by Joy Peters
Paula Clark was a promising horsewoman hoping to follow in her parent's footsteps. They had both been successful Olympians having represented Great Britain in the three-day team event.
Paula trained at the stables of the redoubtable Peter Mawson. He was a no-nonsense trainer who expected, indeed demanded, total concentration and application from his protégés. Paula's parents believed that Peter was the ideal trainer for their daughter who on occasion had a tendency for laziness - indeed this was one of the reasons they had enrolled her at Peter's stables.
Peter was brilliant at bringing out the best in his students. He encouraged and cajoled them but was not averse to using unconventional methods when this was necessary. Paula was approaching her nineteenth birthday and was grouped with a class of five girls of similar age and ability, although Paula was by far the most talented of the group. Peter was a great believer in the use of corporal punishment when he deemed it necessary to correct his pupils. Pupils and their guardians had to sign up to this as a condition of their training.
Peter discouraged the use of the whip on horses, openly stating that when a horse made a mistake it was generally the fault of the rider, and when not, the horses couldn't relate the whip with a fault.
Paula was a beautiful young woman who stood five feet six inches tall with blond hair, and looked stunning in her equestrian uniform. Peter always insisted that his students were impeccably attired and dressed in white breeches and blouse under a black riding jacket. Black riding boots and black helmet completed the ensemble. Underwear other than a brassiere was not permitted as this could show through their riding breeches. Because presentation and appearance were so essential in three-day eventing, the girls were required to be made up with appropriate cosmetics to enhance their overall look.
This applied to training as well. Peter always inspected the girls before they collected their horses and started their mounted training. Peter always carried a whippy little cane and any girl not immaculately dressed could expect this to be applied to her bottom. The girls always feared this initial inspection and generally made sure that they were properly turned out.
Training was always scheduled for Saturday and Sunday unless the students were engaged in competition. In addition, two evenings, Tuesday and Thursday were also set aside for training. Fortunately for the girls, there were grooms who prepared the horses but it was the student's responsibility to ensure their mounts were properly prepared. Fortunately for the girls, the grooms were brilliant at their task and there was rarely a problem encountered.
Paula arrived early for her Saturday training schedule. Her parents had dropped her off but didn't stay to observe her performance - although they did attend most of the events and all competitions. She brought her riding clothing in wardrobe carriers and placed them in the changing room before meeting with her groom to check that her horse, Champion, was ready. Champion recognised her straight away and Paula gave him a great hug. She then went to dress herself and prepare for Peter's inspection. The other girls arrived at similar times so they were able to exchange the normal greetings. As they had been together for the last year or so they had got to know one another extremely well.
At precisely 11am they formed up for Peter's inspection. He walked along in front of them carefully checking their appearance, and seemingly satisfied, walked along behind them. He stopped behind Paula.
"Did you check your riding boots before attending inspection, Miss Clark?"
"Yes Mr Mawson."
"Then how do you explain these marks?"
Paula had to twist around to catch sight of the back of her boots.
"I can't explain, Mr Mawson."
"Take two steps forward and turn around to face your fellow students."
Paula complied, fear beginning to swell in her head.
"Bend right over."
Paula complied and awaited the inevitable slash of the dreaded cane. It landed horizontally across her buttocks. The sting was instantaneous and caused Paula to jump up and clutch her bottom.
"Right, collect and mount your horses."
The girls returned to the stables and mounted their horses and walked out to the training ring.
"I want you to circle the ring anti-clockwise keeping six feet apart."
They made two circuits before being instructed to change direction.
"Miss Clark, I want your bum off the saddle. Miss Clark what is the matter with you - can't you comply with a reasonable instruction?"
Paula realised that the stirrups were too low and that whilst she tried to stretch upwards, her bottom kept touching the saddle. She tried to adjust her foothold in the stirrups to enable her to push up with her toes but was unable to make enough height to clear the saddle.
"Dismount, Miss Clark, and tether your horse. Then come and present yourself in the centre of the ring."
Paula reluctantly did so in the knowledge of what awaited her. She went to the centre of the ring and faced her instructor.
"I'm sorry Mr Mawson. My stirrups were set too low."
"Miss Clark I am well aware of the fault - but whose fault is that?"
"Sorry."
"Being sorry is not enough. You know the importance of checking the set up before entering the ring. Perhaps you need a lesson to remind you in future. Lower your breeches down to your knees and present that bottom of yours so that I might be able to impart something to remind you of the importance of this."
