F&I Chairman’s Winter Newsletter 2024

My goodness, where does the year go?!  Here we are in December with Christmas very much in our sights and what a whirlwind of a year it’s been again.  And of course the F&I Association has embraced every minute of it.

So, what have we done since my last newsletter?  We have had our ever-popular Agria Royal International Horse Show (RIHS) on Saturday 27th July at Hickstead, with our F&I members invited as guests of the BHS in their lovely box.  As this is the RIHS’s Ladies’ Day, there was a great line up of events in the main arena all day including the miniature horse championships, double harness scurry championships, Ladies’ Day presentation. There was the Queen Elizabeth II Cup as well as the final judging of the small hunter championship and supreme hack championship as well as other jumping classes. The guests were very lucky to have a course walk from William Fletcher, walking the Queen Elizabeth II Cup class, what a great experience for them all. The day was also an opportunity to remember absent friends, when our one-and-only Jillie Rogers BHSI called the members to attention for a minute’s silence and held up a photograph of the late Linda Haworth.  Linda worked for the BHS for 40+ years in Education, dedicating her working life and career to the equestrian industry, and had touched so many members’ lives. Lovely gesture, thank you very much Jillie. As always, this event clashes with the National British Eventing Youth Championships and so a few of us cannot ever attend the RIHS for this reason which is very annoying but unavoidable. A full report is available, as always, on our website.

Our next activity was the Burghley course walk with Nick Turner FBHS. These course walks are always a great success and allow so many of us to meet up at these big events. Nick as ever is a modest and quiet coach who is an absolute wealth of knowledge and experience, and he has such a level and pragmatic approach to his role as a coach even at this prestigious eventing level. He very kindly allowed one of his riders to attend the walk as well and she kindly agreed, not something I know Nick would always allow. To have both coach and rider’s perspective was a real treat for the members. We have a brilliant and detailed report from another very knowledgeable man in our organisation, Julian Campbell BHSI,.Julian has done a very informed summary of the walk and what was gained from it. Thank you so much Julian for your time and reflections, and, as always, a massive thank you to Superwoman Ann Bostock BHSI for organising yet another great F&I day.

Our next event is one that I personally am particularly proud of, as I know very much are the F&I team as well. Jen Morris BHSI, myself and Richard Johnson-Smith often sit when coaching together up in Scotland and we discuss all things equestrian, but also have the time to come up with some great ideas for Jen’s annual F&I day in Scotland. Well, we may have got a little carried away this time, but a very long wish list for a great CPD event was started. 18 months later we delivered, and what an event it was!

There are several reports on this event so I will not take away from those, but in short this type and design of event has proved to be a great success. The vision was to have a more conference-style approach, alongside a lot of practical demonstrations and I feel we delivered what coaches really want and need when they attend these types of CPD coach education events.

It goes without saying I am extremely proud of the team that made this event happen, and particular thanks to our main sponsors, F&I association, BHS Scotland, Horse Scotland and Agria Equestrian Insurance, but above and beyond I am so proud of Jen’s determination, drive and no-compromise approach to this project. This mirrors so many of her philosophies, principles and approach to everything she does, she really is a very gifted lady, and I think we will be seeing so much more from her in the equine community in the future.  As with any event we run, Jen and I have been very open minded and listened to the feedback and yes there are things that could have been done a little differently but for a starting point I think it raised the bar very high and it was seriously well received!  Dates are being negotiated for the next one and although the format will be similar, no two of these events will ever be the same. Watch this space for “save the date” coming soon.

So, what else have we been up to? We have just had a very thought-provoking, vital and refreshing insight to how Connie Colfox, Young Horse specialist trainer, has evolved her training philosophies, techniques and her amazing work with horses that, shall we say, have not responded so well to mainstream training that we see so much of now. There is a report coming your way from Becky Cooper BHSI, many thanks to Becky for her efforts to summarise such an interesting and very important evening of thought-provoking approach to training horses. Connie really did remind us of the basic and invaluable principles that we should be basing all our training and coaching around. If you missed this zoom evening, then there may be a chance to visit her yard and see her working with some horses first hand.  Danny Anholt FBHS and I have a plan for organising a future event, so again watch this space…..

Well, that leads us on to the big event of the year, to our very special Annual Course and AGM, it will be upon us before we know it, Monday 6^th and Tuesday 7^th January 2025, at Addington. We are very privileged to have two top trainers, Judy Harvey FBHS (flat) and Richard Waygood MBE for the jumping.  We all love their training, and I know Ann has already been inundated with people wishing to ride and the numbers overall are well on their way. We will as ever try and pack in as much as possible, so we will have two lunchtime session, one being a very lucky opportunity to have our own Fellow of the BHS and member of the F&I Association Angelo Telatin FBHS Ph.D. in Equine Learning Applied to Training. We again are so in need of reminding, consolidating and inspiring ourselves with positive and ethical training practices and so it could not be a better time for Angelo to come and remind us how we can approach the training of horses and people alike in view of the current challenges we are all facing within the equine industry.

