Well then I guess I am an idiot 
âŠ.
I compete with absolutely no chance to win⊠(so far I got one 3rd place ribbon this year ).
My personal opinion is that getting ribbons is nice but usually they come with a heavy price tag in the USâŠ.
For me competing (with cheap entry fees) helps to motivate me for my daily training. Also I need to keep my aging body fit in order to keep up at least a little bit with the teen girls in my classes. And that is great for my every day life 
âŠ
Are you showing recognized?
Sheâs in Europe I believe, but likes to compare it to US dressage whenever possible.
But her comment is valid. Some people compete as a personal assessment of their riding at home. Others compete to win.
Ah, well, regardless the point I was going to make is that prices are killing recognized dressage. Plenty of people do use schooling shows to gauge progress and set goals - but why on earth would you(g) pay hundreds to a thousand dollars to lose to a lower quality test with a nicer mover?
How many people leave the hunters to show jumpers when they get tired of laying down a foot perfect course, only to lose to a nicer mover with blatant score killing mistakes? Maybe at a schooling show price, one would take that chance. Rated shows? Thatâs asking a lot.
ETA Iâm not saying it happens everywhere with every judge. Itâs the same in the hunters - not every judge will overlook a plain package and not reward a good round. But when it starts to become pervasive, it can drive people away from the sport.
As someone on an off breed, it is a hard pill to swallow when my horse on his very best day will never beat a leg flinging WB.
I have 2 horses I show right now in dressage. An arabian and a horse who looks like a small WB. I am the same rider who has trained them. It is eye opening that my arabian on his best day was beaten by my mini WB who got to X and waived her front legs around in the air and had to be muscled around the ring for the rest of the test.
Yes! and to clarify I was showing in recognized shows in the US ( got my bronze medal and 2 scores towards my silver) and in the moment I am showing in GermanyâŠ. And I would probably reconsider my showing if the fees in Germany would be the same as in the US. But as I think I was mentioning In Germany people also stop showingâŠ. itâs not the fees but there are other reasonsâŠ.
Yeah, I can tell you that I was thrilled to win a teeny tiny black & white TV at a jumper show once. Meanwhile my rodeo pals come home with saddles and lessons from top trainers as prizes.
I donât have any idea what the solution would be.
Are we all looking at this the wrong way? I donât know that its anything in particular about shows themselves that is killing the sportâŠits the OVERALL cost and the difficulty in participating, whether you show or not.
Iâm a reasonably well-off individual, with a full time job who lives in a very horsey area. The I keep my horses at home, but I can tell you the cost of EVERYTHING has gone way up. Board, at the farms I previously boarded at more than 10 years ago, has nearly doubled. Part-training board is expensive and full training would be out of my reach, and I have a good job. Lessons are $100 or more. And this is before we talk about the over-heated horse sales market.
None of this is to say that those costs are unreasonable. Iâm glad to pay my trainer and things cost what they cost. But I think its more about the overall cost of owning horses and training regularly that is driving people away.
I agree. I was at Regionals a few weeks ago and my WB, whose gaits are decent but not exceptional, didnât do well because heâs green and lost his ever-loving mind over the atmosphere (he doesnât like warmups at the average show, and trying to warm up with 50 of his closest friends was TOO MUCH!) (Also, he got better through the week, so I was happy with him.)
It was Not because he wasnât the fanciest. There were lots of other not-that-fancy horses there.
And generally, the people on the fanciest horses actually do a very good job of riding them. I literally do not see a bunch of super fancy horses with incompetent riders out there being carried along at Second and above, for sure. Itâs impossible in dressage. Money canât buy you success, as LK has proven. You have to do the work.
I would encourage people to also try the Dressage Seat Eq class if they have an off breed and want to go to Regionals. These horses are often easier to sit and used to traffic (the rail part was insanity!) I think something like 3 of the top 4 in my Region were off breeds. They donât judge gaits at all. If you ride so much better than the ammies on fancy prancers, you can absolutely win. 
I literally thought âhey, I should bring my QH for this, sheâd be so much better at it!â Itâs First Level work, so achievable by anyone.
Complaining about people placing above you who had an error or mistake doesnât make sense in dressage. You need to do each movement correctly, not just the âhardâ ones. A good test with a mistake or 2 can easily win over an average test with no mistakes. Same with errors, thatâs just a -2 for the first, and -4 for the second. As the queen of errors (I do this way too much!) itâs less penalty than a mistake. Thatâs like the difference between a good leg yield and a slightly crooked one.
ETA: I think the biggest thing is that it is so expensive. I like that I can get qualified in 1-2 weekends if I donât screw up my tests, then Regionals. But that doesnât help keep numbers up at shows.
I also signed my horse up for winter clinics already, so we can work through the âhey I am in a new place and forgot how to bend, might Buck you off but havenât decidedâ vibes we had at Regionals. Itâs much less expensive an outing. Iâll do local shows if I can get them to fit in my schedule.
