Was anyone else at UNH?

[quietann]

I was there today, helping my friend Joc with her horse Fair Deal. When she left, the placings were not posted (there was some drama there, I don't really understand it), but they were no worse than 3rd in their division. Luckily, the rain was not too bad, though the X/C courses were altered because of bad footing in spots.

It was bittersweet for me, because had I not had my fall in late July, I probably would have ridden Trump in BN today, my first recognized event. Now I am not even sure I will jump anymore... I am not afraid, just very very cautious. But I still loved being there to watch all the great partnerships in action.

[Lisa Cook]

I was there - I rode in Novice C, on a big bay roan Appy with a blanket. We had a good time, and were sooo happy that they decided to proceed with xc. :)

Sorry you couldn't ride this year - maybe you will be feeling up to it by next year!

[Hilary]

I was there too - Lisa I saw your Stadium ride. You looked good.

I moved Star up to Training - she had one stop at the ditch at the bottom of the slide - I slowed down and she took me too seriously and stopped. oops. We had 1 rail in stadium (also my fault), but otherwise I was thrilled with her - the bigger course really kept her attention and she didn't spook at anything else.

Scores for my division (Training A) were not posted for THREE HOURS after my division ended. And there was no preliminary protest period. I was told that the hold-up was due to them waiting for all the Training riders to be finished before starting the scoring.

People were pretty unhappy about the waiting. the other scores were posted on time.

They did a great job adjusting the course for the weather, and I'm glad they held stadium in the parking lot, not the field. Apart from the scoring and stewarding snafus it was a great event. They didn't have radios and kind of gave up keeping people in any sort of order.

[ne900]

I was there competing at BN on a new horse. The scores for Novice and Beginner Novice were also posted late. There were some protests on the final scores for a couple of Novice divisions- I think it had to do with timing on XC.

They did have problems with the radios- one of the fence judges told me that last spring, all the radios died before they finished the event- they think it might have been related to the wet conditions (the spring was also a monsoon on XC day). They were trying their best to conserve the radios in hopes they would make it through the whole day yesterday, but it sounds like they still had problems with dying.

Perhaps they need to be replaced- wonder if there is anything members in Area 1 could do to help if this is the case.

Anyway- kudos to the organizers and officials at UNH for figuring out how they could successfully run all three phases despite the 3 days of rain. I'm glad we got to run! The group I was with had a lot of fun in spite of the weather.

[Lisa Cook]

I was there too - Lisa I saw your Stadium ride. You looked good.


Aw, thanks. Linus certainly bailed my butt out over # 3 in stadium. I saw a longish spot, and Linus was all like "You want long? In this footing? Think again, crazy lady!" and did the correct thing and added, all while I was crawling up his neck. Horse is worth his weight in gold, for sure. :)

I trailered with someone who was riding BN, and didn't get out of there until 6 pm, waiting for her scores. But that's OK - I'm just grateful that they continued with all 3 phases under such challenging conditions.

[quietann]

I was there - I rode in Novice C, on a big bay roan Appy with a blanket. We had a good time, and were sooo happy that they decided to proceed with xc. :)

Sorry you couldn't ride this year - maybe you will be feeling up to it by next year!

Joc was in the same division as you. Her horse is the tall, thin all-legs nearly black gelding with the incredibly strange left hind leg marking. I don't know if you remember, but during SJ warm-up a girl on the rail complimented your horse. That was Joc's daughter Alice, and I was the person standing next to her, in the baseball cap. Your horse is lovely and I'm glad you had a good time :)

[Lisa Cook]

Joc was in the same division as you. Her horse is the tall, thin all-legs nearly black gelding with the incredibly strange left hind leg marking. I don't know if you remember, but during SJ warm-up a girl on the rail complimented your horse. That was Joc's daughter Alice, and I was the person standing next to her, in the baseball cap. Your horse is lovely and I'm glad you had a good time :)

Oh, of course I remember the compliment Linus received during our stadium warmup! :) Thank you, very much!

I did notice your friend's horse...that is a really unusual marking. If you don't mind me asking...was he born with it, or was it a result of an injury? My friend & I were trying to figure that out.

[longrun]

I was there too in ON B. Had to wait for scores but was so happy that the weather mostly held and we were actually able to do all three phases. I was the one on the big Irish skewbald pinto grinning ear to ear all weekend. He was absolutely fabulous and that was our 2nd event for the season since colic surgery in December (if you posted about King Oak you probably remember the story from that). It was a short season but so much fun. I couldn't believe how good the footing was and was so happy I only got soaking, sopping wet on Friday night when we were unloading in the dark and in the pouring rain!

[quietann]

Oh, of course I remember the compliment Linus received during our stadium warmup! :) Thank you, very much!

