Patchetts Equestrian Centre, Hertfordshire

Decided to try Patchetts for the first time so went to an INTRO SHOW yesterday. It was in the outdoor school so nice and spacious... however the course design was VERY twisty with several tricky challenges thrown in. Class 2 had 60 entries and only 5 people went clear so that may tell you something! So, £15 (+£3 first aid) to jump 8 jumps...good for Patchetts - make sure hardly anyone gets into the jump-off and you get through the list quicker! Bearing in mind this is INTRO (clue is in the title) you would expect a nice INVITING COURSE but it wasn't. I thought BSJA wanted to encourage people at the bottom levels? I was very disappointed as I've done a handful of BSJA shows and they've all been straight forward - up to height but no nasties. There were queue jumpers too so when you got warmed up and thought you had only a couple in front of you it changed at the last minute as they slotted people in.

On a positive note...the cafe and cafe staff were nice.

Get there early - the cafe is good. Excellent facilties in very accessible location. Organised events with decent atmosphere. Show jumping events particularly well attended with good courses and lots of classes. Dressage also efficiently run. Nice rosettes and pleasant organisers.

Lack of parking in relation to popularity means late arrivals will have to park in overflow area that involves crossing the M1 motorway in horse box and subsequently on your horse, Massive jumping classes often lasting for more than 3 hours.