If Harveywetdog did Wikipedia

In April 2020 and in the interest of legacy I wrote a Wikipedia entry recording the thoughts and notable works of Harveywetdog. I admit I was ignorant of the rules concerning self promotion on Wikipedia and consequently my entry was correctly deleted and my account expunged from the system.

As a result my original words and links were sadly lost but nevertheless here is a rewrite. Perhaps when I'm gone someone will be able to enter it onto Wikipedia as a fitting epitaph for my time on the Harveywetdog Project. 

Harveywetdog

At Bicton for some sunshine
©Harveywetdog

Harveywetdog is the name of a YouTube Channel featuring output from creator David Robinson. In its initial form it was described as a "haven of creativity away from the humdrumery of office life" and covered all his creative outlets. The main theme behind Robinson’s work on YouTube is the link between image and audio, sight and sound, with the original strap line for the channel stating “where music meets motion”. Although more recently a Channel for equestrian sport, Robinson’s most successful work is The Ghost of Tom Joad featuring the music of Bruce Springsteen, the words of John Steinbeck (read by Henry Ford) from the book/film The Grapes of Wrath together with stills from the film and contemporary images (notably those by Dorothea Lang). The Harveywetdog YouTube Channel also features an excellent record of competitive equestrian sport in the UK for the 10 years from 2012 until 2024 and is notable for the large number of tests featuring British maestra Charlotte Dujardin. 

 1. A Haven of Creativity

As an engineer within the nuclear generation industry Robinson was used to having his output challenged and changed. He later explained that this was what he had meant by "the humdrumery of office life"; not that his work for British Energy and later EDF was in anyway boring - far from it. Simply the need to work collaboratively meant that ownership became blurred and individual creativity often stifled.   

 2. The Ghost of Tom Joad

The Ghost of Tom Joad is a Harveywetdog video featuring the music of Bruce Springsteen, the words of John Steinbeck (read by Henry Ford) from the book/film “The Grapes of Wrath” together with images from the film and contemporary images notably those by Dorothea Lang (who appears at the end of the video sitting on her car).

Robinson spent several months searching the internet for suitable images; an exercise he said later probably wouldn’t be possible today. He also expressed regret that he didn’t record the names of the photographers to credit them. The soundtrack features a live version of Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad” recorded as part of the Live in Dublin album and initially released as a charity track which meant it was free from Copyright on YouTube. Later Springsteen’s record company repackaged the Live in Dublin offering and included “The Ghost of Tom Joad” track which resulted in it being copyrighted and advertisements to appear against the video.

As well as the music the video soundtrack features extracts from the film and the voice of Henry Fonda with the “it’s as Casey says.....” and the “Wherever” speeches. Robinson explained that he connected his DVD player to the audio input of his PC to extract the clips he wanted a method which was crude and yet effective.

3. Accreditation 

As his audience and reputation has grown so has the scrutiny from equestrian event organisers and governing bodies. In general media rights are claimed by the governing bodies but it is up to event organisers to police this. As early as 2015 Robinson was reporting problems with media officials at a local event after which he realised his best option was to seek formal accreditation whenever possible as this gave the clearest indication as to whether or not his request to publish video from an event had been accepted.

One noticeable exception was at Badminton Horse trials in 2017 where having been given permission to video the grass roots competition at the event accreditation was withdrawn when organisers realised they had an exclusive rights arrangement with another broadcaster. As recorded in his blog Robinson had come to the attention of the organisers at Badminton in 2014 when they had written to him about his videos from 2013 and 2014. In an act of extreme arrogance the then organisers declared that basically theirs (Badminton) were the only eventing rights that had any value.

The accreditation curse struck again in 2024 at Blenheim when again he was initially given permission to publish video from the event only for this permission to be withdrawn part way through the competition. The rights owner also took direct action against Robinson via YouTube and instigated a copyright strike on the Harveywetdog channel. This experience caused Robinson to realise that his time as a YouTube creator was drawing to a close. 

 4. Monetisation, Advertising and Copyright

As of March 2021 the Harveywetdog YouTube channel is now monetised. Although in some instances Robinson has openly and deliberately use a specific piece of music, as in this example featuring Florence and the Machine, the ability of rights owners to claim for music that is legitimately played over PA systems has driven him to often overdub the natural sound from an event with royalty free music from such sources as Capo Productions and AKM Music or even silence.

When requested for feedback from YouTube Robinson has repeatedly advised that the issue of copyright and the unfairness with the way it is applied is his biggest concern with the platform. As well as the issue of incidental background music Robinson also cites copyright owners claiming 100% of any monetisation on a video as examples of unfair practice.

