[EWim15]

I'm interested in trying to revive the idea of competitor reviews/ratings for events and wondered what people thought? (assuming i haven't missed an obvious resource ) And if anyone might be interested in pitching in to do a few?

I know it's been tried before and now there are course photos too, but I find reviews so useful (though a headache to search for) that it might be worth another try! It might also be fun to do something a bit more comprehensive about the event as a whole, quality of the footing, warm-ups, organization etc.

I've made a bit of a start on a framework for them integrated into a general eventing resource/reference I've been playing around with (http://outsidethehorsebox.com/eventinformation ). The section for review is the last toggle box on each page, but this could easily be moved up. I'm also reaching out to organizers to get some fresh information from them.

What do people think? Is it worth a try? I'm a bit geeky so I love trying to put together information.

(frequent COH reader, rare poster!)

[CupcakeTough]

For what it's worth, I love your site! It was super easy to find the events both alphabetically and regionally. I always thought it was a great idea. I'm from Area VII, I would be happy to review some of our events.

[deltawave]

Nice idea and nice setup, but I will say just as one person's opinion that I don't find "reviews" of courses all that helpful. What one person considers a "good, gallopy course with fair questions" might be my idea of a nightmare, for instance. One person's idea of great footing might be horrible in my view. I love the course walk apps so I can look at actual fences, but still since courses are very rarely identical from year to year (with notable exceptions) I'm not going to make up my mind to go or not go to an event based on these things. Actually, with the limited access to shows here I'm going to go to the shows I can take time off for, regardless of reviews, unless the venue is known to be horrible or something.

[deltawave]

One tiny thing that might make it more navigable--when you go from an event back to the big map it takes you back to the whole "world" view. Might be nice to be able to navigate by area rather than zooming all the way back in again each time.

[EWim15]

For what it's worth, I love your site! It was super easy to find the events both alphabetically and regionally. I always thought it was a great idea. I'm from Area VII, I would be happy to review some of our events.

Oh thank you! I would definitely appreciate it if you wanted to fill a few out.

I don't find "reviews" of courses all that helpful. What one person considers a "good, gallopy course with fair questions" might be my idea of a nightmare, for instance.

I can definitely understand what you are saying Deltawave - a totally fair point. I guess I just like seeing what people have to say anyway and if you get enough reviews hopefully there starts to be a consensus. But it's still subjective! Thanks for the suggestion on the map, a great idea.

[Nick O]

This one was up and running a couple years ago, not too much was written by competitors Looks like it's down now? http://www.crosscountryreview.com/

[EWim15]

This one was up and running a couple years ago, not too much was written by competitors Looks like it's down now? http://www.crosscountryreview.com/

I saw that one mentioned, but I think it was supposed to be text only or something. I've been lent photos by the US XC Course Photos Facebook Page so that might help. Thought it was worth another try if anyone was interested!

[Carried Away]

could you set it up so people could have a username/profile? This might make it more attractive for eventers to use it for reviewing courses.

[cjmicro]

I did the site awhile ago crosscountryreviews.com but it really just didn't take off. Maybe I didn't devote enough time to it, but it seems like people want the info but don't take the time to contribute as much. If you try it, good luck!

Maybe you can talk the people here at COTH into making a section for event reviews or something.

[subk]

One non-subjective thing I've started looking at is the percentage of horses in a division that have XC jumping faults. I've got a couple of green BN horses that I want to take out this year and give very positive experiences. I won't be going to an event in my area that I usually go to because over 40% of the horses in the BN divisions had XC jumping faults last year and looking at the last few years indicates to me that that event is just fine with that result. I'm not, so I won't go there.

[EWim15]

One non-subjective thing I've started looking at is the percentage of horses in a division that have XC jumping faults. I've got a couple of green BN horses that I want to take out this year and give very positive experiences. I won't be going to an event in my area that I usually go to because over 40% of the horses in the BN divisions had XC jumping faults last year and looking at the last few years indicates to me that that event is just fine with that result. I'm not, so I won't go there.

That is a really interesting idea! That would be a bit of data crunching but could definitely be done. Sadly I'd probably even enjoy doing it!

could you set it up so people could have a username/profile? This might make it more attractive for eventers to use it for reviewing courses.

