I'm sitting here after scheduling 250 rides for the Partners of the Park (POP) Show that is this Sunday at the Florida Horse Park. Of course, after scheduling all the rides in three dressage arenas, show jumping, and cross country, I then move onto the stall chart. After that is complete, I email out the ride times and the stall chart only to get responses like this back: "We entered at the same time and we use the same equipment but we aren't stabled together." "I entered a Combined Test but I don't know what dressage test I'm doing" "Can I enter three more horses?" "I don't see my name on there." Y'all, us show organizers and secretary's are not mind readers! So people, I am here to talk you through exactly how to enter a POP show. I will decode, give insider tips, and tells you what annoys us organizer's/secretary's the most! If you're a regular EventEntries user, skip to Step 6. Step 1: Create an EventEntries.com account, or login to your account Step 2: Click on People. Add a person. Click on Horses. Add a horse Step 3: Find the show you want to enter by either going to Show Map or back to the Home page and using the Filter bar Step 4: Click on the name of the show you want to enter. Then hit Register for this show Step 5: Under Rider, click the person's name. Under Horse, click the Horse's name Step 6: Now here comes the hard part: Divisions. Let's decode some of these Divisions: CT: Combined Test. This is a mixture of a Dressage Test and a Show Jumping Round at that level. POP offers a CT for every single National level. Riders can either sign up for CTA or CTB for each level, which basically means Combined Test A or Combined Test B. Let's say for instance I'm signing up for BN-CTB. That means I'm signing up for Beginner Novice Test B and Show Jumping 2'7" XCPC: Cross Country schooling for Pony Club only because yes, they get a discount. No, you can't just sign up for XCPC and hope that I don't notice. I will charge you the additional $25 3-Phases: Every single month we alternate which dressage tests (A or B) the 3-Phases will ride. This information can always be found on www.flhorsepark.com . Let me make it clearer. Please check the website BEFORE you email me! SJ: Show Jump rounds only. The heights listed are the maximum heights for the United States Eventing Association (USEA) National levels. Yes, you can get a ribbon. XC-SUN: Yes, you can sign up to do only cross country (the best part of Eventing, in my humble opinion). No, you do not get a ribbon. Step 7: Okay, you've made it this far and it's been super easy. Right? PAY ATTENTION Let's you want to add an additional division or you're riding a second horse. This means another dressage test, another show jump round, a cross country round, or another horse: you have to click that little blue button that says "Add Additional Division Entry". Repeat the steps. Step 8: Enter your Emergency Contact. No, we never check these. I know of someone that write random names in here ("Ball and Chain") when she does entries for her husband. Click Continue to Stabling. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE ENTIRE BLOG POST PEOPLE Step 9: Under Stabling Selection, click Stabling. Then click the dates you are arriving and departing. Step 10: Enter how many bags of shavings you want. PRE-ORDER YOUR SHAVINGS! I can't begin to tell you how annoying it is to drag one bag of shavings to the barns when people show at at 9 am during the show day and we're all crazy busy. Everyone that signs up for a stall at a POP show gets one bag of shavings included. I usually recommend a minimum of two if the horse is staying overnight because the stalls are a true 12'x12' and they're on concrete. Step 11: THIS GIANT PRETTY PARAGRAPH BOX IS A LIE. This is all we get for information from that massive paragraph box. These are actual snippets of the Stabling Report from the December POP Show. SO STOP BEING POLITE. Type as little as possible and if you can get away with abbreviations like "TN" or "Waterford", that's best. Just make sure all of your group members are on the same page. NOTHING is more annoying than someone writing things like "Can you please stable us next to" ....... and that's all I get for information. Be succinct! Be brief! Use acronyms and abbreviations! Click Continue to Fees. I don't even know what step we're on at this point. Just keep going. You want to camp with a RV? Cool. Put how many nights you're staying. Not how many RV's you're bringing. Yes, people have done this. The office fee is per horse. This pays for dressage tests, the secretary, WiFi, printers, and all the other admin stuff that adds up. The Online Entry Fee is so that the Dunkerton family can put food on their table, because this is their livelihood, their brainchild, and we appreciate the hard work and years they have put into this platform. Don't complain about this Online Entry Fee because I refuse to run POP shows without this program. If I have to go back to scheduling shows using Excel, this will be a $30 fee instead of $3. No complaining. Click Continue to Forms. Please for the love of all that's holy TAKE THE TIME TO ENTER YOUR COGGINS AND WAIVER. Most veterinarian's will happily email you a PDF copy of your horses Coggins test and it's incredibly easy to upload. I know for a fact that every equine veterinary clinic in the Ocala area will do this. This saves us (me and you) so much time! If you're struggling to upload the Waiver, I suggest printing it off, signing it, and then using a PDF app on your phone like Genius Scan to email it to yourself. Then upload the Waiver to EventEntries under the Forms section. CONGRATS! You've almost made it! POP Entries are only accepted if you pay with a card online. There are a few reasons we moved to this: 1) COVID, 2) reconciliation of checks and cash takes hours, and sometimes days, 3) easier to keep track, 4) lots of people would enter the show, not pay, and then never show up. So yes, you'll have to pay some credit card processing fees. But you can blame everyone else (and COVID) if you want. (I've been blaming 2020 and COVID on everything.... weight gain, my horse being lame, my broodmare being lame, etc etc etc.) Click Submit with Payment. You will get a confirmation email. The secretary will also get a confirmation email. This means that if you didn't actually enter, and you swear you did, we will know. We will know....... I always suggest double checking your entry by clicking on My Entries on the Navigation Bar of EventEntries. It will tell you which shows you've entered and the date, what date/time you submitted your entry, and whether you Submitted with Payment or Submitted Without Payment. See you next time! In the meantime, go ride your horses!
Interested in finding out more? You can visit Emily at www.emilyholmesequestrian.com for more Equestrian Marketing Tips, Complaints about Competitors, and other Ocala based Equestrian stuff. You can also find Emily on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and her decidedly boring TikTok. @eholmes611
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AuthorEmily Holmes is an Ocala, FL based Freelance Event Organizer who is an expert in Equestrian Public Relations. She also attempts to compete in Eventing and Dressage on a VERY amateur level while building a new facility (see Five Hound Farm) with her hound dogs, husband, and a myriad of horses. Archives
July 2021
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