Following a decision of the NPS’ Disciplinary Committee it has been announced that the qualifying round of the NPS/Bailey’s Horse Feeds Mountain and Moorland Supreme Ridden Championship, held at Royal Windsor, on 10th May 2008, has been declared null and void. The champion pony, Waitwith Connie and rider Emily Skuse, will therefore not have their qualification verified by the NPS secretariat.
The NPS hopes to be able to run an additional qualifier for the Bailey’s Olympia competition, in the same geographic area, thus giving competitors another chance to qualify for this prestigious championship.
Chief Executive of the NPS, Caroline Nokes, has commented:
“We have all been saddened that this lovely pony and her young jockey have not been able to have their qualification verified.
“However, the NPS rules, and the clearly established precedent for NPS competitions, is that the membership card of the owner must be produced upon presentation of the rosette for qualification to be valid. In this instance the card had to be brought into the ring from the outside, a practice which the NPS has been actively trying to prevent for some time. Indeed, the Competitions Committee tightened up this rule last year, to specifically prevent cards from being produced late and by third parties after results have been announced.
“Nobody wants to take a qualification away from any competitor, but the NPS needs to ensure that its rules are consistently applied and upheld. We will seek to follow the precedent set two years ago in Scotland when a qualifier was re-run.
“There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that this pony and rider were worthy winners of the class and of course this decision has no effect on the result of the class. It is a tragedy that the inability to produce the card immediately has obliged the NPS to take this decision. I very much hope that they will qualify for the final at Olympia at one of the other qualifiers this season."The NPS acknowledge that their use of membership card verification continues to come under scrutiny. However the Society firmly believe that this method enables them to minimise the cost of competition to members while remaining focused on the welfare, education and promotion of the British Riding Pony and our Native Breeds."
Following the decision of the Disciplinary Committee on 2nd June the owner of the pony and Royal Windsor have both been informed of the outcome. The owner now has 21 days to decide whether she wishes to appeal the decision, which would then involve it being passed on to the NPS’ Appeals / Referrals Committee.