WIHS amateur jumper classes

[Vaeventer]

I am an eventer compete at the prelim level, regularly jump 3’6" , 3’9". I have always loved watching the WIHS as I am so close to it, but it just occurred to me that they have amateur jumper classes at that height or a little higher. Can anyone tell me what the process is to enter & get accepted? Is it something you have to qualify for or do they only take so many entries and it is just very competitive? I would love to make that a goal of mine for next year if it seems doable.

I don’t want to sound ignorant…I am just curious how the entry & acceptance process works!

[largo]

I would love to know more about this as well!

[SansPeurDansLaSelle]

You must be a member of WIHS and collect points in High Adult WIHS classics (same with the NAL if you want to qualify for Harrisburg). They take the top riders off that list and keep moving down if people can’t come. As a heads up the entry fee is pretty steep.You can find all the qualifying info on the WIHS and Ryegate websites.

If you really want to qualify you should be prepared to attend and place well at a fair number of shows. Alternatively if you are local and qualify for Zone finals in the High Adults and finish as Zone champion at the WIHS Regional/Zone Final show the weekend before you automatically qualify to go to the Verizon Center.

[MHM]

Also, be aware that the logistics of the show in Washington are a bit of a challenge. All horses gather at the Prince George’s showgrounds in Upper Marlboro, then go into the city on a shuttle using commercial trucks. It’s quite a process, and the whole thing is not inexpensive.

[gottagrey]

yep I think local day is about $1500 or more; and then there is the stabling there - on F street or undergrown which is a little quieter. I honestly don’t know how the horses cope with it. Last year I was there, street band playing right at the metro/stabling area, rumble of the metro trains underneath.

[Hunter_Happy1]

WIHS is fun, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also expensive (ridiculously so), you have to have a horse that’s confident because there is no real way to prep for that type of environment, and dont forget the schooling. The adult jumper schooling session was at 4am in the morning.

http://www.wihs.org/schooling-schedule/

SansPeurDansLaSelle post is super helpful outlining the logistics of qualifying as well.

[Horseperson112]

As long as you were signed up for WIHS (only $40 - you can sign up online, just need a rider USEF number), you could actually get in the A/A class this year with zero points. (I doubt those people made the original cut, but people drop out.) WIHS is a hard show, so it’s not as popular, especially with riders at the A/A level. (You can see from the way many of these people, some who compete very, very successfully year-round, struggled last night.) As far as costs, you have to ship in from PGEC ($150), pay for a WIHS stall for the night ($390), pay your entry fee ($500) plus entry processing fee ($155), plus the regular office, usef and feed/bedding costs. If you can do the low jr/a/o’s (4’-4’3"), qualifying is based on money won in jr/a/o classes below 4’6" (they use meters, but those are rough imperial system heights.) This year a bit over $3k won got you in. Jr/a/o’s have a $510 stall fee plus $1,300 division entry fee (3 classes.)

Basically for the A/A’s if you’re willing to pay for the experience (which isn’t THAT much in the grand scheme of horses) and have a very rideable and brave horse (to make it worth going), you can likely do the A/A class with minimal or no showing in the actual qualifying jumper classics.

[MHM]

Also, speaking of schooling, the warm up area is about the size of a postage stamp. Seriously, it is unbelievably small, especially if you’re used to wide open spaces at an event. Just FYI.

[yellowbritches]

This was a million and ten years ago, but we had two horses from our event barn qualify one year for the local finals (I think they still do the local hunters at WIHS, but I don’t think they do the jumpers, which was like a meter or so. We had one qualify for both). Amazingly, they both took it all totally in stride, from getting hauled in to the Verizon Center, to schooling in the ring in the middle of the night, to the stalls on the street, to even the teeny tiny warm up ring. These were hardly old horse show warriors. The hunter was green and did great, though, as he jumped the out of a line going toward the big board, he did drop his hinds a bit in shock and have a rail. The jumper had been around the block, but as an event horse, mostly. He was a pro.

My point being, they are more adaptable than we give them credit for.

I can’t speak for the expenses, as they weren’t mine, I just managed the barn they lived at and went to cheer them on. I have to imagine it would be enough to make the average ammie event rider faint.

[lynne]

I love Washington, it is by far my favorite show. It’s so fun to have the horses in the city, and really cool to ride in that arena. My horse was not always easy to get in the ring, but she was actually more relaxed and quiet at Washington than anywhere else. Most horses seem to handle being on the street just fine, the stalls are on streets that are closed to traffic. It’s going into the show ring with all the decorated jumps and the jumbotron that freaks them out.

To qualify in the adult jumpers, you need to have paid for a WIHS membership on ryegate.com. I think you also need to have competed in one qualifying class. But usually most or sometimes all get in from the wait list, so if you’re local and can go on only a couple week’s notice, it’s worth sending in an entry even if you don’t have many points (you don’t get ‘invited’, you do have to enter).

