A complaint was raised about a team name used at a team chase this month. H&H speaks to organisers, the man who raised the issue and the man who submitted the name
TEAM chasing officials have apologised for any offence caused by a team name that generated a complaint.
A team by the name “Bolox. All Lives Matter” took part in the Grafton chase on 18 October. Grafton chairman Colin Richmond-Watson said under normal circumstances, it would have been spotted before the event.
“This year is very unusual,” he told H&H. “Normally we have a programme and it’s proof-read, but this year it was all done online and we didn’t get the print-out until shortly before the event.
“We have a very small team of volunteers, and 125 entries, very nearly 500 horses, so we were flat out and we didn’t spot it.”
Eventer Lydia Heywood, who grew up in Britain and rides for Jamaica, says ‘there’s a link missing between the foundations and competitive riding’.
Credit: Peter Nixon
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.