Wow! I know they are hurting for $, but I think this will discourage spectators, not increase their income. I guess the people who are determined to go, will pay it. I was going to go, but I think I might not, now.
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I used to have a box for a long time…last year I gave it up as the prices were just too high to justify it. I’ve gone every year…last year we did general admission seats. This might be the first year I skip going in the past 25-30 years (with only 1 year missed because I went to WEG in KY).
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I was just talking to a judge this weekend about how there’s no money at all at DaD. Really disappointing.
I bought a ticket to the biomechanics seminar with Dr. Clayton, which also got me general admission and I’ll be able to stay for the masterclass, which seemed like a great value. Maybe they would be better off shifting what they charge for what instead of raising general admission so much. $50 is a lot; who in the general public will pay that? I don’t think this is the way to attract people to the sport.
ETA: the ticket to the seminar was $125.
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Piggybacking off this idea. I’d be happy to pay money for “educational” presentations and seminars. Maybe that’s where the puck is headed.
It’s been many years since I showed at DaD, but a lot of friends and family came to watch. No way that would have happened at $50 a pop.
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I’m shocked the masterclass is free. I know reserved seating is available, but $125 for three hours still seems cheap to me… Why not have separate ticketing/admissions for special events and charge for that instead? Loads of people would pay extra to attend freestyles, etc. but not $50 to walk around the grounds for the day.
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Hold on, the title of this thread is a bit misleading— tickets are $15, except for Thursday which is $50 and Friday/Saturday which are $20. I didn’t check since I’m only attending Thursday. I guess they’re charging people for the masterclass this way, though I still think it would be more efficient to have separate ticketing. A slight upcharge for Friday/Saturday doesn’t seem that unreasonable to me; lots of places and events do this.
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Oh, blue heron, I only looked at Thursday, since that’s the day I’m going! My mistake. I’ll change the heading. I think they are doing this because last year, they realized that with a showgrounds like Devon, there is no way to police who wanders around the arena and watches. Last year I bought a reserved seat, but this year I will wander. I’m also going to the Hillary Clayton program–it looks great.
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Devon has gone from a show that used to donate money (and get lots of volunteers because of it) to Thorncroft Therapeutic Riding, to a show that is practically begging for donations to itself. When I ask people “in the know”, who were involved with the show before it was wrestled away from DVCTA, they say it’s been mismanaged. I don’t know more than that, but it’s a shame.
I do know that the last time I showed there, maybe 3 years ago, I got an email almost before I got home, asking for donations. After just dropping a few $thousand$ to show there, I wasn’t too interested…
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Last year I bought a seated ticket for the masterclass, but the seat didn’t exist, so the person checking tickets put me in an empty box, that was lovely!
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The same happened to me–I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where I was supposed to sit, and neither could the people working there. I sat in a box and just moved if the box owners showed up. I’m just going to wander around this year…
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I just watched a video of Boyd getting ready. Since Silva is quite pregnant she can’t do it. So that’ll be interesting but I dont’ think I"m going to go this year.
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Boyd is doing straight dressage? Does he do that often?
I know he does straight show jumping once in a while.
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nope he never does it. This is for the masterclass, he’s not actually competing. HE was practicing tempis, it’s quite a fun video to watch, he’s of course a very accomplished rider but doesn’t quite have the finesse of Silva.
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I appreciated his humility in the video (and Silva ribbing him).
Still trying to figure out if I can make the biomechanics class work (I’m holding a horse for the foal championship in the morning) and if I can stick around for the masterclass (my ride with said horse is leaving before it and really don’t want to have to bring my own car up) but I will say, they’re trying to make attendance more interesting with these offerings
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the first year I went was 2019 and they had an app where you could score the GP along with the judge and see how you did, I found that really interesting too!
I can’t remember if they did that last year.
Could you please post a link to the video? TIA!!
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A lot about DAD has changed over the years. The President, and most of the BOD are solid. At one point, they were paying someone to run the breed division. Not sure if they are still doing that.
What made me sick was the fact that Thorncroft was sending volunteers to man almost all of the food booths, and more. They also brought the Mainstreamers over for performances. Some years, Thorncroft allegedly received as much as 75K. Then, they allegedly gave them 5K. Thorncroft said hasta la vista beeches in a beautifully written letter. I’m not sure where the $$ goes, but they have a lot of income there. Entrees, boxes, daily entry, sponsors. All the of BOD members dress to impress and preen on Saturday night. It’s quite the deal!
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I have to do it from home as I can’t get to FB at work. I’ll try very hard to remember though someone did just post it to shitedressageunited if you happen to be a member of that group.
For the COTH sleuths…here is ProPublica’s NonProfit explorer. You can look at the Form 990 changes over time
