Hartpury Horse Trials Horse Hit By a Car

[_GG_]

I never intended to act as though I am from BE, others on here who are not BE officials have BE in their username. Perhaps confusing, but given my passion is with BE it seemed a natural choice given i couldn't think of anything else.

So all others who are un-informed to the facts can make wild comments without any thought that are often sarcastic and b*tchy can they? It does make you wonder why you volunteer!

I am only echoing a confusion that others have also felt. Yes, there are other members with BE in their usernames, but they are not on this thread, posting in an official tone as a new member with an officially styled username.

As for your second sentence....I am again a little confused. I made no comment on other posters, I also made no comment saying I didn't agree with what you said....I actually liked your sarcastic comments, I agree with them all, BUT...I think it is extremely foolish of someone who is closely associated with BE to use that tone in a post that appears to others to be official.

I would not imagine you deliberately set out to give the impression you were posting officially, but that is how it came across and when the time has elapsed in which you can edit your posts, it is here on these pages forever and could potentially cause embarrassment to BE. So, if you can't change the post, maybe best to change the username to remove any and all doubt?

I speak as someone who has volunteered for years at numerous events, been officially involved with BD and BS and even at those times that I could have commented officially, I wouldn't have. It is for the management of the organisation to do that, not anyone else.

Again, not saying you were doing that intentionally, but it is how it came across on here. You can leave it like that if you wish, your choice. I however would do what I could to distance my personal views from the organisation I was trying to support as those personal views should not be confused with any official stance.

 

[Capriole]

Thing is though, BE_Eventing, you are just one more person commenting on a thread on the internet. There is no reason any of us would take your post as hard fact and not pure speculation or gossip, any more than any of the other posts have been taken as the final word.

 

[ester]

Ah the concept of no speculation on the internet... and interesting one that.

As you are not an official why would we presume your version of events are more accurate than those who have also stated they were present?

eta sorry capriole, I was obviously typing the same thoughts as you posted.

 

[Zebedee]

I did reply to the post by 'BE', but as it now seems you aren't 'BE' I need to modify.

Some brilliant points made - especially with regards to stringing being ignored, loose dogs / children / & riders wanting results as soon as the last horse crosses the finish.

 

[ester]

Zebs you know this isn't actual BE?

 

[Nic]

I think you may have caused some confusion with your choice of user name. I (and some others) assumed that this was the official line from BE HQ and were slightly concerned about the unprofessional tone from our governing body.

Ditto this.

 

[_GG_]

B100dy brilliant reply BE. Tell it like it is & hopefully stop the grapevine jumping to conclusions & stop the gossips who want to moan & pick. Is it ok to repost this on other forms pf social media?

Just bear in mind that as people on here have believed this to be an official statement, the same could be believed elsewhere without the OP having the ability to explain that they are not posting officially on behalf of BE.

I really don't want to be preachy...I too completely agree with the post, but BE wouldn't be too happy about these views being possibly taken as their own.

Just saying.

 

[Puppy]

I was very concerned about the lack of professional tone given the user name.

Yes, me too.

The username is very misleading, and the post was annoyingly sarcastic.

 

[DollyPentreath]

Quite simply this should not have happened. Thus there should be an investigation into why it did happen and what needs to be done (at all events) to ensure it doesn't happen again.

This should be the key point of this thread. I don't care about he said, she said, I care about the safety of our horses, riders and volunteers.

I do understand what GG is saying though, BE must take accidents and near misses extremely seriously if our sport is to survive in the modern world. It is not good enough to say accidents happen anymore. It's not about assigning blame or coming up with daft suggestions to make a mockery of 'H&S gone mad'.

I agree with some of your points BE_E and I understand wanting to get the facts straight. But BE as a governing body must be seen to be utterly professional at all times (ESP when H&S is involved) and we should all do our utmost to support that image for the good of our sport.

 

[Nic]

I am hoping this has given you all a little insight, and would also hope in future that any comments that are made, are informed, rather than pure gossip.

