Horse & Hound – 08 August 2019

10 Horse& Hound8 August 2019

NEWSInsider

Pictures

by

Lucy

Merrell

and Newscom/Alamy

HORSES

IN THE NEWS

MRBASS

Theinternationaleventeris

ontheroadtorecoveryafter

sustaininganinjuryonthe

cross-countryatBadminton.

RiderLauraCollettshared

a pictureofthe11-year-old

havinghisfirstridesince

May on 1 August.

DEEPIMPACT

TheJapaneseracingstar

andchampionsireforseven

seasonshasdiedaged17.He

siredmorethan 100 Group

winners; 2000 Guineas

victorSaxonWarrioris

amongthebest-knownto

perform on British soil.

ROSEBERRY

HIGHLANDFLING

LucindaPaull’s148cmshow

pony,hackandintermediate

campaignerwasputdown

aged 17 fromliverfailure.He

waschampionshowpony

atHOYS 2007 andtook

numerous BSPS titles.

THEequestrianworldis “naïve”

if it thinksit cankeepflouting

employmentlaw—asmuchofit

continuestodo.

GroomSamLlewellynwas

shockedwhenallfiveofthe

employersshecontactedviasocial

mediaofferedher“considerably”

lessthantheminimumwage.

Noneofferedhera pensionor

toarrangeforhertaxtobepaid,as

bossesofemployedstaffmustdo

—andBritishGroomsAssociation

(BGA)executivedirectorLucy

Katansaidit is “concerning”how

manyequestrianbossesarestill

ignoringthelaw.

“Thegrowingawarenessof

employeerightsis unsurprising

duetotheeasetosharestories

andfrustrationonsocialmedia,”

shetoldH&H. “It’snaïvetothink

theequestrianworldcancontinue

asit has.Thetimehascomefor

majorchange,andit’shappening.

Themovementtowardsan

industrywheregoodemployment

is thenormhasbegun.

“GroomsarejoiningtheBGA

attheirfastestrateever,andwe

aremovingtowardsa nationof

insured,professional,educated

andwiseemployees.Surelythis

is thepositivewayforwards;we

needtoattractandretainstaff.”

MsKatanurgedemployers

totakeadvantageofthesupport

availabletoensuretheyactwithin

thelaw,includingtheEquestrian

EmployersAssociation(EEA).

SamtoldH&Honeofthe

employersofferedhera weekly

wage of £210 to work 8am to

Agroomwhowasofferedwellundertheminimumwage

by five prospective employers has spoken out on the issue

5pm,sixdaysa week.

“Thatwouldn’tevencovermy

mortgage,”shesaid.“WhenI said

thatwaswellundertheminimum

wage,shesaidtheminimumwage

doesn’tapplytogrooms.

“Ithinkpeoplehavethis‘well,

it’shorses’attitude,butit doesn’t

matterwhatjobit is.It’snotright.”

OneemployertoldSamshe

wouldhavetoregisterasself-

employed,althoughthiswould

nothavebeenlegalasit wasa staff

job,andthepayandhourswere

setbytheboss.

“ItwasonlybecauseI read

anarticleinH&HI realisedthis

happensa lot,”shesaid(news, 24

January).“IfI wasself-employed,

I’dsetmyownhoursandhavemy

own rates of pay, but I know a lot

ofemployerswhodothis.

“Ican’tbetheonlyoneinthis

situation.I’vebeena groomsince

I leftschoolbutI’mthinkingI

mightgiveupasit’snotworthit.

“If[employers]don’tlook

afterpeople,whatdotheyexpect?

Something’sgottochange.”

AspokesmanfortheBritish

EquestrianFederation(BEF),

whichsigneda memorandumof

agreementaimedatchangingthe

workingcultureinourindustry

(news, 15 November2018),told

H&H: “Groomsareessential

tooursport.Itis vitaltheyare

treatedwiththesamecare

andconsiderationasanyother

employee.TheBEFhasworked

closelywiththeBGAandEEA,

whohavemadegreatprogressin

ensuringgroomsareawareofthe

supportavailableandemployers

are aware of their responsibilities.”

ByELEANORJONES

Industry must change

or lose its best staff

RYANJONES

THEpassingofRyanBrynJones

aged 43 on 26 July,ontheevening

oftheseconddayoftheArab

HorseSocietyNationalShow,

hassentwavesofdeepsadness

throughouttheworldwideArabian

horsecommunity.

Ryanwasa largerthan

lifecharacterwhoseendless

enthusiasmforthebreedwas

infectious.Hisparents,Emrys

andSue,foundedtheirBychan

ArabiansstudoutsideLlandeiloin

the 1960s. There, Ryan, his brother

RhodriandsisterRhiannon

learnedeverythingtheyneeded

toknowaboutArabhorses,which

weretobecometheirraisond’etre.

Ryanwasa greatshowman,

andwhetherhewasshowingfor

a one-horseownerortheKingof

SaudiArabia,hewasdedicatedto

gettingthebestoutofeveryhorse

ina kindway.

Hewasverygenerouswithhis

time,wordsofencouragementand

advice,particularlywithanyone

newtothebreedorshowring,and

has been a role model and mentor

toseveralyoungArabhorse

trainersandhandlers.

Ryan’squeststofulfil clients’

wishestookhimacrosstheworld.

Attheverytopheis associated

withworld-classstallionEmerald

J andhis 2014 PrideofPoland

purchase,onbehalfoftheSaudi

studAlMuawd,Norma.

Thisflea-bittenmarecharmed

judgesintheMiddleEast,Europe

andtheUK,shownbyRyanusually

inhissignaturewhite“Norma” suit

totakenumeroustitles.

●Report, p

OBITUARIES

Grooms are becoming more aware of their legal rights