HPEC Spring Newsletter 2019

Highland Pony Enthusiasts Club Newsletter Spring 2019 North-east Social On Sunday 13th January sixteen HPEC members and friends met at the Arden Arms in the North Yorkshire Countryside for the North East January Social. This was our first visit to this lovely friendly pub, with a quaint and friendly atmosphere, made even better by the two lovely large round tables we were sat around. As you can imagine, a lot of pony chatter mixed in with plans for the forthcoming year were the main topics of conversation along with our two ailing members comparing notes of their broken legs also high on the agenda. Quiet only prevailed when we were munching our way through the three delicious meals including a Sunday Roast.

The time flew past most speedily after an afternoon filled with food and pony chat and we all headed home resembling Highland Ponies!

Chris Grant

HPS Performance Awards 2018 England and Wales The HPS Performance Awards lunch was held at the restaurant/conference facilities at the rather smart Oakridge Arena near Newark in Nottinghamshire.

Anne Owen Walker and husband Steve made a marvellous job of the presentation of the event with information available to all to and a fun photographic competition for us all to vote on, which also raised £78.45 funds for the Laminitis Trust as we remembered Alan Butler’s Machelthy Sir Bertram (Bertie) who was lost to this ailment recently. The photograph winners were both club members:

Welcome to……. ….new members and those returned after a break:- Julie Lyon, Susan Perry, Shonagh Lawson, Laura Bennett Taylor and Zoe Marsden.

Lesley Dawson and Michelle Parkin Vaughan.

Out of the 43 returned cards 16 competitors were members of the HPEC, including three in

the top ten: 8th Dawn Farnish with Tower Emblem, 5th Mardy Fawcett with Tower Highland Piper and second Lesley Dawson with Trowan Promise. It would be nice to see a few of the other competitors join the HPEC and have a go at the club Performance Awards too.

Well done to our members and thank you to hosts Anne and Steve for a super day.

Alison Payne

Stop Press The Pennine Area Spring Show will this year have a selection of NPS qualifiers for both the Summer and Winter Championships, plus the HPS Youngstock Championship Qualifiers.

The Club will be running the Summer Show for the second year running in conjunction with Equifest at Peterborough.

All the show dates have changed and the inhand classes for both shows are (for this year) now on the same day (1st September). The Equifest classes will be in the morning and the HPEC classes in the afternoon.

Update on the website and forum Melody Ashcroft has very kindly been working behind the scenes on behalf of the club in the last few months on our new website. She is pleased to report that her work is nearly finished and soon we will have up-to-date electronic facilities for the club. The site should include an area for members to download relevant forms and schedules for events and also an ask the expert area.

Community Spirit In early November whilst taking the dogs outside on leads, I was catapulted off the step and landed with my foot in the feed bucket that some idiot (me!) had left outside the door.

Disaster…. I had broken three bones in my leg and ankle and dislocated one as well. My foot was literally flopping about on the end of my leg!

No time of year is good for things to happen but as I was about to start microchipping, registering and weaning wild foals I was in big trouble. Fortunately members of the highland pony community started to contact me and say if I needed any help then just ask - and they meant it.

Jan and Chris Grant kindly agreed to have Lackie at their place to get him tamed and all I had to do was get him there.

My problem of course was this was a wild foal and therefore completely unsuited to being transported by a commercial firm. However the answer to this problem was solved by Kath McKno (nee Dewhurst) who left her baby of just a few months in age with her mother for the day, drove over to Sheffield from Preston and then after the wild ‘foalie’ had been herded into an empty trailer drove me and Lackie up to Northumberland before doing the complete return journey. In all a round trip for her of 400 miles. It is was well worth her effort as Chris and Jan did a marvellous job, getting Lackie head-collared, handled, leading and picking his feet up. They did such an excellent job that he was able to come home on a small waggon with a commercial transporter.

Not only did Kath drive to Newcastle, but she, Betty Paul and Julie Beaty came to visit me to keep me from going stir crazy. Chris Bassett also visited me to keep me from climbing the walls and when I had no one else available took me to hospital for one of my visits to see the consultant.

Amanda Hart came to do preparatory work prior to a viewing of one of my pony’s for sale.

She would have done the viewing as well if the people hadn’t cancelled. Julie and Laura Drake came and took photographs and video for me of one of my ponies ready for sales adverts.

I have had cards and letters of encouragement to keep me cheerful and beautiful flowers from the NW area when I missed their Social which I was expecting to attend and also a lovely gift from my colleagues on the HPS Council.

