Post by pboy on Dec 14, 2015 9:34:36 GMT
I know it's a bit early, but the qualification period for 2016 British Dressage champs has already begun so I'm all over my planning at the moment!
For those of you who don't know how BD works (or anyone who hasn't read the rule book the requisite 5 times required to make head or tail of it), there are two types of Championships / Festivals that you can qualifty for:
- Area Festivals target the amateur rider. I think they go up to 'Prix St George'. To qualify (at the lower levels...a lower bar is set as you go higher) you just need to get 62% in three BD tests at that level. However if you ever compete at a level at the Regionals, you can't compete at that level in Areas. If you get placed at an Area Festival, you go through to a national championship
- Regional Championships are the 'tougher' ones to qualify for. Each time you compete, you earn points based on the score you get. At Prelim level, you need 20 points to qualify for a Regional Championship. All of these need to come from 'qualifiers', which are based on the tougher Prelim tests, and scores must be over 66% to count. At higher levels, points can come from a designated mix of qualifiers and non-qualifiers. Combinations that place at a Regional championship go through to the Nationals (either Winter nationals at Hartpury or Summer nationals - I think at Stoneleigh?)
Oh and this year BD has introduced a new level of complexity as you can compete as Bronze, Silver or Gold at each level dependent on the level of experience of you / your horse. The rules are so complex that BD has had to send each member an individual email to explain which classes they and their horse is eligible for...!!
Anyhow, now I've set the context, here are my 2016 aims:
- Qualify for the Regionals at Prelim level. We made a good start yesterday by getting our first 8 points with a 66.2% and 67.3% (ish - from memory!)
- Qualify for Areas at Novice level
- Stretch target (!) would be to get out at Elementary level and maybe even qualify for the BD Spanish Horse Champs, if they run them again. For that I just need to do two tests over 60%
To achieve any of these I need to get Indio's right canter sorted! His trot work has suddenly taken a huge leap forward but canter needs to catch up. I've also entered Dressage Anywhere at Prelim and Novice this month so we can see what the judges think of him at Novice. A few others at the yard have also entered so we're planning a Christmas-y filming session on the 23rd!
In terms of other plans, I want to carry on doing some jumping and get Indio to some jumping comps too. Maybe even a little ODE!
I'm not sure yet about plans for Pocholo, I'll have to see how much riding OH actually does. I definitely want to get him schooling again and get some muscle back on him! Other than that have some fun and see how it goes
So what are your plans / targets / hopes / dreams for 2016?
For those of you who don't know how BD works (or anyone who hasn't read the rule book the requisite 5 times required to make head or tail of it), there are two types of Championships / Festivals that you can qualifty for:
- Area Festivals target the amateur rider. I think they go up to 'Prix St George'. To qualify (at the lower levels...a lower bar is set as you go higher) you just need to get 62% in three BD tests at that level. However if you ever compete at a level at the Regionals, you can't compete at that level in Areas. If you get placed at an Area Festival, you go through to a national championship
- Regional Championships are the 'tougher' ones to qualify for. Each time you compete, you earn points based on the score you get. At Prelim level, you need 20 points to qualify for a Regional Championship. All of these need to come from 'qualifiers', which are based on the tougher Prelim tests, and scores must be over 66% to count. At higher levels, points can come from a designated mix of qualifiers and non-qualifiers. Combinations that place at a Regional championship go through to the Nationals (either Winter nationals at Hartpury or Summer nationals - I think at Stoneleigh?)
Oh and this year BD has introduced a new level of complexity as you can compete as Bronze, Silver or Gold at each level dependent on the level of experience of you / your horse. The rules are so complex that BD has had to send each member an individual email to explain which classes they and their horse is eligible for...!!
Anyhow, now I've set the context, here are my 2016 aims:
- Qualify for the Regionals at Prelim level. We made a good start yesterday by getting our first 8 points with a 66.2% and 67.3% (ish - from memory!)
- Qualify for Areas at Novice level
- Stretch target (!) would be to get out at Elementary level and maybe even qualify for the BD Spanish Horse Champs, if they run them again. For that I just need to do two tests over 60%
To achieve any of these I need to get Indio's right canter sorted! His trot work has suddenly taken a huge leap forward but canter needs to catch up. I've also entered Dressage Anywhere at Prelim and Novice this month so we can see what the judges think of him at Novice. A few others at the yard have also entered so we're planning a Christmas-y filming session on the 23rd!
In terms of other plans, I want to carry on doing some jumping and get Indio to some jumping comps too. Maybe even a little ODE!
I'm not sure yet about plans for Pocholo, I'll have to see how much riding OH actually does. I definitely want to get him schooling again and get some muscle back on him! Other than that have some fun and see how it goes
So what are your plans / targets / hopes / dreams for 2016?
) get out to a few dressage comps and REMEMBER the test !
for so much hard work we thank ye!!
