In my region you only needed 1 blue for regionals, but that also sucked because the classes wouldn’t fill towards the end of the season. For me, I pretty much always qualified on my hunter. The qualifying classes are not super technical—it’s hunt seat equitation. I liked the one year at the Meadowlands because regionals placing was not required. I had to lease/borrow/make do and couldn’t afford much, so qualifying at regionals was hard. And then finding a horse to do the final on top of that… I think having an option to qualify on points directly could potentially help people get there who can’t have a finals caliber horse (or multiple) all season. Sure it is an equitation competition but really the people who win largely have horses who are specialists at it.
We needed 4 blues in my area (NY, NJ, CT) to qualify back in the year of the flood.
I think its doing the opposite. “The top 50 riders at the end of the 2024 qualifying period (Sept. 1, 2023-Aug. 31, 2024), will be automatically qualified for the finals. These riders are ranked based on points accumulated from their first 14 shows only and are not permitted to compete in regionals.”
So theoretically, by removing the “top 50 riders” from regionals, you may actually be freeing up more opportunity for a small-town rider to get into one of the regional qualifying spots without having to compete against the person who won every Maclay class at WEF all year.
I’ve been thinking about this for the last couple of days, and I’ll be curious how it plays out.
Fundamentally, I don’t like turning a national final into a point chasing competition, because that means it becomes a competition of who has the most money to go to the most shows. But capping the point chasing aspect to the top 50 riders nationally on their first 14 shows only (and excluding them from the regional pathway) does seem like it could be a happy medium between this year’s “if you qualify, you can Regionals or not Regionals” bedlam and the previous “run around the zone and do three shows in a weekend if you get desperate to qualify.” Maxing out the finals at 150 riders seems like an appropriate number to get the horse show done at a reasonable hour.
Very good points! It is a happy medium for what it is and definitely course-correct from this year’s process.
i believe that was medal finals I was also NY 3 for maclay plus regionals. 4 for medal finals
In MHO limiting the number of riders (in 2024) to 150 is a good idea.
200+ entries are an unwieldy number, and in recent years there have been some riders who didn’t seem to have the skill level needed for the Maclay Final.
This!
With 200+ entries many likely have no business being at the final…thats why its the final. In my JR days there were less than 100 in the medal/maclay even less at the USET. To be at the final you need to be good…period. if you don’t make it through the regional…you arent good enough. So to avoid that now you chase about easy shows to get the required points. But for the same reason we now have JR hunters at 3’3 etc…why? The whole sport is being dumbed down so that those with money and zero talent attend what were prestigious events. Now you can show at WEF at 2’3 or some such nonsense.
I think that is why they are limiting the entries for 2024. I agree that the only the best of the best riders should show in the Maclay Final.
However, I see nothing wrong with the divisions at the lower heights. Not every kid has the talent or the horse to move up.
And yes, it was different “back in the day” when going to a show wasn’t in the cards unless you had something to show. These days showing seems to be the first thought, and training/lesson time, for many, takes a back seat. However, that ship has sailed and grumbling that things aren’t the same as they used to be isn’t productive.
Agreed. Some of these kids even get their minds blown by the challenging tracks at regionals. In our zone, regionals had a Swedish oxer as well as a hogs back with no wings. I guarantee you no Maclay course in the Hunter rings in my zone throughout the year had either of those - and we’ve all seen how wild some of the fences Bobby designs for the finals are.
If the horse and kid can’t get around even a slightly trappy regionals, they have no business trying to go to finals. It’s a national championship - the very best of the best should be the ones there. I think qualifying through the Regionals is a really good way to ensure that the cream of the crop is showing at the finals. Re-instating that requirement gets us closer to that again, I think!
Also to add, because I was curious: for 2023, there are 288 “qualified riders” for Finals based on the Maclay website. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone does qualify in addition via the top 3 at Regionals path this year. Will also be interesting to see how many actually show.
