Again, those practice rounds were more than likely for only the upper levels/ FEI horse to get used to jumping at night under the lights. Nothing nefarious, nothing secretive. It’s not the BN- P level riders. This is FEI 3*/4*/ A/I levels.
Most riders competing at that level would be there to participate for this. And they would already be on grounds due to the scheduling of the upper levels. When you compete at that level- you make it happen
It isn’t just a one-time thing that happened for the FEI competitors at The Fork. I didn’t even know specifically about the “arena fam” there when I started this thread. If you read through the posts above, pre-competition practice rounds are something that have started being offered at ordinary, BN-P horse trials all over the place (although admittedly it seems like they aren’t common in Area II/III yet)… so it is of relevance to people competing at the lower levels who likely aren’t professional riders/trainers that can plan their entire life around competitions, and it is a change from what was traditionally accepted in eventing.
Y’all Tryon is not just for eventing, they have many different competitions going on at the same venue. Mostly it’s hunter/ jumper, but also pure dressage. This is not surprise that schooling jumper rounds are offered.
It’s written in the show listing that jumper rounds will be offered- anyone can enter. If you choose to participate you go early, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. Non of this well it’s not fair xyz crap… if you can’t make it, you can’t make it. That’s life .
It’s not an advantage because it’s a different course, different jumps. Ring familiarization is normal for FEI horses at an FeI competition.
I’m not talking about other events at Tryon (and just because a venue also hold h/j and dressage shows, that doesn’t mean the events need to be run differently).
I’m talking about other events all over the country that have started routinely offering schooling rounds the day before the competition, usually over the same fences but a different “course”.
Our schooling rounds are that Thursday, and dressage starts on Friday so no extra days taken. I’m a freelancer so I totally get it, taking off work isn’t fun. I just do my best to plan for it.
Totally agree with you on getting creative at home! I’m just looking at it from a logistics perspective: I could either spend $200–300 at a schooling jumper show or an extra $30 for a round at the event. 
I don’t blame people at all for taking advantage of them when they’re offered and wanting to get their money’s worth out of going to events! I just have some mixed feelings about eventing going down the road of more and more “prep” like in the hunter/jumper scene.
The two events for area VII that have descriptions in the omnibus have specific times for the levels to school on the Thursday before. I see a lot of pros with their up and coming young stock taking advantage of the opportunity and of course, there are the amateurs who maybe are at their first real event that wan to school over something unfamiliar before the “big day.” Personally, I’ve never taken advantage of the schooling day as I have already traveled a distance to get there and my horse was probably a bit tired so after a rest and a little something in his stomach, I take him for a hand walk around and maybe in the evening, do a little dressage schooling.
F**k yes, @tres_grey! Agree completely. I’ve participated in schooling rounds before events. Did I wipe out the competition because of it? No. Did I not poop my pants in the arena because of it? Yes. Did it make me feel safer on comp day? Yes.
I don’t have a lot of schooling show options, and the ones that exists are still $$$ and far. There are not events and schooling shows every weekend here. I thoroughly appreciate the opportunity. If you think I beat you because of my schooling round, we can go to the show office and you can have my place and ribbon.
Can organisers put on pre-competition schooling rounds over the same jumps? Apparently, yes to that. Can anyone school over the fences before the competition? Apparently, yes to that: pay your fee and ride. Does everyone school beforehand? Apparently, no to that, for good reasons such as time and travel. Does an event that offers pre-competition schooling rounds provide a level playing field to all the participants in a competition? Ah, there’s the rub.
Most of the recognized events around here offer schooling horse trials, CTs, and jumper shows as well as schooling days and clinics. Some are at private farms where you can pay a ring fee and school whenever you want. Or even move your horse and board there. Someone will always have the advantage. At the end of the day, I think you just have to give your horse the best preparation you can manage. And hopefully develop it into something that is game enough you don’t need to school everything in advance, which is way more fun anyway.
