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Post by chloesmum on Jan 8, 2015 16:40:13 GMT
Sorry Gill not sure what I have done to upset you! I was answering the question dogandbone asked about allocation and making a point re County shows. We do NOT travel that country (not that it is any of your business) - last year we only did SOE out of those I have listed as it is our local and used to be on a Saturday, my daughter did judge at Cheshire if you want to count that! We very rarely go 'up North' again due to distance. We were very lucky that our NF qualified for HOYS first time out so actually only did one qualifier - hardly overshown I would add! We will possibly have 3 ponies contesting open's this year so like bubbles1822 they will go to the shows which we feel are best suited to them as we both work all week we also try and keep one weekend day free to have another life. I think you have made some assumptions about us which are not correct.
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Post by maxandpaddy on Jan 8, 2015 18:05:22 GMT
I remember when you're own local county show was a day off for the schools and a lot of business's in the area. Which kind of encouraged people to stay in their own region and battle it out with the other locals, which I loved but sadly seems to of gone now.
I do feel for the people like us who are limited financially and cant afford to trail about the country competing at all the big shows, but maybe the rosettes never mind the wins mean more? I've seen kids cry for a second place and throw their rosette at the parents grrrrrrrrr when we've been thrilled with a top ten placing
In todays tough climate the top horses/ponies tend to be (not all hurrahhhhhhh!!!) produced or owned by people with a big budget to firstly buy them and/or afford to get out and show more
I do think all the society's need to look at spreading things evenly across the whole country, maybe make most of the junior qualifiers a weekend affair or during the summer holidays???
Its not rocket science is it
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Post by catkin on Jan 8, 2015 18:26:56 GMT
Whilst I too am not an advocate of over showing, I think it a bit unfair to ask 'how many shows do you want to do' with regard to what was a fairly short list. Five or six qualifiers (depending on travel distance, dates etc) for an open pony is hardly over-doing things and IF you want to qualify, you'd be jolly lucky to do it with less. I think the point is accessibility of choice. So a spread of dates, geography and days of the week is the point. The OP made a very valid point about a lot of M&M qualifers being mid-week. On the County Show bit, I imagine they are all at a fairly similar time to coincide in some way with the farming calendar which traditionally dictated things. So, not around busier times? We are extremely lucky here in Herts and can easily get to a lot of destinations reasonably easily. Not the case for all, though.
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Post by bigmama on Jan 8, 2015 18:28:32 GMT
No idea dogandbone. I THINK in the old days BSPS decided who had qualifiers for the classes which were under their rules so that was all the plaited pony classes & M&Ms. Then when it all changed to being 'open' and not under any one particular society rules but HOYS rules i.e you can be a member of BSPS;PUK;NPS;TSR etc I think Grandstand Media took charge of allocating the qualifiers. To be fair I guess they don't have a say in what days show put classes on however I think catkin made some really valid points re County Shows and mid-week. I love our County Shows but do feel the horse/pony classes are now just a historic add on to the shopping and displays, look what happened to East of England and it's classes. I just wish there was a bit more balance, 3 Counties; Cheshire; Lincoln; Norfolk all within a couple of weeks and all mid week and now SOE moving pony classes to a Thursday! How many shows do you want to go to? TBH if you have to chase to every show with a qualifier is your pony or your production good enough? Which shows do you think should have qualifiers if not at the county shows? These have always been the best shows to attend. Shows such as N.P.S. and PUK have so many classes for the same ponies it is rather overwhelming for the ponies. Oo-er :/ Sorry gillwales but that comment shows lack of understanding ... mainly due to the quality and standard of m&m ridden classes, many top ponies can miss out on qualifying for Hoys by just a mark ... it can sometimes be that you can have the best produced pony but yer face doesn't fit!
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Post by paddy123 on Jan 8, 2015 18:48:00 GMT
We are joining chaps and bsha this year. from where we live there are 2 chaps qualifiers within 2.5 hours and 4 bsha quals. All bar 1 being mid week. working full time this is clearly not going to happen, I think we will just do a couple and see how we get on, iys a shame we dont live near grantham where there appears to be qualifiers every other week!
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Post by sparkysunny on Jan 8, 2015 19:24:21 GMT
The way I see it is that, in the main, the shows that have their qualifiers mid-week are going to attract producers, whose job it is to get their ponies qualified and for whom weekday shows are part of their working life. Fewer 'normal' people will be able to attend these shows, due to work/school commitments, so the chances of anything which is not produced qualifying lessen even more. Sad.