I canât speak for anyone else, but Iâve said repeatedly in my comments that it was never about winning, or even particularly about being in the ribbons. Of course thatâs a fun bonus, but not something I ever expected nor something Iâm particularly upset aboutâI knew when I started my dressage journey that I wasnât ever going to have the fanciest, best prepared horses. I always just wanted to show myself and my horse to the best of our ability, and get a fair evaluation from a judge of how weâre doing. Hopefully improve my scores s time goes on to reflect increased training and ringcraft. Hopefully get my medals. I never had the money or desire to pursue qualifying for regionals, I really just wanted my medals.
After several years of scribing multiple (usually 6!) times a year, I no longer feel that I will be judged fairly. Not competitivelyâjust fairly. See my initial comments about my experiences with judges who felt it was foolish to keep trying with âcrappy OTTBsâ when there is âso much better quality to be had now.â After a couple years where I would leave every show weekend I volunteered feeling shitty about myself and my horses, and wondering if this was what I really wanted to do, I called it quits earlier this year because of that experience.
I donât care about winning. But Iâm not going to spend a shitload of money to feel like garbage, and to feel like the person in the booth thinks Iâm an idiot.
yeah, after overhearing a judge say âI just got back from Aachen and Its so hard to watch these TBs and QHsâ my first thought was well lady, you are literally being PAID to watch those TBs and QHs. Iâm sure judging Training Level tests gets dull, but that is the job you signed up for. Really disheartening.
As I rode past the judgeâs booth before my test, I overheard her saying to the scribe, âIs that a Quarter horse? Oh, too bad!â
Iâve also gotten what I considered free scores on good movers that consistently scored 8 or 9 on gaits but carried a lot of tension that would not be forgiven in a TB or an Arabian.
Both experiences left a bad taste in my mouth.
L-grads are tested through 2nd level, ⊠so they are trained IF they are in fact âgrads with distinctionâ, they passed the qualifications. Just a âgradâ? something less.
SoâŠwhat do you think she meant, that had she not known the breed, she would have been happy and scored differently? So, basically, the ride was great until she found out the breed? How can judges be so biased (not all of them!)? Judge the ride, not the breed. I ride a TB that really does not look like a TB. He is big bodied/boned and really looks like a warmblood. So what does that mean? I proudly tell people he is a Thoroughbred, consequences be damned. 
I wonder what would happen if we scribes politely responded to those comments along the lines of BatCoachâs mental dialogue? Would our pay get cut in half? HR called and weâd be escorted out by security? For sure it would be uncomfortable but dammit, those riders have paid for what they likely hope is a fair, unprejudiced opinion of their tests.
It would likely hurt recognized competitions more I think. IME judges donât take kindly to opinionated scribes and at the end of the day, the shows will cater to their paid judges (of which there are not an enormous number to choose from) over their unpaid volunteer scribesâŠâŠ
sadly, I think I can pretty much guess who this was. Sat with them many times and hear the sentiment repeated often
I donât think there are that many judges out there who let breed bias impact them that much. I think it is more about with some horses, itâs physically harder to do the movements in a way that meets the higher scores so of course they arenât going to do as well.
My WB is naturally talented at the lateral work, but the mediums have been a challenge for him from birth, noted at his Keuring as a foal (I have his score sheet!) I know that I can improve it and have some good moments at home, but at the end of the day unless I ride the heck out of him in the actual test thatâs going to be a 6 at most, and worse if I push too much and he breaks gait. So I make up for it by doing better in the lateral work. Do I think judges are biased against horses who arenât that free in the shoulder? Nope. Itâs objectively a weakness and I deserve the scores I get.
Judges say things all the time that are annoying. Like in my first class of the week when my horse was bolting sideways at a sponsor sign placed dead up to the arena and the judge said in my comments that letting my whip on that side move didnât help. Come on, Iâm a pudgy middle-aged amateur on a green but usually more stalwart young horse, grabbing some mane so I donât die, sorry I didnât ride it like Charlotte wouldâŠ.I would have welcomed an âunfortunate tensionâ instead. 
At the end of the day, you can either quit â or go home and figure out a strategy to make up for whatever gaps you have to overcome to be more competitive. Neither one is wrong.
But I spent the drive home planning how we can do better next year. Itâs a mix of doing more cheap outings with less acclimation time for miles, prioritizing fewer rated shows but going to the Regionals venue for a different show even though it is more distant, and being so solid in the work it is easy for us both before moving up to Third just because we can do all the movements.
I know it is hard on a limited budget, I have one. But I think/hope it is possible being strategic.
The pros who ride at the top plan their entire season to peak at the right moments. We need to do the same.
Years ago My niece was scribing at a schooling show and a Friesian went byâŠthe judge said in her German voice " Zees Friesians do not belong in dressage". That afternoon my niece showed on a Friesian in front of her LOL.
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