| Author | Message | ||
     Fiona Powell Username: Fionap Registered: 12-2003 |
Official ICD-UK announcement We h-e-a-r-d you... The rules have been amended, as follows, and you can see the revised complete rules by following the link on the website's var/www page. "Rule 4.6 Any animal may compete up to a maximum of twice at any event." "Thank you" for making your feelings known. We listened, we agree and we apologise for causing anxiety. Of course, you know that every horse or pony taking part must be fit enough for the competition. | ||
| Barry Collyer Username: Barrycollyer Registered: 09-2018 |
It'll be a huge shame if this new rule stays. I for one relied on sharing a pony last season to enter my first indoors and wouldn't have been able to without the share. I'm sure many others also rely on this, husbands and wives, friends etc, as not everyone has transport to get to and from shows and therefore share to help. I'm intrigued to know the rationale behind this, if it's for the welfare of the pony / horse then surely the professionalism of the drivers and officials involved will secure their wellbeing? Let's hope it can be reviewed, it be a shame to see classes diminish in size. | ||
| Tracey Johnson Username: Traceyj Registered: 11-2013 |
RE: 4.6 Animals may compete twice in any one competition but in two different classes, one of which must be a multiple class. I was discussing this yesterday with Adrian, who beat me to it on here - many thanks Ade for your detailed post :-) This new rule will directly affect two of our turnouts (one of which was driven 'solo' over the last two seasons. but was hopefully going to be back to two drivers this season) - it will mean either drivers taking it in turns & only doing three competitions out of six, or one driver from each turnout missing out completely this season (obviously it's not all about qualifying for the finals, but if one of them wanted to do so, this will instantly wipe out their chance - our area has big entries, & you have to do well consistently over the season to have a hope of qualifying). When I got back into driving ten years ago, I was very lucky to be given a chance to drive (the legend that is) Blue at the indoors - that season he was in novice pony twice at most of the competitions, & I managed to qualify for the finals that year. The following season Blue went to the finals with two juniors competing him. Without being given that chance to drive at the indoors, I wouldn't have got back into the sport in such a big way, & it makes me sad to think that this will stop other people doing the same. If this is a horse welfare issue, is there any other way it can be resolved? Is there some way that the fitness of the animal can be proved? I don't have an answer to this - it would be great to hear some opinions. I know that any animal can have a problem on any given day, but generally when you've got a pony who is driven approx. six times every week & is competition fit enough to do a marathon, they should, in my opinion, be able to do ten minutes of dressage, twenty sets of cones, & eight comparatively short obstacles. If there is anything that could be done to allow those people sharing turnouts to continue to compete, please do let us know - there are going to be some very disappointed people otherwise, myself included. | ||
| Adrian MacLeod Username: Ademac Registered: 03-2015 |
I notice in the rule changes that it is no longer permissible to share ponies in the novice and open single classes. I don't remember this change being discussed and it seems to have come as a surprise to anyone I talk to. No rationale has been given for the change dispite this having been common practice in Indoor driving for 20 years. People don't share ponies because they're lazy or it's inconvenient or they want to give the pony a hard time. They share because they cannot afford a second pony. This means the rule change is effectively excluding people from the sport on the basis of their wealth. Rule changes that favour the wealthy have been going on in the outdoor sport for some years and the result is that numbers are going down and one could view the sport as dying. Let's not do the same to the Indoors. There are already plenty of rules to protect pony welfare (if that is the reason for the rule change). A judge can stop a competitor whose pony seems tired or who is pushing too hard. I don't think we need additional protection. A pony who does a national or club competition does a dressage test that lasts roughly twice as long, does more than double the number of cones and goes round 8 obstacles rather than 4. If it can do double the work outdoors, why not indoors? To top it all, it is apparently fine for a pony to compete twice in single and multiples. For a tandem wheeler, this is exactly the same as competing twice as a single. The rule seems to me like it contains a double standard. Finally, for some people this rule change will have a very significant impact. Would it not have been better to allow a period for discussion and reflection, rather than springing it on us at the beginning of the season? | ||
| ICD Office Username: Ihdtcoffice Registered: 01-2003 |
Hi Alan The Rules can be found on the var/www page, towards the bottom, under the heading of Indoor Driving, fourth button down, Rules and constitution, click there and it should take you to the new rules, not much has changed but is well worth revising rules before the new season. | ||
| Alan Hodges Username: Alan Registered: 10-2006 |
A link might be there but I can't find it. Can you give me a clue where to look please. | ||
| ICD Office Username: Ihdtcoffice Registered: 01-2003 |
Please check out the Rule changes for the coming 2018 - 2019 winter season, can be found via the link on the var/www page. Although BCd are now allowing the backstepper to give verbal assistance/instruction to the driver it is NOT ALLOWED at Indoor events and will result in big penalties or elimination. |