Disgusted at BHS role model!

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Pacey

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My friend has recently taken her BHS Stage 1 at Bishop Burton. She is buying her first horse and thought she might pick up some interesting morsels of information to help her with ownership.

She is very safety conscious (who can blame her?) so bought the best rated body protector available, as recommended in the BHS magazine she subscribes to.

At her BHS exam, she wore this body protector for the ridden elements.

Upon seeing her in the body protector, the BHS examiner humiliated and embarrassed her in front of everyone by asking typically snotty questions such as what the shoulder pads were for, why she thought she would need it for a BHS Stage 1 and that 'it was a bit elaborate, don't you think!'.

My friend was particularly humilated, but was a little too withdrawn to complain.

I thought I would share it with you all - just to get in off my chest, more than anything! Grrrr.
 
She should damn well complain. This is what I hate about the BHS. Snotty know it alls those examiners.

Give her a shove and tell her to make a complaint. She shouldn't be treated like that.
 
Complain about the examiner/instructor. I'm afraid that if you want to wear every safety device on the market, then you should be able to do it without fear of criticism.
 
............. Speechless, but unfortunately not surprised.... please do write an official complaint, these things need pointing out, highlighting and stamping out.........
 
Sounds about right for BHS. Poor girl, is awful to pick on anyone in an exam situation, let alone for wearing a body protector! Very sensible of her considering where she was taking her exam though.
 
Write an email!
I still teach occaisionaly and always suggest to the parents that they should get their kids back protectors....one set of parents I suggested buying a saddle to help the lad as they thought he was been spoilt having one as he had managed to stay on the pony for a year without falling off! :eek::D:rolleyes:
 
Disgraceful although not surprising. My Stage One was a shockingly unprofessional event, put me off wanting to take things any further. I was very glad that I'm only a hobby rider and not a professional as I wouldn't want my career to hang on the opinion of an eccentric elderly bint.
 
thats shocking! people should be commended for wanting to wear safety equipment and certainly shouldn't be ridiculed for it. i would complain very vociferously to the BHS- its bad enough that anyone acted like this- but a BHS assessor- terrible! :mad:
 
I had the same treatment when i took my exams about 10 years ago. They made me feel stupid because i wanted to put my back protector on before i rode.
 
Holly Hocks said:
Complain about the examiner/instructor. I'm afraid that if you want to wear every safety device on the market, then you should be able to do it without fear of criticism.
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More than that, you should be applauded for doing so and used as an good example to others, not ridiculed!

I wish I was in the room with that examiner when she humilated your friend, smug cow!
 
roodolph said:
It's perfectly possible to injure yourself without jumping :)
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Exactly, this is why in racing the lads are supposed to wear a BP when handling the horses as well as riding them. Why the hell would you make someone feel small for wanting to feel safe, sorry but this is why the BHS has such a bad reputation.
 
kizzywiz said:
Why the hell would you make someone feel small for wanting to feel safe, sorry but this is why the BHS has such a bad reputation.
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Exactly. Very disappointed to hear about the treatment of your friend OP and definitely think she should complain.
 
That is a terrible way to treat anyone. She really must complain. In my eyes she gets an A+ to for wanting to be safe!
The worrying thing is that this is supposed to be an organisation we can rely on and trust yet everyone who has commented so far has not been surprised by the way your friend was treated. ?? Surely something is wrong with that!
 
She should definatly complain as a lot of us know a lot of accidents happen NOT when we are doing high level stuff, but when we are hacking down the road or walking round the school.

Just because they are deemed Stage one horses doesn't mean they are beyond spooking or tripping over.

If she wants to wear a body protector then she should be allowed to do so.

I'm not a fan of them and where possible i don't wear one, but that is my deciesion but i'd never tell anyone else they are stupid for wearing one, in fact i encourage people when in my lessons to wear them. One day i might listen to my own advise.

I'm the stupid one for not wearing one.
 
Azmar said:
Maybe not tactful, but hell It was Stage 1, no jumping! A little over dressed maybe?
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Maybe she shouldn't wear a hat then either!

She should not have been humiliated for wanting to wear safety equipment. Accidents happen and not only when you're jumping. Did you see the tribute to Sandra Harvey, MFH, who was killed on the lane near her home when a quad bike spooked her horse?

