Eventing – the poor relation?
Just recently, there’s been a swell in eventers calling for better prizemoney within British Eventing; something that has been given a platform by social media. It has been said that eventing is the poor relation of equine sports – lagging behind the others in the money stakes, and under criticism for not moving with the times. The most expensive to enter and take part in, with the smallest gain.
To get an understanding of the situation, let’s compare to other equestrian sports; back in 2012, racehorse trainers famously boycotted a Worcester race because it fell below the agreed ‘acceptable’ tariff by £900. The prize money for the race, a moderate one at that, was £3,000. Entry fees for races can start from just £20.
In British Showjumping, one local BS venue has a British Novice class. The entry fee is £13, and the first prize is £25. In fact even if you came fifth you would still get your entry fee back.
Now let’s look to eventing; your standard BE90 fee would be likely
to cost you in the region of £55-£80. At all levels there is a stated bracket which prizemoney must adhere to; at BE80 level there is no prizemoney, but entry would cost £55.89. At 90-100+, the prizemoney bracket is £35-£66 for first place, but in actual fact it is permissible for events to offer ‘prizes in kind’ at this level – that is they may offer a prize of at least 50% of the lower prize limit – so you could win, and end up with a prize worth £17.50 – a headcollar and leadrope perhaps, or maybe a saddle cloth.
Sir Mark Todd, long term eventing stalwart and legend, highlighted the issue eloquently with his tweet:
“Off eventing. Just calculated that even if I win on all three horses, skip lunch and pre-diesel, my loss will be £98.31 — crazy!”
So there are a number of issues raised here; one is to consider the professional eventer vs the amateur. The professional does this for a living; but is it reasonable to think that even with a 100% strike rate that rider could still incur heavy losses? Or do we think that in actual fact the professional eventer receives income from owners for stabling, training and
competing the horse, and through
other means such as sponsorship, or even producing and selling their own horses, whereby the BE competition record enhances the value of that horse? The event is the means, not the end in that case.
The amateur eventer – are they in it for the money? Well perhaps not...your typical grassroots eventer is probably not out competing for the monetary gain, but more for the love of the sport. That said, why should they be any less rewarded for a good result than a professional? And is it reasonable to think they could still win less than the entry fee for first place, hobby or not?
The third and final issue, perhaps the largest – where does the extra prizemoney come from?
Sponsorship?
Great in theory, but who are these sponsors and who secures their support? For your average event, four-stars aside, organisers can’t promise tv coverage like say racing can, and they can’t put on an event without incurring massive costs like perhaps British Showjumping can. Frickley actually stated that the costs per day of running an event were in excess of £20,000. So even if we’re all in agreement about the need to give better prizemoney, the question still remains – who is going to make up the deficit, particularly where many run their events with little or no profit?
So let's take a look at your views....
Eventing Round Up written by Nicola Strong
Eventing highlights
On 13 October, Boekelo hosted the finale of the FEI Nations Cup, and with it brought victory for Team GB. Although the British contenders (Kitty King, Laura Collett, Izzy Taylor and Gemma Tattersall) actually finished second on this particular leg, their combined efforts over the series were good enough to earn them the win by a single point over closest rivals the Germans.
Kitty King’s hopes for selection with Persimmon were deservedly answered, and he didn’t disappoint – they were the star performers of the team, coming fifth after a very strong dressage. They had an unfortunate rail Showjumping but clear cross country, as did Collett riding Allora 3. Collett finished 17th, whilst Izzy Taylor was 21st with KBIS Starlet. The horse didn’t give her usually impressive dressage performance, but made up for it with a clear inside the time which only three others could match.
Gemma Tattersall had an unfortunate xc fall to be eliminated with Chico Bella, one of many who fell foul of the demanding track.
Wiltshire based Kiwi Lizzie Brown won the competition as an individual with the performance of her career. The 25 year old rode Henton Attorney General to the win with a fence still in hand. She said; “It is a dream! I have been working towards this all my life and it does not feel real to have finally pulled off this win and in such great company! Jung, Klimke and Todd are three of my most admired riders so I am so happy!”
Les Etoiles de Pau continued the European theme, hosting France’s only four-star event. The leaderboard was full of familiar names after the first phase – three of them owing to William Fox-Pitt! Lucinda Fredericks’ dressage prowess shined through as she and Flying Finish led going into the cross country with the sole test to score below 40.
Fredericks commented; “Dressage is the easy bit. I enjoy it and I’m lucky because my horse has a good brain. So often, as a horse gets more experienced, they can blow up in the atmosphere, but he settles. I was a bit weak in my halts. I don’t know if it’s because I had practiced them too much or not enough, but to do three bad halts and still be leading isn’t bad!”
A mix up at the second water was costly though, and they lost their position - leaving the way clear for Fox-Pitt. In an unprecedented situation, he occupied each of the top three spots after cross country; something which, despite his humble insistences that it was a pretty big fluke, just highlights his talent as a rider.
Fox-Pitt went on to win the competition with Seacookie TSF as well as taking third with Cool Mountain. His hopes of a clean sweep were dashed when Neuf Des Coeurs dropped five rails in the final phase however. Still, not a bad days work if you ask me!