How were the rules at comeback events?

[SolarFlare]

@Jealoushe

This is likely one of the only FEIs our pros will get this year, not looking like the Canadians will be able to go south this winter at all. Not surprised she is riding so many, that’s a short day for her typically :lol:

What is awesome is that us in the non FEI divisions get to see at least one FEI division run!

The surprising part to me is that there are so many other people in those divisions! :lol: I scribed P/I I think last year, and that rider was something like 6 of 7 horses in the entire division…talk about lack of warmup!

@LadyB

I’m surprised the UL’s are riding to be honest. I don’t think the boarder is opening any time soon, best to save the legs. I expected more LL’s but thats not the case.

I’ve entered Grandview and I’m rather stoked.

Well, the pros have been riding during the shutdown, while many of the ammies might not have been, so the numbers make sense that way. I assume the UL horses are running because many of them are for sale, plus I figured the riders wanted to stay on top of their skills.

I’ll be at WOW and Grandview volunteering - it will be good to get back, and I hope everyone will follow the rules so we can all stay as safe as possible and continue eventing this year.

[seriously1]

I wonder if part of the UL’s reasoning for competing is to support the event. Basically, if they don’t - there will be very few, if any, in those divisions. Supporting the event help maintains the interest in running **'ed events.
I suppose it also depends on what the owners want.
Will they need a certain number of points to maintain qualifications for the future?

[Jealoushe]

@LadyB

I’m surprised the UL’s are riding to be honest. I don’t think the boarder is opening any time soon, best to save the legs. I expected more LL’s but thats not the case.

I’ve entered Grandview and I’m rather stoked.

It is one way to get some FEI points. I think they are hoping Bromont will change their date in the fall but I cant see it running if the US/Canada border is still closed.

[Jealoushe]

@SolarFlare

The surprising part to me is that there are so many other people in those divisions! :lol: I scribed P/I I think last year, and that rider was something like 6 of 7 horses in the entire division…talk about lack of warmup!

Well, the pros have been riding during the shutdown, while many of the ammies might not have been, so the numbers make sense that way. I assume the UL horses are running because many of them are for sale, plus I figured the riders wanted to stay on top of their skills.

I’ll be at WOW and Grandview volunteering - it will be good to get back, and I hope everyone will follow the rules so we can all stay as safe as possible and continue eventing this year.

Thank for for volunteering. WOW did an amazing job!!

[mdp9]

I was at Surefire last weekend and MDHT I this weekend. Both were well run and mask wearing was observed well. MDHT handed packets to your car with a pool net

I really only interacted with my riders and their families, who I am with daily anyway.

Volunteers did not have in person briefings, but online tutorials.

Loch Moy (who hosts tons of events in Area II) is testing out a paperless dressage scoring system. I did a Fix-A-Test there a few weeks ago, and by the time I got back to my trailer i had in my email inbox my test score and notes! Regardless of Covid, there are a lot of antiquated processes in the horse world that ought to be updated.

[mdp9]

@CindyCRNA

How do you do a visual bit check?

Yeeeeeeah that was kind of silly. The bit check person just said, “What kind of bit do you have?” “uhh a double jointed snaffle.” “Okay thank you!”

If there’s ever a time to get away with an illegal bit, this is it!

[OverandOnward]

@mdp9

Yeeeeeeah that was kind of silly. The bit check person just said, “What kind of bit do you have?” “uhh a double jointed snaffle.” “Okay thank you!”

If there’s ever a time to get away with an illegal bit, this is it!

I don’t even like to mention the number of riders who have answered this question ‘uh I don’t know’. Sometimes it’s whatever the trainer put in the horse’s mouth that day, and the teaching has not been handed down to the riders.

Hopefully that’s not the usual thing at bit check.

[SolarFlare]

@Jealoushe

Thank for for volunteering. WOW did an amazing job!!

From where I was, it seemed to run pretty smoothly! There were a few minor things Saturday that got changed for Sunday to make it even better (like making it clear to riders where the FEI and non-FEI dressage warmup areas were, and that each rider could only have 1 person with them at the show ring - no grooms, etc).

To answer the question about protocol for scribing - each judge brought their own scribe. For example, one judge’s scribe was their barn staff so they were already in the same circle. The judge I sat with I scribe for often, and we are both low-risk, work from home, and are very careful about not going out except when necessary, and wearing masks in public. We decided to sit in the same vehicle, with me in the opposite back seat, both of us wearing masks at all times. I’ll be sitting with the same judge at the next event too. For future events if I’m sitting with a different judge, we’ll have to figure out protocol at that point, but the “two separate vehicles, using cell phones with earbuds” idea would work I’m sure.

[Janet]

@SolarFlare

… The judge I sat with I scribe for often, and we are both low-risk, work from home, and are very careful about not going out except when necessary, …

Not criticizing, but if you are out volunteering (and thanks for volunteering) you are not “very careful about not going out except when necessary”. Neither volunteering, nor judging are “necessary”.

[SolarFlare]

@Janet

Not criticizing, but if you are out volunteering (and thanks for volunteering) you are not “very careful about not going out except when necessary”. Neither volunteering, nor judging are “necessary”.

