At one of my first shows I was on my 16.2 hand gelding who was blind in one eye, didn’t steer well, and was an alpha horse. After being hit with a whip by "upper level rider half passing " and her yelling at people that she was doing upper level movements and thus had right of way I had established a 20 m canter circle. I said heads up several times. She half passed right into me while staring at her lap. I couldn’t turn my horse fast enough, and he didn’t give a shit, so he cantered right over the top of her without breaking stride. She looked up after that. He later did great at ponying naughty babies due to the same attitude.
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What an a**. I was taught that greenest horses and riders have right of way in the arena. If you can half-pass, you can steer. The four year old probably can’t steer as well as your (g) seasoned FEI horse. And the nice older lady riding intro B at her first show definitely has forgotten how to steer, and probably has tunnel vision.
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This seems like a good example of people coming across as mean because you’ve (maybe accidentally) broken the rules. I would also be pretty annoyed if someone stopped to fiddle with their girth in the middle of a crowded warmup ring, or parked so close to my trailer that I couldn’t use the ramp. In an ideal world people would still be polite and understanding even when they’re stressed, but we’re all human. As others have said, by going in with the expectation that people will be mean to you you’re basically primed to take offense.
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There are barely any rated shows in southeastern NY, and none at all in Westchester County at all. We have a handful each year between two host venues. Otherwise have to drive a good distance into CT. Part of the issue is there isn’t even a GMO anymore in my part of NY–NEDA is the closest. Region 8 is surprisingly limited in showing opportunities given the population of the member states.
That might work at home, but at a show how would other people know who those horses and riders are? Arena etiquette is “left shoulder to left shoulder,” lateral work has the right of way, you look where you’re going, and you call your line.
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Thanks for the clarification.
It’s weird, because there are SO many people in Region 8 with horses at dressage barns. Yes, some of those horses are retired or used for other things. I spent 2017-2022 at a dressage barn with 18 stalls, and only 3 of the horses ever showed. (I did not show my mare; I was there for the good care and excellent trails access, and she was all but retired for the last year I was there.) But even the barns that require a full training program don’t have a lot showing. Same thing is happening with schooling shows, but slower.
Yes of course, left to left. And walk off the track.
I think if your eyes are up and you are paying attention, one can tell who has a handle on things and who doesn’t. Sure, you can call your line, but that doesn’t mean that the four year old warming up in the same area you want to ride in isn’t going to suddenly decide not to move because he’s having a meltdown. And if you decide “well, I called my line, I’m not giving it up” and ride right into the young horse having a meltdown, that’s bad arena etiquette, too.
Same thing if Sally Amateur is riding Dobbin, and he keeps dropping his shoulder and drifting off his line because she can’t keep him between her outside rein and inside leg - she cannot yield to you because she lacks the skill to steer her horse so you have to yield to her.
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If Sally lacks the skill to steer her horse, she has no business taking her horse to a show.
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Agreed, I continue to be surprised as someone who got back into horses and showing later in my life that an area with so many horses and horse owners has a comparative lack of showing opportunities. I know most of the barns in my area are H/J focused, but you would think there would be some variety. Even at schooling shows a lot of the attendees are eventers rather than pure dressage.
I did neither in those situations and don’t have an expectation of meanness.
Personally I feel like if you can’t handle normal warmup ring behavior from stressed humans and the notoriously unpredictable prey animals we’ve chosen to pin our hopes and dreams on then you shouldn’t be going to a show either.
Maybe Dobbin was great at home and decided not to play that day? Or Sally gets nervous and reverts to some bad habits? I once took an experienced, generally unflappable horse to a show as I’d done many times before, and he unexpectedly took offense to something about that warmup ring. I spent the next 30 minutes calming hin down and reinstalling steering, which was not at all part of my plan for the day. I felt bad, and I did take him outside (in the middle of winter) to get out of the way, but he didn’t have an issue with that ring so there was nothing to do but go back and deal with it. Once he got over it we put in a great round, and I never had that problem with him again even at the same show. That’s horses for you…
There’s no amount of prep that will replicate actually going to a show, people and horses need a chance to practice that too and work through any issues that come up.
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Agreed, but there’s nothing preventing her from showing. We have no suitability or capability requirement. And under stress, even someone who is mildly competent at home can lose all competency in a new situation. Performance anxiety…?
In general, I just assume that no one knows what they are doing in the warm-up and prepare to steer around and yield to everything and everyone.
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Agreed. I specifically went to an additional show last year in order to figure out how to warm up my horses without a warm up class for Regionals. It worked for that show but my mind decided to lizard itself during both tests at regionals. I have no recollection of what happened during one of the tests. I’ve been showing both my boys for 5-6 years now and this year I had to change my warm-up plan because of their performances (really lack thereof) in the classes. There was no way to duplicate that at home. We’re lucky enough to have some busy times so I can ride in traffic at home, we also have two arenas so in nice weather I can warm up in one and ride a test in the other. But this was purely at a show my horses need X for a warm up. And on the other side of that I’m an AA working full time and can’t afford to go to shows every weekend to expose my horses to show ground life so they become immune to the distractions. It’s tough, I want to show and I want to do well but the price is getting beyond what I can afford anymore.
