Social License to Operate is the largest threat to the future of Equestrian Sport in 2023. Without appropriate action from within the sport we will continue to suffer negative press and dwindling public support.
With a background of over 35 years experience in both the civil nuclear industry and the world of the horse here at Harveywetdog we are uniquely placed to advise on developing the safety case for Equestrian Sport and turning your assertions into the claims, arguments and evidence required to take us forward on a secure footing.
The way forward
The BEF Independent Advisory Body is an important first step and we must all strive to support it and act on its findings, some of which will be painful for our sport
This is going to take much longer than one year to address and some of the research will need to go on for years. People need to be prepared to fund this research and analysis. Our equine Universities have a part to play here, but we all need to be open with our data when it comes to analysis of equine breeding, training, competition and demise
We all need to be prepared to be ambassadors for our sports, demonstrate the love and care we put into our horses and what we do to help them be happy athletes and willing partners
And we must do more to be a diverse and inclusive environment for people to work and compete in - I don't know how we will do this but ultimately this is the Five Star question we have to answer
Social License to Operate and British Eventing's
The Howden Way
Replying to one of my Harveywetdog Facebook posts I received the following feedback from British Eventing "The Howden Way" Coach Katie Williams which includes a response to some of peoples questions about the programme in the post
“I just ran my first Howden day camp and I *think* it was a great success - at least that was the feedback we got from a number of participants. We had 21 riders aged from 10 to "in their 60s", at all levels from aspiring to 80cm to experienced at 2*.
I tried not to mix the groups where possible as, in the same way it is more fun for adults to ride with adults, it is more fun for the teenagers to ride together. We had five groups, three were either adult or youth and two ended up a little mixed but everybody seemed to enjoy it regardless. We provided tea and coffee making facilities and encouraged people to have a drink and chat when they were on a break from riding, and we all had lunchtime together in one group. The social/community building aspect is really important and is one of the core values of the academies.
As a programme, it *definitely* is NOT aimed at the youth market, in fact they are retaining their own independent youth training although they can also come to Howden if they want. It's worth noting that if the demand is there, there will be weekday training eg I have one at the Unicorn Trust on a Wednesday coming up - despite me having some misgivings it has filled easily and of course all the riders are adults as it is term time. So might be worth looking out for that sort of thing if you want to avoid kids altogether 😁 I'm sure other coaches will run similar if there is demand.
As far as trainers and venues are concerned, all eventing level 3 coaches were invited to apply and there will be a further intake this year - if there are people you really want to use, encourage them to join the programme if they haven't already!”
And the following describes the training the trainers had received
“Harveywetdog the programme included a full day induction day for the trainers, then there’s going to be an ongoing process of disseminating best practice and sharing ideas although the mechanism for this is yet to be pinned down (it’s all had to happen rather quickly!) The induction focused on sharing the core values of the programme:-
horse/human welfare
inclusive environment which values diversity
nurturing climate encouraging camaraderie and mutual support
celebration of skills and knowledge development over performance outcomes
developing role models and ambassadors for our sport
inclusive environment which values diversity
nurturing climate encouraging camaraderie and mutual support
celebration of skills and knowledge development over performance outcomes
developing role models and ambassadors for our sport
as we feel this is what differentiates this programme from what is already available and indeed from what other disciplines can offer riders in terms of training.
Generally speaking, if a coach has their UKCC Level 3 Eventing qualification and has kept up with their CPD etc the assumption has to be that they are technically able (otherwise you have to question the qualification) so the important thing is that they buy into the ethos of the programme."
Generally speaking, if a coach has their UKCC Level 3 Eventing qualification and has kept up with their CPD etc the assumption has to be that they are technically able (otherwise you have to question the qualification) so the important thing is that they buy into the ethos of the programme."