At 11:47:40 on 11.08.09, Horse Girl wrote:
Hi I would be very interested to understand exactly what the benefits are to myself and my horses. I have a cob which I share with my husband and a shetland pony for my son. We mainly hack or box over to ride with friends.

At 17:04:27 on 11.08.09, Janetpamment wrote:
Hi Horse Girl, thanks for your inquiry, we are the ONLY equine charity that works for both the horse and the RIDER. Here are the main benefits: Public Liability Insurance up to 10m Personal Accident Insurance up to £15,000 Six Free issues of British Horse Magazine a year (includes a local section on what’s on) Free Legal advice telephone helpline Special offers throughout the year, including free tickets to Hickstead Local Committees supporting and working in your area, which put on events, that this year include, Pleasure rides, TREC training, Lectures by top names, such as Sharon Hunt, Training clinics, by Spencer Wilton, Paul Hayler & Simon Somers, grass roots dressage. And of Course Membership of the BHS, a Charity who campaigns on behalf of every Horse & RIDER, for example: Bridleways/Access, BHS is currently camping for amendments to the Marine Bill to Include Horses & Riders, on a local level, Phil Wadey our Regional Bridleways officer has already succefully campaigned and worked with local officers in the East, which has resulted in over 50 new rights of way being recorded. Welfare, not only do we have equines currently in our care & local welfare officers, but we also campin on issues to prevent welfare cases through education, and research, ie.the Strangles campaign & Draw the line – Think before you breed. Road safely, as well as training on road safely we advice and campaign on all safely issues, i.e. reductions on country roads speed limits, as well as the current issue on HGV horse box’s Plus we set the industry standards on training and approved establishments. You can join by phone or on the BHS website.

At 11:13:21 on 12.08.09, Horse Girl wrote:
Thank you very much for this information. Does this mean that if I had a friend riding one of my horses they would be covered as I was a member?

At 09:46:57 on 13.08.09, Janetpamment wrote:
Yes, they would be covered as long as you were not paying them to ride your horse.

At 10:25:59 on 13.08.09, Horse Girl wrote:
This does raise a situation I am in right now. I have a friends horses who I am looking after as a favour whilst he is on holiday. I am not charging for this. I dont have the time to ride them both so have hired a local man who I have been highly recommended. I am paying him £25 to ride out which includes his travel. Where do I stand now? I dont know what insurance my friend has either. I dont have employers insurance because I dont usually have anyone ride except me or my husband. Would be very keen to know where I stand.

At 11:00:02 on 13.08.09, Janetpamment wrote:
Hi The BHS insurnace only covers riders doing so without hire or reward, the man you are paying should, as a freelance rider should have his own insurance as he is doing so for gain, but it's a tricky area, my advice would be to speak to SEIB who are our brokers and underwrite our BHS member policy. Their number is 0845 450 0654

At 13:28:45 on 18.08.09, Horse Girl wrote:
Thank you so much for this information. I have spoken with the rider I employed and he says he is insured for everything as a free lance rider. However, I will still speak to the SEIB to clarify that I am properly insuranced too. Many thanks.

At 09:38:30 on 01.09.09, InHarness wrote:
(Another reason?) As I understand it, the BHS is one of the bodies which sits on the British Equestrian Federation. The government got so fed up with dealing with numerous different interest groups representing the horse industry that they set up the BEF as a way of speaking to all of them. BHS does a lot of good work in welfare, road safety and awareness campaigns, etc., and it's a good idea, I think, to support it so you and I, the "ordinary" rider (or carriage driver) has sensible representation.

At 12:22:51 on 01.09.09, Horse Girl wrote:
Thanks for your response InHarness. I ride and my husband drives and I totally agree with you. I am a big fan of the British Horse Society and we are also members of the British Driving Society. They are incredibly valuable to us members of the public and I should think we have the best organisations in the world speaking out for us riders and drivers.