The Country Land and Business Association CLA for equestrians

 There are many organisatons out there to help businesses the CLA is one of many that might be beneficial for your equestrian / equine business:

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) is the membership organisation for owners of land, property and businesses in rural England and Wales so that includes equestrian and equine business owners, here 's what they have to say about themselves:

 Anyone who owns rural land or runs a rural business will benefit from joining the CLA.
We speak for everyone who believes in a living and working countryside.
Through the experience and expertise of members and staff, we promote our members’ interests and influence decision makers to ensure the positive development of the rural economy.
CLA professionals lobby continuously at EU, national and regional level in the interests of our members ensuring a visible presence and influence in the media and with Government.
We achieve our goals by being professional, relevant and forward looking, as we have been since 1907, when we began. Read a short history of the CLA, written by Charles Clover to mark our centenary year.
The CLA in-house professional advisory team gives unlimited, independent and impartial information on a wide range of issues to members.

CLA members have access to our:

• Solicitors and Barristers
• Tax specialists
• Planning experts
• Surveyors
• Guidance Notes

This service is only a phone call or email away, and it is completely free to members.

CLA membership provides you with the knowledge and expertise to help you recognise all the opportunities and avoid the pitfalls as a responsible landowner.

Our membership provides essential support to all types of landowner – Do you own a country house with just a few acres? Do you own woodland or run a smallholding? Do you farm on a small or large scale, whether actively managing your land or leasing it to tenants? Are you an estate owner with your own diversified business streams or do you manage land on behalf of an institution? Find out more today.

Benefits to rural business owners

Membership of the CLA gives you access to a network of key landowning and rural communities throughout England and Wales. In addition, we provide you with free advice on all general aspects of rural legislation, so you can take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

Whether you run an enterprise which is connected to the land or simply provide products to the rural community, find out how the CLA can help your business. Find out more today.

Benefits to professionals working in the rural community

CLA membership can benefit you as a professional to provide a more effective and cost efficient service to your clients whilst enabling you to market your own business more effectively across the whole rural economy.

Whether you are a sole practitioner, a partner in a rural practice or large national firm, there are many reasons why you should become a professional member of the CLA. Find out more today.
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Clearing Hurdles: CLA policy on creating a modern and thriving equine business sector

The equine sector generates around £4billion a year for the rural economy, one of the largest contributions. However, the sector is also one of the most fragmented. So, it is important to stress that co-operation with other organisations will be vital to implement the policies in this publication.

The CLA paper, Clearing Hurdles: CLA policy on creating a modern and thriving equine business sector , sets out CLA policy on the equine business sector. It covers the need to enable equine businesses to thrive, the impact of the equine sector in caring for the countryside, and the role equine businesses play in enabling the public to enjoy the countryside.

To help equine business thrive, the CLA is urging the Government to reform the planning system so it is cheaper, simpler and faster. All too often, equine businesses are unable to develop because of restrictions put in place by the planning system. The CLA provides a "one-stop-shop", giving advisory and political support to the equine sector.

The CLA believes the Government should consider deregulation for smaller business tenancies while respecting the rights of those who own property. Moreover, best practice should be based on guidance rather than a prescriptive regulatory approach. In addition, equine businesses must be able to benefit from the significant communication and marketing advantages that superfast broadband provides. That is why the CLA is calling for a minimum of five megabits per second (Mbps) symmetric broadband speed for all in rural areas.

Insurance and the issue of insurance premiums remain difficult. The CLA is calling on the Government to make good its promise to amend the Animals Act. Costs for equine businesses have also increased as a result of the business rates system. This needs to be made simpler and the recent abolition of the partial exemption on empty commercial property must be reversed.

Equine businesses have a responsibility to ensure proper pasture management and to encourage biodiversity. The CLA believes a flexible approach has to be taken to stocking densities, reflecting the type of land and the activities for which the horses are used. The CLA also believes all equine businesses must ensure full compliance with Defra's Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and their Hybrids.

Equine business must similarly comply with the statutory regulations regarding water. The same is true for waste disposal, and equine businesses must be aware that Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) rules apply to horses that are kept on farms, or where a livery yard or stud farm is being operated.

As a direct result of CLA lobbying, many equine businesses are eligible to claim the Single Farm Payment. In light of the proposed reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) due to be implemented in 2014, the CLA is lobbying for certain equine activities to continue on land receiving payment under the CAP schemes.

The CLA does not believe the public rights of way network is suited to use in present times because it neither takes into account landowners' needs nor the recreational hopes of the rider. We need a modern, flexible network that simplifies the present cumbersome process of modifying routes and which also must reflect contemporary land management and recreational needs.

Equine tourism is not simply about riding. It incorporates myriad potential activities ranging from trekking to hacking, eventing to horse racing. For the equine business operator, the often-shifting regulations and tax rules and the complexities of the planning system mean many equine businesses fail to realise their full tourism potential. This must be put right.

This publication sets out the policy changes that the CLA believes will remove many of the hurdles currently facing equine businesses. The importance of making these policy changes cannot be underestimated. Without the right policy and advisory framework for the equine sector, the industry will remain fragmented and its economic potential will stay underexploited.