As you are not speaking in an official capacity, I am unsure why you feel your opinion of the day carries more weight than that of others present at the time of the incident?

 

[Zebedee]

I was very concerned about the lack of professional tone given the user name.

My original reply (edited because it then became apparent that the poster was not actually 'BE') indicated my delight that they were at last prepared to tell it like it is......should have realised it was too good to be true, but if the poster is speaking as a volunteer / rider then it's good to know that at least some out there appreciate the huge lengths that are gone to to try & prevent accidents happening (at ALL levels). More often these efforts are completely ignored by those who feel that information on signage / stringing restrictions etc simply do not apply to 'them'. Loose dogs / children are the tip of the iceberg...........

 

[Zebedee]

Zebs you know this isn't actual BE?

Do now !!

Modified accordingly, then posted again.

I didn't mind the tone to be honest - thought it was a refreshingly honest review of how many (please note not all) competitors completely ignore H & S requests, & as I often have to explain how the results aren't available as the class hasn't finished to various impatient people who want to 'get off home' I quite liked the comment re Quads being essential too !!

 

[kerilli]

to respond to "not actually BE"'s confusing and would-be-authoritative comment about unmanned crossings... of course there are always plenty of unmanned places where people can cross on foot, but people are usually (not invariably) quicker to get out of the way, or far easier for a galloping horse to avoid, than a chuffing car! ANY place where a car can cross should have controlled supervision. It is difficult to see in all directions in a car!
I have been told that some of those manning the crossings were being very idle about it. IF that is true it seriously needs sorting so that it can't happen again. Also that there were lots of vehicles whizzing about... but that may well have been purely because of the falls and the frangible pins needing replacing, fair enough.

As for "All vehicles on course are there for a reason, and each of the above is allocated a sector of course to cover"... I'm sorry, but this makes me laugh hollowly. "BE_Eventing" is perhaps not as experienced as s/he claims to be.
I have witnessed, personally, (and I only volunteer at a couple of events, I am by no means mega-experienced as a volunteer) a BE Official who drives around, at speed, watching their pupils go XC. This I have witnessed more than once.
There absolutely ARE vehicles whizzing about which should NOT be there.
Of course if there is a fall or a fence needs repairing, the necessary people need to get to it, NOBODY would have a problem with vehicles on/crossing the courses for that.
But it is a fact that there are vehicle movements which do NOT need to happen, when horses are running.

I seriously hope that this leads to a MAJOR shake-up. Blenheim has already Tweeted that it is looking into its protocol regarding vehicles on/crossing courses. Bravo. I hope all events do this and that BE has a proper crack-down.

As for the criticism of Tom's mother... jeezus christ, I cannot believe some of the judgemental stuff posted. In the heat of the moment, adrenalin levels so high, when either horse or rider could SO easily have been maimed or killed... I don't blame her in the slightest.

 

[happyhack]

my YO was at an event recently when a spectator/rider walking the course just wandered into her path as she approached a fence. there was a fence judge there and they did not blow their whistle and YO was forced to pull up and re-approach to avoid said person. YO approached the event organisers who said that the fence judge had made similar mistakes throughout the day and had been sent packing. The riders that complained had their faults that were accumulated at that fence deducted from their total so it was handled fairly.

If anyone ever feels that something dangerous has occurred - speak up to the event organisers! That's what they are there for.
Thankfully at this event, no one was injured or harmed in any way so all's well that ends well, but it could have been catastrophic.

 

[stencilface]

As for "All vehicles on course are there for a reason, and each of the above is allocated a sector of course to cover"... I'm sorry, but this makes me laugh hollowly. "BE_Eventing" is perhaps not as experienced as s/he claims to be.
I have witnessed, personally, (and I only volunteer at a couple of events, I am by no means mega-experienced as a volunteer) a BE Official who drives around, at speed, watching their pupils go XC. This I have witnessed more than once.

This, this, this entirely, something I have seen too on more than one occasion, and I only probably go to about 6 events max in a year! (although might be a different official obviously!)