BETA urges riders to help shape the future of safety

The British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) has launched a new way of collecting and recording information relating to accidents and injuries. The new Rider Accident & Equipment Reporting Form, which is available to anyone experiencing an accident and injury around horses, is part of the association’s continued drive to help make equestrian sport safer.

The Rider Accident & Equipment Reporting Form, launched at Your Horse Live, can be accessed via a web link or by QR code, which will be widely published both through BETA retail members, equipment manufacturers and on social media. The QR code is quick to scan from a phone, helping to make it more accessible to busy riders. The form is also easy fill in and allows BETA to collect additional information surrounding accidents to help inform design and protection development of safety equipment moving forward.

“A better understanding of what happens to our hats and body protectors during an accident is key to being able to both design better and safer equipment as well as feeding into the safety standards that determine how these garments perform,” said Claire Williams, Chief Executive of BETA. “The data collected through this questionnaire will provide invaluable insights contributing to this understanding, and help us, along with our trade members, continue to innovative in the space to help keep riders across all sports safer.”
The survey asks people to provide detail around any accident that they were involved in, and, if possible, supply images or video of the helmet and/or body protector worn during the accident itself.

“There’s a real paucity of true data when it comes to equestrian industry,” said Dr Diane Fisher, BETA’s Chief Medical Officer. “It’s so important to get this data as we can feed it back into industry, to the manufacturers so that they can use it to help further improve what they do, as a basis for our safety equipment going forward.

“It also allows us to research injury in real time. If we are picking up certain injuries and trends, it allows us as BETA to step in and campaign at the time, which makes more sense than working on the back foot.

“We all accept that horse riding has real dangers attached, however using the protection available correctly can mitigate and minimise these risks. As equestrians we all have a responsibility to keep ourselves fit, healthy and injury free, not only in our own best interests but also in the interests of these very special animals we are lucky enough to spend time with.”

Link to the form: .https://bit.ly/3xo6P3V

Feed Fact Fortnight is back

The British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) is launching its spring Feed Fact Fortnight on 1st April, and there’s plenty of opportunities for horse owners to get involved, learn, and bag themselves some amazing prizes from the leading names in the feed industry.

The fortnight will have a general focus on obesity in horses and how we as horse owners can look to address this from a feeding point of view. In addition, other relevant content will be shared by brands, helping to support horse owners as they move through spring and into summer.

“We know, as horse owners ourselves, that the feed space can be quite a challenging one to navigate, and that’s why we believe these Feed Fact Fortnights are so important,” said Claire Williams, Executive Director of BETA. “We all want to do the best for our horses, and part of that is understanding equine nutrition, whether it’s the basic rules of feeding that help to prevent some issues in horses or being able to decipher what the back of a feed bag means. We are lucky to have the support from the leading feed brands in the industry, and their willingness to share their knowledge, get involved with Lives where they’ll answer questions in real time, as well as their support through amazing prizes is so appreciated.”

Feed Fact Fortnight will involve many leading brands, but the main places to get involved with the competitions and see the content as it’s released is through BETA’s social media.

“We want this information to be as accessible as possible, easy to share, and to help as many people as we can, so we focus on social media for these campaigns. I’d encourage anyone who wants to improve their knowledge and win some fabulous prizes to follow us on Instagram and Facebook.”

For more information, like BETA’s Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/betaequestrian and follow on Instagram at www.instagram.com/beta_equestrian/. For more information on BETA, see www.beta-org.uk

BETA’s Summer of Safety has begun!

The British Equestrian Trade Association’s (BETA) Summer of Safety has begun, providing lots of opportunities for equestrians to learn, win prizes, and help keep themselves and their horses a whole lot safer.

The campaign is now in its third year, starting in 2021, and retains the clear objective of helping to keep equestrians and their horses safer in all activities. BETA is working with its trade members and aligned professionals on a calendar of content including lives and video around this, as well as providing a host or brilliant prizes sharing latest innovations.

“We are delighted to be running the Summer of Safety for 2023, and have bigger plans than ever before,” said Claire Williams, Executive Director of BETA. “This includes in person events as well as lives and content through social media, but we also have huge support amongst the trade meaning that if you visit any of our members during the summer, you could well see some Summer of Safety bunting and information as it’s a cause close to so many hearts.”

The idea behind the Summer of Safety came about in a bid to help demystify safety through providing more information around hats and standards alongside real stories that bring it to life and allow the community to learn from one another.

“The campaign is not to scare people, far from it. Through educating ourselves and sharing stories, we can all understand how we can reduce risks to keep everyone safer. Over the last two years we’ve had people like Paul Tapner share his story with us about his fall, and the impact that had was huge. We’re also very lucky to have our Chief Medical Officer, Dr Diane Fisher, on hand to support the campaign by providing insight and experience from the point of view of a medical professional.”

To find out more about BETA’s Summer of Safety, see www.beta-uk.org

To get involved with the competitions and other news during the campaign, make sure you follow BETA on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/betaequestrian and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/beta_equestrian/

Equine Thesis of the Year

BETA Equine Thesis of the Year Final

10 Oct 2023

The search for the winner of the BETA Equine Thesis of the Year Award, which recognises and rewards excellence in undergraduate study, is almost over. Four finalists are now in the running and will present their thesis to a panel of judges during an online event on Sunday 29 October.

