2018: The Rule Changes

As a sport that proudly stands for equal opportunities and involves any age of rider, B.E. has a heck of a lot of people to keep happy... Especially given the huge amount of money we spend in order to partake. For 2018 B.E. have made some rule changes which are worth considering now that the start of the season is under 2 weeks away (rain, rain stay away, so we can go and play)! Below are a couple of changes that stood out for me and why:

"At Intermediate level (excluding the Intermediate Championships) and below, jacket colours are no longer confined to black, dark blue or tweed and may be any single conservative colour in muted tones, or, competitors may choose to ride without jackets. Competitors may choose to wear a fitted waistcoat in any conservative colour in muted tones. If no jacket is worn a suitable long/short sleeved shirt that fastens at the neck (white or cream and not bright or multi-coloured) must be worn." (British Eventing, 2018)

No jacket? FAB! I par-boiled last spring. Eventing is a traditional sport though, it should latch onto the traditional attire that has accompanied it throughout its lifetime and I feel as though this rule could allow for lots of cans of worms being slowly opened. It's the 21st century and it's one in which modern equestrian fashion has soared, which is AMAZING for the industry. Pure show jumping has longer been a parade of lavish attire (that probably costs more than my horse did), you can always spot an eventer at a BSJ show. Having been a pure show jumper at one point, I can say it is also a much bitchier and unpleasant environment and I worry that if this is a transition by B.E. to embrace modern equestrianism then this will infiltrate the world of eventing too. From another perspective, I think comfort would be taken in being able to add a bit of 'personality' to what you wear on event day and in turn you would ride better. Oh, guys and gals, let's not forget the 'pushers,' those inevitable few that push boundaries by wearing a pink crushed velvet jacket for example and then claim it's conservative because its 'nude' and natural. Those few are likely to see the rule being changed next year and stricter uniform regulations set than before. Don't get me wrong though, I'd wear pink crushed velvet if I could - it happens to be one of my faves!

"Competitors wishing to bring non-competing horse(s) must seek permission from the Event Organisers and, once on site, competitors must register their non-competing horse(s) with the event secretary who will issue the horse with a number which must be worn by the horse at all times. A bridle number must be provided by the person responsible for the horse." (British Eventing, 2018)

I haven't particularly noticed this, but I can't imagine that now having it in writing will make much of a difference if it's a significant enough issue to change the rules accordingly. Realistically, the event organisers/stewards won't be doing a door to door around the lorry parking in the pissing rain or sweltering sun just to check that there's not any un-registered horses on site. If you have to bring a horse to nanny another horse then it's likely to make any problem worse because you're 50% of the way there to giving in to a behavioural issue. There might be other reasons for bringing non-competing horses that make more sense, like soaking in the atmosphere or not leaving them at home alone all day. Anyway, like I said, I haven't particularly noticed this and it hasn't caused any problems for me so let's hope that the rule change is effective.