He has very kindly said he will do us a lecture demo session and will obviously be about for the duration of the two days, which will be fantastic. A great thank you to Brendon Callan-Bergin BHSI, for organising this and hopefully getting him in the correct place at the correct time. The other lunchtime session will be an “live panel discussion” where we want to have time to openly discuss topical subjects within the room of experts that we all are. There will be a moderator, and we will be asking for suggestions over the first day on discussion topics we feel we must have time to discuss and address as a group, and there will be opportunity for direct questions to specific individuals as well as allowing all members to contribute to the topic. We will capture the discussion, and this information will be used in helping the Association to move forward as a leading advisory platform in equestrian training and coaching.  I hope this gives the vast expertise we have within the membership the chance to really start to build momentum on how we roll out help and advice to the equestrian community. Wouldn’t it be great if we could really have some impact on improving the life of the horse in every situation and help those who may not be as informed, experienced or qualified as we are?

On this subject I would like to simply start to identify areas of discussion that we can all be thinking about, for example questions to yourself such as: Do my own, personal training philosophies, principles and behaviours truly sit in line with positive equine learning theory and practice? How do I try and positively influence stakeholders such as riders, owners, parents and sponsors to allow for a more holistic and learning theory approach to training and riding horses, even if that may take longer and may even mean tougher decisions about the expectations on individual horses and the route they may or may not follow competitively?  How will I ensure that horses are listened to much more, with honest and more educated approaches? And how can we, as leading practitioners influencing other human mindsets, adjust our behaviours, attitudes and language surrounding the training and riding of horses for pleasure and competition, especially in light of shifting attitudes towards our approaches, techniques and integrity of our horse / human relationship ?

These are just a few of the questions and subjects that I feel we as F&I members and especially as an organisation as a whole must be trying to answer with clarity and confidence.

I will just leave that there for you to think about and for you to add to before we have some great open discussions at the Annual Course.

We will of course have Study Groups again and these will be popular, so, as soon as Ann’s list comes out, get yourself signed up in advance and at the event. We will also be hold “Specific Fellowship Interest Study Groups” aimed at those thinking about the Fellowship qualification route.

Obviously, we have our all-important AGM, awards and the evening dinner, and there will be some light-hearted entertainment thrown in as well.

As far as Awards are concerned, we have had some great nominations, thank you everyone!  We will be looking to award the normal annual awards, AND we will also have two new awards being given out this time. The Committee have created the Barbara Slane Fleming award, in honour of our Founder, and Life President. Barbara Slane Fleming FBHS, who passed away at her home at the age of 103, was a distinguished equestrian, and the first person to examine the BHS Fellowship before passing it herself in 1962.  She was instrumental in establishing the Fellows Association in 1973, followed by the formation of the F&I Association, and served as F&I Life President until her passing.  Throughout her career she greatly influenced many BHS Fellows, BHSIs, and elite competition riders.  She was also a List 1 dressage judge who supported aspiring judges, and a key figure in the early development of British Dressage.  Based initially in southern England and later in Northumberland, she taught well into her 80s and remained actively involved in various aspects of the BHS as an examiner, committee member, and fundraiser.  Remembered for her strict discipline, and her generosity with her time and knowledge, Barbara was an inspiration in the equestrian community.

F&I Association would like her legacy to be remembered by presenting “The Barbara Slane Fleming Award” at their AGM and Annual Course.

The Barbara Slane Fleming Award is aimed at recognising an individual or centre that has shown exceptional dedication to empowering individuals in their educational pursuits, and/or having impact on educational programmes, particularly within the British Horse Society but also in the wider equestrian community.

Our second “new” award is the “Kiitoss Award” this award has been inspired by Annette Christey, one of our long-standing members who is always a breath of fresh air and a truly wonderful spirited, beautiful lady inside and out, she has always been the strongest of ambassador for the horse out of all people I have ever known. Netty wanted to award a specific prize for a horse within our F&I community, she would like to award a horse, and or a horse-human partnership that stands out when it comes to the true spirit of the horse-human relationship.

This award is aimed to honour a horse (or a horse-rider combination) that has demonstrated exceptional service to the F&I Association by contributing to the Association’s development, particularly through involvement in demo riding in Fellowship assessments, demonstrations and educational demos. Or maybe a horse that has had a profound effect on the rider through unusual circumstances, helped to get someone through tough times or been there through sickness and health. This award is not aimed at a particularly competitive achievements but that of true horse–human bond. Netty would like to award “The Kiitoss Award”in memory of her very best friend and soul-mate who I’m sure you will all remember, as he was at so many Fellowship exams as well as so many lecture demos, F&I courses and much more. He was always a solid, consistent partner to Netty, and he always had the biggest smile on his face.  He will now be forever remembered each year but also for me this award is so fitting just now as it gives us opportunity to pay our upmost respect to The Horse each year and celebrate how fortunate we are to be able to have these animals in our lives,. let alone be able to partner with them for our pleasure and sport. Every year now I believe we should propose a toast to “The Horse”.  Please get your nominations in to me for these two new awards and let’s celebrate all our members in F&I , two legged and four legged.