It is a lot to pay for one class, but to me the experience was totally worth it. I had a horse I trusted would jump anything in front of her, so at the very least I knew we’d get around and have some awesome memories and a great picture.

[jumpoff87]

Did WIHS renew the contract to stay downtown at the Verizon Center? I thought this year was the last one on the current contract.

[veritas]

Hello Vaeventer,
I did the high adult classic last night (as opposed to the low jr/amateur owners, which have a couple classes). It was my first time at the Verizon Center. I did about 6 WIHS classics since May, when I started showing my new horse in the highs. I was ranked about 50th at the time the qualifying period ended in September, but like some people have said, it may be possible to get in with zero points.

The course was the biggest I’ve jumped on him, set pretty much at the maximum 1.15m (I think 3’9") high and almost 1.25m wide. And the poles were light, so my ex-event horse just tapped the fronts of a few oxers with his front toe and they came down.

For costs, I think the nomination fee is non-refundable and about $175, but not sure. If you get in and accept, the rest of the fees altogether come to about $1700. Then, you will need a place to stay overnight, so factor that in.

My horse actually handled the atmosphere well. I got to hack in the ring Tuesday at 11pm, and then on Wednesday morning at 4am. That is basically the only time your horse gets out of the stall besides being able to walk on the concrete up and down the street where the stabling is fenced off or up and down the ramp to the Verizon Center. And you get to “hack” with 20-30 other horses, everyone going the same direction and some people jumping the 2 schooling jumps in the middle of the ring (in the main ring).

As people have said, the schooling ring is probably not even 15m wide and maybe 6-7 canter strides long. My horse wasn’t happy in there when people started jumping, so all I got to warm up for the class was about 1-2 minutes of trotting and I cantered 2 fences.

In the ring, he was definitely more tense than usual, but being the wonderful boy he is, he never said “no.” My goal for this year was to get around and give him a good experience. I hope I can return next year and be more competitive because I think of competing at a new level in 3 stages: survival, consistency, then competitive. So, I expected us to regress.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please ask or IM me.
-CS

[luvdogz72]

[QUOTE=veritas;8909853]
I think of competing at a new level in 3 stages: survival, consistency, then competitive. So, I expected us to regress.-CS[/QUOTE]

love this. wonder if i’ll ever get out of the survival stage

[Vaeventer]

This was SO helpful, thank you so much!! Nice to hear it isn’t impossible. Ive competed in eventing for a while at some of the biggest shows; I am still a Young Rider nice and brave:D so I’m not too worried about me being freaked out, and as for my horse, hes a fantastic show jumper, very honest.

[QUOTE=veritas;8909853]
Hello Vaeventer,
I did the high adult classic last night (as opposed to the low jr/amateur owners, which have a couple classes). It was my first time at the Verizon Center. I did about 6 WIHS classics since May, when I started showing my new horse in the highs. I was ranked about 50th at the time the qualifying period ended in September, but like some people have said, it may be possible to get in with zero points.

The course was the biggest I’ve jumped on him, set pretty much at the maximum 1.15m (I think 3’9") high and almost 1.25m wide. And the poles were light, so my ex-event horse just tapped the fronts of a few oxers with his front toe and they came down.

For costs, I think the nomination fee is non-refundable and about $175, but not sure. If you get in and accept, the rest of the fees altogether come to about $1700. Then, you will need a place to stay overnight, so factor that in.

My horse actually handled the atmosphere well. I got to hack in the ring Tuesday at 11pm, and then on Wednesday morning at 4am. That is basically the only time your horse gets out of the stall besides being able to walk on the concrete up and down the street where the stabling is fenced off or up and down the ramp to the Verizon Center. And you get to “hack” with 20-30 other horses, everyone going the same direction and some people jumping the 2 schooling jumps in the middle of the ring (in the main ring).

As people have said, the schooling ring is probably not even 15m wide and maybe 6-7 canter strides long. My horse wasn’t happy in there when people started jumping, so all I got to warm up for the class was about 1-2 minutes of trotting and I cantered 2 fences.

In the ring, he was definitely more tense than usual, but being the wonderful boy he is, he never said “no.” My goal for this year was to get around and give him a good experience. I hope I can return next year and be more competitive because I think of competing at a new level in 3 stages: survival, consistency, then competitive. So, I expected us to regress.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please ask or IM me.
-CS[/QUOTE]

[gottagrey]

[QUOTE=jumpoff87;8909173]
Did WIHS renew the contract to stay downtown at the Verizon Center? I thought this year was the last one on the current contract.[/QUOTE]

yes

[bamboopole]

You have to be a WIHS member to earn points for the adult and children’s stuff, not the amateur/junior jumpers. Correct?

[Kahuna]

[QUOTE=handwalk;8918036]
You have to be a WIHS member to earn points for the adult and children’s stuff, not the amateur/junior jumpers. Correct?[/QUOTE]
Correct.