Paula reluctantly lowered her breeches as instructed and bent forwards.
"Feet apart and touch the ground between your feet. I don't want you falling over."
Paula was well aware of her exposure. Her bottom already exhibited a horizontal crimson line and that line was about to be added to. She awaited the first stroke from that dreaded whippy cane. She didn't have to wait long. The cane swished down causing her to utter a muffled shriek. A second stroke soon followed and her vocal response to this was louder. Louder still from the third stroke but she knew that she had to maintain position - this was commonly known as 'self-discipline'. A fourth stroke caused her to scream out. Fortunately, the beating stopped and she was allowed to stand up.
"Stay there Miss Clark, so that the other students can see what happens when they are careless."
Paula stood in the centre on the ring with her waist to knees fully exposed whilst the other riders circled her to view the five crimson lines etched on her derriere. It was so embarrassing but there was no way to overcome the situation. She would get no sympathy from her parents or indeed from anyone else. The 'exhibition' lasted only a few minutes and she was soon remounted on her horse, Champion, with the stirrups correctly adjusted. She was grateful that she could keep her bottom off the saddle!
Mrs Samantha Blyth was the Honorary President of the West Tinsley Hockey Club (WTHC) and had been for the past eleven years. As a recently retired Gym mistress and previous member of the England National hockey team, she was highly regarded at the hockey club and within the sport throughout Nottinghamshire.
WTHC had two senior women's teams and a junior team that were accredited to the Nottinghamshire County federation. The junior team fielded the under sixteen's and was the feeder for the two senior teams that played in the county league divisions one and two.
The teams had an illustrious background having been regular winners of their county respective leagues and knock-out cups. The club recruited its members from the local area - a prosperous suburb of Nottingham city - and from the two universities. There was always the ongoing problem of the exceptional players being torn between their university teams and WTHC but generally they were able to accommodate both demands.
WTHC's performance over the previous three years had diminished - both the first and second teams had been runners up in their respective leagues for the last two seasons, having previously been consistent winners, and it was often a serious topic of discussion at the club's committee meetings. Worse still was the deteriorating disciplinary record of the two senior teams. Players could be yellow and red carded during matches by the two umpires for unacceptable behaviour on the field, and the league had in place a system for fining the club for such misconduct. The club was fined a sum of £5 for each yellow card awarded and £25 for each red card. The club committee had required the player at fault to pay their fine but in recent years few of the student team members could afford it and were excused. This in turn had resulted in the team members able to pay their fines resenting the treatment given to the more impoverished members. The committee had therefore agreed to pay the fines out of club funding. This measure regularly resulted in heated discussion at the monthly committee meetings.
The matter was again raised at the January meeting. In the previous month the three teams had incurred no fewer than fourteen yellow cards and astonishingly five red cards necessitating the payment of £195. Mr George Blyth, the husband of the president, and the club treasurer, felt that it was inappropriate for the club to pay because much of their income came by way of an annual grant. Subscriptions from members accounted for only fifteen per cent of income, bar and catering revenue a further ten per cent, and other revenue sources about twelve per cent. George made his point convincingly and it was clear that a resolution to the problem had to be found.
A sub-committee was set up to come up with suggestions on how to address the conundrum. This group comprised representatives of the players - one from each team - and three members of the standing committee including George Blyth, the club's treasurer. At their first meeting, George summarised the background to the current problem and stated that the club needed to come up with a workable solution to address the financial constraints and the deterioration of discipline on the field of play. A range of potential solutions were suggested and quickly dismissed because they had been tried before and created knock-on problems. A suggestion that players receiving yellow or red cards should be suspended was mooted. Whilst this suggestion was not totally dismissed - several members of the sub-committee thought it likely that the teams might struggle to field sufficiently strong players. The committee agreed that some sanctions needed to be put in place for offending players but there was no consensus on what these might be.
In the event, it was decided that a letter should go out to all members of the club advising them of the unacceptable conduct of some players and the financial consequences of this. Furthermore, a levy of £1 a month would be charged to all players to cover the fines. The committee agreed to review the situation after a period of two months.
During this period there was only a negligible improvement in the situation - the indiscipline continued and the majority of players who avoided being carded started to resent the imposition of the levy. More importantly, the results of the three teams continued to slide and the first team had fallen to fourth in their league. This in turn resulted in fewer prospective members expressing a desire to join the club. Drastic measures were called for. The committee met to review the situation. It was agreed that offending members needed to either be punished in some effective manner or expelled from the club.
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