BMRC has been featured in the Mendip Times. Please follow the link. The club article is on Page 72

https://issuu.com/mediafabrica/docs/mendiptimes_8356c0d1e82ee8?fr=sNDhlNDE1Njg0OTk

Autumn Camp 2020

October 16th – 18th

Stockland Lovell

Instructors

Booking Form

Booking Form Autumn 2020

The Committee has listened to Government advice and liaised with lesson venues some of which have confirmed they have closed, others will most likely follow suit. British Riding Clubs have recommended that no riding club activities should take place from now until 30th June 2020.

As a Committee we have agreed to follow this advice and cancel all activities for the recommended time.  In any sport there is a risk of accident or injury and horse riding is no different. If we were to continue with events or lessons and an accident occur then we would run the risk of adding to the burden of the emergency services and The NHS.

We understand that this is disappointing and the decision has not be made lightly but we feel we must heed the Government’s most recent advice on social distancing.  We are aware that the situation is constantly evolving so will continue to monitor the information available, keep you updated and plan for future events along with the usual lessons once the restrictions have been lifted. To be clear, as of today and until 30th June 2020, this means:

• All lessons will be cancelled with immediate effect
• Winter Dressage scheduled for 4th April is cancelled
• Spring Camp is cancelled

AUTUMN CAMP: 16 – 18 OCTOBER 2020 at STOCKLAND LOVELL 

If you have booked SPRING CAMP you can transfer your deposit/fee to the AUTUMN CAMP or alternatively you can request a refund by contacting the club treasurer by email who will then contact you:  treasurer@blackdownmendiprc.co.uk

LESSONS

If you have paid for lessons the credit can be put towards future lessons or alternatively you can request a refund by contacting the club treasurer by email who will then contact you:  treasurer@blackdownmendiprc.co.uk

Acting upon guidance from central Government and British Riding Clubs it has been decided to suspend all riding club activities until the end of June 2020. We apologise for the disappointment this creates and will continue to monitor and assess the situation. Messages will be circulated to members via email and Facebook.

When the situation has been brought under control and we are permitted to do so we will resume lessons and other riding club activities.

Please follow official guidance to keep you and your families safe. Our best wishes go out to you all.

The committee have made the decision to cancel all lessons for a month and the April winter dressage.

We will keep you updated on further events including camp.

Novice Team Show Jumping 2nd February, Hosted by Brent Knoll Riding Club and Stretcholt EC

Our club was represented by 5 members

Grace Brazier, Milly Gell, Katie Filer, Sarah Gell and Pip Page

Class 2 70/75cm, the team came 2nd with an individual 3rd place for Grace and Ginge

Grace Brazier and Ginge

Katie Filer and Stickleball Mabel

Pip Page and Stu-y

Sarah Gell and Scrumpy

Class 3 80/85cm, the team came 3rd with an individual 4th place for Milly and Scrumpy

Grace Brazier and Ginge

Katie Filer and Stickleball Mabel

Milly Gell and Scrumpy

Pip Page and Stu-y

This is a friendly competition with a kind atmosphere.  The next competition is 1st March.

Please email events@blackdownmendiprc.co.uk to enter with Rider Name, Horse Name and Class or Classes. £7.50pp per class

Class 1 60/65 no fillers

Class 2 70/75cm

Class 3 80/85cm

The Chairman and Committee of Blackdown Mendip Riding Club warmly invite you to attend the Club’s 2019 Annual General Meeting 

A buffet will be provided and we would appreciate notice of your intention to attend to enable us to cater for the correct numbers.  Please email secretary@blackdownmendiprc.co.uk

Nominations will be sought for various committee roles, none of which are either onerous or time consuming.  Many hands make light work!  If you would like to join your Club’s friendly committee, and have an input to the activities offered, any of the current officers will be happy to discuss with you. 

Winners of the Busby Trophies from the summer members’ days will be announced and other placings published after the AGM.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & BUFFET

 Thursday 6th February 2020 1930hrs

The Lamb Inn Turnpike Road, Lower Weare, Axbridge,  Somerset, BS26 2JF

AGENDA

Welcome

Apologies for absence

Minutes of 2018 meeting (on website)

Matters Arising

Chair’s report

Treasurer’s report

Membership report

Area 12 report

Lesson report

Camp report

Election of new and existing committee

Election of Officers

Presentation of trophies

Any other business

BRC issued the following on 8 November 2019

We’re aware of questions that have been raised by some members over the incoming rule which mandates six monthly boosters against Equine Influenza (EI) (see rule changes below) and would like to provide further information about the rationale behind this decision.

