The pre-war Fabians Sidney and Beatrice Webb apparently had a pre-marriage agreement. It wasn’t like today’s Hollywood prenups, designed to protect the assets of high earners when lascivious eyes roll on elsewhere. They simply agreed that Sidney would make the big decisions and Beatrice the small ones. Beatrice, however, had it sorted: she was to pronounce which was a big decision and which a small one.
Lately the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has been getting a lot of small decisions wrong. First it issued a ruling that in future all racehorses should be shod on their hind feet as well as their forefeet. The motive was worthy — to minimise the chances of horses slipping up and harming both themselves and their riders — but many trainers objected, particularly those who fear that when a horse suffers an overreach, with the hind hooves hitting the front legs, the injury is likely to be far worse when hind shoes are fitted.
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