Might be beyond my technical skill at the moment.... but definitely something to put on the list! At the moment you just fill out the form.

cjmicro, I've pm'd you if you don't mind to find out a little more.

[Hawks Nest]

It looks cool, and while I agree with deltawave about reviewing, I still like to hear what people have to say, especially when it comes to how the event is run/the rest of the facilities. The reviews don't just have to be XC right? But how the stadium ring is, or the dressage rings, or if they tend to run slow or on time or whatever. Or even parking.

Something to add about the site, maybe I am not seeing it but the only way to get to events is from the big long list, so if it was sorted by more than just name (area, state, something like that) it would be a little easier to navigate.

[beowulf]

One non-subjective thing I've started looking at is the percentage of horses in a division that have XC jumping faults. I've got a couple of green BN horses that I want to take out this year and give very positive experiences. I won't be going to an event in my area that I usually go to because over 40% of the horses in the BN divisions had XC jumping faults last year and looking at the last few years indicates to me that that event is just fine with that result. I'm not, so I won't go there.

subk, call me a USEA-scrub, but I'd love to know how you do that.. As in, view results of a certain Event?? I'm totally not very savvy navigating the USEA website, is there a link I'm missing?!

[subk]

subk, call me a USEA-scrub, but I'd love to know how you do that.. As in, view results of a certain Event?? I'm totally not very savvy navigating the USEA website, is there a link I'm missing?!

Go to the "Competition" hub on the USEA site here: http://useventing.com/competitions

On the right hand side is a column of links and find "Calendar, Omnibus & Results Archive" go there.

Click on a year

On that page is a list of all events for the year you selected. Find the event you want and to the right will be a link to the results.

Once you get to the results it's just counting and basic math. I count the total in the division, then count how many had faults, falls, etc then figure the percentage.

(You can also get there if you are looking up a rider or horse result. The event name will be a link to the full results.)

I might also look to see the percentage that ended on their dressage score or had time faults or what ever else strikes my fancy.

I did figure the XC fault percentage for about a dozen events that I could go to in a year and compared them. For BN it seemed anything over 20% was high. For the one that concerned me I looked at past years and saw what I thought was also high in the past. If an event wants a hard XC that's great--there are horses I've ridden that I would have wanted that, too. For BN that's not my training style.

[EWim15]

It looks cool, and while I agree with deltawave about reviewing, I still like to hear what people have to say, especially when it comes to how the event is run/the rest of the facilities. The reviews don't just have to be XC right? But how the stadium ring is, or the dressage rings, or if they tend to run slow or on time or whatever. Or even parking.

Something to add about the site, maybe I am not seeing it but the only way to get to events is from the big long list, so if it was sorted by more than just name (area, state, something like that) it would be a little easier to navigate.

You should be able to do this but just clicking and zooming in on the map. Each one of the little markers for events can then be directly clicked on to take you to the page. Maybe I should make that a bit more clear in the heading!

On the point about reviews, my hope would be to have more than just cross country and review the whole event! There are specific questions about organization, the footing, warmup facilities etc and then a space for general comments. I guess it's just all the "useful to know" stuff.

[beowulf]

Go to the "Competition" hub on the USEA site here: http://useventing.com/competitions

On the right hand side is a column of links and find "Calendar, Omnibus & Results Archive" go there.

Click on a year

On that page is a list of all events for the year you selected. Find the event you want and to the right will be a link to the results.

Once you get to the results it's just counting and basic math. I count the total in the division, then count how many had faults, falls, etc then figure the percentage.

(You can also get there if you are looking up a rider or horse result. The event name will be a link to the full results.)

I might also look to see the percentage that ended on their dressage score or had time faults or what ever else strikes my fancy.

I did figure the XC fault percentage for about a dozen events that I could go to in a year and compared them. For BN it seemed anything over 20% was high. For the one that concerned me I looked at past years and saw what I thought was also high in the past. If an event wants a hard XC that's great--there are horses I've ridden that I would have wanted that, too. For BN that's not my training style.

That is such a great tool - thank you for showing me that! I had NO idea you could research results on USEA.. I try not to spend a lot of time on there (but now that the omnibus is online, I guess I'll have to) so I haven't really gotten familiar with the website.. I can't wait to do this to some of the local events in the state (NY) that I just moved to.