Loudoun Benefit Horse Show

[GoneAway]

@StormyDay

Now schooling shows are a whole different beast, and I have seen downright scary riders there. It seems that it’s always a bunch of kids with one trainer and they all ride like they are trying to win the Kentucky derby. But shouldn’t the show grounds punish these riders by citing them with reckless/dangerous riding?

You’d think so, but perhaps the politics of small schooling show series prevents them from doing that. They still should, obviously, but that’s the reality of it. When I was bringing my last horse along, I attended one of these local schooling series just to get him some mileage/exposure. I rode my jumper class like a hunter round, but I felt like the only one. Every class under the 1.0m (and even some of those) were completely TERRIFYING. Kids flying around, horses looking almost out of control…I only did one class before I decided to take my green bean home. I didn’t want to be around when a horse went down in a corner or tripped over a fence. I have honestly never seen scarier riding. We actually had way more valuable schooling experience at Upperville that year of all places.

I was at a “B” show today and while I didn’t hang at the jumper ring all day, I only saw one rider in one of the .70m(?) classes that truly scared me with her speed. Reminded me of the kids/ammies doing the 2’6" jumpers at that schooling series. Everyone else I saw today was pretty solid.

[StormyDay]

@GoneAway

You’d think so, but perhaps the politics of small schooling show series prevents them from doing that. They still should, obviously, but that’s the reality of it. When I was bringing my last horse along, I attended one of these local schooling series just to get him some mileage/exposure. I rode my jumper class like a hunter round, but I felt like the only one. Every class under the 1.0m (and even some of those) were completely TERRIFYING. Kids flying around, horses looking almost out of control…I only did one class before I decided to take my green bean home. I didn’t want to be around when a horse went down in a corner or tripped over a fence. I have honestly never seen scarier riding. We actually had way more valuable schooling experience at Upperville that year of all places.

I was at a “B” show today and while I didn’t hang at the jumper ring all day, I only saw one rider in one of the .70m(?) classes that truly scared me with her speed. Reminded me of the kids/ammies doing the 2’6" jumpers at that schooling series. Everyone else I saw today was pretty solid.

I think it really depends on the show. The less better ran ones seem to attract crazy riders/crazy trainers.
I just don’t think we need to punish everyone because some people ride like crazy people. I also doubt that the optimum time would help slow many of these people down; they already aren’t winning. Heck, I have seen more people tearing around hunter classes at schooling shows than at jumper shows, and hunters is about slow and steady!

[jumpoff87]

@Wanderosa

I’m curious how many who come for Upperville stay for the Loudoun Benefit and how many new pairs arrive for the latter. Part of me wonders if everyone is just too worn out from Upperville the week before.

I do wonder about with the footing getting “sticky” or worn for lack of better description by the start of Loudoun? I drive past the showgrounds almost daily. The hunter side is almost totally grass until a few weeks ahead when they start working whatever magic they work. One day I drove past and the jumper rings looked like a giant kinetic sand kit with machinery leveling huge dump loads of footing. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s the only show ground I know of that isn’t really maintained year round because it’s private land. Some local hunts have trials there in the fall but otherwise, it’s only those two weeks of the year that it’s active.

False, there’s a well-attended Piedmont Jumper show in September.
Plus, doesn’t the yearly footing maintenance mean that it’s closely scrutinized on a regular basis? Nobody jumps around without the big “sand kit” overhaul treatment. Just a thought, because while the footing seemed hard if a human hit it in a fall, it held up to 250+ trips a day in each ring.

[StormyDay]

@jumpoff87

False, there’s a well-attended Piedmont Jumper show in September.
Plus, doesn’t the yearly footing maintenance mean that it’s closely scrutinized on a regular basis? Nobody jumps around without the big “sand kit” overhaul treatment. Just a thought, because while the footing seemed hard if a human hit it in a fall, it held up to 250+ trips a day in each ring.

The middleburg classic is also being held there this year.
There is a popular AA show down south that I attended a few years back. The footing was a felt and sand mix, which usually means good footing ( IMO) I had to scratch the whole show because the footing was so bad my very picky horse refused to jump. It was at a venue where the rings sit all year except for a few weeks a year, and I think this contributed to the issues. A ring can look nice but the footing can be funky nevertheless. I haven’t had the experience of showing Upperville, so I can’t say if the footing was similar, but I do have to say that these posts remind me of that show that I scratched.

[Wanderosa]

@jumpoff87

False, there’s a well-attended Piedmont Jumper show in September.
Plus, doesn’t the yearly footing maintenance mean that it’s closely scrutinized on a regular basis? Nobody jumps around without the big “sand kit” overhaul treatment. Just a thought, because while the footing seemed hard if a human hit it in a fall, it held up to 250+ trips a day in each ring.

I was referring to the Piedmont Jumpers. Thought it was a trial. My bad.

I’m not saying the footing is poor. It’s Upperville. People wouldn’t come if the footing sucked. I’m simply positing possible explainations for so many people falling at Loudoun.

[Xctrygirl]

Also Upperville has the Ebb and Flow System in at least the big ring but I thought they were expanding it to one more ring as well.

https://premierequestrian.com/ottosport/otto-ebbflow-system/

Em