Issue 45 ruby year

Highland times

1974-2014 Issue: No 45 Ruby Anniversary Year Book

The Highland Times

SCOTLAND Mrs Connell, Pitmenzie, Glassart Glen, by Auchtermuchty, Fife. KY14 7HT. e-mail:pitmenzie1@btinternet.com Tel: 01337 828783.

CENTRAL-WEST MIDLANDS Helen Best, Gatesblay, Stychampton, Stourport, Worcester. DY13 9TA. e-mail:maxmystic@aol.com Tel: 01905 621122 / 07809 100772

NORTH WEST Kirstie Bannister, 63 Frith View, Chapel-en-le-Frith, High Peak SK23 9TT

WEST & THAMES VALLEY Penny Smith, Lower Nashend Farm, Bisley, Stroud, Glouc, GL6 9AZ

NORTH EAST Christopher Grant, Birks Cottage Farm, Heddon Birks, East Heddon on the Wall, Northumberland. NE15 0HF. e-mail:fullykittedout@hotmail.com Tel: 0191 2671610 / 07787 124413

ANGLIA Catriona Carnegie, 232 Ugg Mere Court Road, Ramsey Heighs, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. PE26 2RS. e-mail:talisker_ highland_ponies@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 07786 321658

Lianne Parkin – 11 Loweswater Cresent, Grangefield, Stockton on Tees, Teeside. TS18 4PY. e-mail:lianneparkin@ntlworld.com Tel: 01642 895109

SOUTH WEST Cathy Ives & Carrie Quick, Loosebeare Cottage, Zeal Monachrom, Crediton, Devon, EX17 6DP e-mail:carriequick123@btinternet.com Tel 01363 884260

PENNINE Alison Payne,Alderman’s Head Farm, Manchester Road, Langsett, Sheffield, S36 4GY e-mail:alisonpayne909@btinternet.com Tel: 01226 762844

SOUTH EAST Julie Robertson, 64 Chilworth Way Sherfield on Loddon, Hook, RG27 0FD Julie@warwear.co.uk

Amanda Hart, 31 Westfield Avenue, Thurstone Sheffield. S36 9RL. e-mail:hartsika@btinternet.com Tel: 07897 257166 EAST MIDLANDS Kirsty Wylde, Glenavon Dale, Lincoln Road, Nettleham, Lincoln email: wylde@kirsty@hotmail.co.uk Tel: 07917205251

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WALES Margaret

Life President: Penny Smith, Nashend Stud, Lower Nashend Farm, Bisley, Stroud.

Gloucestershire.

GL6 7AJ. Chair Person Helen Boden, The Barn, Mellor Hall Farm, Church Road, Mellor, Stockport, Cheshire. SK6 5CG. e-mail:Helen.boden2@btinternet.com Tel: 0161 449 7137 Vice Chair Christopher Grant, Birks Cottage Farm, Heddon Birks, East Heddon on the Wall, Northumberland. NE15 0HF. e-mail:fullykittedout@hotmail.com Tel: 0191 2671610 / 07787 124413

CONTENT 4-5 Bakewell Show- Report & Results 6-7 Bakewell Show- Photos 8-10 Mull Magic - Part 2.

12-15 CLANDON OLIVER TWIST 16-17 Pennine Group-Autumn Show 19 New Promotional Items 20-21 Life in a Trekking Centre 22-24 Try Tilting!

28-29 Articles from the past 30-31 The Highland Pony Walk 32 Promotional Items

Treasurer Amanda Hart, 31 Westfield Avenue, Thurstone Sheffield. S36 9RL. e-mail:hartsika@btinternet.com Tel: 07897 257166 Secretary Lianne Parkin – 11 Loweswater Cresent, Grangefield, Stockton on Tees, Teeside. TS18 4PY. e-mail:lianneparkin@ntlworld.com Tel: 01642 895109

Activities Helen Boden, The Barn, Mellor Hall Farm, Church Road, Mellor, Stockport, Cheshire. SK6 5CG. e-mail:Helen.boden2@btinternet.com Tel: 0161 449 7137

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A Dream come true pony

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Sarah Richards writing on her ‘dream come true’ pony, Carrick Hestan, a 23 year old highland stallion. Bred by Rhona Hyslop at the late Sheila Smith’s Carrick Stud.