Exactly. If you are doing your “qualifying” at Iowa spring #3 and the course is the JR hunter course with 2 rollbacks…sure the kid will be surprised when they get to Lexington. But theres where they need weeding out at the regional. It works that way in regular sports…football, tennis etc. Its a tier to get through before the championship game. And agree that now everyone wants their kid to show before they can post…and thats fine the trainers will gladly take their money. Problem is the kid never learns how to ride… But the 3’6 should be for kids that can and the ones that are good will have no problem getting through the regional and have a smaller, better class at the final. I happen to know many who have judged it in recent years and they have said the numbers are exhausting.
288? What a nightmare. 
A sidebar to the discussion but when there are SO MANY kids going, how impactful is name recognition? How likely is the no name kid to get higher in the placings, even if they ride very well? We have all seen classes that start with the judge scoring very harshly and then softening up as the day goes - is this even more of a problem at finals when there are more kids than points on the scale?
These are all questions that become more impactful as the finals have allowed more riders. At the same time, just getting to GO is a goal for a lot of these kids, so qualification needs to be somewhat equitable for anyone with the base means to even play. A combination qualification system like I think is being attempted makes sense; perhaps by letting the Florida pro kids and similar heavy schedules auto-qualify, it’ll allow Regionals to give the rest of the field a chance at a mildly trappy course before throwing them into finals. Capping it at the first 14 shows also helps cut back on the points chasing, which can level the money field a bit too.
I think equitation horses work extremely hard. If we can take their legs into account in the process that would be great.
Name recognition is always going to be there. Thats just a fact. Theres always a few favorites every year. I cant recall someone winning a final that isnt fairly well known…but thats because they are in the upper echelon of kids that win often…because they generally are the best…do they have nice horses and ride with top professionals?..usually…but thats how it has always been. Just getting through regionals and going to Harrisburg or the Garden was an honor in itself, and that was sort of the idea. It is equitable in that format as everyone sees the same course at the regional…and has the same chance to miss at the long gallop to the single jump… for some its a cakewalk for others its a challenge, but then you know where you stand in the scheme of things. As for equitation horses working hard…not all do. Most of the top ones are very good at their jobs and its not uncommon for the horse to win multiple finals over the years with different kids. They are worth a fortune and treated as such. No practicing everyday and they get saved for big classes. Mine went in a rubber D and jumped about 6 jumps before walking in. Most of the kids that do well have more than one horse or have others to ride.
The horses that qualify those kids DO work very hard, and finals season is no joke for the horses that go. How many discussions have we seen about the horses looking thinner or even sore the season goes on? If we can keep from encouraging people to pound their legs off chasing points to qualify (and then pound their legs off again once they’re there), that’s in the best interest of the horses.
More than that though, you’re saying that just because a kid can’t afford to lease The Top equitation horse, or have multiple horses, they don’t deserve a shot at attending finals? Even if they ride just as well and acquired/produced a capable horse, but have to be smart about how much they show - they should just give up the equitation, no way they can play the game, that’s just how it is 
. They can’t afford to be there and have their name “known” so who cares, right? Cause that’s the underlying tone I’m getting from your post.
I realize the irony about arguing for equitable access in H/J of all places. I’d just hate for the Big Eq to spiral further down the path to becoming a popularity and money contest, when it’s supposed to be a place judged on the rider’s skills rather than their pocketbook.
Just here to say, OMG, I LOVE this (sorry, my inner 12-year old got loose for a moment). Behind the scenes at a horse show is my favorite subject matter. Please, please, please share!
I feel like there was a kid who won the Medal final in the last 10 years or so from Oklahoma or someplace like that. I had certainly never heard of the kid, although that doesn’t mean it was an unknown.
But it was definitely someone who did not come from a place that would seem like a hotbed of equitation contenders. So it can happen, even if it doesn’t happen very often.
Are you talking about Hunter Holloway from Kansas? Her mother Brandie is a trainer and she rode with Don Stewart at the time. Not exactly a nobody. 
Kacey McCann, who was second the year Brianne won, might do a better job at “the who dat?” prize (although that might just be because no camera was on her that year.) Working student from PA who catch-rode and came second at her first Maclay finals. Beautiful rider.
(How the hell do I remember any of this just off the top of my head ten years later, and why don’t I remember to lock the door when I leave the house?)
