Jumpers: a question regarding number of classes during the week

[yellowbritches]

This is really just out of my own curiosity.

As happens every time this year, I flip through the Upperville prize list and think about how much fun it would be to show there. It never happens, and definitely isn’t happening this year (not jumping this year AND my BFF’s wedding is the Saturday of). But, this year, as I thumbed through, I realized that, should the stars align next year, among other shows, maybe I COULD do Upperville next year.

This brings me to my questions. There are two divisions I wouldn’t mind doing- the TB jumper division and the High AAs (assuming that my amateur status will be reinstated late this year). But, upon looking at the schedule, that’s a class just about every day with two, or even three late in the week. That seems like a lot to me, but I’m clueless.

So, how many classes is normal for that level of horse and rider (between 3’-4’)? I know hunters often do a pro division plus an amateur division, but what about the jumpers?

[SlamDunk]

I usually just do one a day except in specific circumstance, that being said at 1.10m or so two a day would be pretty common. Since you wouldn’t be campaigning 20 weeks of the year, and presumably would have a very fit horse being an eventer, two a day might not end up being too much.

That being said, I do my starts every day of the show depending on how the day went and how the horse felt that day. If my horse feels tired they might get a day off, or if they feel fit and need mileage they might show a little more.

[yellowbritches]

But doing one class (and occasionally two) Tuesday through Saturday isn’t unusual? Eventer brain here! Used to doing a one day where we get it all done in a day and that’s it! :lol:

[caryledee]

I used to average about 2 a day at that level, and occasionally did 3 classes a day at a 5 day show. If it was a Classic with a longer or tougher course, generally it was just that one class though. I had a very fit, energetic and sound TB. I never felt it was too much for him.

[SlamDunk]

Nope wouldn’t be unusual. I don’t usual show more then 4 days at a show, ideally not all in a row, but that depends on the schedule and the horse. Some do best showing more (ie my one horse when he was young, he was a nutter!) some do better with a hack day before the classic, some get tired or sore etc.

It really depends on the horse and the week too. Like if they are jumping well and I’m planning on a money class they might show less to be fresh for that class. But if I’m showing more for milage (or had been having an issue) they might show more. They might do Tuesday-Saturday for example if I knew I wasn’t planning on showing in a money class that week. Or my one horse might just go Wed,Thurs, and then do the Saturday classic if he was jumping sharp and fresh. The nice thing is you can kind of enter as you go and have a flexible plan for the horse.

[caryledee]

[QUOTE=yellowbritches;7571343]
But doing one class (and occasionally two) Tuesday through Saturday isn’t unusual? Eventer brain here! Used to doing a one day where we get it all done in a day and that’s it! :lol:[/QUOTE]

I switched from jumpers to eventing and for me it was the opposite…that’s ALL I have to do today? lol!

[kmcnam]

I would generally advise against doing that many classes at a typical show. Hunters doing double division is common but it is a little different. Typically it’s the younger horses that double division with a pro, and they can handle a bigger workload than an older more seasoned horse. Plus with the hunters, you’re talking one warm up a day. One warm up, 2 classes back to back, and then they’re typically done for the day aside from hacks and jogs. Plus usually they are only jumping 3ft or 3’6.

With my own jumper, I would usually do a warm up class on Wednesday, and then Friday/Saturday/Sunday, but only one class a day. If they ran more than one division class a day I would have only done one. This was for the 1.20s. It’s not unusual for 1.10/1.15 horses to do multiple classes in a day. But they still typically only do a class or 2 during the week and then the 1.10 and 1.15 divisions are limited to the weekend.

A big difference is jumper classes don’t usually run back to back, they’re closed card. So if you’re doing 2 classes in a day, you’re also having to do 2 warmups. If you have to come back for a jump off, that’s another warm up, more work, and more jumps.
Also instead of 8 jumps of flowing lines, jumper courses are longer and more technical. It puts stress on a horse’s body in different ways.

But every horse is different so it’s really your own call on if you think your horse can handle it and bounce back appropriately. As a one time deal, maybe, and only you can answer that. As a philosophy, I say no.

TL;DR, I wouldn’t double division a jumper but every situation is different.

[HomelessPony]

When I showed in the high adults - low a/os I usually did one class a day, and up to 3 classes per show. I liked keeping my horse fresh, especially if there was a Sunday classic, and he was experienced enough that he didn’t need the extra wear and tear from another round. With bigger classics, I would usually do a qualifying class on Friday, light hack Saturday, and classic Sunday. Some shows I’d do a qualifying class Thursday, an unrated similar level class on Friday or Saturday just to get into a different ring with different jumps, and then classic Sunday. Totally depends on the horse’s fitness level, experience, and the rider’s goals for the show.

[OnDeck]

Jumping anything bigger than 1.10 or 1.15, one class a day, three classes a week.

[yellowbritches]

Ok. One a day, three a week seems far more reasonable to me.

[Kat]

I do the high childrens and I tend do do a qualifying class on thursday and then the classic because I don’t need points for anything and my horse is pretty touchy about doing too much/ getting sore. But if he’s too crazy we’ll do a level class on Friday or lesson or something

[ElisLove]

At 1.10m you maybe do 2 classes the first day then one the rest of the week. At 1.15m one class all week. At 1.20m one class all week with a day off (so only doing 4 days instead of 5)

[PNWjumper]

Totally depends on your horse, as others have mentioned. Also depends on how fit your horse is and how well conditioned they are to be showing at that level. Also, how and why you need/want to do those classes. A spooky horse, for example, might benefit from getting 2 chances at a course, and green horse might benefit from the mileage. Whereas an older horse might benefit from jumping around less.

I do few shows over the course of the summer (usually 1 week of showing a month), so I want to show as much as I can while balancing that with the best interest of the horse.

With that being said, my TB did 2 classes a day 5 days a week at that level. At 1.40m I still show him in 1 class a day 5 days a week and occasionally put him in 2 classes on a day or two (one of those may be a 1.40m-1.50m GP). Absolutely no ill effect on him, and really he just keeps getting better the more classes I put him in (stereotypical TB, lol!).

I also put my WB mare (the polar opposite of my TB in regards to condition and stamina) in 2 classes a day for 5 days in a row through her 1.30m years and she did perfectly fine with that. At 1.40m I kept it to one class a day and didn’t show every day because it was a huge stretch for her to make it around those courses. Also, her stamina is nowhere near “natural” or even “present,” compared to my TB. Because of that I kept her on an extremely strict conditioning schedule. But from 1.10m through 1.30m it was 2 a day every day of the show.

But I will say that I’ve never done more than 3-4 jumps in the warmup ring, so my story might be slightly different if I rode with a trainer who liked to have me jump a bunch of jumps before heading in for a class.

[iJump]

No more than 4 days per week, preferably 3. And one class per day, maybe 2 on the first day.

[MHM]

Just out of curiosity, what is the workload of an event horse at a one day event at a comparable level? Wouldn’t they run and jump more than the equivalent of two classes in one day by the time they did cross country and stadium? And maybe school over jumps a couple of times during the week leading up to the event?