I had suffered a freak riding accident in 2008 which resulted in me being immobilised for a few months. Once I was back on my feet I was eager to enjoy the great outdoors but a little apprehensive when it came to getting back on board a gg!

My fears were soon quashed when, out of the blue, I was offered Hestan on loan from the Elmere Stud. I gratefully accepted the offer and have never looked back.

Having had senior ponies as a teenager, I have always rated them for their wise and forgiving ways. Hestan is no exception to that, he’s an absolute pleasure. My confidence has returned, it is now more prevalent than it ever was.

In the six years we’ve been paired up, there’s been lots of treasured moments.

Once Hestan and I had got to know each other, we enjoyed some pleasure rides and had fun competing in Trec. I then did a bit of searching and found to my joy that the Veteran Horse Society held show classes so I decided it would be a nice idea to give them a go. I had done a little showing in the past but never at a high level.

So with the help of my fantastic mum who is ever present to help with grooming duties, we set off for our first show. My mum loves Hestan as much as I do. Mum won the HPEC Unsung Hero award a few years backs, it was a lovely emotional moment.

The veteran show circuit has turned out to be a very welcoming one where we’ve made new friends over the years. Hestan seems to love attending all the venues and he sure enjoys a catch up chat with his four legged acquaintances. There is one show buddy duo we miss though and that’s Alison Payne and her lovely late stallion, Langsett Tearlach (Teddy). In our first year showing, we’d be competing along side each other and it was much fun. We were all very sad to hear the passing of Teddy.

Hestan and I compete in-hand in the vet-

eran classes. We’d have tried to compete ridden but Veteran rules state ‘’it is forbidden to gallop’’ and Hestan being himself anticipates this pace towards the end of his show and goes super duper fast, and so, alas, we undoubetdly get a telling off!

But to our joy, we have had much success in-hand, taking reserve champion at our Olympia qualifiers for 5 out of the 6 years we’ve been entering them. we were so made up with these results, but being so near, yet so far to the elusive Olympia ticket, just made us more eager to keep trying.

In 2013 at BSPS Lancs Show, our lovely judge put us through to the Richard Leeman £1000 championship at North of England. This wasn’t an Olympia qualifier but the quality of the competition at the championship was immense, I had never competed against such beautiful animals.

I think there were about 28 in the class, all Champions or reserves in their own right from other major shows and many well known top show animals. With Hestan and I competing in-hand, we were dwarfed by the beautiful ridden horses. They called the results in reverse order, once it had got to fourth, I resigned myself to thinking we didn’t have a chance and just said to myself ‘’it’s been a nice day, we were lucky to have been here to begin with’’..... When the tanoy called our number for first place, I froze! for a second before running out of the line-up to take our champion position.

Brilliantly, Hestan’s human family were there to watch and they were bouncing about and woo-hooing at the side of the ring. It was a fabulous day, I never thought I’d ever feel relive that feeling.

A Dream come true pony

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A Dream come true pony

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7 A Dream come true pony

Five weeks after that show, together with a welsh pony and another highland (Sulasgeir of Dunrui), Hestan showed off his versatility by completing the 50+ miles of the Mary Towneley Loop. This circular ride is part of The Pennine Bridleway. It is a fantastic ride but taxing.

The terrain is hard going and I felt sorry for Hestan’s ageing joints but in his usual style, he was unfazed, in fact, he seemed to relish it, his Highland breeding no doubt making him feel (almost) at home. Adding to that, his favourite bit, undoubtedly was riding through a field of Shetland mares!. I feel between he and I, he was the fitter and didn’t seem at all sore, unlike myself (despite the comfort of a very nice seat saver!)

I figured everything was to change from then on as my other half and I had just found out we were expecting our first baby. We were happy parents-tobe but I was sad for Hestan, I figured he’d get the odd hack out but as far as showing goes, those days were over. Fear not and let this give hope to all pony owning mum’s to be.....a healthy baby Millie arrived in May this year and in the October, Hestan and I qualified for Olympia!

So I was lucky enough to relive that winning feeling and I truly can’t wait for us to be in that lovely old arena at Olympia.....wish us luck!

