MER-ly a suggestion, don't do it...
Let's be honest, it should never be allowed nor possible to buy a five star show jumper and head straight into the highest level of the sport without any previous experience. However, sorting the problem out with the help of MERs, as being discussed right now doesn't feel like the right way to go.
Cause in eventing, riders are already expected to collect MERs before they're allowed to compete at higher levels.
On paper it does sound reasonable, just prove you're up to the task before you're being let loose on the next level.
In practice, it's more like collecting stamps than actually preparing for what’s ahead.
Simply because just about any well-behaved horse will let you cruise around a couple of lower-level events to pick up MERs, while still leave you completely unprepared for the kind of questions asked at the big(ger) shows.
Cause MERs don’t test whether you’re riding smart, or know what you're doing.
It only shows that you, on that very day, crossed the finish line with a good enough jump score, and the time on your side.
Last time I checked, you could even break a frangible pin and still get your MERs.
Let's look at some examples..
If you want to see proof of the above, I will give it to you. Cause there are plenty examples out there.
Unfortunately I even know people first hand that in all honesty SUCK in eventing and equestrian sport as a whole. But still, these people earn their living by teaching others "how to do it".
All this while themselves, instead of working on their own skills to get to the next level, have figured out how to beat the system to get there.
Example 1 - Slow riding
Here we have an example of a rider who took the art of bad show jumping, and riding way to slow in cross country to another level. Still the duo managed to pick up MERs along the way, and eventually made it all the way to CCI4*-L, the second highest level of eventing!
That did not end well, at least not for the horse. The horse got hopping lame in cross country, and let's just leave it at that.
Example 2 - Bad riding
Same with the dressage score, sometimes it is just down to pure luck if you end up on the right side of the 45 penalty mark [55% in real dressage] in dressage and or managed to NOT bring the whole show jumping course down.
As you can see in the following example, this duo struggled hard to even get over 55% in dressage = 45 penalties in eventing.
If you cash in above 45 penalties, lower than 55%, in dressage your MER is already out the window. So at this point you can [should] go back to the lorry park and just pack your things up and go home again.
When this rider finally made a reasonable dressage test in short four star, the MER came in a class where the combination broke a frangible pin.
Frangible pins and MIM-clips are devices set into place to SAVE PEOPLE FROM BAD FALLS. Still, when breaking one, and being saved from a bad fall, you can still get a qualifying result to go to the next level.
Who ever came up with this insane rule in the first place?
When this duo finally came to the long four star format, the second highest level of eventing, they didn't finish cross country. Cause as we all know by know, a fallen rider also equals an eliminated rider. XC-FR = cross country - fall rider.
Example 3 - Rushing through the levels
Last but not least, the example of a [still] at the time fairly inexperienced rider with just the 23 international starts under the belt.
When this rider found a good horse, this new duo suddenly went faster through the classes than the F1 champion Max Verstappen could flip his tyres.
After just the eight events, with average results I might add, this rider thought it was time to bring the equally inexperienced horse to CCI5* Pau.
Instead of finishing cross country they crashed and burned. Which in itself is a complete other story for another day. One thing's for sure, the horse was never seen again, at least not in the sport.
Would it be fair to say these three riders failed to do their ground work? Yes!
Would it also be fair to say all three of them knew exactly how they could trick the system, to get what they wanted = the next level as fast as possible with minimum input at the expense of their horses? Yes!
Participation in competition must be restricted to fit horses and athletes of proven competence. // FEI Code of Conduct For the Welfare of the Horse
Food for thought: Would you ever consider it to be in line with animal welfare to bring an inexperienced horse to a level of competition that is above the level of experience of both horse and rider?
Please feel free to leave a comment in the comment section in the bottom of the page👇🏻
Buy Me a Coffee
Buy Me a CoffeeMerit by performance!
So why is eventing clinging on to the MER system like it is some kind of bullet proof safety blanket when it's a known fact the MERs say very little about actual skills.
Or even worse, when people know exactly how to beat the system!
High profile people in the sport like Captain Mark Phillips [love him] brought it up many times in his excellent column in Horse & Hound.
Yet somehow, the system, read the FEI eventing committee, keeps pretending [?] the MER system is actually filtering athletes according to safety and skills.
Anybody following eventing up close to the OGs or World Championships know exactly how radical people can be with their competition schedule when on the hunt and quest for a qualifying result to the big games.
On lower level eventing there are plenty of riders doing exactly the same thing as seen in the examples above.
Show jumping MERits
At the recent FEI Sports Forum, calls were made to introduce MERs in jumping.
The logic behind it?
Riders shouldn’t be able to waltz into five-star classes just because they have the money and can buy themselves a world-class horse.
Sorry, you can’t ride in this 1.50m class until you’ve gone clear at two 1.40m shows with fewer than four faults and no time penalties.
Fair point, if only it was that simple.
Thing is, showjumping isn’t eventing, and trying to slap the same kind of system onto it would be... let’s say, very optimistic.
In reality the same kind of people that know how to trick the eventing MER system will soon come up with an almost bullet proof solution in how to trick an eventual MER system in show jumping.
In other sports athletes are ranked and seeded in a complete other way than in equestrian sport such as dressage, eventing and jumping.
So instead of just slapping yet another acronym on a problem and call it progress, maybe the time has finally come when it’s time to re-think the whole structure of sport, and how we can measure experience across the [still] Olympic disciplines.
Cause in the end of the day you either have the horse and the rounds to prove it, or you don’t.
If you want to dig down deeper in some eventing issues please check this out
Hoofbeat Online
What do you think? Please leave a comment in the comment section 👇🏻
