Agreed, it works well. You are an awesome Control, which is one of many reasons I keep coming back to volunteer, even though my mare isn’t in the area anymore.
(Seriously, y’all, frugalannie is great! Very dry humor and very knowledgeable. The TD is similarly awesome.)
The best thing of all about the lower levels is that there is rarely a serious injury.
If a horse or pony just stops out, that’s a safe result. Physically if not emotionally. Kid may be in tears of frustration, but that can happen in any ring.
I have volunteered at so many unrecognized horse trials over the last several years. Seen some partings between horse & rider. Never seen anyone or any horse really injured and no has left in an EMT wagon, when I was there.
This is the way, in my opinion.
Thank you quietann. Loveliest compliment ever. the wonderful jump judges make it all work.
See you next year!
Consider yourself lucky. I have seen, in the last couple of years, a broken ankle and a broken collarbone at the lowest levels.
Janet, if the organizer is not required to have a scanner, what good does the microchipping do? Does the TD have a scanner. My understanding was that microchipping was needed to be able to identify a horse for health reasons, among other things. Say you have an EHV outbreak at a HT. I realize identifying a horse for other reasons is important too but if you can’t scan the chip it is kind of worthless.
The chip number goes on the entry form here.
If there is some form of outbreak at the event, the vet can scan the horses when they attend.
You’d have to ask the USEF.
It is my understanding that, in this year’s EHV-1 outbreak, it was the vets and the state Ag Dept. people who were scanning the infected and exposed horses.
I would assume that, if someone is protesting, claiming fraud (e.g., a horse competing in 1st year green when it had previously competed above the specified height under another name), either the protesting person or the USEF would have to produce a vet with a scanner.
No, as a TD I do not have a scanner.
Omg I saw that in local news. So ridiculous that they arrested them.
So I’m very mixed on this. On the one hand, I think it would be so fun to be able to get end of year awards and maybe championships at Starter for horses like mine in her day that enjoyed XC but BN was a bit much. On the other hand, it does make it more expensive.
My question is, are people trying it out going straight to recognized trials and not to schooling trials? Around here, there are several schooling shows nearby at bigger venues that have the exact same feel as a recognized, just cheaper. Trying it first at a recognized seems like a bigger waste of money than Starter being added as a recognized division, honestly. Even Starter tests at a recognized are still a lot more expensive than an unrecognized, at least in my experience.
Maybe a compromise could be having both the tests like they do now, and a recognized Starter class that can go for year end awards and such. Or something like that.
There are definitely people who would love a recognized Starter division with a leaderboard and AEC division. But I think there are a lot more who can’t afford it, or can’t justify the expense at that level when unrecognized HTs are so much cheaper.
I wish they would go back to/ expand the old system where they offered BN as an Opportunity division and you didn’t need to be a USEA member or register your horse or pay drug fees to compete, but also weren’t eligible for YEAs/ AECs. I’d like to see Starter- Novice offered that way, the way dressage shows can offer Intro- First.
It’s interesting to me that rather than address what IMO I think the crux of the issue is, USEA is looking instead to turn Starter into a recognized level.
Why do they think Starter exists? Do they not realize that the biggest two reasons this level is so popular is because A. it provides an affordable avenue into the sport that currently doesn’t exist, and B. it provides an accessible entry level to a sport that has become so dominated by level creep that now the average rider doesn’t feel confident entering Beginner Novice at their first event…
Did they forget what BN’s mission was? “To introduce green horses and riders to horse trials”
In my part of the world (to my knowledge), though there is one place that offers a starter trial, the set-up and facility are not what I would consider the safest. Lots of people go there and have fun. I would not want my horse going there and riding over those jumps or on that footing. (And no, I am not a footing snob, I have a blast on hunter paces and other such things.) (Disclaimer, I did ride there once. I will not go back there.)
The rated horse trial that has a starter division too has a great set-up, organizers that know what they are doing, and safe jumps and footing.
To be fair most people no longer start out at 2’6 (or higher) at h/j shows either. I don’t think it’s level creep alone
Personally, I agree with you (though it was never an “opportunity class”, which has a very specific definition).
But they got so many complaints from BN riders that “IT’S NOT FAIR!” that they didn’t have a leaderboard and couldn’t go to AECs (and not a lot of people saying “keep us out of the AECs”).
They gave in to the pressure and, I understand, there were a lot of overfaced horses and riders at the first BN AECs. That led to level creep at BN, because, instead of being an “introduction”, going clear at a local BN had to be hard enough that you were not going to be overfaced at the AECs.
I don’t think a compromise is necessary for that. The spec for Starter have not yet been set, but once they are, the organizer can offer a USEA recognized “Starter” level, and another 3-phase “Test” that has different specs (e.g. less than the minimum number of jumps).
Or just a “Test”.
I think the Starter riders have most of the time already done a HT unrecognized at Starter and they want to do MORE shows at Starter not having access to a lot of schooling shows, or show with their trainer who’s already taking people, or friends, so they go to a recognized show.
It isn’t just for that immediate show. When it was enacted for h/j, it was multipronged. A owner just can’t decided to change the horse’s name, age, start of new hose recording and not notify the USEF on change of ownership/change of horse name. It allows the horse to be searchable via microchip number by the breeder, no matter if the horse changes names or not.
Here is an example: https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/updated-eventer-turned-hunter-raises-usef-record-keeping-questions
And it can’t just be any microchip, it has to be ISO compliant (don’t know what number they are on). They also physically link the horse to the registration/competition records. It also serves as a way for veterinarians or transportation companies to validate identity to ensure that they have the right horse when treating or transporting ( for owners that aren’t there or ship).
Besides being required for some competitions, microchipping is a permanent method of identification that can be used to restore horses that have been lost, such as in fire incidents or natural disasters; to reclaim stolen horses; or to provide proof of ownership in cases of travel and competition. It is already used by many breed registries to provide a record of horse identity and ownership.
I don’t think anyone competing has to go out and microchip their horse if they are not showing modified (or plan to). But there are certainly benefits.
Microchips can be inserted by owners. It is not hard. If you can give meds by needle you can insert a chip.
The Canadian Kennel Club sells the Trovan ISO microchip for approx. $15.00 CDN.
The American Kennel Club sells 25 chips for $250.00 - go together with others in your barn at a cost of $10.00 a chip. Or 5 chips for $65.00 - $13.50 a chip.
It’s interesting, I often hear about “the US” bragging about its greatness. But I don’t personally know any one living here who does this, here at home, and not abroad. So I wonder, who exactly is this US braggart?
Not asking you personally, @skydy, just thinking in print about how I’ve heard this as a general statement but have never actually known anyone who did this.
Yet the reputation must come from somewhere …
I can think of a very high profile braggart from recent years lol.
I am bumping this up because there is a change to the rule change proposal.
see file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/036-22%20(3).pdf
It now says>
- Effective December 1, 2025, all horses competing at Federation Licensed and Endorsed Competitions must
provide a microchip number that verifies the animal. A microchip used to verify identity must be a fifteen-digit
ISO compliant 11784/11785 chip and be implanted in the nuchal ligament of the animal.
So, if the rule change is approved, all eventers from BN up will need to be microchipped.
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