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One could also say that if one’s upper-level horse needs a full-scale whips-a-blazing training session in the warmup before one’s class that causes one to be oblivious to one’s surroundings, maybe it isn’t quite ready to be there, either.
Also, Sally is paying the bill that supports the upper-level classes, so be nice to her. Without the Sallys there wouldn’t be any shows.
Most times around here, the upper and lower-level classes are at opposite ends of the day, so they don’t generally end up sharing the warmup. The actual reason behind this is that it is so danged hot in the summer that the horses and riders that expend the least effort get to ride in the heat of the day, but it does also save warmup angst.
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Since the topic has migrated to warm-up arenas there is another challenge, and that is riders using CE-Coach devices. I was a ring steward last summer and it was incredibly frustrating trying to get riders into the competition arena. Those wearing headsets were getting a lesson in the warm-up and were oblivious to other riders and the stewards.
I had to step into the warm-up and wave my hands to get riders’ attention. One rider ignored me three times, so I gave up. The coach can tell them it is time to head to the arena or they can look at their watches. It’s not my job to babysit these riders or risk being run over.
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The cost for Region 8 Championships has gone way up…they will also charge 125.00 for parking now. I have a 3 yr. old so am not showing this year but I may be ready to throw in the towel and not show recognized until I am 3rd level and up.
I really enjoyed going to shows even just to school and hang out with friends, the cost of stabling, memberships and now parking may just keep me home.
So I will not renew any memberships for a while.
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My older gentleman is now officially retired (his second retirement but, at 30, this one will stick) and adding another horse is not financially in the cards. Even though I’ve not been riding, supporting the local GMO through membership and volunteering has continued. USDF and USEF stand-alone memberships, though, have completely lost their luster for me.
We – the broke but enthusiastic - have been left so far behind by the national orgs. Perhaps I’ve been over-sensitive to my nobodyness, but the feeling that I should be grateful to have an opportunity to spend upwards of $1,000 to participate in a multi-day show really chafes. Our GMO works hard to offer all sorts of affordable and fun opportunities for the membership but their hands are tied when it comes to the rated shows. (To be fair, the GMO does get creative with prizes, raffles, parties and games at the big shows.)
Our local schooling shows are wonderful and could be even better if there was more variety with the judges. At least around here, no Rs will judge a schooling show. We get a lot of Ls and some little Rs, but it’s usually the same few brave souls at C. Perhaps the more experienced judges refuse to wade into the melting pot that can be a schooling show, or simply price themselves out of consideration?
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I saw that and scoffed, $125 for priority parking or walking back and forth from the boonies. I get that they made property improvements but that ate into the already limited parking area near the front barns seemed disjointed.
I did quite a bit of showing for me this year as I was gunning to complete my Bronze Freestyle bar, which I did (huzzah). My mare prefers to be back home at night so I truck in-out to shows to bring her best self out. I’m also Region 8 and looking at my costs for a single 3rd level test one show was $214 (haul in fees anyone?) and $193 for two 3rd level tests, with a range of $142, $158 and $173 to ride a single freestyle at 3 different show venues. That’s non-qualifying rides as Regionals ain’t our thing with the stabling requirement, so a bit cheaper than if you were trying to qualify. $214 was a bit ridiculous for a 6 minute ride but I wanted to have an early crack at getting the qualifying score to send in freestyle entries. It still hurt.
It’s been a mixed bag in terms of show participation from what I’ve seen. The small facility show still filled to capacity within 6 hours of opening and the ring ran from 8am to 7pm with judges swapping out to meet the time requirement. The big facility in Vermont that got destroyed last year with flooding and bad weather had a very small June show and their July show which is normally fully subscribed with no allowed tack stalls etc had a entire barn empty and classes ended around 3-4pm each day after starting at 9am.
It seems around here the smaller venues are faring better than the bigger facilities but I’ll be curious to hear how well attended Regionals ends up being.
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That is insane. I volunteered at thr show a few times when NEDA was still running it and had a great time. But I’ve heard it’s really changed and the only people I know who go now are really rich and/or pros who feel like they have to go.
I showed Feronia recognized in 2009, but after that only did schooling shows for a few years, until I decided the whole thing was just too stressful and started doing a lot of non dressage stuff. We were talking about showing Lola this year because she’s so fancy and talented, but she would have been a real handful I think, so it’s probably just as well that my life imploded.
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At our regionals show if you do 1 championship class, 1 open class (T-4, w/o 2025 qualifier) and stabling for Wed-Sun with 6 bags of shavings, you’ve got to write a check for $600.
That’s just to enter. Trailering at my barn will be about $80, coaching fees ($100/day), tack stalls (~$100), lodging (it’s far enough away from home to be very inconvenient to drive back and forth) and other miscellaneous expenses.
All that for 10 minutes in the ring. Make it make sense.
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