The HPEC Ruby Anniversary Champion - Results

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Ruby Supreme Championship Results: The Ruby Finals took place on Sunday 17th August kindly hosted by the Southern Highland Pony Show in conjunction with Equifest. The inhand class was first with a large number of ponies forward all of whom were of the highest quality. Our judge Jane McNaught certainly had her work cut out for her and coming to a final decision was an unenviable task. Any of those ponies would have been welcome in my stables sadly I couldn't persuade any of them to get in my car. The winner was Lochlands Prince Tamino a young colt with a very bright future owned and well shown by Steve Walker. The ridden final was again well supported with a fabulous line up of quality ponies all of whom went beautifully. Again judged by Jane it was Strathmore Robin that was called forward to take first prize. A lovely forward going grey gelding that was beautifully ridden. The Supreme Ruby Champion was Lochlands Prince Tamino The Reserve Supreme Ruby Champion was Strathmore Robin Also at the show there was a gathering to celebrate the HPEC's Ruby anniversary with a beautiful cake and some Bucks Fizz. It was lovely to have an opportunity to catch up and chat about ponies. For all those who asked I have to confess that the gorgeous cake wasn't baked by my own fair hand (as it was in fact edible) but was created by professionals. For those who didn't make it to the gathering we will be having a repeat of the fizz and cake at the AGM to celebrate the anniversary so you won't be missing out. I must add a huge thank you to The Southern Highland Pony Show for their generous hosting, Jane for a her excellent judging skills, Amanda Hart for her super eďŹƒcient stewarding,and general assistance with everything, Rosemary for awesome cake cutting and loan of gazebo, Pete for cork popping (well he is a student so he has had great practice at this skill) and finally all those who supported the Ruby Championships and those who came to the gathering.

In Hand: 1. Lochlands Prince Tamino - Steve Walker 2. Lochlands King Roger - Tracey Burton 3. Yerston of Alltnacailleach - Rhi Randall 4. Geordie of Castle Green - J. Drake 5. Precious Lassie of Combebank - Sara Fleetwood 6. Marksman of Achnaclone - Michaela D’Argatt Ridden: 1. Strathmore Robin - K Fairhusrt 2. Geordie of Castle Green - L Drake 3. Precious Lassie of Combebank - Sara Fleetwood 4. Valerock St George - Bev Neal 5. MacCallumdene - Holly Booth 6. Rory of Alltnacailleach – Holly Donaldson Ruby Supreme Champion Lochlands Prince Tamino Reserve Ruby Supreme Champion - Strathmore Robin

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10 Roving Ruby

Roving Ruby

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12 Roving Ruby

Early walking lesson

13 Lochlands Prince Tamino – The Interview Stable Name?

Ted, Teddy, Baby Ted or TBear

Carrots or polos?

Carrots. I have only had a few polos at shows but they are quite nice, I could develop a taste for them

Favourite pastime?

EATING

BFF?

Tom (Lochlands Choir Boy) – he lives in the next box

Naughtiest habit?

Rattling my door at feed time – Tom taught me how to do that as we are the furthest away from the feed room and mother doesn’t walk fast enough

Rugs?

What are rugs? Are they edible?

Teddy had a good journey to Yorkshire and joined our mini herd of two other Lochlands Highlands, Tom and WeePal, and the odd one out, Arnie, a 20 yo, 17+ hand, retired, little bit bonkers, TB x Warmblood.

We decided to stable Teddy next to Tom as all ponies seem to love him, even Arnie, but turned Teddy out with his uncle WeePal. This plan worked very well and he settled into our routine of being turned out during the day, pretty much whatever the weather, but stabled at night. Our routine is to feed at an hour familiar to a racing yard, then we grab our breakfast, ride (or I will lunge if Steve is away) whoever is being worked that day and then turn them out. That way, we finish in time to start our day jobs although I usually go on to muck out before starting work. Ted soon got very used to the comings and goings, seeing our ponies being ridden and all the usual things such as visits from the farrier and grazing with traffic going by on the nearby road, theoretically at 40mph!

The HPEC Ruby Anniversary Champion - at Home

Following his win in the HPEC Ruby Anniversary Championship, Helen asked if I would write a little something about our winning pony, Lochlands Prince Tamino.

Lochlands Prince Tamino, aka Ted, was bred by Kate Lawson and Willie Sinclair in Scotland in 2012. We had put our names down for a colt to join our other two Lochlands ponies for a while. It was love at first sight when Kate sent me his picture at less than 24 hours old and we immediately said yes to have him.