That makes perfect sense. Can I just say, I’m horrified by how far you have to drive and how much you have to spend on an event! I would also hate to have everything spread over 3-4 days. Virtually all events here run on one day. I’m in a really ideal part of Area 2 and feel incredibly lucky when I read posts like yours because honestly I don’t think I could do it where you are.
I volunteer at the Tucson, AZ, event spring and fall. Organizers offer schooling rounds for the show jum[/right][/floatl]ing on the first day. Many people sign up for one or two slots for practice. I have been at the warm-up entry gate so I have the list. There are also dressage schooling rounds offered.
Then the dressage and show jumping is on Saturday and cross country on Sunday.
I’m a fellow former Area VII and now live in the Podunk side of Area III. If I had the opportunity to show jump school the day before of the 2-3 shows I could afford to get to I would have. I would expect different jumps, different course and a limited amount of time in the ring.
How would people feel if you could jump the practice round before your competition (either day before or morning of), but if you did, you got some flat number of penalties added to your score? say like 10-20? Maybe not so many that you’re impossibly out of the running to place, but it would definitely push you down a bit.
I feel like it would encourage people who are there to be competitive to do it the “right” way and leave no points on the table, but for those who are trying to use it as a learning experience for their horse, they can capitalize on that opportunity. Presumably as you work your way up the levels, fewer and fewer people would jump that practice round anyway.
Personally, I think all the vitriol over people who take the opportunity to school the jumps before is nothing more than sour grapes. Everyone has the potential to have an advantage over other people. As far as some concept that it’s “cheating” that Eventers are meant to somehow never practice over jumps they are going to jump? That this is somehow “dumbing down” the sport?
Well, tell that to the people that board at places like Waredece where they have all kinds of opportunities to practice both stadium and cross country. Tell that to everyone that lives near Fair Hill and schools there multiple times - hell, maybe I should get out of eventing because I’m cheating. Because, you know what, I have schooled there so much that if I start to get a bit anxious, I can picture myself taking that jump earlier in the year, maybe only weeks prior.
The same doesn’t happen at a place like Waredeca. To be clear, I think they do have schooling days, I just live to far away and don’t really have anyone to go places with that far.
I go to a schooling jumper show and everyone that boards there that I ride against has an advantage over me. Not only do they jump those jumps consistently, but they take lessons from the people that run the show/set the courses so while they don’t jump the courses, they certainly practice the specific lines on a regular basis.
If I were out west and I could afford it, I would certainly take the opportunity to school jumps before the show as it seems there are much less opporunities at differen venues than where I live. This isn’t a slow decline into hunter/jumper model, this is a show venue listening to their customers and finding ways to earn money to…you know…stay afloat so we can continue to enjoy competing at those venues.
I’m getting a bit confused. Are we talking practice runs over the same jumps, if not in the same order, the day before a competition or are we talking schooling xc, at some time a bit more distant from the event?
I started the thread to ask everyone’s feelings about events offering schooling rounds over the showjumping fences, as set for the competition but jumped in different order so it’s a different “course,” the day before the event.
It then went a number of different directions!
There is the rub. If you can afford to pay for a schooling round, then you can. So not equal.
??? What vitriol? It’s a discussion board lol people are discussing.
I also haven’t seen anything I’d consider vitriol, but I’m guessing you’re talking about me, since I have said I’m not really a fan of schooling over the show jumps the day before competitions.
I don’t recall anyone saying it is cheating to take advantage of the practice rounds when they’re offered. Obviously it’s not. But I do think there is a difference between having ridden in the same ring before over completely different courses (fences set in different places, not decorated, etc) as you would for schooling days or if you keep your horse somewhere that holds events, and practicing over the exact fences you’ll compete over the very next day. I could be wrong, but I doubt if people that board at Waredaca are allowed to set up the competition course and practice over it during the days before the event.
How is it “sour grapes” to not want to be at a disadvantage at a recognized event if I don’t show up early and put extra practice showjump rounds on my horses’ legs? If you have a green horse that needs to jump everything multiple times, there are schooling horse trials and local hunter/jumper shows where you can make that happen until he’s ready for prime time.
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