Thoughts on the USEA Levels

I have held onto this since this summer but since the USEA convention last week I feel I need to address something that has been bothering me. It has to do with questions being asked of riders at the lower levels.  At the lowest levels, Beginner Novice and Novice- eventing is supposed to be an introduction to the sport. It is meant to teach horses and riders what it is like to do this sport we all so love. It is meant to be encouraging and fun. What it is meant to be and what it has become, to me, have strayed far from eachother.

Let me lay the grounds for this. I have a student who regularly competes Novice. She has ambition to go farther, but at this point Novice is her “Olympics” as it is with a lot of amateurs that compete at that level. Her goal from last year was to do a novice three-day. It was goal that was easily attainable but she was both excited and nervous. She worked very hard for that event. She had her horse beyond ready. She was even in 3^rd after dressage in a huge division. When we walked her cross-country course we came upon a question that I felt should have and normally would have been reserved for Training Level. There was a trakehner on the Novice course! It wasn’t just a “fake” trakehner where the ditch was either very small or fake, it was a true trakehner. It was even one that this particular venue usually uses on their Training courses. We had never schooled a trakehner because it wasn’t supposed to be on those courses. There are hardy any venues that offer schooling that also have trakehners that are appropriate for the lower levels to school. In the end, she didn’t make me aware that the particular fence was scaring her badly, and she was eliminated. When we went back to school the fence it went moderately well, but her fear still lingered.

In the end it was her decision to take the summer to school her horse properly and try again in the fall. She chose an event in the fall that usually is moderately difficult, but is fair. This year however we were wrong. They had included a Weldon’s Wall (ditch and wall) on the Novice course! In the end because of my students already bad spring run, and since she hadn’t run since that time, she was eliminated before that fence. WHO SCHOOLS WELDON’S WALLS at NOVICE??????

Weldon's Wall at NOVICE!!!

 

So my problem is this... The USEA feels we need to add another level between Training and Preliminary. I think we need to spend that money to help educate the amateurs and people who don’t compete at the upper levels. I don’t expect for my students to encounter either of those questions until they compete at Training Level and above. If they have no ambition or desire to compete at that level then I don’t feel they are required to learn those questions. If I had known they were going to start building mini-Rolex courses at all events then I would start demanding more and schooling my students over these questions. The reality is though, majority of your low level amateur riders have a healthy respect for those questions and have no desire to ever have to do them. And to me trakehners and weldon's walls do not represent a "good introduction to the sport."

So all in all before we go creating new levels that will require more courses, more volunteers, more officials, and more money which will incur greater costs for those of us competing, why not put some money and resources into better education, better officials training,  and better course design for the lower levels. Then, when people do try to compete at Preliminary and above they will be better educated and it will create safer sport?

signing off~
Mandy