Bhs dress code Livery Yard

I remember the day when I worked as a groom at a very large prestigious riding school / showing establishment and the new yard manager turned up to work in a pair of flip flops. She was also heavily pregnant. What the owner of the place was thinking I'll never know!! She then proceeded to oil all the riding school saddles. The seats. Very difficult to explain when the clients complained about greasy bottoms.
 
The yard I was at while I was in uni (in the US) had an informal dress code, more like assumptions and peer pressure, but certainly not one enshrined in any formal rules. It inspired me to buy saddle pads that looked like this:

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They weren't part of the dress code.
 
The only BHS approved livery yard I've been on the YO was regularly found in a bikini sunbathing on the roof of one of the field shelters in summer. She would put on sensible shoes before handling the horses though, and usually added some extra clothes before teaching.

BHS approval is about the quality of the horse care and the training as far as I know, dress codes would be up to the owner / manager for enforcing their image / safety rules.

I've never known a dress code for liveries beyond the obvious, like wearing a hat when riding and hi-vis for hacking.
 
Aren’t you supposed to wear at least short sleeves, something to do with possibly falling off, grazing the arms? Am I dreaming this?
 
Apparently as it's a BHS livery yard I'm not aloud to expose my midriff incase bhs inspectors visit the yard 😂 I've worked and kept horses at bhs livery before and couldn't find anything online about the dress code so just wanted to make sure the yard was beig ridiculous!!
 
Honeysrider said:
Apparently as it's a BHS livery yard I'm not aloud to expose my midriff incase bhs inspectors visit the yard �� I've worked and kept horses at bhs livery before and couldn't find anything online about the dress code so just wanted to make sure the yard was beig ridiculous!!
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The yard is not actually being ridiculous - that rule is for safety - see various posts above. The reason you have given sounds a bit odd but the rule itself is sound.
 
It is ridiculous, unless I'm wearing leather my clothes won't protect me, being in a crop top is just as risky as being in a polonium,

fabric vs rocks, thorns and hedges 😒
 
Honeysrider said:
Apparently as it's a BHS livery yard I'm not aloud to expose my midriff incase bhs inspectors visit the yard ��
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As well as for safety it sounds like a decency thing to me, like no bare chests for men. I wouldn't be bothered by a rule like that, I wouldn't dream of riding in a crop top.
 
Safety? Really? If you're going to get impaled on something through your midriff, a bit of cotton isn't going to make much difference. In fact, it would probably be safer to ride in my western saddle with a crop top, as I've lost count of the times my t shirt has hooked itself over the saddle horn...

I suspect the YO doesn't like crop tops/bare midriffs (and if she's anything like me, shirtless men - just no!), and rather than just suggesting you suck it up she's tried to make it sound like a bhs requirement. Very silly.
 
SpottyMare said:
I suspect the YO doesn't like crop tops/bare midriffs (and if she's anything like me, shirtless men - just no!), and rather than just suggesting you suck it up she's tried to make it sound like a bhs requirement. Very silly.
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This ^^. I would have no problem with a yard rule on bare midriffs if the YO / YM wants that for "decency" reasons or to maintain the image, particularly if the yard is attached to their house or they also run another business as well as livery. It is silly for them to not just say that though, trying to pass it off as a BHS requirement is just going to irritate people.
 
If the OP is at the yard she said she was going to in February they do run affiliated competitions too so I can understand why they would perhaps want to employ this as a rule.
Given that we have fussed about wearing long sleeves for quite so long when doing certain activities I wouldn't be surprised if the BHS did deem it unsuitable attire were they to come visiting.
 
Surprisingly a cotton shirt does give quite a lot of protection from grass burns etc.

However it is the YO rule and if that is what she wants and you do not like it then move.

Perhaps the YO likes her establishment to appear like a professional set up rather than a holiday camp.
 