Let me be more literal: I have been very careful about not going out except when necessary to this point. I can literally count on one hand how many places I’ve been since March, and this was the first event. It was also a test to see how it was run and whether it was safe enough to continue doing so at all this summer. I have volunteered at this venue for a few years and know the property and the owners, and how it’s organized. I know they put many hours of work into their plan, had it approved by national and international governing bodies, AND I knew they would enforce it. I also made my own plan to take precautions. I will be restricting my volunteering this year based on venues I trust to do the same. I normally volunteer at 10 to 12 a year and this year will be nowhere near that. I’m also back to my hermit life the rest of the time

Do you think all horse shows should be cancelled? (I’m not asking that in a snarky way at all - interested to know what you think). I myself cancelled the schooling shows I organize this summer. Volunteers are certainly necessary to run shows, but shows aren’t necessary for sure.

For context too, we have far less cases up here than the US - our entire country has less new cases than some cities there. We got here by being careful and continue to be careful. The risk is lower overall as we have less infected people to spread it, but we’re taking it very seriously.

[vali]

My daughter and I both competed at Twin Rivers last week. I thought generally people were pretty good about wearing masks, and they made lots of announcements about how you needed to be wearing a mask unless you were on the horse. No spectators allowed except a parent of a minor, but if you volunteered you could spectate. They ran each division on separate days as a one day so you could be in and out quickly, but since I had one horse in prelim and one in novice we were there longer. We have an lq trailer and it’s only 3 hours away so we didn’t need to stop on the way or stay in hotels. The county the event is in has had very low COVID-19 numbers, as has our home county, but I wouldn’t feel as comfortable going to Southern California right now. We either ate food in our trailer or got takeout. Bit checks were on the honor system, and they delivered your packet to your stall. Our state has allowed riding with social distancing through the shutdown, so our horses were pretty fit. I found the one day format a little exhausting in the heat, but my horses were fine.

[LadyB]

I did hear that WOW was reported by a bystander. Poor Geoff sounded like he was about to shut the place down. The trailer parking sounds like it went well with the odd driver not following protocol. I think by the 3rd time they were talked to that was adjusted, thankfully. I don’t know why its so hard for people to follow rules

So happy the first show has happened, some have got their toes wet with running an event and some with being part of the event. We’re on the right track to getting back to the new normal.

[SolarFlare]

@LadyB

I did hear that WOW was reported by a bystander. Poor Geoff sounded like he was about to shut the place down. The trailer parking sounds like it went well with the odd driver not following protocol. I think by the 3rd time they were talked to that was adjusted, thankfully. I don’t know why its so hard for people to follow rules

So happy the first show has happened, some have got their toes wet with running an event and some with being part of the event. We’re on the right track to getting back to the new normal.

It wouldn’t surprise me if a non-horse person passing by reported the show - they would have no idea of any pre-planning or approvals that took place. In fact, I think I actually like the fact that someone called it in, because it means people up here are looking out for each other

It is pretty astounding that some people just can’t seem to follow simple rules. What do they think the outcome will be? The organizers (all of them) will just refuse to put on any more shows. It’s certainly not worth their time, effort, or risk if competitors and their entourage can’t be bothered to put in bare minimum effort to keep others as safe as possible.

[SolarFlare]

@Jealoushe

It is one way to get some FEI points. I think they are hoping Bromont will change their date in the fall but I cant see it running if the US/Canada border is still closed.

FYI, Bromont Nations Cup in August is officially postponed, but no new dates announced yet. Completely unsurprised (I was originally scribing there too so have it on my radar and have been waiting to hear so I could cancel my airbnb). I think they’re going to end up having to just wait until next year but sounds like they’re looking for dates later this fall.

[Jealoushe]

@SolarFlare

FYI, Bromont Nations Cup in August is officially postponed, but no new dates announced yet. Completely unsurprised (I was originally scribing there too so have it on my radar and have been waiting to hear so I could cancel my airbnb). I think they’re going to end up having to just wait until next year but sounds like they’re looking for dates later this fall.

I was wondering if there is enough interest for just Canadians. I really hope they run even if the border stay closed, our Canadians need it!

[Jealoushe]

@LadyB

I did hear that WOW was reported by a bystander. Poor Geoff sounded like he was about to shut the place down. The trailer parking sounds like it went well with the odd driver not following protocol. I think by the 3rd time they were talked to that was adjusted, thankfully. I don’t know why its so hard for people to follow rules

So happy the first show has happened, some have got their toes wet with running an event and some with being part of the event. We’re on the right track to getting back to the new normal.

someone reported them? For what?

[trubandloki]

@Jealoushe

someone reported them? For what?

My guess is that someone who is not a horse person drove by and saw a gathering of people and reported that.

[Jealoushe]

@trubandloki

My guess is that someone who is not a horse person drove by and saw a gathering of people and reported that.

I can’t imagine anyone driving by who didn’t know this farm, it’s a pretty random location, and everything was so wide spread. The property is huge. Disappointing as the Morgans tried so hard to keep everything in line.

[LadyB]

I assume a neighbour, only because its not a well traveled road, and they probably don’t understand that there was a lot of pre-planning.

I would absolutely do Bromont if it was later in the season… lets us get prepared!

[Jealoushe]

@LadyB

I assume a neighbour, only because its not a well traveled road, and they probably don’t understand that there was a lot of pre-planning.

I would absolutely do Bromont if it was later in the season… lets us get prepared!

The 2*??