. I know plenty of 4- hers / trail riders / fox hunters who would not go to an event if they are told they have to get their horse microchipped before they go, they will not shell out the money for an extra vet visit to go try something once to see if they like it. I find it ironic that some of the same people who ask in other threads how we can attract new people / diversify to this sport are on this thread saying itās okay to add extra cost to go to an event.
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I donāt think itās just the dollar amount but also the and, and, and - people look at the list of x memberships and x safe sport courses and x vet stuff and x extra fees on top of the plain ol entry and think ffs and go try something simpler to get started in. And now here they are pushing for you to fill out a livestock manifest to trailer your own horse anywhere - even if itās just half hour to the park to trail ride and back home again, itās just a downloadable form to print off and fill out to take with you but again another thing to have to do when all you bloody well want to do is enjoy your horse cause itās a nice day out!
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I think you bring up a very good point. A lot of people are going to pick an activity that is easy to get started in, so if you make it hard to get started people will just pick something else to do.
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Like yo-yo contests?
I was thinking some else horse related but hey yo-yo might be fun 
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Iām pretty sure Iāve commented on this in the past (I think in another thread?), but the state of Louisiana has required microchipping, tattoos, or freeze brands for all horses to get a Coggins since 1994. Louisiana is not exactly the wealthiest state in the world, so the cost must not be make-or-break for most horse owners - microchipping is the most common choice in the state, since itās cheaper than freeze branding.
I had my TB microchipped even though heās tattooed - Iām the first to complain about the cost of eventing (and havenāt even made it to an event with him since I bought him in 2018 since money has been so tight!) but in the grand scheme of things it was less than 1/3 the cost of a lesson to just add the microchip on when his Coggins was pulled.
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Thatās why we love unrecognized!
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I think this is one of the things that I struggle with re: this discussion. Iām probably a bit spoiled in that we have a good unrecognized mini trial series in my area (all venues within 2-3 hours, which is par for the course for pretty much any competition regardless of discipline and especially so for anything recognized by any subset of USEF, hardly anything is closer than that), but at least with my trainer, we donāt even think about going recognized until weāve had multiple solid unrecognized runs.
Iām all for keeping costs down but I guess Iām just a bit ?? at the idea that the vast majority of people dipping their toes into eventing for the first time would be going to a recognized horse trial (and thus subject to the microchipping rule for entry) as opposed to an unrecognized local mini trial/1DE where the barriers to entry are (typically) lower all around.
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I would love nothing more then if this was the case across the country, I would support this rule 100% if it was , but itās not. So unless you are aware of the rule before hand you would not know to add the chip when the vet comes to do shots. People who event seriously should know and follow the rule, people who are new to eventing should be given a chance to try it without having to shell out the extra money to get one.
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I donāt think āschooling / unrecognizedā events are standard across the country. Iām in California and we have one venue who runs a lovely schooling event (that follows usea rules). I believe they just introduced this last year. I think it gets roughly 20-30 entries each time (they offer grasshopper - training), I can only hope they are making enough to keep it running as I love attending. The entry fee includes xc schooling the flagged and flowered course the day before and at the end of the event, itās truly a great deal. Itās about $200 less than the fees for a rated event. I donāt think everyone across the country has this luxury, though.
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ok, I havenāt read the whole string but this made me LOL
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So it looks like the move to recognize Starter is still being determined.
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