One operation, two metal plates, ten screws and fourteen weeks on, I am beginning to make progress and plans for the coming show season.

My family and local horsey people have been marvellous but I have been overwhelmed by the concern, positive thoughts and help that I have been given by my friends in the highland pony world. There truly is a real community spirit.

Alison Payne

Search for a stallion Trying to find a stallion to use on your mare is like trying to find the Holy Grail. It is hard to start a search as no one knows where to look or what they're actually trying to find.

There is not an awful lot of information online.

A request on the Highland pony Facebook group has come up with a few suitable stallions but where do you go from there?

Many years ago stallion parades were common. This was an ideal showcase for any stallion owner who wished to stand their

stallion at public stud. Would there be a demand for this in the modern day? Or are online videos the way forward?

Of course there is the usual consideration of temperament, conformation, soundness but then we go on to the different bloodlines and different traits that certain stallions seem to pass on. For an inexperienced mare owner it is a minefield. How do you find out about progeny’s temperament soundness and conformation without looking at several of the stallion’s offspring, which is not always possible as the offspring can be spread across the country, many being north of the border.

The List on the HPS website is sadly out of date it would seem some stallions no longer take visiting mares. Perhaps a good idea would be online stud cards? With all the usual information i.e. stud fee, photographs and other information plus short videos of the pony trotting up in hand? It is not always possible to travel several hundred miles to view a stallion first. From my own experience, I had planned to use a particular stallion but after a visit I changed my mind as he did not tick all my boxes.

I am wishing I had begun my search for a stallion 10 years ago! For a single mare owner who has neither the space nor the finance to run on many youngsters, I am trying to make my choice as perfect as I can. I am fully aware that breeding a foal is an expensive way to get a new pony and nothing is guaranteed but I must try my hardest to get the best for my mare that I can So the search continues…

Michelle Parkin Vaughan

Pennine Area Spring Show The Pennine Area are holding their well established Spring Show on Saturday 6th April at Adlington EC, near Stockport. This year the classes will be affiliated to the NPS as well as the HPS, which means that not only will the champion In-hand and Ridden highland ponies receive HPS Championship rosettes but there will also be a silver medal rosette and a series of classes which allow qualification for both the NPS Winter and Summer Championships.

The show will also be a qualifier for the HPS Youngstock Championship.

North-west Social The NW Area organised a get together on the 11th of November at Barton Grange Hotel, where 10 of us had a lovely lunch accompanied by lots of pony talk, unfortunately numbers were down a wee bit due to people having prior commitments, but it was great as always to have a “catch up “ with friends. Hopefully we will be organising another lunch at some point this year and will try to let you all know in good time.

Julie Beaty

North-east events The North-east area are holding a variety of events over the coming months. Firstly on Sunday 10th March there is a M&M Dressage competition at, Houghall College. Entries can be made at www.clubentries.co.uk/hpec. On the 3rd - 5th May, the well-established

Highland and Fell Camp will be held at Linnel Wood, Hexham. Spaces are now full but spectators welcome provided they have pre booked. There are also plans being made for a beach ride and a Stud Visit later in the summer.

Non HPEC events which may also be of interest to members include on Sunday 10th February, the Winter Native Pony Festival, at Richmond EC, North York’s. This involves training in the morning followed by a show in the afternoon with lots of classes. On Sunday 19th May is the ever-popular Native Pony Festival, Newcastle upon Tyne. Classes cater for all and include breed In-hand classes. On Sunday 11th August, the Border Highlands Club will be doing a Stud Visit to Achancarry. All are welcome to join in and should contact Chris Grant for details.

The 2019 AGM The AGM (24th March) will this year be hosted by the north-east area of the club and will be at Dishforth Village Hall, North Yorkshire. The day will start at 11 with coffee and a chat whilst members are gathering together followed by the AGM where we will discuss club business and formalise plans for the club.

This will be followed by a talk on worming by Westfield Labs. After this there will be lunch at £10 per head. The afternoon will focus on a celebration of the achievements of members and their ponies in the Performance Awards ceremony. This is an important part of the club events and allows all members to be involved over a wide-spread area and there are a wealth of different competitions which people can be involved in tailored to their interests and their ponies specialisms. Needless to say there are many trophies and a huge number of rosettes awarded which help to mark these achievements. Worth considering becoming involved in if you are a newcomer to the club.

There will also be a raffle, so nice raffle prizes would be appreciated.