HPEC Newsletter Mar/Apr 2018

Highland Pony Enthusiasts Club Newsletter March 2018 Lunch will be available on the day and details of how to book will be announced soon. In past years some members have made it a weekend and arrived on the Saturday, with the overnight stay allowing them to take part in various activities the day before and dine as a group in the evening. Suggestions of accommodation and possible events will be posted out with AGM details in the near future.

Editor’s comment As we turn the corner into March, most of us will be beginning to breath a sigh of relief as the daylight hours are drawing out and we are able to start being more proactive with our ponies. It is also the time to make sure that you sort out membership for the next year either by cheque or BACS transfer (but please make sure you fill in a form and make it clear who the payment is for). Membership of course includes access to our extensive set of performance award activities and as there is something for everyone now is the time to get involved if you haven’t before. Download a copy of the form and get started.

Some members will be expecting foals this year and I would very much welcome photos and details for the foal’s gallery in the 2018 edition of the Highland Times Review. Fingers crossed I may even have some there myself this year.

HPS Youngstock Champion of Champions Due to concerns over the dwindling numbers of youngstock being shown in hand over the past few years, the Highland Pony Society are holding a new event in 2018 the "Youngstock Champion of Champions Finals", hoping to encourage people to exhibit their young ponies at affiliated shows and to enable these shows

Alison Payne

The AGM The AGM is hosted this year by the Pennine Group and is being held at the St John’s Centre in Penistone on Sunday 25th March. For those new to the group this is an event to be recommended. The business side of the day is dealt with quickly and all viewpoints are welcomed. Later on in the day there is a chance to chat to friends old and new, purchase items from our stock of promotional items and celebrate the achievements of members and their ponies over the last year.

to keep these classes in their schedules.

There will be two Finals held so that youngstock need not necessarily travel great distances. Exhibitors may choose which final to attend. One will be held at the Central Scotland

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had a colt foal. As this was the year of our 25th Wedding Anniversary we called him Domino Silver. Born a cream-ish colour, he was mouse dun under his foal coat.

He spent his first few years just playing and doing a bit of in-hand showing. When the time came to be broken in we did not feel he was big enough for me so, on the advice of a friend, we took him to the Wharley Welsh Stud. This was really handy as Steve was working a few miles away at the time and could keep an eye on his progress. After we had unloaded him and settled him in we adjourned to the kitchen for a coffee and chat. We were told that Silver wasn’t the first Highland they had had there.

Many years ago they found a Highland stallion in poor condition. They bought him, built him up, civilised him and successfully showed him.

They sold him back to Scotland as that was where they thought he should be. The strange thing is that this pony was Beinn Ruadh and on his return to Scotland he became Silver’s greatgranddad.

Whilst at Wharley, a family fell in love with Silver and wanted to buy him. As this was a ‘forever home’ and he still didn’t look big enough for me, we let him go. He seemed so happy and settled with them that we didn’t pursue it when they made it clear that he was now their pony and they didn’t want to keep in touch!

It came as a real shock when I got a phone call from the HPS several years later saying that he had been sold a couple of times and his registration certificate had gone missing. Could I identify him? Yes I could as not only has he got a lot of whirls but he has a small scar which happened after he was registered. If you didn’t know it was there you wouldn’t find it.

We kept checking the transfers in the stud books but still no record of him. After my illness in 2013 we really wanted to find the two ponies we had sold to “forever homes” that had gone missing. We put an appeal on the forum but nobody had seen them. We kept

Highland Pony Club Show at Strathallan on Sunday 2 September 2018, in conjunction with the Champion of Champion Finals already held there. The other Final, our committee are delighted to say, will be held at the HPEC Pennine Show at Adlington Equestrian Centre on Sunday 14 October 2018.

All affiliated shows holding a separate Highland Pony youngstock class or classes will be given a qualifier for this final. The judge will present the qualifying card to the top placed youngster aged 1yr to 3yrs from the appropriate class/ classes. If the top placed pony has already qualified then the card may pass down to the second placed pony but no further.

Entry to either Final is free and all ponies exhibited at the Finals will be presented with a finalist rosette. Champions and Reserves will receive championship rosettes along with £25 and £10 respectively.

The HPS Council hopes that this initiative will be well supported in 2018 and, if successful, may build on it in future years.

