Everyone knows the NPS Summer Champs are a clusterfuck. They always are.
The NPS Championships 2022 were no exception.
This year we had the usual rings splitting without warning and leaving people unsure where they were supposed to be. We had classes being moved without clear announcements being made and ending running later than they would have done were they to have stayed put. We had one ring with two halves, one of which ran to time all day, the other ended up nearly three hours behind - how do you even achieve that?
Tuesday, as usual, lulled us into a false sense of security. There were relatively few fuck-ups, just the usual three concurrent classes which all needed the same competitors and the one ring which, for no particular reason. ends up running two or three hours behind.
The Tuesday evening gala performance even went relatively well! Of course it started late with stewards apparently not really knowing what they were doing, but after that the championships entered roughly on time and those of us watching were just about able to see what was going on when the last championship finished in time for everyone to have some social time before bed.
Of course, as is the norm at the Summer Champs, it was Wednesday when it all went wrong.
Instead of evenly distributing classes across the three days of the NPS Championships 2022, the powers that be feel that cramming as much as possible into the Wednesday is a great idea.
Inevitably, though, class timings slip, judges are wanted in more than one place at the same time, pre-judging overruns, and as a result the evening performance starts with some classes still being judged and the light rapidly failing.
Why-oh-why do they think it is a good idea to hold the dressage to music as part of an already packed evening performance? Why not hold that class during the day and present it as a championship line-up rather than making these poor competitors perform their test in pitch darkness with nobody really watching?
As a group, our friends agree that once the NPS Champs have started we shouldn't moan about how badly they are managed. We stuck to our word, but really, something needs to be done!
This all said, it was nice to be back at Malvern. The facilities are good, the ground was "ok" and the weather, for once, was kind. I think we all take if for granted when we have a showground with permanent stables, decent showers and toilets, a village shop, close proximity to shops, pubs and restaurants (not the NPS give you any time in the day for leaving the site!) and then we really notice when we go to the next show and few of those niceties are present.