Traders at YHL..hang your heads in shame

I totally understand this thread.

My dear father in law suffered a bad stroke 12 years ago and is paralysed down one side and speech seriously effected.

When out and about the access is a major problem, but probably moreover some shop owners and some of the general public dont actually look or speak to him! His speech is slurred due to the stroke and when we were a lunch in a pub one day I even overheard someone loudly complaining about the people who had the "drunk" bloke in the wheelchair and what a disgrace it was!

My father in law is a bright intelligent man who deserves to be spoken to and not ignored and he does have feelings like the rest of us!

:mad:
 
I went a couple of years ago - I'm pretty tall, lucky to be healthy and have lived in London so am no stranger to getting the elbows out... but I was still getting jostled around. Haven't been back since, the demo was interesting but not enough to justify all the hastle and the stalls were just ordinary - no real bargains from my memory, and nothing you couldn't order online from the comfort of the sofa with a nice glass of wine in hand.

I'm really sorry to hear that the OP's friend had a rubbish time, it must be very uncomfortable to be in that kind of crowded environment when you are at a lower height than the crowd, and being ignored must have been horrible.:(
 
We avoided the main arena for demos, got seats fine at the D+H one. If signs said no seats to be reserved then people should have either taken them anyway despite any screeching selfish people who think the rules apply to everyone except them. Or pointed it out to a YHL official or security guard.

The fire risk worried me a lot, especially with the massive queues for the main arena in the first shopping area. They need to sharpen up their act a lot I think.

OP that is appalling how your friend was treated. I know how some (not all) people act as if you are a non person if you are in a wheelchair.

Didn't have a bad day there but won't be going next year, definitely not.
 
I won't be going anymore either, far too busy and people are so rude. I have always gone every year but you can't get a bargain now, you can get things cheaper on the internet. It's the first time I've come home without buying.
 
Re the wheelchair thing.

Two points: Firstly as riders / horseowners we should all be aware that it takes seconds to convert us from bipeds to wheelchair users. Especially close to the bone for me as I spent most of yesterday afternoon and all evening in A&E with a friend waiting see if she had fractured her neck after coming off.

Secondly, and running on from that point: When you have spent any time pushing someone round in a wheelchair you get used to what I call the "does he take sugar in his tea" approach where people will utterly avoid the person (yes PERSON) in the wheelchair and deal only with the operator of the chair. It takes very little effort to ask the person in the chair the question directly and keep an eye on the pusher. If the person in the chair is incapable of answering, for whatever reason, the pusher will happily supply the answer.

As for YHL - I loathe things where there are huge crushes and consequently am unlikely ever to go to it.
 
I went and I loved it, but I didn't go shopping at the peak times. We got there early and left late so avoided shopping during the lunchtime rush.

As for the issues with people in mobility scooters, I think it's more of an example of the ignorance of the general public. Traders are members of the public too - you can't blame the show for their attitudes.

Toilets were an issue with long queues in the ladies, but there were around 8 portaloos outside that seemed empty every time I went past.

My bugbear was the lack of seating around the fast food area. We didn't eat in the inside cafe as when we went to look at the menu we found a lot of tables had plates of leftover food. Leftover food normally means that the food isn't up to much so we opted for fish and chips from a trailer outside instead. We ended up sitting on the ground as there were no tables or seats spare.
 
I am another who used to go in its original format of the british equine event. Use to absolutely love it. So many freebies and good bargains. Even went for the full weekend some years. Saturdays always tended to be the busier day and sunday slightly quieter and it is still this way now as YHL. Amount of times i was ther till after 5pm on a sunday as traders were packing up and they were auctioning their old stock off plenty to pick up for sometimes just pennies.

Unfortunately as YHL I am not so keen. To many people there now all pushing and shoving, the demos you now have to que for and they do not allow anyone to stand when the seats are full like they used to. So if you aren't at the front of the que at the main arena you do not get to see the demos you want, and for me that has driven over 2 hours to get there paid the now horrendously expensive fee to get in. I kinda want to be able to see the demos i want without having to que for over half an hour!!

Last year was the first year in over 6 years that I didn't bother going. Only went this year as by BF said he would take me so took advantage of this and the lack of football this weekend ;) Wasn't planning on going.

I still enjoy it for what it is. But nowhere as near as good as it used to be. Hardly as many trade stands as there used to be either. As someone else as already said, there isn't anything there better or cheaper than what you can get in your tack shop at home or on-line.
 
I havent been to YHL for two years for two reasons - money and crowding. Trying to view a stand but getting pushed out the way, getting shoved and jostled, rammed into by baby buggies and generally getting squashed is not my idea of a good time. Tbh I think I'd be quite scared if I was in a wheel chair or scooter in all that crush :( It used to be so lovely and civilised!
 
Ignorant idiots- i had an operation on my knee a few years ago which meant i couldnt walk - you feel low enuff and then get pushed around in a wheelchair - people not only ignoring you but also pushing past and staring - lovely people out there eh!:rolleyes:
 
As a trader at YHL I am very sorry to hear of the experiences your friend had. I can well imagine that access was impossible to some of the tack shop stalls. However unless she was in a really massive mobility scooter she would have had no problem getting into our stand, and if she had, we would have happily moved stuff. We have a couple of regular "followers" who come to see us in mobility scooters, without a carer so we are used to it. I would never presume to address the carer, as I have had relatives in chairs complain of this exact same issue.

