The old rulebooks used to “line-out” the old rule and put the new rule in red. This only shows the changes (also in red). I’ll have to grab last year’s rulebook and do a comparison.
I believe this doc shows the changes? https://useventing.com/resources/documents/Appendix-3-Increase-Qualifications.pdf
Appears an increase in number of MERs from 4 to 6, and the addition of at least one MER being as a horse/rider combination.
Also looks like a decrease in the max dressage penalty points from 50 to 45 and decrease in the allowed time penalties from 36 to 30.
That is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you.
It also looks like the minimum dressage score has gone from 50 to 45, and time faults on XC have gone from 90 sec to 75 sec (to count as an MER).
ETA: Oops, we posted simultaneously.
The percentages shown in the linked graph are a great visual.
Does anyone feel that the increase in number of MERs will be detrimental to ammys being able to move up? I think the original proposed rule change back when it caused all the uproar was 10 MERs? 4 to 6 seems reasonable, especially with the caveat that athletes with more than 10 are exempt from the 1 MER as a combo addition.
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Well hopefully it does prevent some from moving up. The pros routinely do more than the required MERS so why do ammies think they are better equipped would be my reply.
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As a one-event-horse ammy who did Training for the first time in fall 2021 and is contemplating Prelim in late 2023, I am much happier about 6 MERs than 10. I have 8ish MERs and don’t feel ready for Prelim, but that’s a schooling issue vs a competition issue—plus I can and will do more Modifieds. If I did a few more Trainings and got to 10 MERs, that alone would not prepare me any better. I feel like 6 balances safety concerns with not making it cost-prohibitive, if one is able to prepare with 6 good runs, unrecognized HTs, and schooling.
Reflecting on my own Training runs also underscores how achieving an MER and having a safe, confidence-building XC run can be completely unrelated. My first Training was an MER but XC was quite scary due to a combination of excess equine enthusiasm, 95-degree heat with 95% humidity, slippery reins/gloves, rider lack of fitness after an injury, and a Myler combination bit that had been fine in schooling but apparently didn’t garner respect under those conditions. The next spring after a few more events and lots of homework, we had a lovely harmonious run (in a snaffle, thank you very much!) but got a 20 because I was having a thumb issue that caused me to drop my right rein over an A element, and instead of turning hard right to B my horse politely circled left. Technically I could have 6 of those scary runs and move up, but that’s where rider (and coach) responsibility comes in…
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Surprised at the lowering of the dressage score. In the past it’s been inconclusive as to a correlation between bad dressage and competence on XC–regardless of how hard certain people have tried to justify it. The old data had the winner of dressage as the most likely horse to have a stop on XC. Do we have new data? Lots of TB types with very marginal dressage who are powerhouses on XC.
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I believe they were more likely to fall, which is a safety concern. Whereas a stop usually isn’t.
I don’t like the new rule for ammies like me, because there are so few events where I live now, it could take 2 years of competitions to get through the MERs. Maybe my horse is going to need them, but maybe not depending on our schooling and skills.
That’s just 2 more very expensive weekends for me which could involve 2 days of travel and 3 days of competition which means 2-3 days off work in addition to fuel and entries. That’s if all goes well! If we pull a shoe and withdraw, we now have another show to get that MER.
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It’s just not good enough anymore to “get by” in dressage, and there’s no excuse for it.
I have one of those horses who routinely would score high 40s in dressage even into the 50s. Almost always double clear jumping rounds at Training level. Fast as hell and jumps anything and not unsafe over fences.
I stopped Eventing her for two years and worked on my own education and dressage skills and when we returned to Eventing we scored a 36, and then a 32! We are still working and I anticipate even better scores ahead.
There is no excuse imo anymore. It’s too competitive, the standards are higher and if you want to event you should have a basic understanding of working a horse in the most basic level of dressage before you go jump big logs that can kill you. Eventing dressage is a low level of dressage even at Prelim.
Just my personal opinion though.
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Not everyone runs every HT to be competitive–nor should we be encouraging that.
When the stats are run on dressage score and XC results people are generally very surprised at how low the correlations are between the two in terms of safety. Any correlations that exist have not very statistically significant if they even exist. (From what I’ve seen–I don’t follow quite as closely these days.)
But this makes sense, the very thing that characterizes our sport is that the qualities that make a horse exceptional in one phase are generally qualities that make him less exceptional in other phases. As much as we pat ourselves on the back, you actually don’t need even mid level dressage skills to jump well–go see every other equestrian jumping sport.
The strongest predictor of future XC safety is past XC safety–not dressage score–by a large margin. I don’t give a damn what anyone’s dressage score is–if they are competent and safe XC is all that should matter. The same people bitch about how the TB is being pushed out of the sport by the WB industry then support this stuff.
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It’s not about being competitive, it’s about being better than a bare minimum requirement.
I would like to see numbers that correlate to your points. I haven’t personally seen any data for either side but just anecdotally I can see riders who have bad dressage scores also have bad Showjumping scores often and or horse and rider falls. But I have no data to back it up just from showing myself and what I see.