I did notice your friend's horse...that is a really unusual marking. If you don't mind me asking...was he born with it, or was it a result of an injury? My friend & I were trying to figure that out.

You're welcome!

Fair Deal, aka Skip, was born with that marking. He is a Connemara/TB cross, and his Connemara sire (one of the really good show jumping ones, I don't remember which) is known for throwing odd markings. He was supposed to be a sport pony but he just kept growing!

Skip is a lovely horse, talented and very well behaved, and I am so happy to see Joc doing so well with him. He has a fan club, I think because of that marking, people know from event to event which horse he is. They are doing the Novice Championships in 2 weeks, and then are done for the season, and probably moving up next year.

[LSM1212]

You're welcome!

Fair Deal, aka Skip, was born with that marking. He is a Connemara/TB cross, and his Connemara sire (one of the really good show jumping ones, I don't remember which) is known for throwing odd markings. He was supposed to be a sport pony but he just kept growing!

Skip is a lovely horse, talented and very well behaved, and I am so happy to see Joc doing so well with him. He has a fan club, I think because of that marking, people know from event to event which horse he is. They are doing the Novice Championships in 2 weeks, and then are done for the season, and probably moving up next year.

Just out of curiousity... what is the marking?

[quietann]

He has a series of white spots going up his leg from the hoof, ranging from dime to dollar sized. It really does look like someone threw acid on him or something. The weirdest thing is that they are pretty symmetrical inside the leg vs. outside the leg.

Photo at http://annsrats.com/horses/octskippy4.jpg shows it pretty well, though he has wraps on...

[CANTEREOIN]

Quietann... you are so right. I've seen him and recognize him wherever I go! Thanks for taking the mystery out of those markings!

[quietann]

Quietann... you are so right. I've seen him and recognize him wherever I go! Thanks for taking the mystery out of those markings!

Well if you ever want to introduce yourself, please do. He likes to be petted :)

(BTW Joc has lost a lot of weight since that photo was taken a year ago. She's focusing on getting into really good shape over the winter, so she will be ready for Training...)

[ryansgirl]

I watched quite a bit in the morning (prelim and some training) but left as it was taking so long. What's the deal with people not showing up when they know they are expected to be in the ring at a certain time? The judge was NOT happy and I can't blame him one bit. He even threatened to close the course! I thought that was cool and would love to see that more often in some other shows :yes:. He was trying to keep things moving but no one would come up to the stadium course - they kept schooling and schooling in the warm-up ring. I felt bad for the girl at the ingate - her radio wasn't working at first and she couldn't get in touch w/ the schooling area but the riders should have known to be ready. Reminded me of a h/j show with no one ready to go in the ring :lol: (and I come from a h/h/eq background - the old fashioned h/j's but I love how eventers have times for everything - wish the h/j's would go that route :yes:).

Glad they were able to get everything in despite the weather. The crew did good - they usually do even though it seems to rain every weekend! Hopefully the sun will shine come the spring trials!! :)

[Hilary]

Ryansgirl, the warm up steward was useless. She had no clue what was going on and didn't give anyone any direction. They delayed the start of Prelim so riders wouldn't really have any kind of clue what time they were supposed to ride. the stewards were not sending people to the ring, and while the people at stadium were apoplectic that no one was coming up, I don't know if anyone went to tell the warm up steward. I know the radios weren't working, but someone needed to go over and tell the steward to get things going.

Since sometimes you get crucified for going over early or out of turn riders were waiting to be told to get to the ring.

[ne900]

In addition, the UNH website posted that they were running with a 30 minute delay, but did not mention that they would probably catch up because of scratches. Some of the Training and Novice riders ended up more than 30 minutes ahead of their scheduled times. Those of us stabled onsite were able to adapt to the changing times, but it caught some of the people trucking in by surprise. I think it was nice of UNH to hold the schedule allow the affected riders to complete the event even though it delayed the later divisions- I believe that by the end of the day, we were actually running pretty close to our scheduled times.

[RiverBendPol]

Emstah and I were there on our green beans. It was a gas. I did something I have NEVER done in my whole long life of playing this game......I missed fence #13 on the BN xc! Horrors. What a dunce.
My baby was a bit naughty, he was so concerned about where his friend had gone. Em's horse was perfect. Well, I should say she gave him a super ride so he had no choice. She made him brave and happy and he really had fun.
We got trapped by the "we're starting the day 45 minutes late, so please adjust accordingly." tape on the UNH phone. We commuted from home, listened to that message on Sunday morning, did adjust our departure time, arrived at UNH to find we were due in SJ in 30 minutes! Studs, tack, clothes, warm-up all in 1/2 hour. The ring steward was lenient and all was well but it was a bit gripping there for a minute!
Many thanks to all at UNH who so cheerfully put on this event in what was supposed to be a hurricane! It was, as usual, a gas, and very well-run.

