I’m attending my first (and probably only ever) rated show this summer and I would like some clarification on ticketed schooling. Do you just bring cash and pay to go in and do a warm up round? Will I have time to allow my horse to sniff a couple of the jumps? Are you allowed more than once? I would email the show secretary about this, but I’ve already sent her like 4 emails so I don’t want to bother the poor woman again lol.
Usual you buy your ticket in the show office (or wear your back number so they can charge you) and then you can do whatever you want for as long as you want. Occasionally it’s a one round only thing but that’s rare
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Typically a ticketed schooling around here is a free-for-all in the ring. You wear your number, and the ingate takes it down so that they can charge you. You can stay in for as long as you like, but the catch is that you will usually never be alone. Often riders will have their trainers in there, giving them a lesson. People on the ground (trainers, grooms, helpers) are free to adjust the jumps, so it is very wise to have someone go with you to ticket or else you might find that the jumps are too big or too small for what you need to do. Don’t try to set your own jumps if anyone else is in the ring with you - treat it like the warmup ring, where you would bring someone to set for you, otherwise you’ll get in the way and hold the other riders up.
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Ticketed schooling around here can mean 2 things…and is usually clearly defined in the prize list. Some examples below…it stops it being a “free for all” and keeps things organized and sane! Generally most shows are multiple rings so you’ll not have more than 2 or 3 heights schooling over the day
- You buy individual tickets and each ticket lets you go in and jump over a set course (heights are pre set and height times are given if different heights are to be in the same ring) eg…2ft9 will run from 9am -11am and 3ft from 11.30 until 2.30
- Trainers may sign up for blocks of 30 mins schooling starting at noon and running until 4pm. Individual ticketed rounds over pre set heights are available before noon and after 4pm
I’ve seen this work a couple ways. One is where you have to buy a ticket for each round you jump; the other it’s essentially an open ring - sometimes they put a limit on how many people can be in at the same time or how long you can spend in there.
It’s best to clarify with the show management because there isn’t a hard and fast rule on how ticketed warmups are run.
The format of ticketed schooling will vary from show to show. You’ve received some examples above. In our area, the horse has to be entered at the show office, so office fees, USEF fees, USHJA fees etc. will all apply. A back number is issued and individual schooling tickets are purchased. Each ticket permits one horse to enter one schooling session. Sometimes the sessions are timed, sometimes they are not. In our area, there is usually a time limit and only a few horses are permitted in the ring at a time. The horses are permitted to look at the jumps before they jump, but the rider needs to be cognizant of what is going on around them and stay out of the line of traffic. Your coach will lower or raise jumps as needed.
If the secretary isn’t returning your e-mails, try placing a phone call to the secretary. Alternatively, you might call the show office, or ask your coach. She should be familiar with how the show runs their ticketed schooling, or be able to find out.
Have fun and best of luck at your first rated show!!
Around here there is a limit of five horses in the ring at a time. Usually no time limit, but the in gate will sometimes pull someone out if they’re in for an extreme amount of time or there’s a line up and it’s getting near the end of the day/wndow.
Jumps are usually 2’9" with appropriate lines for that height, but trainers can and will lower (you see a lot of back rails being dropped off oxers).
Groups are formed on a first-come, first-serve basis, so you can have pros on young horses, a paralyzed-with-nerves ammy and a sale trial all in the ring at the same time. (There is a pony-only ticketed warm up on Thursday afternoons)
It is IMPERATIVE that you understand how to safely navigate traffic. Ticketed warm up is often far more chaotic than the warm-up ring proper. There is nothing quite like the sheer terror of landing coming out of the diagonal line just as the paralyzed ammy cuts her corner to the single on the quarter line!