I also think the social view of our sport is important and people don’t want to see a horse who can’t do a very basic dressage test without their head straight in the air the entire time heading off to jump XC.
I haven’t seen a thing about TBs being pushed out, if anything horses with blood are more desired now. Anyone with half a brain knows TBs can and do perform just as well as warmbloods in dressage.
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Which is why the dressage world is full of TBs? I must have only a half a brain…
You did a whole post about becoming competitive. About taking time off to improve your scores. Then say it’s not about being competitive? Now you’re saying it’s about what “people don’t want to see.” I would advise against assuming 4 minutes in a dressage ring is giving you all the pertinent info as to competence.
Minimum dressage scores also emphasis allocating more schooling time to dressage and less to jumping. That’s not the right trend either.
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I mean there are TBs in the dressage world, I ride one myself in pure dressage. Obviously not as many as warmbloods but I would think eventers would be more aware that TBs are perfectly capable of doing a Training/First level dressage test.
My post was not about being competitive at all because a 32 or a 36 still leaves me in almost last place lol. It’s about being educated, not embarrassing myself and doing whats right for my horse. I am very keen on being the best rider I can be and learning my craft.
Considering the professionals all spend a lot of time on their dressage, I’m not sure why ammies wouldn’t also do this. Good dressage translates to good jumping. It’s not like you need to drill 5 days a week to do a Training level/first level test! That’s the most basic level and everyone should be able to complete that in decent form if they are Eventing Training level or above.
I’m not speaking for everyone but all the Eventing podcasts, articles etc are discussing the social aspect at lengths these days. They discussed it at the FEI safety forum. So whether you agree with it or not, it DOES matter and it will be shaping our sport moving forward.
We can agree to disagree though!
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I think that’s the point.
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This.
The horse that took me from Beginner Novice to Prelim fits the bill. My late mare was a Paint/Thoroughbred who was bred, born, and broke on a reining farm in Oklahoma and she looked the part. Short neck, downhill, big hindquarters. Looking at her USEA record, her first event was a Novice when she was about 4 years old. She was bounced around to a few other people before taking one young rider from Novice to Prelim. I got her from my friend and trainer who is now a 5* rider when she failed at being a hunt horse for aforementioned friend/trainer’s mom. This mare consistently scored in the high 30’s through 50’s in dressage throughout her entire competition career and things were no different with me when I got her. She wasn’t being bad by any means, she simply never had proper dressage (or even flatwork) training. Everything she did was quick and the combination of her confirmation and lack of training meant that she just put her head straight up and inverted her neck, bulge her predominant brachiocephalic muscles, and run on her forehand. Of course over time, our dressage improved, as did our scores, and naturally that also translated to over to the jumping phases. We were never competitive but almost always came home with a ribbon and without fail had fun and learned a lot.
In the six years when we were competing, we never had a cross country jumping penalty and three rails in show jumping. We sure had plenty of speeding tickets, especially at Novice. She was so damn athletic when it came to running and jumping; her footwork was cat-like and she was brave, bold, and honest. But most importantly, she had the best brain. She took care of me through my blissfully ignorant teenage years where I would do things like gallop her around bareback with no helmet or even a halter. She always brought me home safe from every jump school or hack. I could put anyone on her and never worried. She made me the rider and person that I am today because she gave me confidence.
She and I would have had a harder time getting MERs if these new rules existed back then. And I’m sure that many people can echo my sentiments. She was the last horse on the planet that would have ever been considered dangerous. But if you only looked at the numerical score of our dressage test, it looked like we were trying to just “get it over with to move onto the fun stuff” and that is now what being touted as perilous. Meanwhile, I’m more terrified watching some of these dressage and show jumping horses being pushed around the upper levels of the sport by pros and find that to be dangerous.
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Eventing is three sports combined into one. I don’t think it’s incorrect to expect competitors to be proficient in all 3 before increasing the difficulty. There’s also a reason “cross country” isn’t a sport on its own.
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While I can absolutely appreciate what must have been a special relationship between you and your horse, I think the “head straight up . . . run on her forehand” with speeding tickets at Novice is exactly the kind of thing that is not encouraged prior to a move-up.
The DR’s given at Millbrook (?) last season are good examples of this.
NOT TO SAY you were dangerous. I don’t know you. Just offering a counter-point.
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That’s the thing, it’s very basic dressage. If one can’t pull themselves together enough to get a score under 45 then I would recommend just taking the time and training more. More training only benefits the horse and rider. If upgrading is the goal, then you should be schooling a level above anyway and so your dressage schooling should be above what you are showing.
Bad tests happen but if you can’t get under 45 in dressage 6 times, I don’t think that holding someone back is hurting anyone.
That’s 55% in dressage which is not sufficient, as per the test guidelines.
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Stupid question: do runs at modified count towards your prelim MERs?
I answered my own question by reading for comprehension: yes, it says “training level or higher” in the rule change.
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