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Post by maxandpaddy on Jan 8, 2015 20:40:23 GMT
I'm chuffed to be classed as 'normal' for once...totally agree with you though sparkysunny we're not allowed to take our kids out of school anymore so I cant wait to see who the Producers get to ride in the junior classes midweek
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Post by comanchediva on Jan 8, 2015 20:59:16 GMT
How many shows do we want to go to??!! Well being as we work d**ned hard to fund our hobby we'll be out most weeks in the summer and some in the winter but with 6 ponies to show none of them are overshown. But of course that's the point isn't it, because we work d**ned hard we're at work all week and with holiday entitlements of 25 days with 5 days taken off me for shut downs that leaves me 20 days to do as I please which isn't many when taking my non horsey husband into consideration. So apart from the shows we love Cheshire, GYS, Westmorland we'll only be showing at weekends. Ponies not ready for HOYS qualifiers yet anyway but even when they are we won't be trailing around the country simply because work commitments can't allow it. I am sincerely hoping the new Royal Lancs holds their in hand and ridden M&M and coloureds as well if poss over the weekend if anyone out there is reading this!! Chloesmum I've seen how hard Chloe works and I sympathise
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Post by mf on Jan 9, 2015 11:41:24 GMT
I sympathise too.
I am lucky, I live smack in the middle of the midlands right on the motorways and the vast majority of qualifiers are within easy reach for me. I only do coloureds so can only comment on them but they are all jammed together within a very short space of time. 4 in one week in july and 3 in one week in august. 7 are definitely midweek and possibly another 2 (chaps champs and the new Stoneleigh show have not released schedules yet so not sure). there are only 17 in total and out of that 17 four of them are at arena uk and another 3 within an hour of arena uk. There is no qualifier in wales or the south west (unless you count bath which isn't really that far down and is still only 2.5 hours from me for example) and nothing south of patchetts which is the qualifier for the south east. If I chased the qualifiers AND could have multiple days off work including 2 weeks in july/august I could do 13 out of the 17 qualifiers and only drive for a maximum of 2.5 hours. Its not really an even distribution in terms of the calendar or the country. I know I shouldn't complain as its convenient for me and I'm not bothered about qualifying for hoys preferring a nice day out with my horses and a ribbon being a bonus but I feel for my friends who live outside the midlands and think its unfair.
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Post by mf on Jan 9, 2015 11:46:06 GMT
We are joining chaps and bsha this year. from where we live there are 2 chaps qualifiers within 2.5 hours and 4 bsha quals. All bar 1 being mid week. working full time this is clearly not going to happen, I think we will just do a couple and see how we get on, iys a shame we dont live near grantham where there appears to be qualifiers every other week! you are exactly one of the people I am referring to. Qualifiers should be evenly distributed so everyone can have a go. we are never going to eliminate midweek shows but how about if qualifiers 'moved' round shows each year to distribute them more evenly and also to distribute the 'wealth' that goes with offering hoys qualifiers and thereby ensuring the continuity of a lot of our county and agricultural shows. some of the shows on the lists have the entire range of hoys qualifiers and benefit greatly from them I am no longer on any show committees and would only be disadvantaged if shows are moved in terms of mileage but I think we need to look at the bigger picture for showing and that includes keeping shows going by encouraging amateurs, keeping numbers up and ensuring funds are more evenly distributed so that there is a choice of shows to go to and that its not just the 'chosen few' who benefit continually (and whom don't necessarily always offer great customer service!)
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cupcake909
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www.ninayoungequestrian.com
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Post by cupcake909 on Jan 10, 2015 11:14:51 GMT
I do shows during the week and im in the middle of my GCSE's i want to work with horses when im older and took PE for GCSE based on these 2 facts my PE teacher talked to my headmaster and they are both supportive of mid week competitions! if i do them mid week afterschool the day before i go to all my teachers i have the day im not in to get the work/homework/revision and do it in the car or that evening, so i dont miss out on my school work and revision so im still getting A- A* In classwork aswell and chasing HOYS qualifiers!! Just try and sort it out with your PE/Headteacher and see if they can endorse it if you catch up on all the work
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janet
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Post by janet on Jan 11, 2015 12:50:43 GMT
well we are always busy at weekends as we are working as have a bakery business and do outside catering so week day suits us fine SOE we rarely do but will be able to this year if the judge isn't too bad !!
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Post by chloesmum on Jan 11, 2015 13:16:23 GMT
I think there will be a big shake up of classes as just had a conversation with the Side Saddle Association Chairman and she mentioned that their classes have been moved from the Thursday to Saturday. I think it all has something to do with clashing with 3 Counties and GM trying to ensure qualifiers are not on the same days but guess we won't know till the schedule comes out. Fingers crossed it works for you janet!
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Post by Philippa on Jan 11, 2015 16:51:46 GMT
I do shows during the week and im in the middle of my GCSE's i want to work with horses when im older and took PE for GCSE based on these 2 facts my PE teacher talked to my headmaster and they are both supportive of mid week competitions! if i do them mid week afterschool the day before i go to all my teachers i have the day im not in to get the work/homework/revision and do it in the car or that evening, so i dont miss out on my school work and revision so im still getting A- A* In classwork aswell and chasing HOYS qualifiers!! Just try and sort it out with your PE/Headteacher and see if they can endorse it if you catch up on all the work Well done you!!! I hope Maisie's school endorses her hobby when she's old enough. I wish you every success in the ring, at school and with your future career path. You certainly have your head screwed on.
