Disputes Between Riders and Officials at USEA Annual Meeting

[Jealoushe]

Can you get a day membership in the US to try it out before becoming a member?

[Bearx2]

According to the USEA website you can’t

Membership

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[enjoytheride]

Microchips are only going to be required Modified up. I certainly hope someone’s kiddo isn’t trying out eventing at Modified.

[Mander]

Thanks for the clarification. I got a few wires crossed over the course of this thread.

Yes - I hope no kids are trying out eventing at modified

[Willesdon]

If an owner can’t afford $25 for a microchip, can they afford wormers, farrier, training…? Inserting a chip is a once-only expense.

[OTTBs]

I just read the whole thread and I didn’t see anyone saying anything about a certain level. I thought I was going to need to get chips in all my horses.

[BWP]

Or maybe the ill equipped child continues, only to have a nasty fall. Or the pony learns nothing from the round except that it can refuse jumps. Whilst holding up other competitors and giving the volunteers palpitations.

IMO competitions are not the place to ‘have a go’ at a discipline. Obviously, being horses, you will end up with unexpected happenings, but if the combination aren’t ready, they really shouldn’t be there.

Almost all of our unaffiliated events (inc PC and RC) run under BE rules. Why? Because research showed that the person most likely to have a refusal is the one who has just had a refusal, and the person most likely to fall has already fallen. And we all know that repeated falls can be incredibly dangerous.

[Highflyer1]

In the article it specifies USEF licensed, so Modified and up.

[enjoytheride]

@BWP

IMO competitions are not the place to ‘have a go’ at a discipline. Obviously, being horses, you will end up with unexpected happenings, but if the combination aren’t ready, they really shouldn’t be there.

I have found that nothing replicates an event like an event. The atmosphere is completely different, the other horses, the chaos, warming up in one area then competing in another, going XC all alone. Are you ever really ready for your first event?

[BWP]

Well, yes. Has the horse been to a few dressage competitions, ideally on different surfaces, coping with warmups and then heading into the arena alone? Have they competed SJ around courses of a similar higher or higher than will be asked on the day (ideally 2 classes to get them used to switching off and back on)? Have they been XC schooling at different locations, and shown confidence in jumping a wide variety of fences and coping with different terrain, being able to go off independently and jump a full round over a height comparable to what will be faced in the comp?

If they can do all this then I rarely see ‘stage fright’ at their first event. Only my experience though. The tannoys are often the scariest thing!

[Highflyer1]

What’s a tannoy?

[enjoytheride]

Even with all of that time, MONEY, and opportunity the first HT is nothing like any of that in my opinion. Which is why I’m thankful for unrecognized shows where riders are allowed to continue if eliminated provided they get the ok and are otherwise safe.

[libgrrl]

I had the same question! Looks like a loudspeaker?

[BWP]

Loudspeaker system, you don’t often get them at dressage or SJ comps.

[BWP]

Yes, producing a horse carefully and correctly does take time and money.

[BWP]

@Mander

And now you’ve done all that, kiddo scrambles through a dressage test, and then gets to the first fence on XC and pony says “you want me to do what now?! ” they pack up and go home. Expensive bad day.

@enjoytheride

Which is why I’m thankful for unrecognized shows where riders are allowed to continue if eliminated provided they get the ok and are otherwise safe.

Nothing about the scenario posted that I responded to screamed ‘safe’

[frugalannie]

I’ve volunteered at a local venue that runs unrecognized Elementary and Beginner Novice twice a year. There’s always a great turnout and lots of riders feel that it’s their 5*. They’re so excited to ride in dressage, jump stadium and then gallop across the terrain with imposing looking (but appropriately small) jumps. When something goes wrong, there are tears. Some are determined to do better next year. Others we may not see again.

We have an exceptional TD and committee, and they are really good at setting parameters amongst themselves for those who might continue safely and those who will not. As Control, I get a message that competitor X is allowed to go on XC but will leave the course after 1 stop. And then we implement it. And jump judges will let me know if there’s a rider who looks like they’re in trouble so that the TD can be notified and the rider counseled after they get as far as they can. Seems to work pretty well.

[Janet]

@Mander

Compare that to the current experience of fewer hoops to jump through and at a lower entry cost (because not USEA recognized), and when kiddo gets to that first XC fence and pony says “no thanks”, control can relay through the jump judge that kiddo can continue to trot around the XC course and just go around the fences AND still give SJ a whirl.

You have a major logical disconnect.

CURRENTLY, at a completely unrecognized event, it is up to the ORGANIZER whether or not to allow a rider who has been eliminated at the first fence to continue around the course. It probably varies by region, but I know more who don’t allow them to continue than do.

CURRENTLY, at an unrecognized starter/Intro division at a recognized event, the USEA rules apply, and a starter rider who is eliminated at the first fence must leave the course.

Creating a recognized Starter level won’t change that at either the recognized or unrecognized Horse Trial.

Also, if SJ is after XC, a rider who is eliminated on XC can ask for permission to go SJ. That is true whether it is recognized or unrecognized HT, and whether it is Starter of Prelim.

ETA that, at a recognized HT, the organizer can offer a “Test”. The most common tests are Combined Tests (any two phases). But the organizer can also offer a “Coaching Allowed Test” (CAT), where the coach can give advice, and where the rider can continue, under observation from the coach, even if they are eliminated. CAT used to be in the rule book as a specific example of a Test, but so few were offered (I think 2 over 2 years, and there were only 3 entries in each) that they took it out as an example. But an organizer could revive it if they wanted to.

[Janet]

@Highflyer1

What’s a tannoy?

“Tannoy” is British English for “PA system”, after the dominant manufacturer there, starting in the 1920s.

[Janet]

@Jealoushe

Can you get a day membership in the US to try it out before becoming a member?

You can get a USEF “Showpass” in lieu of USEF membership, good for one show, and only once per year. But USEF membership isn’t required in Eventing until you get to Modified

But there is currently no equivalent for USEA membership.
BUT, when they first introduced Beginner Novice as a recognized level, they had a scheme where you could pay for a one-competition membership at BN, and apply that to a full membership. I do not know if they will do that for Starter, but it is possible.