For much of 2019, the UK has been affected by outbreaks of EI with the number of cases peaking in July. As a department of the BHS, which is a member body of the BEF, BRC has the welfare of equines competing under our rules at the forefront of our minds at all times– and it’s our responsibility, along with every horse owner, to help negate the spread of this virus.

Throughout the year, we’ve been listening to advice and evidence from our veterinary and industry colleagues on the BEF High Health Steering Group, the Equine Infectious Disease Advisory Group and the Animal Health Trust (AHT). Unlike some other organisations, we took the decision not to make a mid-season rule change during the initial outbreak, instead strongly recommending that a six month booster be given, while continually monitoring the situation.
As a result of the outbreak this year, a number of competition venues have taken the decision to mandate six monthly boosters. This has led to some confusion among members as to the different vaccination requirements from venue to venue, which has necessitated additional checks before competing. Indeed some areas have had to run qualifiers stipulating a six monthly booster is mandatory in order to satisfy their venue owners.

We want to be as consistent as possible across all our qualifiers and championships, with a clear policy that all members can follow. It should also be noted that we are now in line with British Dressage, British Eventing and the FEI. However, we appreciate that this is a significant move, so we wanted to ensure that we considered the advice provided by veterinary experts before amending our competition rules. All of the evidence points to the efficacy of vaccinations reducing after six months, hence this decision taken by the BRC Advisory Committee.

In the most recent DEFRA AHT BEVA Equine Quarterly Disease Surveillance Report it was concluded:
That horse owners, especially those attending gatherings and events attended by other horses, undertake routine influenza vaccination and ideally adopt 6 monthly booster vaccination as this is currently considered ‘gold standard’ for controlling this infection.

Dr Jane Nixon MA VETMB BSC MRCVS, Chair of the BEF High Health Steering Group said “We’re in the middle of an equine flu epidemic, with over 220 reported outbreaks alone so far in 2019 – an outbreak case includes a number of horses so there are thousands affected; marking a staggering increase on last year, when only two outbreaks were confirmed in the UK.

“We all need to help control the spread of the virus and vaccination unequivocally does just that. There have been several peer-reviewed scientific papers which support vaccination, including six monthly boosters, which should not leave any responsible horse owner in doubt that this is the right way forward.”
The BRC qualifiers and championships are very large events. We regularly see in excess of 500 horses gathering together from the length and breadth of the UK. It is our responsibility to protect these events for our members, their horses and indeed the future of our sport.

We have noted that some members have commented that their horses have had an adverse reaction to a recent vaccination, and BRC would like to encourage any instances to be reported on the UK Government report portal here: https://www.gov.uk/report-veterinary-medicine-problem. This should be in addition to reporting the reaction to your veterinary surgeon.

2020 BRC Rule Change: From 1 January 2020, it will be strongly advised when competing at BRC events to have a flu vaccination within 6 months and 21 days of the competition. From 1 March 2020, this will then become mandatory. The wording which will be added to the 2020 Handbook (changes in red) can be found here.

IMPORTANT: This does not mean vaccinations need to be done every 6 months; it means that the vaccination needs to be within 6 months and 21 days of the competition. For example, if your competition was the 22 September, you would need to have a vaccination after the 1 March (1 March – 1 September = 6 months + 21 days = 22 September). This rule applies to Qualifiers and Championships only. Whilst we recommend that Clubs also follow this advice for Club activities, they remain autonomous and can therefore decide what they will require for their own training and events.

The Committee are pleased to announce 2020 Winter Dressage series will take place at Badgworth on 1 February, 7 March and 4 April.

The schedule for February is here –

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dU8uS6zcDt9Z4HJuH5qKHxEC1YscczMi/view

Google entry form for February on winter dressage page

Thanks to our lovely members and enthusiastic helpers, we had a wonderful day at Urchinwood yesterday.  Please find the results below.