Anisa Tracy and Tigger VIII lead Young Riders 2*

I agree John, once they have made the upgrade successfully they should not be able to down grade and run a ** at NAJYRC
Having said that has this pair actually made the upgrade successfully??

Doesn't it make sense for an Advance horse to retire to being a Young Rider horse and help them safely learn the sport? Not sure which horse it is but probably doesn't matter. I would prefer this to the green horse green rider scenario at these upper levels.

I think that horses that have run Advanced should be able to drop down to run the 2* NAYRC, because like Margie Molloy said, it could help a green-er rider learn the ropes. But if the PAIR has bumped up to Advanced-which is the impression I got when reading this-they should not be able to bump down for the NAYRC. That's just not fair. If they're just running a 2*, fine. But this is the major championships.

The horse in question appears to be Baba Creek and he (along with his YR) completed the Jersey Fresh CIC*** this spring. They also had several sucessful Advanced outings this spring.

Yeah that's what I saw as well.
I figured that out after I posted my comment.
And it makes my opinion even more so. They've run a 3 star-I think I saw more than 1, actually-and then they dropped down to 2 star for the NAYRC. I just don't think that's right.

A young rider is a young rider!!

Anyone who qualifies can compete in NAYRC, regardless of successes he/she may of had at upper levels. Part of being a young rider is competing in the NAYRC. Sorry some are good enough to run advanced levels at a young age when they are still a "young rider". That should not keep them from participating in this! I'm sure you wish you could run advanced and still be a young rider. This is nonsense.

Given the absolute minimum amount of entries for the 2 star I see no problems with Lauren (or any other YR) dropping down a level to do this competiton. Lauren has made this horse up form the one star level and he has not been an easy horse. If she wants to ride at YR's in her last eligible year and it doesn't keep anyone else off the team what could it possibly harm?

I was the Chef de Equip at her first YR's and she was a pleasure to have on the team, professional, pleasant and listened very well to everyone involved. I'm glad to see she thought enough of the experience to repeat it in her last eligible year.

Lee Ann Zobbe

Eventer4Life - Why? Honestly, this is the YR championships. If a YR is a step ahead and has competed through advanced, why she he or she not be able to compete against her/his peers? Its not as if she is given the option to compete at YRs at "her level"?

I guess it was mostly a knee jerk reaction on my part. Since I am a young rider, hoping to compete at najyrc next year and hopefully again in years after, I just instantly felt that if I were at yrs this year competing against someone who had already done a few 3 stars and was now winning the 2 star, I would not be thrilled that she was being allowed to compete. Having thought about it quite a bit more and read all the comments, its starting to seem more okay to me. After all, she is still a young rider.

You should want to compete against the best - that is how you improve. Would you want to win gold knowing that there was another rider out there who could not compete because she was TOO good? Wouldn't you rather compete against that rider so you can see where you stand, even if it meant you didn't come out on top?

Like I said, total knee jerk reaction on my part. My first reaction is making less and less sense even to me by the second.