Only word of defence I can think of is that when you are paying for your stand at a rate of several hundred pounds per square metre you kind of want to cram as much stock in as possible to maximise the chance of making a profit.
 
I find this pretty disgusting and by no means agree with this. However, i became seriously annoyed with 2 disabled people in scooters while at YHL. I will explain why...

A young horse who was a bit unsure in the arena was in the middle of a dressage demo. During the demo 2 people on scooters went wizzing past at a rate of knotts, literrally next to the barriers and running over very noisy drain covers. They both did it when the horse was almost parallel with them. The only gain for them being so they could get an even better view and moving when a steward wasnt looking (they were already ringside and had a good view).
 
TBH i dont think you can only blame the traider for being rude, even the general public are rude and disrespectiful. My mom is disabled and walks with 2 crutchs and i darent take her to YHL anymore just because its an awful experence for her, it really spoils the day :( I took my bf last year and we still experenced rude and barging people! I too have been going since it was Equine Event, i didnt bother this year tho as my bf didnt feel very comfortable with it last year and i just cant put my mom through it.

Shame on all people there who dont give a thought the others I say!
 
Whilst it sounds like a particularly frustrating experience for your friend, I doubt it was that different to the way many other people experienced the trade stalls. I went with the determined aim of finding a new body protector (achieved) and was also hoping to get talked into some reining lessons by one of the western horse stands, and was suprised that none of the tack shop people managed to sell me anything. I really tried to talk to the western people, but they seemed a bit overwhelmed and I got the impression that stands were having difficulty differentiating between the people who were really interested (and therefore worth spending time with from a business perspective) and the people who were just killing time between events. The western people who I did manage to talk to gave me their standard 1 minute speech and didnt really address my questions. I didnt really make the effort anywhere else cos it was all a bit busy; I think this is the first time I have managed to leave a horsey event with out at least a new set of gloves or a stick or something. I also think that given the high level of footfall, the stands which had competitions or free goody bags probably didnt do themselves many favours as they were then flooded by people who wanted the freebie and werent interested in the product, to the extent that genuine customers were in large queues to get to staff, and I suspect many people who were actually prepared to spend money were put off.
I would go again for the demos if there were enough of interest, but I dont think the shopping would tempt me back again cos HOYS has a lot of the same stuff, but the sales people have time to talk to you. I think perhaps at these events the traders havent twigged yet that its very easy for people to look and see what products are about on the internet these days, and therefore the real value that trade stands have for a business is the direct contact between customers and staff, which seemed to be sadly lacking for a lot of they at YHL.
 
Thats terrible you've all had such bad experiences. I have to admit, Im not keen on going to big horse events, like Olympia, Burghley, HOYS for the shopping, get too sweaty, too annoyed and want to buy a riding crop to smack people across the back of the legs everytime they bump into me and not apologise.

However.. Im not a total hater of general public, I was on crutches with a pretty major knee injury couple of summers ago and I found most people to be very obliging. Opening doors for me, getting the sympathetic look.
 
The lady mentioned in the original post is a good friend of ours, too. She's an academic doctor, far more intelligent than I will ever be, she's fiercely independant, and she's very very difficult to ignore. Unfortunately I don't think her treatment by some of the trade stands at YHL is just down to her perception as there were witnesses.

0ldmare said:
What a shame, but wish she'd come to us, she could have compared mobility scooter performance and hazards with my friend (and business partner) who has one.
Click to expand...

She'd have loved that, 0ldmare. I'm not entirely convinced our friend's scooter gets used in accordance with the manufacturers instructions.... ;)

Re The comments about paralympians. In endurance everyone is in the same pot and we don't have any special categories. However, I was just thinking about it and actually if I were to list the adult top riders that I know who don't have serious health problems or 'disabilities' it would probably be a shorter list than the list of those that do. There are some really awe inspiring stories out there. So yes, never judge a book by its cover.
 
At badminton this year, just outside our stand there was a metal road thing. A lady came zooming along on her mobility scooter and hit it at speed. Scooter bounced off the edge and took off airborn. The entirely unruffled lady shouted to her friend 'Darn it, I nearly had a refusal!' And then shot off like a bat out of hell scattering the crowds in all directions. Gotta love the gutsy horsey lot, everyone fell about laughing :D
 
Im one of those who if I attend events have to take my daughter and buggy!! Unfortunately I can't leave her in the cupboard too much!! She's very well behaved and I try to be as courteous as possible, which normally involves being stood waiting for people to pass through so we can go! Not many people say thankyou either which is probably why some mums with pushchairs give in and give as good as they get!! I'd never go to YHL though or anywhere like it with my 1 yo as I know it would be a nightmare! Plus she much prefers actually
going around the cross country and watching the horses "in
action!", so we stick to burghley!!!
Plus we live nearby so can go
around the stalls on a Thursday
when it's much quieter!!

As for the wheelchair situation, my dad had m.s. and was in a
scooter from the age of 46.
People either looked at him as if
he was being lazy or they just totally ignored him and saw him as a nuisance, getting in the way (bit like my daughter in her buggy!!). I think it's all fine to lack of patience. Everyone should be entitled to enjoy these venues, no matter their age, or how they move about!
 
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