BHS Affiliation

The BVRC are affiliated to the British Horse Society (BHS). Since around 40% of  members' subscriptions are paid each year to the BHS (making the BVRC more expensive to join than non-affiliated riding clubs) what do members get for their additional cash? There are six main benefits:

British Riding Clubs Office

The fees paid to the BHS are used to maintain a British Riding Clubs Office, staffed by a salaried full time team, whose role is to act as a central rule-making body and point of reference for the Riding Clubs movement. Members can call the office at any time. A National conference is held annually. The office is located in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

Competitions

The BHS and British Riding Clubs determine competition rules and standards in all equine disciplines. Each year, inter-club competitions are held in all disciplines, with winning teams & individuals going forward to National Riding Club Championships at Leamington Spa (Horse Trials) or Lincoln (other disciplines). These competitions are only open to members of an affiliated Riding Club.

Training

The BHS and British Riding Clubs  organise and moderate a wide range of equine related qualifications, training and examinations. Some of the latter can be taken at a local Riding Club.

The basic examination cost is £7.50 which is sent to the British Riding Clubs office. However, individual clubs may charge more, dependent on commercial factors.

Membership

The BVRC is a Seniors (Adult) only club and members have to 17 years of age or over on 1^st January in the current year.

Every Riding Club is self governing and prices vary, but the average prices for joining are around £15 - £30. BVRC subscription is £25 (for the 2008 year) for a riding member. Some clubs may be more, depending on the facilities that the club owns.

You can be a member of more than one club but you can only represent one club in any competition year. The competition year starts after the Festival of the Hunter.

Insurance

This is a powerful reason for belonging to an affiliated Riding Club.

Club members are insured whilst taking part in activities organised by their own Riding Club, another BHS affiliated Riding Club or the Riding Clubs office at Stoneleigh. The policy extends to cover the liability of one member to another. The limit of Indemnity is £20,000,000 in respect of any one claim. Please note though that travel to and from activities is excluded.

Members are not covered while out hacking. You are only covered while at an affiliated Riding Club event.

Insurance extends to provide cover for any landowner or occupier on whose land events or other activities organised by the club are held or pass over or whose land is used for access to the event.

The Policies cover all Instructors (paid or unpaid), officials and helpers while acting on behalf of an affiliated Riding Club.

The Riding Club will be covered for all its activities,so even if non-members compete, the policy DOES apply. If a non-member sues a member, the member is covered. If a non-member should cause an incident for which they are personally are sued, there is no cover for the non-member.

Finally, we provide the above notes in good faith. For full details, contact the Riding Clubs office at Stoneleigh.

Rider Magazine

Published four times a year, each edition includes useful features plus all championship reports and results. The magazine is de-duped so that if there are several members living at the same address only one copy will be sent per household. This is done in order to save money on postage.