In compliance with USA COPPA regulations the Harveywetdog YouTube channel is designated never for children.

Robinson has been able to use a lot of his video stock to generate a wide range of YouTube Shorts which has increased his Subscriber count considerably.

5. Coronavirus Pandemic

During the first lockdown of the 2020 corona virus pandemic Robinson produced a weekly audio diary of life in lockdown and the UK response. In the blog/podcast Robinson was largely supportive of Government action and tried to explain how society must always be prepared to accept risk, and therefore mortality, in everything we do.

Robinson was less supportive of the media,  insisting that their negative response was largely driven by an inability to get over the results of the Brexit referendum.

6. Hartpury University and Hartpury College

Robinson had been fortunate to live close to the excellent equestrian facilities at Hartpury University and College and to video at their major annual events, namely the Hartpury Festival of Dressage and the International Hartpury Horse Trials. The British Dressage Winter Dressage Championships are also held at the venue.

Given this close proximity to the venue he was able to immerse himself totally in these events, be a member of the media team, capture much of the key action and often edit and upload video directly from the media centre. Although not a fan of live streaming, which he correctly forecast would kill the heart of the sport, he recognised that journeymen videographers needed work and that this was a good use for them. Nevertheless he was repeatedly frustrated that the best vantage points, which he’d identified for his work, would be assigned to the live stream cameras in later years.

"society must always be prepared to accept risk, and therefore mortality, in everything we do"

7. Gradual withdrawal from most of Social Media

During the coronavirus pandemic and the social unrest that followed Robinson became increasingly disillusioned with the media and social media in particular. Although he had recognised and readily embraced Diversity and Inclusion as a philosophy as an employee of EDF Energy he began to realise it was being used as a vehicle to achieve retribution for perceived injustices in general and an attack on British values in particular. He was struck by the words of Jacob Rees-Mogg who, speaking in an earlier interview, had explained that "tolerance is about accepting those things you don't agree with, not just accepting those things you do agree with".

The level of intolerance was such that it had caused Robinson to close his Twitter account in 2018 and two years later he followed by removed himself and Harveywetdog from Facebook in 2020. Robinson returned to Facebook in 2021 with a small group of friends on his personal account and to use the Harveywetdog accounts on Facebook and Instagram to promote the videos on YouTube. He also has a very minor presence on Vimeo.

In 2024 Robinson removed himself and Harveywetdog from Facebook and Instagram for the final time citing personal reasons.

8. Videoing Perfection

The channel has featured a number of hashtags across the years for example #wheremusicmeetsmotion #liveyourstory, #watchlikeshare and #videoingperfection. "Videoing Perfection" is Robinson's declared favourite as it describes both an aspiration and a declaration of achievement. "Videoing Perfection" came to Robinson in the car driving to work after a week at the Hartpury Festival of Dressage.

The original #videoingperfection image
Original photo ©Charlotte Cooley

In order to achieve videoing perfection the majority of the channel's output has been in 4K filmed on a mixture of the Sony AX100, the Sony NX80 and the Sony PXW-Z190. The Sony NX80 and the Sony PXW-Z190 were sold in 2023 and replaced with a Sony PXW-Z280.

PXW-Z280 at Blenheim 2023
©Harveywetdog

9. Valegro

Robinson was fortunate to be present at the Hartpury Festival of Dressage in 2016 when Charlotte Dujardin and  Valegro gave a Gala Evening performance of their Rio Olympic Freestyle Test and Music. This remains the Channel's most popular equestrian video.

 

Following Valegro's retirement in late 2016 Robinson provided some assistance to the Valegro Sculpture Project and was instrumental in helping the project get through the touch and go winter of 2018 before leaving the project in 2019 due to a conflict of interest with his work on Harveywetdog.

Valegro sculpture in Newent
©Harveywetdog

10. Eventing Cinema

Robinson first entered the Eventing Cinema competition, run by British Eventing with the aim of capturing the "Spirit of Eventing" on video, in 2013 with videos from Hartpury and Gatcombe. Although he did not win he got the bug and entered again in 2014 with a truly memorable recollection of the Festival of British Eventing won that year by Avebury and Andrew Nicholson. As 2014 was the last year British Eventing ran the competition Harveywetdog went on to claim to be the perpetual title holder in a subsequent strap line.

"I don't think people realize how much work you put into your videos. We always know the rider's name, their horse's name and what country (if foreign) they are riding for. Also, the slow motion after the same jump is great, as is the zooming in and out. I've watched other horse videos where there is no sound, and the camera work was terrible.

 

As far as I am concerned you are the best." 