Kate gave me the honour of naming the foal but, being out of Lochlands Magic Flute, Kate said he should have an opera themed name like Magic’s other offspring. My opera knowledge is, shall we say, “limited” and so the laptop had a busy few days before we finally settled on his name. Prince Tamino is a character in Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute and as his sire is Whitefield Prince Platinum, there is a nice link to him too and so, Lochlands Prince Tamino it was. A long six months slowly passed until Steve and I drove up to Scotland to collect our very precious and very fluffy recently weaned foalie. We had waited to meet him before deciding a stable name but with all the fluff, how could we not call him Teddy.

The HPEC Ruby Anniversary Champion - at Home

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We decided not to do any foal shows as we wanted to concentrate on getting Teddy confident and settled. However, as the winter progressed we did take him on a few walks, just around our place. We were pleased to find that he would happily leave the others, walk past them, stand near them and generally took it all in his stride.

In his yearling year we did two shows.

The first was nice and local, in the next village and we decided to do the Youngstock class. He hadn’t travelled in the lorry since his arrival so we brushed up on loading over the preceding days. Teddy also had his first bath and off we set very early one Sunday morning. It turned out to be everything one wouldn’t want as a first outing but was all the better for it (once you are safely home). A noisy generator greeted us hiding behind a hedge in the entrance. Then we found there was no separate collecting ring/warm up space, just an open area surrounded by stalls, which were mostly still being erected with crashes and banging of metal poles and overly enthusiastic unfurling of tarpaulin.

The area slowly filled with people, ponies and pushchairs (all seemingly aiming for Teddy!). He was as good as gold, or maybe he was so just startled that he just stood and took it all in. Steve led him and they came 2nd with some nice comments from the judge. Our second outing was to NPS 4 show at Great Yorkshire Showground, which was the other end of the spectrum.

They have Highland only classes that we like to support if we can and thought the longer journey and more activity would be good experience. We nearly didn’t get to the ring as Ted saw tarmac for the first time in his life and was convinced it wasn’t for walking on. Sadly, he was the only entry in the yearling class but he had to be brave as exciting things like ridden ponies doing laps of honour were going on in adjacent rings. He was very good with that,

but did decide that trotting might be fun and Steve was far too slow. That winter we bitted him and did some work on improving his trot, but generally we just let him grow and get muddy.

With WeePal also doing shows, Ted didn’t come out as a two year old until June and the HPEC Show at Bakewell. This is a favourite show for us as there is so much space and a really good atmosphere. It turned out to be one of those days we will never forget as Ted won his class, went Youngstock Champion and then took the Supreme. That meant that we qualified and were heading to Peterborough in August for the Ruby Anniversary Final! We were smiling for weeks and I think Ted was too. It was another learning step for Ted as it was the first time he had stood on the lorry for any length of time – I do apologise to anyone who thought we must be antisocial, we really aren’t, we just didn’t dare leave the pony! It turns out I needn’t have worried and instead I should do the simple q y g ppy pp equati on, Haynet + Highland = Happy.

NPS4 August 2014 We were the epitome of calm the morning of the HPEC final as we knew there would be a big field of quality ponies, all winners, and with Ted being just about the baby we were happy just to be in the ring amongst them for an outing.

Ted, decided he would compete with the tannoy as to which of them could make the most noise to start with. However he quickly settled once in the ring where we even had a lovely family reunion moment when we discovered his full brother was there, having come all the way down from Scotland. We were thrilled to be pulled in first but then I stopped breathing as he did his show, others did theirs, the ponies walked round and then, WOW!, Ted was called as the winner of the In Hand Ruby Final. We had some time before the Supreme and so we popped Ted into the day stable I had booked for him. On seeing the box had a carpet of lush grass, Ted was a content and happy boy in there whilst we popped over to the HPEC 40th Anniversary stand for a delicious and reviving glass of Bucks Fizz and piece of cake.

So, then it was on to the Supreme, which followed the Ridden Ruby Final. I have to say it passed in a blur of breath holding and crossing anything I could cross. He did us proud again. It was such a special day that will never be forgotten for the win,

The HPEC Ruby Anniversary Championship

the great atmosphere, the friends who had come to watch, the many people who kindly congratulated us, and the whole competition that was judged and stewarded in such a friendly and constructive way.

Here’s to the next 40 years for HPEC and a massive thank you for the silverware, portrait, generous prize money and treasured sash and rosettes!

