More thoughts on the decision to remove Barbury International from the British Eventing schedule 2023

Statement from British Eventing

"BE is sad to confirm that Barbury will not be running a fixture in July 2023.

The BE Board determined that, in light of the increased spotlight on equestrian sport’s social licence to operate, venues holding International fixtures in 2023 would be required not to hold unregulated competitions. As the National Governing Body for eventing in the UK, BE is committed to delivering a consistently regulated, safe, clean sport. BE has no jurisdiction over unregulated competitions, and cannot vouch for their compliance with FEI and BE requirements for sport; which have horse and rider welfare at their heart.

BE had hoped that Barbury would use the GO BE series to allow a wider group of competitors to access this iconic venue as part of the BE affiliated calendar; but regrettably the Organiser has opted not to.

BE Chief Executive Helen West said “As a National Governing Body for Olympic sport we need to set a standard. International events on home soil showcase the sport at its very best; providing a fair and level playing-field where safety, equine welfare, safeguarding and clean sport are mandatory.  We feel that these standards should be upheld consistently by all those who are allocated international fixtures, therefore the decision was made by the BE Board that no international fixtures should be awarded to venues that run unregulated sport.”

The July 2023 International fixture will now be put out to tender with existing BE organisers in line with guidance from the Fixtures Committee, and we look forward to updating members promptly with the announcement of a replacement venue."

Barbury International 2014
©Harveywetdog

My thoughts

(First Houghton, now Barbary, my first thought was what have Musketeer done to upset British Eventing!)

My view, having read the official statement from BE on Barbury International

The link to Equestrian social licence sounds really tenuous, as does the suggestion that unaffiliated competition is somehow different under Equestrian Social License considerations.

British Equestrian promised that our response to social license would be science based. But I would hazard a guess that there isn’t any scientific proof that the general public would view unaffiliated sport any differently to affiliated sport. Of course if you are allowed to use the term “unregulated”, with its obvious negative bias (why not go the whole hog and refer to them as ‘cowboy events’), then perceptions might change. But are British Eventing really a regulator? After all would a regulator normally be involved in the business themselves? I would suggest that simply being a Governing Body does not necessarily make you a regulator in the formal sense, such that all eventing in the U.K. is equally unregulated if you think about it.

“If I had to describe a difference I would say that while anyone can set a standard then it is the regulator’s job to ensure that standards are effective and appropriate to meet a particular goal, in this case safe equestrian sport.”

To say unaffiliated sport is unregulated sport from a perspective of safety, equine welfare, safeguarding and clean sport is demonstrably untrue and needs challenging especially when it is being overseen by a professional event management organisation.

If you take it to its natural conclusion, BE are basically saying that Equestrian social license would mean that all unaffiliated competition is wrong

And did Helen really mean to say unregulated sport? The evidence would suggest she meant to say unregulated/unaffiliated eventing

This all sounds very divisive, both within Eventing and within British Equestrian at a time when we need unity. The "hold a biro in your mouth and see how painful it is” brigade must be laughing their socks off. 

My problem is I respect Helen, I voted for her, and can’t believe she came to this decision lightly (or she has been very badly advised). We don’t know if this is BE going it alone or if they’ve got wind of what the SLTO working parties at both FEI and British Equestrian are likely to propose - ‘for equestrian sport to retain its social license it needs to be demonstrably regulated’. That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, but neither does it have to mean an end to ‘unaffiliated’ sport. The governing body would set the standard for sport to comply with and establish a rating and inspection system to demonstrate standards are being met. It works for Fish & Chip shops, why not horse sport?

But for now we have to see who wins the July slot; lets hope we are able to keep it in the area without a trip down the M5 in the holiday traffic!?