What factors tell you you’re ready to move up? I’m fairly new to eventing with a 6 yr horse I’ve had 7 mos. I believe in showing 1 level below what we school.
I’m in no hurry to move up - I’m doing this for fun, no stress as a middle aged lady! But what criteria do you check off before moving up…assuming you and your horse feel confident?
FWIW, I typically don’t actually school above what I’m showing. I might school some questions that are higher than the level I’m showing, but I don’t tend to jump any higher than I see at a competition.
I think it’s different for every person. Some people wait to move up until their dressage will score under 30. Some people struggle with stadium, so wait until that has reached some level of competence. For some people it’s comfort at speed.
I moved my horse up when he answered all the questions wanted more. It was almost boring (but exhilarating and super fun) to go around XC and know “we got this.” Also, when my trainer told me I was ready (and I was asking regularly).
I’m hoping to soon make the big move from BN to N :). I’ve done 2 novice combined tests, and am doing another this weekend. I’m schooling novice XC but they still look big to me–I wouldn’t say I am completely confident yet (neither is my horse, but he would be if I was!). I have entered 2 more BNs; we will see where we are after that and more XC schooling, but the plan is to move up after that.
For my guy, it is a question of his confidence out on XC. Essentially when he is rocking around that and confident, we move him up. Our dressage has been a work in progress and is finally coming together (this will be his second season at prelim). We do school higher than we show, especially in technicality, although we have been practicing bigger jumps to make XC seem a bit easier.
We worry less about dressage and sj because for my boy, it is the confidence on XC that is the key. It is very hard to shake him in sj, even if I mess up royally to a big fence but a mistake on XC can get him more anxious. Last year that meant going back and forth between training and prelim to try and get things a bit better and meant this winter I schooled lots of big fences so I could be better for him out on XC.
It definitely helps to have a coach who you can turn to who can give you good advice about when to move up and where.
So based on my very limited experience:
I made the move from starter (2.3" jumps and BN Dressage) to BN at the beginning of the year because I knew that we could get through starter without any issues. Our practice (jumping 2’6" - 2’9" courses at home) led me to believe that we wouldn’t have any issues with the jumping portion of BN. I fixed up our Dressage work went XC schooling once and went out to an easy BN schooling HT.
Overall, we got a 30.3 on Dressage, one rail in SJ, and a refusal at the water because we forgot how to steer. I think sometimes people are afraid of having “green” moments at horse shows, but it rarely gets better if you don’t get that experience.
The move up to Novice won’t happen until our Dressage takes another step forward, we lose the greenness over Stadium, and we have answered all the Novice level XC questions successfully in schooling.
TL/DR: If you and your horse can comfortably approach all the questions asked at the level you want to move to, it is most-likely a good time to move up.
For me, I need to be placing well, jumping safely and easily (not just “clear”) and finding the courses simple if not even boring … and being able to look at the fences for the next level and think they look challenging and fun, rather than making me sick.
As you may guess, I spent 1 1/2 years at the lowest level, before moving up to BN, and more than 2 years there before even thinking about N. Now, after 3 years at N, I can say that T may be a possibility a year or two in the future.
Training however is the upper extent of my ambition.
My opinion of when to move up would also have a lot to do with the experience of the rider. A very experienced rider can safely move greener horses though the lower levels a bit quicker.
It is always better to have one more positive, good run at a level you are comfortable with, than a bad experience at a higher level. When I am competing, I want my horse to be comfortable and confident. Not just over the jumps, but in between them too. For me personally, I wouldn’t want to move one up if I felt that it was “stressed” about what was next, even if it was a clean round.
My horse is a been-there-done-that type so the question of when to move up was mostly for me. I spent over a year at Training (a level we had both competed before I started riding him, but I was coming off an almost 4 year minimal riding/no competing hiatus), and put off moving up for longer than everyone around me thought necessary. We did very well at the level, and were consistently winning/on the podium, but more important for me was feeling confident in my strength and position before making the bump up to Prelim. It’s paid off as we’re having good rounds at the level now, but I think I would have scared myself if I weren’t “overprepared” when I made the move up. I wanted to feel bored on xc before I made the leap, and I’m glad I waited. To me there’s too much at risk to be out there riding scared.
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