Tuesday, 31 January 2023
It may be the start of a new year, but the team at British Equestrian – and indeed most of the equestrian world – haven’t been resting on our laurels. From new projects to expert advice, plus all sorts of industry news, here’s a taste of what’s been happening this month…
We launched a new independent body to provide guidance and recommendations in the key area of equine wellbeing and standards.
The Equine Welfare and Ethics Advisory Group will cover equine welfare and safeguarding issues and the concept of social licence, with the remit to explore how best to support British Equestrian’s member bodies. This will include working to provide evidence-based best practice, making recommendations on critical issues within equestrian sport, and developing guidance to promote an ethical horse/human relationship.
Between the dark, the cold and the wet, winter isn’t always the most inspiring time to focus on your horse’s training. However, it’s a good opportunity to polish your skills before the start of the competition season – whatever level you’re riding at. To give you the motivation to push through, we’ve gathered some top tips and must-try exercises from the world-renowned coaches and riders who took part in the Dressage Unwrapped masterclass at December’s London International Horse Show.
We've extended the deadline for support from the Together Fund, funded by Sport England. The fund is open to applications from equestrian centres, community groups and targeted organisations, which offer equestrian activities to people from lower socio-economic groups, people with long-term health conditions, culturally diverse communities, and those with disabilities.
The new deadline for applications is 24 February, and projects must be completed by 30 September 2023.
BBC Sport announced that it will continue to offer live and on-demand coverage of the summer and winter Olympic Games across its platforms until the Brisbane 2032 Games.
The rights package includes two simultaneous live streams, a daily highlights programme, digital clips, and radio coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport
Kingsleigh’s Equine Education Centre, based at Worcester Riding School, a Pony Club centre, has taken part of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) initiative, which was introduced by the government to provide a safe environment for children in receipt of free school meals during the school holidays.
The centre has been running the HAF programme throughout the Christmas, Easter, and summer holidays to provide a space for children in and around the city of Worcester to have fun and be supplied with a nutritional meal each day. With 21 spaces available on the camp, the centre supports children with special educational needs and disability (SEND), as well as working with children from Ukraine.
We’ve teamed up with Horse Sport Ireland on a new project which will lessen the environmental impact at organisational and industry level for equestrian sports.
In a pioneering collaboration with leading sustainability agency White Griffin, the project will focus on the responsibility to the environment through actions and leadership practices. The resulting recommendations and road map will benefit both organisations at an operational level, provide a framework for stakeholder bodies and inspire the overall equestrian community to achieve effective change long term to safeguard our environment.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited Substances list for 2023 came into effect on 1 January. These rules apply to human competitors at all levels of equestrian competition, so make sure you’ve checked that you’re compliant with clean sport rules.
Check the Prohibited Substances list
London-based centre Strength and Learning Through Horses (SLTH) has been running an initiative to help more young people and families access equestrianism in London, thanks to a Together Fund award of £5,000 from British Equestrian and Sport England.
SLTH has been working to teach young people about horse care, training and psychology, as well as achieving qualifications in these areas throughout their Together Fund sessions. The participants also learn valuable teamwork skills to improve their quality of life and employability in the future.
January can be a particularly difficult time of year – between the cold days, long nights, fading memories of the festive period and the financial strains that many of us are currently facing, you may find that your mental wellbeing has taken a dip this month.
Our Perform Well team are here to share some top tips to give your mental wellbeing a boost this January.
Para dressage is officially on the roster for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games!
After an extensive review process, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board has confirmed the 22 sports that have been so far approved for the Games, with the inclusion of either para climbing or para surfing still to be decided.