Finding Silver Most people purchasing a highland pony are genuine with loving homes who do what they say they are intending when they purchase a pony. But please spare a thought for the breeders, as despite how careful we try to be selling on a pony, it doesn't always go quite to plan………

On 12th July 1999 our lovely Domino Amber

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looking and in spring 2016 we put another appeal on the forum and this time “Rossie” found Silver for us. Renamed Mouse he was at a riding school in Somerset. I was shaking when I rang them but yes they still did have him and as they were closing down did we want to buy him back? Shocked, I said I’ll have to talk to Steve and would let them know. The answer was of course yes, but could we afford him? The school said they really wanted us to have him so would £500 be ok. Needless to say that weekend we hooked up the trailer and set off for Somerset. Don’t let anyone tell you Bristol is easy to get round or though. It isn’t, it was a nightmare.

I promised myself I wouldn’t cry when I saw him – I lied. As soon as I saw him tied up, waiting for us, I just ran and cried into his mane (even though it had been pulled). We didn’t need his passport, filled in by me, or the handwritten note I put in the passport showing all his youngstock results or the secret scar to know him – it was definitely him. He just looked at us as if to say I think I recognise you two but I’m not sure. After we had paid for him and loaded him I asked if he had any health problems. It didn’t matter, he was coming home anyway but we needed to know. Only

stiffness due to his advanced years – 17. They said he was very docile and deserved a happy retirement.

He travelled really well and was quiet even when we stopped for a comfort break half way home. Things changed as soon as we got stopped outside home when he started to whinny at the top of his voice. He leapt out of the trailer and was so excited. He must have recognised the smell of home. He was jumping

around so much we could hardly get his rug and bandages off. He strode up the track with Steve and went into a paddock on his own but next to his half-sister. When we checked him later that evening he was calmly grazing as if he‘d never left.

Gill and Steve Collins

Buyer beware As some of you may know we recently had to relocate our ponies. This involved the purchase of new stables and hard standing. All very costly. So, being very industrious Paul located some second hand stables on “Gum Tree”.

What a bargain - brand new on a trailer - never been erected. For sale at about half the normal price of 12 x 12 stables .There was a phone number to ring so we rang. A very pleasant chap explained that he had bought the stables for his girlfriend's daughter then they had split up and he wanted rid of them. Very plausible.

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On further questioning he advised us to send a 'BACS' transfer for the money and he would deliver them the next day but we had to be quick because other people were interested in buying them. Paul asked me to do the transfer of funds as he believed he had found a bargain and would save us money. Me being less trusting, thought it was odd that we needed to pay for the stables up front. I then thought that if we paid with a credit card we would have more protection if the deal went wrong. I soon discovered you can't pay by credit card to an individual so that was no good. We then suggested to the seller that we would have a trip out to view the stables and having seen them pay prior to delivery or we would pay cash on delivery. Neither of these options were agreeable to the seller and no deal was struck.

I made further enquiries about the person’s name and details with another member of the HPEC who lived locally and she had no knowledge of the seller. It all began to sound suspicious to me and we walked away. Who knows if we had a lucky escape or lost a bargain!! I am sure we are not the first folk to be taken in by what would appear to be a great deal. In this case we will never know. We now have 2 lovely stables complete with tack room

from a reputable company and are very pleased with our new stable yard.

Chris Bassett

What’s on March 4th- NW Area New Year Social at Crooklands Hotel (off J36 - M6) Sunday lunch 12.30 for 1pm 11th March NE Group M&M Dressage Day, East Durham College, Houghall Campus 25th - HPEC AGM at St John’s Centre, Penistone April 7th - Pennine Area Spring Show, Adlington EC, Stockport.

15th - HPS Study Day, Adlington EC, Stockport.

Welcome to……. ….new members and those returned after a break:-Angela Auker, Joy Johnson, Sheila Heyes, Beverly Kelly, Sandra Paterson and Joanne Ridehalgh

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The Pennine Area Spring Show is a qualifier for the HPS Youngstock Champion of Champions competition with three classes for highland pony youngstock to be judged by Chris Grant.

The HPEC National Show at Equifest is affiliated to the HPS having several classes for highland pony youngstock. This will also be a qualifier for the HPS Youngstock Champion of Champions competition. The judge is yet to be announced.

The NE Group have their annual camp on 4-6th May at Linnel Wood, Hexham, in conjunction with the North East FPS Group.

To book please contact Chris Grant by 15th March.

07787124413 or cwgrant@outlook.com or 4