Universities and colleges offering equine-related degrees throughout the UK and Ireland were each invited to submit one entry, with the following making it through to the finals:
● Bishop Burton College – Lauren Wain. An Investigation into the Influence of Balance
and Proprioceptive Pads on Equine Posture and Kinematics
● University of Liverpool – Hannah Shanks-Boon. The Effect of Body Condition Score on Tongue Size, Soft Palate Angle and Basihyoid Depth in Horses
● Writtle University College – Nadine L Mostert. Oat Straw in the Haylage Diet: Exploring the Effect on Equine Weight, Bowel Movements, and Chewing and Consumption
● University of Limerick – Laura Dayot. Application of Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) to Measure the Composition of Mare’s Colostrum and Milk

The BETA Equine Thesis of the Year finals will start at 2pm and is open to the public, trade and members of the academic community. To register your interest to attend, contact the BETA office for a link or use the following registration form: Register to attend final

Each finalist will present her work and while it is being considered by the judges, will take the opportunity to respond to questions from the audience. The judges will then return to announce the winner and runner-up of the award.

“The Equine Thesis of the Year Award is a great way for us to acknowledge the extremely high standard of undergraduate study that is being produced at our universities and colleges,” said BETA executive director Claire Williams. “There is some incredibly impressive work taking place and some exciting and diverse ideas coming through – all of which bode well for the future of our industry.

“Taking a ringside seat makes sure we can hear about the work that is being done – straight from the horse’s mouth. And maintaining the event online makes it accessible to everyone. We are really looking forward to finding out more about the theses and discovering who is crowned winner. We wish the students and their universities the very best of luck and congratulate them on making it this far.”
This year’s final judges are:
• Dr Georgina Crossman – a research consultant and owner of GK Crossman Consultancy. Georgina works with a number of organisations, including The Horse Trust, World Horse Welfare and Redwings Horse Sanctuary. She is also the administrator for the National Equine Forum. She has guest lectured at various institutions, including L’Institut Agro Dijon (France), speaking on subjects such as the structure of the horse sector and the relationship between the horse industry and government.
• Dr Katie Williams – an equine nutritionist with 25 years’ experience. She gained a masters degree in equine science from Writtle College and received the Edgar Pye Scholarship for her dissertation. In 2023 Katie completed her PhD in veterinary medicine research at the University of Glasgow exploring the status of nutrition in the veterinary profession. She has presented her findings at various conferences most recently the Equine Science Society Symposium in Dallas, Texas. As technical and product development manager at Dengie, she is responsible for creating new products and ensuring they are legally compliant. Katie is very honoured to be Vice-Chair of the BETA Feed Committee.
• Dr Danica Pollard- Dee completed a BSc degree at Rhodes University, South Africa, where she majored in Botany and Microbiology and also completed a one-year Honours degree in Microbiology. She then completed a Masters in Animal Breeding and Genetics at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences where she conducted research on the transmission of dwarfism in the Friesian horse as well as how inherited disorders are managed in the breeding of European sports horses. Dee went on to complete a PhD through the Royal Veterinary College while being based primarily at the Animal Health Trust (AHT) remaining there for three further years as a postdoctoral research scientist. She currently works as a researcher at the British Horse Society on a number of different projects and has a keen interest in road safety. She is also an independent consultant working mostly with vets conducting research, advising on study design, statistical analysis and getting the research published in peer-reviewed journals.

• Liz Benwell – editor of leading trade title Equestrian Trade News. Liz began her career in journalism as a newspaper reporter, was the first editor of Your Horse magazine and is a self-confessed horsey ‘anorak’. She has enjoyed competing in many equestrian sports at amateur level, with long-distance riding a particular favourite. Liz has two horses, one of which is rehomed from World Horse Welfare, and rides most days.
To confirm your place at the online BETA Equine Thesis of the Year Award, contact BETA on agy@beta-uk.org.

Enter BETA Calender competition

Enter BETA 2024 Calendar Competition

BETA Equestrian Calendar Competition 2024

Enter this year’s BETA Equestrian Calendar Competition and your photo might just be one of the lucky 12 chosen. From all the winning entries, one image will be judged Best in Show and the successful entrant will receive a luxury hamper. See how to enter the competition and check out the T&Cs.

BETA Equestrian Calendar Competition

1. The competition will see 12 images chosen, each selected by the judges to represent a different month of the year. The entrant submitting the image judged Best in Show will win a luxury hamper.

2. All photographs must have been taken by the entrant, who must not be a professional photographer, ie one who makes a living from selling their images. Photographs belonging to a third party should not be submitted. It is important that all images have been taken by you. Failure to adhere to these rules will result in disqualification.

4. Photographs must be supplied in a digital format with a minimum size of 150 x 115mm (1,722 x 1,358px), 300 dpi, or at least 2MB, and must not be subject to copyright.

5. Entries should be equestrian-themed.

6. Images should be emailed to info@beta-uk.org

Please include the entrant’s name, age, address and a description of what is depicted.

7. Deadline for entries is Monday 18 September 2023.

8. The winner will be notified by email as soon as a decision has been made.

9: Entrants of photographs selected for inclusion in the calendar will be notified by email as soon as a decision has been made.

10. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

11. There is no alternative (including cash) to the prize offered.

12. The entrant gives BETA the permission to publish the photographs in the printed version of the calendar and to use the digital images on BETA’S social media, and other media, as well as other imaging, documentation and items associated with BETA.

13. Entrants will also be given the opportunity for their image and details to be passed to the National Equine Forum for the NEF24 Programme Cover Image Competition-for more details visit NEF website >>>