Postscript - Ted did one more show in September 2014 where again he did us proud. He gave us a flowing trot that helped win the Youngstock Class against light, elegant, plaited ones. He also got a 2nd in an all age, all breed M&M class. He is now out in his field all day doing what Highlands do best, eating and rolling in mud.



The HPEC Ruby Anniversary Champion - at Home

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16

Vet Perspective: Is insurance a good thing?

MT – Yes, it gives owners a choice in situations where their horse requires treatment. Few owners would have £5,000 that they could spend treating their horse, insurance means that they don’t have to worry about the financial aspect of the treatment. The leisure horse world would be a very different place without insurance, probably to the detriment of the welfare of these horses.

Do you feel that sometimes because a horse is insured that it receives treatment on occasions when it would be perhaps better not to treat – just because we can doesn’t mean we should?

MT – Again insurance provides the owner with a choice, if they choose to treat then they have made that choice already by having the insurance in place, so if you like when they took out the insurance they had already made that decision.

What about cases where treatment might not be in the best interest of the horse?

MT – Well often a vet wouldn’t know that until they start the treatment or have a definite diagnosis. Whilst a vet could suspect a fracture of the splint bone for example they can’t confirm that without Xray, the insurance would cover this aspect as well which means that more informed decisions can be made about the treatment. Without insurance to cover such costs clients may not be able to make informed decisions. Likewise with more invasive procedures for example colic or joint surgery the extent or severity of the condition might not become apparent until the surgery is performed, much of the surgery

is partly diagnosis and partly treatment. From the vets point of view they wouldn’t know this until they undertook these procedures and insurance enables the vet and the client to find out and make better informed decisions.

Do you feel that there occasions where vets do or prescribe unnecessary treatments due to insurance covering the costs?

MT – Whilst this is of course completely unethical it does happen, probably less so in equine practise than in small animal practice but it does happen.

17 Insurance

Insurance Many of us think of insurance as being a necessary part of horse ownership but with the cost of premiums rising year on year there is an increasing number who are taking the decision to cancel their policies and either “risk it” or make alternative arrangements. This short article examines various perspectives, that of the vets, the insurance companies themselves, the alternatives and includes a brief piece of market research to compare quotes from a small selection of companies.

Insurance

This then pushes up insurance premiums?

MT – Yes it does but it is a very small minority of vets who act in this way, most vets work hard to give clients value for money and work within very clear ethical boundaries.

Do you feel that equine insurance has benefited equine science?

MT- Possibly, however the biggest influence of developments in this area has been the racing industry, where very few horses are in fact insured but instead where the overall wealth within this sector of the industry means that there is more money available to treat horses and develop new diagnostic approaches and treatments.

How do you feel about limits on, costs, treatment time and exclusions?

MT – If a footballer injuries his leg it may be likely that he’ll have many operations and rehabilitation on that leg over a long period of time. The time limits placed on treatment effectively mean that a vet has to diagnose and treat followed by rehabilitation within a very short period of time. Therefore the option of wait and see is limited, there is more pressure on vets to treat and get it right first time. Therefore they may well take the more intensive treatment option rather than taking a more conservative approach as if such a conservative approach doesn’t work they may have run out of time or financial resources to go to the next level of treatment protocol. Some exclusions are just too broad, for example excluding all skin conditions after sarcoid treatment is unrealistic given that the skin is the largest organ in the body, similarly excluding a whole leg for one condition means that any unrelated conditions in the same leg are then excluded. This in my opinion is unfair and unrealistic.

Do you think that some owners have unrealistic expectations?

MT - Definitely yes. Statistically there will always be those horses who contradict the statistics after a particular treatment, those who recover well against the odds and those who don’t recover well even when the odds are in their favour. It is he vets responsibility to give unbiased advice based on the anticipated outcome which in turn is based on previous experiences and cases. The final decision is the owners.

Do you think vets are “good” at giving appropriate advice when the prognosis is poor?

MT- It is very difficult to advise an owner that the end has been reached. Owners have such strong emotional connections with their horses that these sorts of conversations are inevitably very difficult. The vet’s role is to give the options but it’s the owner’s role to make the decisions. Some owners will pursue all treatment options regardless of whether or not the insurance will cover the costs such is their emotional connection to their horse. If a vet gives them a highly negative prognosis it is not unusual for them to then seek an alternative opinion from another practise and pursue further treatment options. In which case the first practise has in fact lost a client. Vets can only give their opinions based on the evidence that is in front of them and their past knowledge and experience of similar cases. The ultimate responsibility to make those decisions rests with the owner.

