Dedicated to the care of horses over 15-years of age, the Veteran Horse Society (VHS) has faced the coronavirus pandemic head-on by fulfilling qualification attainability for their annual National Veteran Championships.
Scheduled to take place between Friday, October 2nd – 4th at Arena UK, the Championship show is one of the only still scheduled to go ahead in the UK in the wake of the pandemic. Qualification classes are now being held online, which means the show must and will go on.
However, the additional work and restrictions put in place to keep all involved with the society safe during the outbreak meant, like so many others, the team struggled to raise vital funds to needed to continue operation.
Despite adversity, the forward-thinking team continued to plough ahead and soon launched a photographic competition to raise much-needed funds. To their surprise, entries were fantastic, so it was decided with such support they would revert to a strategy used in 2001 when Foot & Mouth hit the UK.
Having to cancel their first year at Olympia, the team turned to a video entry system to fulfil the events scheduled to take place, on the run-up to the October championships.
Julianne Aston, Founder of the Veteran Horse Society spoke of steps taken in order to fulfil their promise to competitors;
On April 2020, we announced the first virtual Area Qualifier classes on our website and Facebook pages. This was new to all veteran showing competitors, and we all struggled to begin with. We had to work out how to get videos online without blocking an already very heavily used internet service. So with the help of VHS volunteers and members, we set to work planning and setting out basic online rules and guidance.”
The Society now has many virtual shows offering Area Qualifying classes and a system to be able to offer competitors the opportunity of entering the Regional finals.
For those competitors who would like to enter any of the qualifiers, you simply need a person on hand to film the entree. No internet? No problem, a member of the VHS is on hand to help out, simply contact info@veteran-horse-society.co.uk.
We are very fortunate to have a very dedicated team and also some very special members, who have really helped each other, throughout this terrible time. Even the National media from magazines to radio, have really given us some fantastic coverage’
continued Julianne.
The Veteran National Championship will host over 100 classes for veterans. Competitors who haven’t qualified are still welcome to enter, however, the Supreme Final will require qualification from a Regional Finals either online or on-location.