         

“Last, but absolutely not least”

*We have a new Fellow*

Massive congratulations to Sarah Spencer-Williams FBHS for becoming the latest new Fellow, but also a tip of the hat to all the candidates who have recently taken the exam for their dedication and resilience as just to get to this stage is absolute credit to them as well and we wish them all the best in going away reflecting and coming back at some point even better and stronger than before, so well done to all of you.

Again a massive thank you to all the riders, coaches and horses who put themselves up as demo riders, to ensure this exam can run to the very high standard that is does. Thank you to David Sheerin FBHS and Wellington Riding for the venue, and much more and especially a thank you to Michelle Carman, Tracey Casstles and her whole team for their organisation from the BHS Head Quarters and of course to Ann Bostock yet again who really does run this exam with incredible attention to detail and endless unpaid hours of stressful organisation before, during and after the exam is completed and I still think she’s due an Honorary Fellowship Status for the years she has put into this exam! What Ann does not know about the Fellowship, is simply not worth knowing.

Anyway here is a lovely read straight from the horse’s mouth, to fill you in on our newest fellow of the British Horse Society – Sarah Spencer-Williams FBHS.

My journey to the Fellowship has been a fairly long one, being probably a little older than a lot who achieve it!

By my early twenties I had done the Pony Club A Test and BHS Qualifications including the BHSI and was an assessor. Over the next ten years or so, I continued to produce horses to event up to advanced level, ran a BHS college centre and freelanced. By 2008 the Fellowship seemed the next step.

Having tried it in 2008 and being unsuccessful, I didn’t really have a plan to do it again even though the experience of trying it was a positive one, I was aware as I was doing it that I wasn’t at the level.

Having “failed it”, I think the wrong term, I now know my journey to achieving it really started. Working with the illustrious group of candidates who also did it in 2008, some of were successful on that occasion and some were not, was a privilege and a tremendous learning opportunity. From there more opportunities seemed to come my way, I was invited to sit on the BHS Training and Education Committee, now APCED, and have been fortunate to do a couple of terms. Being on the committee led me to be involved in, and present at, BHS training days and conventions. I was already a BE Coach, but I became a Regional Youth Coach for Wales, so worked with teams and at championships.

Through connections in Asia I got involved in preparing horses for export. Horses of all shapes, sizes, ages and intended jobs and disciplines came to me on livery and for schooling. I progressed as an assessor and became an IQA. Enjoying supporting my daughter with her eventing, the Fellowship wasn’t on my radar.

A year ago there seemed to be an opportunity, my daughter at university, a planned year off from export horses to give my land a chance recover, and I had the rarest of all things, a little bit of time. Thoughts of another attempt at the Fellowship came as a bit of a surprise, but then wouldn’t go away. 

From that point on I’ve been overwhelmed, as I was when I did it previously, by other people’s support and positivity, not to mention generosity in giving their time and expertise. I’m honoured to have the Fellowship but I’m also aware it has only been possible for me because of many others. From the fantastic trainers I learnt from, those that are involved in making the assessment happen, and perhaps most, as the time before, those that were also on the journey with me. I have the utmost respect for anyone who goes through the Fellowship process, regardless of the outcome, it’s an achievement. It’s a real positive that we have such accomplished people as future Fellows. 

Of course, we all know who really allows us to achieve our goals, the real teachers are the horses. The ones we make our mistakes on, the ones who give us our moments of glory and the ones who give our way of life. So having been immersed in becoming a Fellow and being congratulated on achieving it, which is very nice, it’s not really about that, it’s about what I hope it allows me to do for them. Sarah Spencer-Williams FBHS.

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I have had the honour to work with Sarah on many occasions and I can tell you she is an incredibly solid, deep and experienced educator, as well as a great ambassador for the horse and she will bring so much to the equestrian industry.  Congratulations yet again Sarah for such a great achievement.

Well, this will be my last newsletter, my term of three times three years on Committee has come to an end and I am amazed, it does not seem like 9 years!  It just shows how time flies when you’re having fun.  Anyway, I am very happy with how things are and I’m happy with how I have tried to quietly lead from the back, not in any way influencing or using this role for anything other than to be a relatable chairperson, open minded, relatable and sincere to ensure that the members are listened to and that we have continued to move forward in the right direction with correct governance, principles and good ethics and I feel that has been successful. Recently we have opened the door for much change in the way we deliver our mission statement and there is now a solid platform for which this organisation can seriously go from strength to strength. I know the organisation is in amazing hands, and although sad to step down, I am very happy to move on and enjoy the Association with less direct involvement although I will still be joint organiser for the coaching assembly up in Scotland, in whatever format that continues in the future.

Thank you for all the support and the very kind messages I have had from so many of you recently, about my time holding the reins, “gently”.   I’ve enjoyed it a great deal and have as always learnt a great deal from the process, every day is a school day.

Have a super festive season all of you and again a massive thank you to Alison and Jude for all their endless work and Nick Turner for his role as vice-chair, and Sam Champney-Warrener for her tireless efforts with the Facebook page and Sally Newcomb for the webpages. Please let us know about any activities you are up to, and we will hopefully see you all in January.

Sam York – F & I Association Chair