If this dress rule was in your contract when you arrived then tough really, if your yard is making the rules up as they go along and moving the goal posts I would be looking for a new yard

Nothing wrong with crop tops if someone has a fit body for it, nice and cool too in this heat - not a good look if someone is fat and wobbly

I only had 3 eekk moments on my yard, someone came with flip flops, someone had a crop top with an earring in their belly button lol my gelding liked the look of that shiny thing........ and a dear friend must of thought tights, open toe shoes and a pleated
white floating skirt was the best clothes to wear at the stables - my gelding was a PITA with the floating skirt - apart from the above I can honestly say I never notice what people wear and I can't tell you what I wore yesterday as its just so unimportant to me....... others obviously feel differently, so each to their own
 
TBH, most yards would be better off with a ‘say no to crack’ rule than banning midriffs and bellybuttons. The number of times I’ve got an eyeful when someone bends over to fill a haynet! Eeuw! Get some jeans that fit, or a belt.
 
If you get flung across the yard ,as happens regularly, the shoulders tend to graze deeply and absorb particles of grit into the skin . A shirt with even short sleeves will greatly reduce the injury. The grit ,if left in the skin will permanently tattoo the individual and has to be scrubbed out of the graze. It is a ghastly painful process which I hope I never have to witness again.
 
Flicker said:
TBH, most yards would be better off with a ‘say no to crack’ rule than banning midriffs and bellybuttons. The number of times I’ve got an eyeful when someone bends over to fill a haynet! Eeuw! Get some jeans that fit, or a belt.
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Same applies to thin riding tights! I nearly fainted when one of my liveries bent over in my eyeline. Some things are best left unseen...
 
Bob notacob said:
If you get flung across the yard ,as happens regularly,
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I don't know what kind of yards you've been on, but I've been around horses for 22 years (including several years as an SJ groom) and I haven't noticed people being "flung across the yard" on a regular basis.

I couldn't be doing with a yard that tried to dictate what I wore, unless it was something specifically related to safety (i.e. wearing a hat and sensible shoes). I regularly poo pick in shorts, crop top and flip flops in hot weather, and when I was a groom my summer uniform was denim shorts and a strappy top with sensible boots. I'd only wear jodhpurs if I was riding.
 
Cecile said:
Nothing wrong with crop tops if someone has a fit body for it, nice and cool too in this heat - not a good look if someone is fat and wobbly
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This really gets my goat, who are you to judge?
Some people find large and or wobbly attractive.
Larger people feel the heat too so if someone with a 'fit body' will benefit from wearing something 'nice and cool' so would they.
Same rules for all.
I know I may be reading more into what you have written than you meant but I think a bit more thought before posting would be nice.
 
twiggy2 said:
This really gets my goat, who are you to judge?
Some people find large and or wobbly attractive.
Larger people feel the heat too so if someone with a 'fit body' will benefit from wearing something 'nice and cool' so would they.
Same rules for all.
I know I may be reading more into what you have written than you meant but I think a bit more thought before posting would be nice.
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Who knows maybe I'm fat and wobbly and I feel very strongly that me wearing a crop top in public should be outlawed :)
 
Auslander said:
Same applies to thin riding tights! I nearly fainted when one of my liveries bent over in my eyeline. Some things are best left unseen...
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Hahaha horrible. I’m friendly with a lady who was working with horses in the ‘headscarves and waxed New Zealand rugs’ days. She’s traumatised by some of the clothes that appear on the yard.
 
The only rule I’ve ever been aware of on various yards has been to wear a hat while riding. I’m glad the more ‘stuffy’ traditions have gone (I’ve been riding for over 30years) and appreciate that I can wear whatever I like. I personally wouldn’t wear a crop though 😬
 
Cecile said:
If this dress rule was in your contract when you arrived then tough really, if your yard is making the rules up as they go along and moving the goal posts I would be looking for a new yard
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Sometimes rules have to evolve though, based on things that happen and the way people behave, that may not have ever been an issue before.
 
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