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/303993.html

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Become-an-organ-donor-in-memory-of-Sandra/148948481819345?v=wall

As a Master she would have been an experienced rider, much more competent than a Level 1 rider, with good stickability yet she wasn't killed in the field or on a cross country course but hacking out close to home.

Push your friend to report the incident. I only wear a BP when I jump but that's my choice, I won't put someone down who wants to take precautions on the flat.
 
Azmar said:
Maybe not tactful, but hell It was Stage 1, no jumping! A little over dressed maybe?
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Not at all. At level one you would be expected to be less experienced at riding and working around horses, so taking reasnoble safety precautions would be a very sensible idea indeed. No need to loose them when you consider yourself more advanced - everyone falls off, and no one sees it coming! Reading on here, chatting to friends and my own experience shows that it is often the percieved 'least dangerous' times when we take a tumble.

Please encorage your friend to complain. She sounds like just the sort of first time owner the BHS should be encoraging. What a sensible approach to do her BHS 1 before buying her first horse and then dressing in a safe way to undertake that exam. She should be held up as a fantastic example, not made to feel stupid in anyway.
Aside from that, if the examiner felt that her attire was unsuitable for her exam (why is beyond me, but there we go!) a much more professional way to approach it would have been to have a quiet private word.
 
If your friend is safety conscious, good on her, a few more 'experienced' horse people could do with being so (person sick of seeing riders hacking out in dark colours & no hi-viz).

You should read the thread on the lines of 'why are only people without their BHS exams rude about them' thread that has been running. Lot of people (including myself who took 2 BHS exams & passed them both) less than happy with many aspects of BHS exams, number one complaint being examiner attitude. Would be nice for once if an examiner was held to account for their actions. Too often people are scared to complain for fear of either being blacklisted or their name being 'known' to examiners in case they wish to take more. Too often (as I found), they are downright horrible people on a power kick. Can't think why I was never intrested in taking anymore & have decided not to give the BHS anymore membership money.....only way I have of saying I don't think they are doing a good job.
 
So what if there isn't any jumping involved? Remember Angela Rippon the newsreader? She was an accomplished, experienced rider but was almost killed when the horse she was sitting on on the yard, waiting for the other riders to mount up, did something or other and crushed her. I did my stage 1 a few years back and didn't bother to go any further. The stable management was a joke - the examiner was still thinking in the era of peat moss beds and had never even heard of the aubiose I'd been using for several years. Learn about straights by all means, they still have their place, but surely teach people about commercial mixes and how to read and understand the contents labelling???
 
Unfortunately you tend to get the same snotty and sarcastic remarks when wearing your hat to turn horses out. You could so so easily get kicked in the head and I have seen near misses so many times it makes me wince. Also what is wrong in wearing a hard hat when teaching horse to pick back legs up??? I always seem to work better concious.
 
I know a young lad got kicked in the head leading a horse out a field. Was touch & go whether he would make it, in hospital for ages. Out & competing again, can't miss him, he's the one with a huge dent in his forehead! If I was a livery yard or riding school with other horses of variable temperaments about, it'd be hat for me & hell with the comments.
 
Azmar said:
Maybe not tactful, but hell It was Stage 1, no jumping! A little over dressed maybe?
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IMHO - no - the only person I know with a serious & permanent disability from riding actually was injured mounting the horse - about as low risk as you get.
A starter rider may be less balanced/may know the horse less well/be generally less confident - therefore "just flatwork" may not be as low risk as other might perceive it
& weirdness happen - i was schooling my mare yesterday - a big lump of snow crashed off the roof & we shot across & around the arena - 6 yrs ago in my riding career I WOULD have fallen off & perhaps been injured
 
I know a girl who suffered a bleed on the brain....she had ducked under her horses head when he pulled some hay out of the haynet and clonked her on the top of her head with his chin.....


You don't have to be jumping, hell- you don't have to be ON your horse for injuries to happen.....
 
CuriousYellow said:
I know a girl who suffered a bleed on the brain....she had ducked under her horses head when he pulled some hay out of the haynet and clonked her on the top of her head with his chin.....


You don't have to be jumping, hell- you don't have to be ON your horse for injuries to happen.....
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Cor, that was unlucky!!!


I'm glad I'm not the only one outraged by this - I know not everyone wears a back protector (I don't) but each to their own. For a professional to mock someone for making a choice about their own safety is despicable!
 
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