Download Clearing Hurdles: CLA policy on creating a modern and thriving equine business sector

Signs for your equestrian / equine business premises in the UK

Not everyone knows that there are certain rules / regulations / restrictions as to the size of sign you can use for your business and where you can put them. So if you're planning on putting up signs to attract custom check out the rules first.

There's a guide  published by Communities and Local Government that aims to explain to those wanting to display an outdoor advertisement how the system of advertisement control works in England. The booklet is arranged in separate sections and there are numerous illustrations which may show you how the system affects the type of advertisement you want to display.


Download a copy of Outdoor advertisements and signs: a guide for advertisers http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/326679.pdf

or request a copy by filling out the online order form:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/outdooradvertisements?view=Order+form&supplierId=1403822

The Facebook hotseat when it's best not to use a rhetorical title for your FB post

If you are using Facebook to promote your equestrian business (or indeed any business) you do sometimes have to be a little careful with you post titles read on to find out what happened to Dawn of the hugely successful blog Horse and Man when she titled a post rhetorically, it wasn't very nice:

I’m sitting here scratching my head…
The only reason I am relaying this information is as a warning – and perhaps some empathy -  in case any of you find yourself in the FB hotseat.
You see, I posted yesterday’s blog on the Horse and Man Facebook page, as I always do.  But this time, I titled it rhetorically.  The title of the FB post said:
(8/5/12) SHOULD I CALL THE VET? HMMMM… IT DOESN’T LOOK THAT BAD… (PS: Call the vet.) Click here: http://horseandman.com/medical/should-i-call-the-vet-hmmmm-it-doesnt-look-that-bad-ps-call-the-vet/http://horseandman.com/medical/should-i-call-the-vet-hmmmm-it-doesnt-look-that-bad-ps-call-the-vet/
And then it showed this photo of Wrigley’s wound from yesterday’s blogpost.

This is the photo that accompanied the rhetorical title of the FB post:; (8/5/12) SHOULD I CALL THE VET? HMMMM… IT DOESN’T LOOK THAT BAD… (PS: Call the vet.) Click here: http://horseandman.com/?p=23638

OY

I had no idea that not only would no one click on the link and read the post… but they wouldn’t even read the entire title of the FB entry!
Most people just looked at the pic, saw my first sentence and reacted – badly.  They thought I was posting a photo of my horse’s injury and seriously asking FB readers if I should call the vet or not.
Understandably, many of the comments were not pleasant.
And I suppose, if I was actually taking the time to post a photo of my horse’s urgent wound and waiting for responses from strangers on FB to tell me what to do, I perhaps might deserve some backlash…
But I wasn’t… except the way I wrote it and that photo made a large percentage of people get the wrong first impression.
Lesson learned.
I even tried to defend myself as this was happening.   I wrote a few comments in the middle of all of the other comments saying that Wrigley was fine and that I did call the vet and ‘calling the vet’ was what the whole blog was about…!
But, no one read those comments either – or very few did.
So, learn from my error and use FB carefully.  Don’t mistake its power.  It can do great good… and it can also skew information and spread that false info far and wide.

THE COMMENTS

Here are the first several comments.  You can see the pattern.
(I actually wrote back privately to the one woman who called me an IDIOT.  I wanted her to know that she had simply misread the title and probably not clicked through to the linked story…)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY…

Keep is simple, short and easy to understand on FB.
FB is a GREAT communication device and it is a very useful venue – however – when speaking to the masses that only have time for glimpses, it is prudent to be very clearly written.
The other piece I learned is that if people don’t think they know you,  they can be really harsh.

But, more often than not, especially with the Bucket Fund, I’ve seen it go the other way…  the kindness of FaceBook strangers has touched the HORSE AND MAN blog very often and that makes me smile and forget the nasty of today!

Speaking of tomorrow – a new Bucket Fund story is coming!

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!

Tonight I lost a friend

Tonight I learned of the death of a dear friend

found dead, alone in her flat

I hadn't seen her for nearly 20 years

but we had remained in contact by telephone.

She was always there to solve any horsey delimmas I might have had

with wise words based on a lifetimes experience of horses.

Tonight I lost a friend,

the world lost another soul,

a great horsewoman

and champion to the equine race.

January 2012 - Where does the time go?

Amazingly we're over half way through January 2012 already, Christmas has been packed away and any New Year's resolutions already forgotten. Where does the time go?

Well if you're self-employed and as disorganized as I am quite a lot of January goes in preparing accounts for the accountant and meetings with said accountant about the dreaded tax returns that have to be filed by 31st January.

Then of course there's the farrier, the vet for equine flu/ tetanus jabs. The constant battle with mud. Shall I continue? No because it might all end up sounding a bit like a moan and it's not really it's just life and 2012 is going to be grand, isn't it?

Incidently the photograph isn't mine I found it via Tumblr but I don't know's who's actual photograph it is. I thought it a charming idea and I wish I'd thought of it so it's here to remind me next Christmas to plant a baby Christmas tree in a vintage biscuit tin. If anyone know's anything about the photograph please let me know so that I can offer credit, thank you.

Happy New Year