Ehh… amateur owner jumpers aren’t really that low (even the lows), but I see what you mean.
Or a free uber ride for when we’re too broken after falling off to drive home and our husbands are on the golf course.
7 Likes
Reading through this is just getting me even more frustrated about amateur rules and usef.
I know the following rule has been violated by someone in Ocala over and over. Also know she crossed in divisions she should not have and which I purposefully avoided (3’3 on one horse and 2’6 on another. I had a horse just coming back I wanted to do 2’6 on but also had a 3’ and 3’3 so I didn’t do it, because I read the rules. I asked a steward about it and they told me to tel the office. I never did but she stopped cross entering. I had told an owner in the barn who I am friendly with so maybe the word got back to them)
From the amateur rules: “j. Entries for non-under saddle classes in amateur sections at hunter, jumper or hunter/jumper competitions, must be paid either (i) directly to the competition by the Amateur or by the Amateur’s family or (ii) by someone whom the Amateur or the Amateur’s family reimburses within 90 days of the last day of the competition for which entries were paid.”
Now if the supposed amateur isn’t paying entry fees, isn’t the lack of payment proof here? The owners in Question told me they paid fees and didn’t know it was violating a rule. I’m sure the trainers are careful not to pay this rider but she shows a lot of horses for them and some owners.
At one point a friend asked me to show her young horse, and I said no because I had to pay entries and not interested/worth it to me. She had no idea it would ruin my amateur status not to pay entries.
I rented stalls at a farm where the Assitant Trainer gave me lessons and then showed in the amateur jumpers weeks later. Wtaf?! This person was clearly paid to ride. No doubt.
I never want to be the “old maid” who turns people in. Especially if they are people I like. This doesn’t really impact me directly. I ride how I ride, and I don’t really worry about competing against these people. But I’m a rule follower, and I suppose I could supplement my horse expenses (all of which I pay with after tax dollars from my real income), but I don’t because I don’t want to violate rules.
Ok off my soapbox now. Sheesh
11 Likes
Florida has weird rules.
For example, Zone 2 doesn’t let you compete in pony hunters and childrens at the same show. Zone 4 does. So who knows.
I feel like it’s gotten very gray who is and isn’t allowed in lower divisions. I’ve seen people do the 2’6 classes and then hop on their .90 jumper. Not sure how that works? Years ago it was horse or rider couldn’t compete over that height at same show… but money talks.
1 Like
USEF does not recognize Open schooling classes, or much of anything, under 3’. Unless it is a class restricted to Amateurs in a recognized division, anybody can show…and in those blue/red Open schooling classes, just about everybody does.
It gets muddy when regional/local clubs offer their own low level division under their own definitions at USEF shows. Allegedly under the umbrella of USEF rules but thats mostly general standards. Not eligibility definitions in non recognized divisions.
WEC was nsba and the prize list explicitly said that the rider could not competer over 2’9 in any other division.
I’ve competed against someone in the adults at hits ocala who jumped the million Prix. She and her husband who is a trainer own the horses so it’s allowed. At least the rules allow that. And honestly she was pretty reliable for a missed lead change for at least one class. 
1 Like
In my example these were all amateur clases at the heights I mentioned and spelled out in prizes list 2’6 amateurs riders can’t jump over 2’9 at the show. .
1 Like
If there’s a cross entry issue, that I think can and should be handled by the office. If entrants in division X cannot cross enter into division Y, that seems very straightforward to me and either they need to amend the prize list if they didn’t intend to prohibit cross entry or else they need to tell the rider to pick one division.
Sometimes it looks like riders are breaking the rules when there’s a goof up in the entries. Once I went to a show where I showed my horse in a 2’6 pre-adult division and my trainer showed the same horse in a 2’6 schooling division. But for whatever reason they had our names flip flopped so it looked like she (a pro) did the division limited to amateurs and I did the open division. But I assure you (and the results would reflect) that this is not what happened. But to someone looking at the results it would look like the pro went in a class she wasn’t eligible for.
Whether someone is/is not an amateur is a much more nuanced question and not one a show is equipped to answer “in the moment.” Nor is it really the show’s purview to decide that. Those issues should go to the governing body.
1 Like
I had an issue w “bad points” once because they listed my trainer as the rider in the adults. I had to fix that with usef. This was definitely not the case I talked about. I witnessed the actual competing and there was a Facebook brag about the results in the various classes that one rider was not supposed to Cross enter. Hahahaha. But I definitely agree sometimes people look entered in wrong things, and it’s really just a mix up or they forgot to scratch one and entered a different division. I’m not sure people are intentionally doing anything wrong, but I don’t know why it doesn’t occur to them to check. I did, and I’m just an amateur who enters all my own stuff and my trainer just shows up at the ring. 
1 Like
Same, I’ve turned down a couple of paid opportunities recently because I want to stay an amateur. I’m not going to break the rules, and I definitely don’t feel I have the resume, experience, or riding chops to call myself a pro. There’s so many useless “professionals” in my area, and I think that being a pro should actually indicate something about your abilities, not just that you make $ from riding. But it is a bit tough to stick to those principles when I could pay a chunk of my board bill by hacking a couple extra horses a week.
7 Likes
On the flip side I’m listed as a pro with USEF because 10+ years ago I taught walk/trot-short stirrup lessons while in college. I tried to make a go of it as a local name trainer and burnt out within a year.
I’m very much an ammy these days but I never changed my status back because I don’t show USEF (can’t afford it).
4 Likes
I suppose it would be the NSBA who would take the protest if it’s under their jurisdiction. No idea what their protest procedure is.
How old is this girl?
OP clarified it is this week at WEC, which is usef recognized. I don’t know anything about NSBA rules but in either case, filing a protest with the governing body seems like the right move!
Ooh, and can we pick a fence that doesn’t count? Maybe stop for directions on course? I am liking this division.
10 Likes
No, we get a 5-second, “catch your breath” break where the clock just stops or the judge stops scoring us. It must happen in a corner at a safe distance from next jump/line… and we can extend it longer if it’s above 80 degrees or we can prove we have not shown in 2+ years… or that we have a muffin-top that we can show proof that we’ve tried via diet or gym to go away and just won’t disappear.
We also get extra style points in the classics if we take a shot before going in.
16 Likes
You should definitely get a “freebie” fence that doesn’t count… one crappy distance in the hunters or one rail in the jumpers.
Alternatively, an entirely new division for those of us who are too slow for the jumpers, too fast for the hunters, and stressed out by the eq.
16 Likes
Also would be interested in changing the uniform to include leggings or sweatpants, because you KNOW we didn’t have time to do laundry before this show.
Also green spots on horse shall not be penalized (see aforementioned time constraint).
4 Likes
I’m game for this “freebie jump”. Got killed on my first jump twice today. It’s like I just rushed it both times and was consequently shocked for some reason when wonder pony left the ground at the base. God bless packers. Just kept going and laid down a lovely trip… didn’t hold it against me whatsoever.
Pony won their place in heaven… and many mints.
14 Likes
I get it. Every time I walk into a show ring, my brain closes the neural pathways that allow me to see distances. On the bright side, my young horse has learned how to jump from alllllll the bad distances LOL.
12 Likes
