A WELL-known British ride judge, who was seriously injured in a fall at Balmoral Show, said the experience in the aftermath and lack of support and communication has caused a serious amount of concern around the safety and insurance cover for judges.

David Ingle fell from a four-year-old hunter at Balmoral on May 16th and has since been diagnosed with a neck and shoulder fracture. He was due to have his shoulder operated on, on July 4th, but this was postponed as the medical team felt the fracture in his neck was not stable enough.

In the nine weeks since, Ingle said he was offered no support and was initially told directly by a person onsite that Balmoral’s insurance would not cover his accident. In the last few days, he has been sent three insurance policies by the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society (RUAS).

Ingle is a former chair of the Showing Council in Britain. He is also the current show director at Hickstead and sport director at Bolesworth, while his day job is as an expert witness in the courts.

Speaking to The Irish Field, Ingle said: “Literally, just the last day or so, I’ve had some responses with information. I think there’s an awful lot of learnings to go on around how you deal with these things. Their reaction was that I would be covered under Sports Horse Breeding Great Britain SHB(GB), but I don’t know why they would think that would cover me to judge an unaffiliated class.

“English judges come to Northern Ireland a lot. It’s a huge honour to be asked to judge, but people aren’t going to come and do that, if they think they’re going to be put at risk. It’s caused a huge situation in England, because people really do need to know if they’re safe or not.”

Unsavoury

Ingle said the situation, which has dragged on for nine weeks has been unsavoury. “There seems to be a huge lack of communication. Literally in the last day, I’ve got their insurance policies, but then what am I supposed to do with those? They’ve got three insurance policies listed on it and I don’t know if they’re insured or not, because I’d have to be covered under one of their other policies. The only way I’m going to know that now is to now make direct contact with their insurance company.

“So I’m no further forward. To my thinking, I’ve come over at the behest of them to judge their own classes, so I’m working for them.”

Ingle said he is highlighting the issue so the same thing doesn’t happen in the future and he has not taken legal action, but hasn’t ruled it out either.

“Some people say I shouldn’t talk to the press because if I took any legal action, it would get in the way. But I don’t want to particularly cause problems, I just don’t want this to happen again, and I am desperately trying to communicate to sort it out.”

He added: “I work in the legal system, and I run some big shows and so, if I’m struggling to navigate this, then how are other people going to feel, who don’t have the experience that I’ve got? It’s not right.”

In a response to The Irish Field on the matter of insurance this week, Theresa Morrissey, Group Executive Director at RUAS, said: “The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society is very sorry that Mr Ingle was injured while judging at the Balmoral Show. We cannot comment on individual cases, however any suggestion that the Society does not have adequate insurance is factually incorrect. In line with other Show Societies, the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society has adequate and substantial insurance coverage.

“The Society takes the safety and care of all its visitors, members, and personnel exceptionally seriously. On behalf of the Society, I wish Mr Ingle a speedy recovery.”

Concerned

Ruth Flack, Chairperson of Judges Rules and Shows for SHB(GB), told The Irish Field that they have asked their listed judges to check with show organising committees to confirm that they carry an insurance policy that includes judges and officials and to request a copy of the relevant Risk Assessment showing how potential risks to them are mitigated.

“We are concerned that this apparent oversight may not be an isolated case. Many shows choose not to affiliate with any show society and therefore need to address insurance cover for the judges that they use.

“We ask all shows to check their insurances and be certain that they are covering the judges as part of this schedule. The judge is a vital part of what we do and they must be insured as standard.”

The Irish Shows Association (ISA) confirmed to The Irish Field that judges are 100% covered by their insurance policy at any ISA-affiliated show.