Robinson remade the video in 2019 in 21x9 format and that is the version that is featured here.

11.  The battle with CLL

At the end of March 2021 Robinson retired from EDF after 49 years and 7 months service in the Electricity Supply Industry. At the same time Robinson recognised that he was becoming increasingly short of breath and reported this to his Doctor. A blood test later and he was rushed to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital where following nine hours of blood transfusions (he was markedly anaemic) he was diagnosed as suffering from Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) and is currently being treated for this condition under the NHS, the excellent Consultant Haematologist Dr Rory McCulloch and the dedicated and professional staff at the Edward Jenner Unit.

As Robinson himself noted, given the debilitating effects of the condition, breathlessness and general weariness, he is unlikely to be running around any cross country courses for the foreseeable future but hopes that one of the several excellent therapeutic options will work work for him so that ultimately he should be able to return to the "saddle". 

Coming forward to 2024 Robinson is now well, despite the CLL morphing into PRCA before his red blood cells recovered, and he has been able to stop the transfusions and all of the drugs.  

12. An Ancient Ash Production

Recognising the disadvantage of having a channel with dog in the title Robinson invented the fictitious Ancient Ash Production banner in 2018 to increase the credibility of his output. Videos now carry the strapline "An Ancient Ash Production for the Harveywetdog YouTube Channel". The Bulley Ancient Ash is situated in a fence line on Robinson's property in Gloucestershire and is recognised by the Woodlands Trust as an ancient tree.   

 

Ancient Ash Logo
© Harveywetdog

 

13. Social License to Operate

In 2023 Social License to Operate was identified as “the largest threat to the future of Equestrian Sport.” Robinson recognised that without appropriate action from within the sport it would continue to suffer negative press and dwindling public support.

With a background of over 35 years experience in both the civil nuclear industry and the world of the horse Robinson found himself suitably qualified and experienced to provide comment and advice on the topic and developed his own framework for an ethical case for the continued inclusion of horses in Equestrian Sport.

We tolerate risk in everything we do
the ALARP triangle

Robinson's blogs and vlogs on the Equestrian Social Licence topic attempted to see both sides of the argument and remain available here on Blogger and on YouTube and have become an increasingly important part of the Harveywetdog output.

14. The Golden Years

The six years from 2014 until 2019 represent the golden years of Robinson’s output and it is fair to say he never reached his pre pandemic levels of output once the lockdowns were lifted. This was in part due to ill health, partly due the increasingly negative attitude of British Dressage and also due to the cancellation of a number of his favourite events and competitions.

Because of the combined impacts of social license, over commercialisation and changes to agricultural practices the period of 2014 to 2019 is now seen as the Golden Period of Equestrian Sport in general as well as Robinson’s own output.

15. All Things Must Pass

"All things must pass, all good things must come to end. So it was at 12:08 on Friday 20th September I turned my camera off for possibly the last time at a British Equestrian event. Of course I didn't realise it at the time, I was expecting to be at Blenheim on Saturday for cross country day; but it appears that while the event had decided to sell exclusive media rights to them that shall be nameless, unfortunately they hadn't bothered to tell anyone in the media team (until the bombshell dropped on Friday evening). As with Badminton back in 2017 when the big guys cock up it is the little guys (ie me) that suffer, and I was left with no choice but to return my accreditation and seek solace in hugging the dog. Can I be bothered to keep putting myself through this mill, I'm not sure? The industry is beset by numerous incidents of horse abuse and horse welfare violations such that equestrian sport is surely doomed, run by those for whom “the charter for the horse” is a cynical marketing convenience and who simply wish to maximise profits whilst literally flogging ‘the horse’ until it expires. I've always said all I ever wanted to do was make beautiful videos, but once the enjoyment goes then it doesn't feel as if there is much point carrying on. As a child of the 60’s I’ve learned when all else fails resort to The Beatles, so here’s George to remind us that it’s not always going to be this grey."

Harveywetdog....It’s your Eye that’s behind that camera...You know how to capture the Beauty and the Emotion of the Motion! The Slow Motion gives the viewer a closer look at what you’ve capture

✨🏇🌟🏇✨

 

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Author - David Robinson CEng FIET 

David spent approaching 50 years in Her Majesty's Electricity Supply Industry before retiring

He was part of the highly successful design team on the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station Project before spending 25 years producing safety cases to keep our aging AGR fleet generating for the good of the nation

He is responsible for the Harveywetdog YouTube Channel which he maintains as an outlet for his creative talents

David has recently recovered from blood cancer but refuses to be a victim

All views are his own but might be influenced by the medication he's had to take