[deltawave]

Hilary, congrats on Star's 1st Training! Our girls are still joined at the hip, 8 years later. :)

[RiverBendPol]

Hey, Emstah finished 4th!! Way to go, Em. Not bad for having owned the horse for less than a month.:winkgrin:

[kcooper]

I was there, too! I had two in Training. Cleo finished 2nd and Peach got her first ribbon, finishing 8th. Yea! I was thrilled they decided to forge ahead. I am sure it was a close call. I also thought they did a great job on making adjustments as needed. Overall, that course handles water about as well as you could hope for. Those trails in the woods really drain nicely.

The warm-up situation was very frustrating. After reading this, I am guessing it was due to lack of radios. However, it's not that far to WALK from stadium to the warm up if there is an issue! The girl who was there when I was warming up both horses had no idea what was going on and told me to just "go when you want to." It was tough because I was ready to go twice, and then three people left all at once to head over. It is tough to coordinate with all the other riders and warm up at the same time. I am sure they will sort that out for next time!

[CookiePony]

I would say that this is a prime example of the need for better volunteer recruitment, training, and coordination. The steward was a volunteer and did a good deed-- however, it frustrated all when she did not know the need for keeping the ring running, and no one helped her when things got hairy.

And... it is also a good time to plug volunteering for all of us who compete. How else will we get knowledgeable people stewarding, fence judging, etc.? ;)

[4cornersfarm]

Quietann - although I am sorry that you had a fall, it worked out well for my daughter, who got to use Trump to get her C-2 on Saturday. :D

You'll be back! It's okay to be cautious. Maybe you can take Trump to the spring event? He's such a good boy!

Skippy is cool, he looks like a pony on stilts. :winkgrin:

[kcooper]

Cookiepony -- UNH is a different kind of situation from your average event -- the students run the event as part of the equestrian program classes. Most people understand this and expect there to be some problems from time to time because the event is a learning experience. They do not use very many "outside" volunteers (I have volunteered in the past and been told I was not needed). FYI

[longrun]

I can confirm what kcooper said. I brought someone up with me for the weekend who thought she would log some volunteering hours and she was
told they did not need her. And, most of the event ran just fine. In the end, I think any event may have had trouble with radios in the weather and it would have taken a very experience volunteer, or someone with a few more years under their belt to take charge of the situation and to bridge the distance between warm-up and stadium. On the up side, the volunteers were incredible under the climatic circumstances. I kept thanking them and thanking them and don't think I was every met with any less than a cheery, smiley
"oh, you're welcome".

[joharavhf]

I would say that this is a prime example of the need for better volunteer recruitment, training, and coordination. The steward was a volunteer and did a good deed-- however, it frustrated all when she did not know the need for keeping the ring running, and no one helped her when things got hairy.

And... it is also a good time to plug volunteering for all of us who compete. How else will we get knowledgeable people stewarding, fence judging, etc.? ;)

I went to UNH and we were required to be a part of the HT if we were in the riding classes. That's how I got bit by the eventing bug. Unfortunately some of my classmates were none too happy to have to "volunteer" after a night of drinking :confused:

[ryansgirl]

I went to UNH and we were required to be a part of the HT if we were in the riding classes. That's how I got bit by the eventing bug. Unfortunately some of my classmates were none too happy to have to "volunteer" after a night of drinking :confused:

Yup it's a requirement to work the horse trials if you take equine classes (can't remember which ones in particular). I believe you even have to write a paper or something on it too as part of your grade?? Students have always run it under the eye of the instructors/head of the program (though Sue the former BM used to be basically in charge).

Years ago they used the school horses as couriers which was cool to watch. They only used the beginner horses as they wanted ones who weren't going to be bothered by all the commotion. They used to gallop all over the place delivering messages, scores, etc. They really need to make sure their radios work for the entire event and to make sure they have back-ups just in case. And maybe rent a few more golf carts too - might help get info back and forth a little faster. But all in all a good HT despite the rain :).

[joharavhf]

Yup it's a requirement to work the horse trials if you take equine classes (can't remember which ones in particular). I believe you even have to write a paper or something on it too as part of your grade??

Years ago they used the school horses as couriers which was cool to watch. They only used the beginner horses as they wanted ones who weren't going to be bothered by all the commotion.

Are they not using curriers anymore????? That's sad! We did have to write a short paper on our experiences for our grade. Everyone in the riding classes had to work the horse trials for 8 hours, I think. I was a jump judge at the water that year.

I went to the T-school for equine management and we did NOT have to participate in the horse trials, though we did put on the T-school 2-phase. When I crossed in to the 4-year program and took a riding class THAT'S when it was required.

[CookiePony]

Ah, I see! I never knew that about UNH.

I guess the "volunteers" can cause some frustration but if the equine program exposes more people to eventing then it is a good thing. :cool: