So what has British Eventing done wrong?

[RachelFerd]

Actually I don’t blame BE, I saw the full BEDE post and the passive aggressive undertone did not go unnoticed by me. He does sometimes need his neck wound in and good on the new CE for doing it.

everyone would benefit from a bit of decorum being re-established on social media - I don't think it would be unfair for any of the organising bodies to put their foot down and expect organisers to refrain from using social media as a soapbox. It is only tarnishing the appearance of the sport and putting people off from joining and entering.

 

[conniegirl]

everyone would benefit from a bit of decorum being re-established on social media - I don't think it would be unfair for any of the organising bodies to put their foot down and expect organisers to refrain from using social media as a soapbox. It is only tarnishing the appearance of the sport and putting people off from joining and entering.

I think BE have managed to put people off all on thier own!

 

[Squeak]

everyone would benefit from a bit of decorum being re-established on social media - I don't think it would be unfair for any of the organising bodies to put their foot down and expect organisers to refrain from using social media as a soapbox. It is only tarnishing the appearance of the sport and putting people off from joining and entering.

I agree that Facebook shouldn’t be being used as a soapbox but surely the professional thing for BE to have done is put out a generic statement about the entries and dealt with any under tones in private?

BE’s statement seems far worse and far more petty than the ones mentioned on here from Bede unless there was an initial post that’s missing or been altered? To me BE should be setting the example of the behaviour expected not jumping in and making it worse.

 

[ester]

No skipton

 

[Sanversera]

I think you have answered your own question in your post. The expense means that people need to spend a great proportion of income on the sport and they haven't a hope of getting above a very low level. I think people have come to their senses and realised that they might as well spend their money and time on something more worthwhile.

 

[Ambers Echo]

I agree that Facebook shouldn’t be being used as a soapbox but surely the professional thing for BE to have done is put out a generic statement about the entries and dealt with any under tones in private?

BE’s statement seems far worse and far more petty than the ones mentioned on here from Bede unless there was an initial post that’s missing or been altered? To me BE should be setting the example of the behaviour expected not jumping in and making it worse.

Exactly! I did not even see Bede's oroginal post. But I couldn't miss BE's one.
BEDE events have 11K followers, BE have 130K. So all they did was amplify BEDE's complaint and made themselves look churlish and unprofessional.

Not to mention antagoising organisers. Again.

 

[Wishfilly]

For lots of reasons I much prefer balloting. So I for one am absolutely very very relieved that I don't have to participate in the race to get early season entries in to Oasby and Thoresby and can instead enter before the ballot date and go through the ballot system without any hassle, giving me an extra payday to help fund it all too.

I thought it was madness opening entries for Oasby in January on FCFS when its the same month you're also paying out for memberships.

[i realise i'm in the minority on here about ballots - but they are a much fairer system in my view than FCFS which heavily favours people with lots of spare money floating around to make prospective entries with]

Not that I'm going to trouble BE any time soon, but I agree that first come first served does favour people with additional spare cash, and also sometimes time to sort out events in the middle of the day!

There's a lot of local stuff around here which fills up quickly, which is often released on a working day, close to pay day. Now I'm not saying that small organisers should deal with the hassle of running a ballot, but if you're not able to sort out entries etc for camps etc during the working day, it does sometimes get a little frustrating.

It also puts pressure on people to enter without really thinking through what they're committing to in some cases!

 

[LEC]

This is an excellent podcast with Helen West - https://overcast.fm/+BGb0QQ_ZcY

 

[RachelFerd]

This is an excellent podcast with Helen West - https://overcast.fm/+BGb0QQ_ZcY

That's a good listen, thanks for flagging. No great surprises in there - but it kind of didn't matter in the end whether the abandonment insurance was scrapped or not when it was - even if it was still in place, 2023's weather would have destroyed the premiums. And I just feel *so* sorry for everyone working there on the phones with the various IT disasters.

I also completely agree that a centralised federation would make so much more sense... But we're a long way down the separate paths now

 

[shortstuff99]

Not looking good

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www.facebook.com

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

Not looking good

Bei Facebook anmelden

Melde dich bei Facebook an, um dich mit deinen Freunden, deiner Familie und Personen, die du kennst, zu verbinden und Inhalte zu teilen.

www.facebook.com

Oh no, such a lovely venue run on old fashioned park land. Even if BE have shot themselves in the foot again with this one, it’s such a shame if it now impacts on the Pony Club ODE too. How will BE respond to this social media post?

 

[LEC]

That's a good listen, thanks for flagging. No great surprises in there - but it kind of didn't matter in the end whether the abandonment insurance was scrapped or not when it was - even if it was still in place, 2023's weather would have destroyed the premiums. And I just feel *so* sorry for everyone working there on the phones with the various IT disasters.

I also completely agree that a centralised federation would make so much more sense... But we're a long way down the separate paths now

It was actually nice to hear the frustrations discussed so freely and what a disaster certain things have been and how. Also why marketing seems rubbish and also the third party insurance issues…. Such as the claim by a BE member at an unaff event. I don’t know why they don’t do a BRC and make liability a when you are competing or at BE thing only.

 

[RachelFerd]

It was actually nice to hear the frustrations discussed so freely and what a disaster certain things have been and how. Also why marketing seems rubbish and also the third party insurance issues…. Such as the claim by a BE member at an unaff event. I don’t know why they don’t do a BRC and make liability a when you are competing or at BE thing only.

Oh I mean, I've every sympathy for marketing seeming rubbish when I work in marketing for an org that as you well know, is terrible at it

 

[LEC]

Oh I mean, I've every sympathy for marketing seeming rubbish when I work in marketing for an org that as you well know, is terrible at it

Don’t know what you mean…. meanwhile I work in an area which delivers large scale IT projects which cost millions to deliver and end up being more complex than they expect….

 

[teapot]

I don't know how BE truly get their marketing so wrong, even the BHS manage a good stab at their's... (and that's saying something)

 

[millitiger]

Another BE update.
I'm all for transparency but this seems to be descending into public tit for tat

Response To The Recent Calendar Challenges - British Eventing - News

We would like to address concerns that have been recently raised, both with us directly and on social media, relating to our fixtures calendar.

news.britisheventing.com

 

[shortstuff99]

The worst part of that whole statement was basically 'we put extra financial pressures on venues and are really surprised they don't think the money can be made up with increased entry fees even though entries have fallen through the floor'.

 

[Ambers Echo]

I understand why BE might want to respond to these FB posts, but it is -imho - entirely wrongheaded to do so. I read the original Skipton and Buckminster posts and thought the Skipton one made it clear that the food festival was the main issue, and that BE had tried to find them another weekend. The Buckminster post was clear in terms of laying the blame at the door of BE - rightly or wrongly. So you have a post from them criticising BE, and a post back from BE criticising them. And people like me read both posts without really having a clue what the rights and wrongs are, but being left with the overwhelming impression of a governing body in conflict with event orgamisers. Which is terrible for everyone.

Plus the comment about Somerford pisses off peoeple like me who know Somerford had their grassroots fixture taken away from them. So I don't trust their narrative which strikes me as self-serving, one sided. Perghaps Somerford could afford it if they ran more than once as some set up costs are shared across both. Or the popular grassrots event could possibly offset the costs of the interational. Who knows? But even BE have a point, they need to shut up and stop airing disputes in public. A mantra drummed into all my staff is 'let go of being right to be effective!' In other words behave in ways that move things forward, not in defensive ways to try and win the argument. I don't care what the beef is, and I don't need to know, I just want BE to collaborate with event organisers to find a solution before the sport turns into 20 weeks in a row at A Le W.

The bottom line is THEY NEED VENUES!!!!!!!!! So everytime they indulge themselves in another spat with a venue my heart just sinks. Maybe they need to ditch chief executives from a sporting background altogether and recognise they need someone with diplomacy and skills in public relations!

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

BE is behaving more unprofessionally by the day. They should be getting Event Organisers on side, not having a snipe at them. How petty!

 

[RachelFerd]

The bottom line is THEY NEED VENUES!!!!!!!!! So everytime they indulge themselves in another spat with a venue my heart just sinks. Maybe they need to ditch chief executives from a sporting background altogether and recognise they need someone with diplomacy and skills in public relations!

I don't know... I have worked in international diplomacy comms and I'm not sure there's a pleasant path out of this - I wouldn't want to be writing the strategy! BE are damned if they do and damned if they don't when it comes to some of this.

 

[Ambers Echo]

I don't know... I have worked in international diplomacy comms and I'm not sure there's a pleasant path out of this - I wouldn't want to be writing the strategy! BE are damned if they do and damned if they don't when it comes to some of this.

I am trying to be fair to BE who are in a tricky position, but I genuinely don't know what they hope to gain with these posts. They just leave a bad impression while not really clarifying anything much to anyone.

 

[RachelFerd]

I am trying to be fair to BE who are in a tricky position, but I genuinely don't know what they hope to gain with these posts. They just leave a bad impression while not really clarifying anything much to anyone.

They've just had 6 weeks of people demanding they put out some kind of explanation. I mean, I don't love all the wording, but equally, some of the posta from organisers have seemingly been a bit economical with the truth too.

 

[Ambers Echo]

I totally agree the organisers don’t come across well either. But that’s no excuse for BE to engage in a tit for tat. But you’re right, I’m glad it’s not my mess to sort x

 

[ihatework]

They've just had 6 weeks of people demanding they put out some kind of explanation. I mean, I don't love all the wording, but equally, some of the posta from organisers have seemingly been a bit economical with the truth too.

There is a definite shift. BE taking a stronger stance in responding and I kind of get it. Not challenging and the organisers posts are then taken at face value and BE are the big bad monster. The reality is more subtle and they are having to juggle multiple factors and not everyone is going to be happy.

I think they need to try and get jointly approved statements for this type of situation. Posted on BE and shared by the organiser. At least give some illusion of cooperation!

The Helen West interview is well worth a listen for anyone who hasn’t. She is a sad loss for BE.

 

[Squeak]

I can see that BE may want to take a stronger stance in responding but that really doesn't seem like the way to do it. It reads more like a teenagers indulgent whine and even I can see that what some of what they've said is complete rubbish.

I don't envy them at all the position they're in but I do think they're making it worse.

 

[teapot]

A friend shared this to me in a 'fancy it' way (not really knowing the current state of BE). Where's that money coming from salary wise?

BE Vacancy: Head Of Education And Training - British Eventing - News

Job type: Full-time hybrid working

news.britisheventing.com

Super interesting job spec though!

 

[BronsonNutter]

A friend shared this to me in a 'fancy it' way (not really knowing the current state of BE). Where's that money coming from salary wise?

BE Vacancy: Head Of Education And Training - British Eventing - News

Job type: Full-time hybrid working

news.britisheventing.com

Super interesting job spec though!

After the day at work I've had yesterday I'm tempted to apply

Has anyone seen regarding Frickley not hosting the Brigante Cup final? Hoping they can find an alternative venue, but seems to be the opposite way round to how all other venues have gone when faced with unaffiliated vs BE

 

[RachelFerd]

A friend shared this to me in a 'fancy it' way (not really knowing the current state of BE). Where's that money coming from salary wise?

BE Vacancy: Head Of Education And Training - British Eventing - News

Job type: Full-time hybrid working

news.britisheventing.com

Super interesting job spec though!

Maybe it's coming from the Howden pot? Interesting job spec and I hope that they get someone with a good solid background in this area. I think proper organisation of the training and development side of the sport is so, so important, and could offer tangible benefits to members that don't exist elsewhere.

 

[LEC]

Justine Parker is currently doing the role - she came from BS and was bought in when Howden coughed up the £1 million. All the training salary’s basically are funded out of that pot of money. The mere mortals training doesn’t get any money it’s organised and set up by the local trainers who then are only allowed to charge £50 per hour. I suspect the YR and young horses is slightly more prestigious so probably get slightly subsidised as they also have very good trainers.

 

[RachelFerd]

Justine Parker is currently doing the role - she came from BS and was bought in when Howden coughed up the £1 million. All the training salary’s basically are funded out of that pot of money. The mere mortals training doesn’t get any money it’s organised and set up by the local trainers who then are only allowed to charge £50 per hour. I suspect the YR and young horses is slightly more prestigious so probably get slightly subsidised as they also have very good trainers.

and, annoyingly, none of it takes place at any of the really good training facilities that I'd bother to go to (Somerford, Vale View, Kelsall etc.) - so I don't go. I was really hopeful for the normal mortal's training originally, but there just isn't anything worthwhile for me in the current offering.