MEMBERSHIP AND CONSTITUTION

On receipt of a written application for membership which include full details of driving experience and a successfully completed Safety Inspection an applicant may be allowed membership, unless objections to membership are correctly put forward and upheld.

All new members must be appraised by a designated person, for safety and suitability of turnout.

Membership fees shall fall due on January 1^st of any year and may be revised at the AGM. Fully paid up adult members may vote at, or make representations to the AGM, and shall each have one vote.

Membership will be void if the membership fee is not paid by 1^st March in any year.

There shall be the following types of driver membership: One year, Day visitor, also Groom membership and non driving Friends of the Poacher.

The AGM shall take place in November of each year, and 14 days notice shall be given to all voting members. The committee may convene an Extraordinary General Meeting upon giving similar notice. Failure to give such notice shall render any such meeting and any resolutions passed thereat void.

At any general meeting of the Club, voting on all issues shall be by simple majority of those present and entitled to vote. In the event of a tie on any vote, The Chairman, or in his absence some person appointed by the committee to chair the meeting, shall have a second or casting vote.

ADMINISTRATION

The ordinary administration of the Club shall be carried out by an elected Committee of at least five and no more than seven members, including a Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary. (These last to be three separate people). There shall be a quorum of four.

There shall be a President of PHC who shall be elected by Committee vote to serve for a period of 3 years (unless re-elected at the expiry of 3 years). The President shall not form part of the annually elected committee. The President shall be a point of continuity and stability for members and public but who will pass on any queries so raised with him/her to the elected Committee of the day for processing and action.

The committee shall stand down or stand for re-election annually; elections to the Committee are to take place at the AGM by written ballot. Nominations in writing must be delivered to the Secretary not less than seven days prior to the AGM. To be successful each candidate must receive 51% of the vote from members present entitled to vote.

The Committee shall have the power to elect sub-committees or co-opt members for specific delegated tasks. Such sub-committees shall be chaired by a member of the main committee.

The Committee shall have a general power to use the Club funds for the promotion of the objectives of the club and for its administration and may purchase such equipment for the club, as it may from time to time consider necessary.

The Committee reserves the right to refuse or withdraw membership, or to refuse any entry to any event.

The Committee’s decision on any management matters shall be final.

Any member of the Club who considers the Committee, or any member of the Committee, to be in breach of the Club’s Constitution and Rules shall have the right to require a meeting of the Committee at which the Chairman or Vice-Chairman and a minimum of four Committee members shall be present. The request for such a meeting shall be made to the Secretary who shall call a meeting of the Committee as soon as practicable after receiving such a written request. The member shall be entitled to be accompanied by another member of the Club.

The accounts for the previous financial year shall be audited and presented to the members of the Club at the AGM. The accounts shall be audited by an audit panel comprising three members of the Club elected for that purpose at the AGM, one of whom shall stand in reserve.

In the event of the Club being dissolved all capital and assets after payment of any liabilities shall be given to the International League for the Protection of Horses.

RULES

The Club is affiliated to the British Horse Driving Trials Association and may adopt BHDTA and FEI rules for competitions and may make local variations for Club events. These rules shall be listed in the annually issued Drivers Handbook and shall stand for the period of that Handbook. Amendments to said rules shall be made by committee vote and added to subsequent Drivers Handbooks.

All driving members must provide the Secretary or nominated person with a photocopy of their Third Part Liability Insurance and last premium receipt, or evidence of HHS or BHDTA membership when applying and reapplying for membership. Proof of current vaccination against Equine Influenza for all animals that will be driven with the club in the current season must also be provided. If the Committee shall consider any member to be inadequately insured or their animal(s) to be inadequately covered, the Committee shall refuse membership until such time as it is satisfied that member’s insurance is adequate, and their animals vaccinated.

If, in the opinion of a veterinary officer at any of the Club’s events, any animal is unfit to compete or to complete that event, that veterinary officer shall have the power to debar that animal from competing. If two or more members of the Committee shall consider any animal unsound or unfit to compete or to complete an event, those members may suspend that competitor until such time as the veterinary officer in attendance at that event shall make a decision upon the fitness of the animal in question.

Any two members of the Committee shall have the power to ask any member or any participant to leave an event, if, in the opinion of those members of the Committee, that member or participant is a danger to other members present, or to the public, or if the driven animal is being unfairly treated or is in distress in any way.

No horse or other driven animal under four years old may participate in a club fixture. The Committee reserves the right to refuse entry for any fixtures where it considers a turnout to be unsuitable or unsafe. Some types of Pneumatic-tyred vehicles are not considered suitable or safe for this club’s activities.

All members attending any of the Club’s events must have a competent, able groom aged at least 12. WHO MUST BE ON THE CARRIAGE AT ALL TIMES. Younger grooms may be allowed at the Committee’s discretion having regard for the size and nature of the animal(s) in the turnout, and in any case only at events which are confined to an enclosed field and NOT at drives or events using roads or tracks to which the public may have access. Younger grooms accepted in the way MUST wear a hard-hat at all times whilst on the turnout, and MUST be able to reach the floor of the carriage (or a secured block) with both feet in a braced position, (NOT on backsteps). Younger grooms accepted under these conditions and allowed on events over private land and tracks, do so at the discretion of their parents or guardians and entirely at their risk.

All drivers must be aged at least 12 to attend any club fixture. All junior whips must be accompanied by a competent adult groom, i.e. a groom who personally is able to drive and control the turnout in question.

Junior whips and grooms must wear hard-hats for all Club fixtures. Adult whips and grooms must wear hard-hats for all cross country fixtures and organised drives. Hard-hats should be of the jockey skull type, or have a harness attachment to secure them and should comply with the relevant current British Standard i.e. elastic attachment will not suffice.

Club drives shall be arranged in such a way that no more than THREE turnouts start the route together. The Committee member organising a particular drive shall decide how and when each group of members may start, and he or she shall have the power to ask any member to leave if he or she considers that member’s turnout to be unsafe for any reason.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

In the interests of safety the following procedures must be observed at all Club events

· Horses and ponies may not be lunged, long-reined or schooled under saddle in the box park

· All driven or ridden animals must proceed through the box park at the walk

· Driven animals should NOT be tied up whilst put to a carriage

· No part of the harness shall be removed until the animal is out of the carriage

· It is recommended that members carry a fire extinguisher in their motor vehicle

· A suitable spares kit must be carried at all club events.

NB In the event of any injury to any equine which necessitates veterinary treatment the owner will be responsible for any cost incurred.

The Committee has taken reasonable precautions to ensure the health and safety of everyone present. For these measures to be effective everyone must take precautions to avoid accidents occurring and must obey the instructions of the Committee and all officials and stewards at all events.

The Health and Safety Officer of the club shall carry out a Risk Assessment prior to every Club event. Any incident or accidents at any Club fixture involving personal injury or damage to property shall be reported to the Health and Safety Officer of the Club who shall enter it into the Accident Report Book.
Neither the Club nor the Committee nor any Land Owner nor any Agent, Employee or Representatives of these bodies accepts any liability for any accident, loss, theft, damage, injury, illness to horses, owners, drivers, grooms, spectators or any person whatsoever, save for death or personal injury caused by negligence.