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Post by gillwales on Jan 11, 2015 17:50:33 GMT
Sorry Gill not sure what I have done to upset you! I was answering the question dogandbone asked about allocation and making a point re County shows. We do NOT travel that country (not that it is any of your business) - last year we only did SOE out of those I have listed as it is our local and used to be on a Saturday, my daughter did judge at Cheshire if you want to count that! We very rarely go 'up North' again due to distance. We were very lucky that our NF qualified for HOYS first time out so actually only did one qualifier - hardly overshown I would add! We will possibly have 3 ponies contesting open's this year so like bubbles1822 they will go to the shows which we feel are best suited to them as we both work all week we also try and keep one weekend day free to have another life. I think you have made some assumptions about us which are not correct. You did not upset me , however I read that you wanted to do all of those shows, which personally I find unacceptable, these are our personal opinions and nothing more. I obviously made a mistake, if I offended you then my appologies. Glad to hear that you dont go out every week with the same ponies,
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Post by haggis on Jan 12, 2015 9:58:45 GMT
You mention he Riders having to get days of work/ school -- the same applies to the Judges, i have to beg my school to let me off - lucky for me it is a Private school and they use it as a marketing tool, but it means sometimes i have to work on a Sat to pay back
so it is not just the the people who show, but also Judges , Stewards etc
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Post by chloesmum on Jan 12, 2015 10:23:06 GMT
Really good point Haggis - it is a huge honor to be asked to judge at County Shows (actually any show) but again for us this eats into Chloe's holiday allowance. I think our biggest problem is that like buses they all come at once! Oh well decisions and compromises to be made.
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snowflake
Happy to help....a lot
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Post by snowflake on Jan 14, 2015 22:48:44 GMT
I do shows during the week and im in the middle of my GCSE's i want to work with horses when im older and took PE for GCSE based on these 2 facts my PE teacher talked to my headmaster and they are both supportive of mid week competitions! if i do them mid week afterschool the day before i go to all my teachers i have the day im not in to get the work/homework/revision and do it in the car or that evening, so i dont miss out on my school work and revision so im still getting A- A* In classwork aswell and chasing HOYS qualifiers!! Just try and sort it out with your PE/Headteacher and see if they can endorse it if you catch up on all the work I agree, high school students in particular; ask your teachers! Many Heads of Years/Headteachers are really interested in your riding, and will allow a few days off for shows - and if not question it! My questioning was - if you can get a day off school for a PE sport event why not a horse one! I'm currently doing my A Levels and am told that I can have days off for shows/competitions, providing I ask my Head of Year's permission, have a letter from my parent asking permission and catch up on any missed work. My Head of Sixth Form even seemed pleased as it would 'look good' on a UCAS form to have an interest/sporting hobby! In fact when I took days off for shows during my GCSE year it didn't really affect my attendance as it went down as a sporting event rather than an unauthorized/holiday absence. Many schools are really supportive if you explain - my Head even made the effort to come and ask how I got on. Although back to the original thread, I suppose the HOYS qualifiers, especially the M&M's, attract so many entries that Grandstand Media have not thought that an increase of midweek shows will be issue, or significantly alter show entries and the amount of people 'chasing' the ever-illusive HOYS ticket. I suppose only this years entry numbers will tell!
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Post by hs on Jan 18, 2015 0:17:43 GMT
Parents should not be having to make the choice for their children between education and competing, class where the 16 years are under eligible to ride should be prioritised to be held at weekend or during the school holidays. In the case of children competing often the parent if working and the show is a week day will also have to take a day off work to take the child to show unless the pony is produced and the producers takes the children.
If that means classes for adults only have to be held during the week to prioritise children's classes for weekends and school holidays then so be it and adults will have to take a day off work {though appreciate this is very difficult for those who work in teaching} As adults we do have some degree of choice of over our career paths and what we do with our limited holiday allowance and what our priorities are. I feel it is more important that children don't miss school than it is for me to be able to do a show without taking annual leave.
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Post by Philippa on Jan 18, 2015 14:18:29 GMT
To be honest if all the children's qualifiers were held on a weekend day I think they would be inundated with entries and the classes extortionately full. At least with some of the midweek ones it limits entries a bit.
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Post by danichapel on Jan 21, 2015 15:29:43 GMT
I use to travel about a lot when my daughter was competing, but now it is only me and I made the decision not to bother with county shows, I felt it was only for producers and the rest of us were just making up the numbers, it was a bit soul destroying to be honest, I do Three Counties and NPS Summer Champs the remainder of the summer I do larger local-ish shows and dressage, there is no pressure, not as expensive and I can actually enjoy my pony
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