A standing ovation marked the retirement of Endurance Horse and Pony Society chairman Fran Kallaway after three years in the post.
The emotional tribute came during the EHPS annual meeting held at the Royal Court Hotel, Coventry.
In her final chairman’s address, Fran said that the highlight of the year had been the Millennium Ride event in which 924 riders had taken part, enabling the society to donate a massive £10,000 to the BHS.
Several rule changes were ratified by the meeting, including compulsory hold times in CTRs of more than 40 miles. The length of hold times will be at the discretion of the vet on the day of the ride.
The sparks that had been predicted over the future of the EHPS and the formation of Endurance GB failed to ignite. However, there was lengthy and lively debate on the way forward.
A majority of members present gave their backing to the formation of a single society and many were reassured by plans to conduct a “due diligence” audit.
There was strong support for the idea of slowing the progress towards unity with plans to run both societies alongside each other over the 2001 season.
Negotiations are set to continue over the formation of rules and a constitution for the new society and members are invited to have an imput.
For full report see Horse & Hound issue dated 30 November.
