How ridiculous is BE?

LEC

LEC

Opinions are like bum holes, everyone has one.
Joined
22 July 2005
Messages
11,715
Visit site
How is this for a ridiculous contradiction?

I do dressage in short sleeves.

I have to Sj in my jacket because my sleeves do not go down to my wrist. I nearly faint as I am so hot after the Sjing.

I then go XC in a short sleeve polo shirt and that is fine??

Where is the sense in this? Who makes up these barmy rules? It was 30 degrees plus today. BTW BSJA is much more sensible and says you have to have your shoulders covered so no sleeveless but short sleeves are fine.
 
I didnt think there were any BE rules on this as such and it was organizers personal preference!!
I have done all 3 in a sleeveless shirt at some events but had to have shoulders covered at others.
 
I think Pony Club make them up and as lots of BE people have officiated for PC they then apply these ridiculous rules
frown.gif
 
That seems a little odd to me, but the above are right, it is the organiser not BE that are responsible for whatever decisions on dress are made. Unfortunately this means it varies alot!
 
i bet i know to which BE event to which you are refering.....;) and it was decided that competitors could do dressage and showjumping provided (according to the BE steward) that the sleeves were full length, but many competitors had short sleeves and it was decided to let those with half sleeves carry on. as usual there were a few with various flimsy excuses who wanted to ride in their vest type shirts with no sleeves at all. I heard the show jumping steward announce that this was not allowed.
it seemed to me that even though the officials were doing their best (sleeves do prevent abrasions to a certain extent in a fall) there were some competitors that had to push it. Which may not have been you but the end result was that the officials got to the 'its this way or the highway' frame of mind.
If the weather is going to be hot, I would suggest anyone planning t6o compete makes sure they take an appropriate type shirt in case riding with no jackets is permited.
 
Now that annoys me even more that things like this are down to the discretion of the organiser. I like CONSISTENCY!!
blush.gif

Balloting, wait lists, shirt length, allowing people to enter on the day, refunds, withdrawals. The list goes on an on and it all depends on the event.
mad.gif
 
Were you judging today?
I will name and shame - it was Stonar.
I jumped fairly early so did not see anyone try to push their luck. Mind you Harry Meade spent all afternoon topless after finishing! he has a better body than you would expect.
WFP got the best idea and chose to fall off in the water jump. Luckily he had a life vest on in the form of his point 2.
 
yes I was and in fact had already told the dressage steward before my class started at about 10 that my section could ride jacket less, provided they had at least half sleeves which was well before the general annoucement.
as for big will, he isnt likely to drown in that filthy puddle at stonar anyway. And re harry, sadly he was dressed when he came into my arena
frown.gif
 
You judged me then! I did a very poor test and you were very generous!
 
This bugs me as well!!

I can understand that there is a small risk of slightly more severe abrasions in case of a fall with no sleeves, but the risk of heatstroke is much more likely and could result in more serious harms. A rider with heatstroke could feel faint, even lose consciousness, and this would lead to a very bad fall, head first, rather than falling with some kind of self-preservation instinct kicking in. I think all competition bodies should rule on this rather than leaving it up to individual judges!
 
I wan't allowed to ride without my jacket at Milton Keynes on Sunday as i had a sleeveless shirt on, very annoying. I have been allowed to before
frown.gif


I'm going to buy a new shirt tomorrow to make sure i dont have to almost get heat stroke this weekend by riding in my jacket. I do understand the theory behind it, but is there really a huge amount of difference between sleeveless and short sleeves?! I then went xc in a very short sleeved top which makes whole thing seem a bit silly!!
 
The same silly rule applied to our RC Area Horse Trials at the weekend.

One of my team members felt faint warming up for the SJ in her jacket so her Mum asked permission for her to jump without the jacket.

It seemed to require a risk assessment to be done by judges and Paramedics before they agreed that only she was allowed.

She then went onto the XC in her short sleeved t-shirt as did a lot of us.

I'd rather scratch my arms on jump/mud/trees than faint at full tilt wearing inappropriate clothing!!!
 
What will a flimsy bit of cotton do to protect our arms in a fall?! Short sleeves or sleeveless should be allowed IMO, as if you fall off a very thin bit of cotton won't stop an arm from breaking, and i don't think it would prevent a bad scratch either, it will just rip!

I always wear sleeveless as under a jacket they are the most cool, but then when allowed to take your jacket off ONLY if you have a sleeved shirt means i then have to ride in my jacket when everyone else is riding in shirts. Will have to take a sleeved shirt just in case, but it isn't usually until you get to the warm up that they tell you you can ride jacketless...so there will be me getting changed behind a tree in the dressage warm up!!!
 
That is silly when it doesnt matter about xc...! Having said that i always ride long sleeved xc as like to protect my arms!

It must have been much cooler on tues there - I went xc in my jumper!!!
 
Different steward like different things but it is strange that you have to wear to sleeved for SJ and not for XC at the same event.
I get confused at unaffiliated ODEs because some use PC rules, some RC rules and some BE rules and they are all different when it comes down to scoring/bitting etc.
Hope you did well though!!
tongue.gif
 
It does seem a bit daft and inconsistent to not be allowed to SJ in short sleeves but then ok for XC!
Would probably be best to have consistent rules that apply for all BE events, then at least everyone would know where they are.
 
You should ride in your full kit no matter what the weather - jacket, stock etc. Its poor etiquette and looks unprofessional to showjump or do dressage in a short sleeved shirt, you only have to be in the sj ring for about a minute just cope!
 
[ QUOTE ]
You should ride in your full kit no matter what the weather - jacket, stock etc. Its poor etiquette and looks unprofessional to showjump or do dressage in a short sleeved shirt, you only have to be in the sj ring for about a minute just cope!

[/ QUOTE ]

I am not a professional so I am not too bothered about looking unprofessional!!

Also, good manners and a well looked after horse seem more important to me than what people look like in terms of etiquette.

Heatstroke can be seriously exacerbated when doing exercise, especially with a hot head from the hat, and even a few minutes can make a huge difference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top