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Outlined below are these guidelines: 1.

BEVA considers that the decision to advise an owner to destroy a horse on humane grounds must be the responsibility of the attending veterinary surgeon, based on his assessment of the clinical signs at the time of examination, regardless of whether or not the horse is insured. The veterinary surgeon’s primary responsibility is to ensure the welfare of the horse.

2.

BEVA recognises that there may be occasions when the attending veterinary surgeon will advise euthanasia but such a decision may not necessary lead to a successful insurance claim. It is important that all parties are aware of this potential conflict of interests before a horse is destroyed. It is the owner’s responsibility to ensure compliance with any policy contract with an insurer.

19 Insurance

Sample Quotes: The sample quotes below are based on a fictional 14hh 8 year old grey Highland gelding called Jock undertaking hacking and general riding club activities using lowest excess with a £3,000 value with no pre-existing conditions and not including loss of use but including death, theft and straying.

The quotes below are just samples and some offer more or less cover and have different criteria for acceptance they are therefore only a rough guide to the variation of the quotes available. They cannot provide any indication of the quality of service provided by these companies.

It should be noted that the cost of the quote could be altered by increasing the excess and decreasing the amount of cover for vet fees. It is however, interesting to see the variations between companies.

Company Vets Public Excess Annual Name Fees liability amount premium Pet Plan £5,000 £3 million £145 £727.44 South Essex £5,000 £2 million £135 £585.12 Insurance Brokers Shearwater £5,000 £2 million £150 £475.34 KBIS £5,000 £2 million £140 £559.68 E&l £5,750 £1.25 million £149 £268.59 Equicover £5,000 £1 million £135 £487.50 British Equine Veterinary Associations Guidelines Many horse owners face the situation where a horse/pony has a condition that isn’t going to get better or a condition that prevents the animal fulfilling the purpose for which the owner intended. Whilst many of us would like to be able to retire such animals to the field the practicalities of such situations and the financial burden may mean that this isn’t possible and the only option is to humanely euthanize.

Owners are frequently frustrated when despite paying substantial insurance premiums the insurance company will not agree to having the animal put to sleep as the condition that it is suffering from doesn’t meet the BEVA GUIDELINES FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF HORSES UNDER AN ALL RISKS MORTALITY INSURANCE POLICY.

Insurance

4.

Insurance companies frequently require some form of examination after death.

Owners should be made aware that it is their best interests to retain the carcase, or appropriate parts, for this purpose. The horse should be positively identified.

5.

It should be stressed that in the event of a horse being destroyed on grounds which justify a claim it is still the responsibility of the insured to prove that all policy terms and conditions are complied with and were current at the time of the incident.

Whilst the guidance is clear it could perhaps be argued that it can present the owner with many challenges at a time of great emotional stress and even after the event when they may have to keep the body of a beloved animal, organise for a post mortem and pay for that post mortem.

Insurance Alternatives?

Insurance is a costly factor of horse ownership and each individual will have to carefully assess the risks and costs associated with holding or not holding insurance. Some individuals now choose to set aside a monthly amount in a separate bank account to deal with unexpected vets fees or alternatively paying for such costs on a credit card means that the costs can be spread over a number of months although clearly there is often interest charged but these may be less than paying for long term monthly or annual insurance premiums.

Whilst vets fees form an important part of an individual’s decision to insure or not insure one area where owners must make consideration is with public liability. Horse sport, even a gentle hack up the lane, does come with significant risk. In today’s litigious society it could be regarded as foolish not to protect ourselves from such risks. Therefore such public liability insurance should be seen as valuable. Many equine based organisations provide members with such insurance as part of their membership packages, for example, The British Horse Society, The British Driving Society and the National Pony Society. Whilst such policies are regarded as being those of “last resort”, i.e. if you have any other such policies these would take precedent membership of such organisations does allow the member to have some level of cover.

A final area to consider is that of events insurance, of course we don’t want to think that something will go wrong at an event but it is important to make sure that the organisation/ business/individual organising such an event has a good level of insurance cover to protect both themselves and those participating in the event. Particularly at smaller events both mounted and unmounted it is surprising how many don’t consider this area. The good news here is that the HPEC does hold such insurance which means we can be confident that any events organised under our banner are suitably protected.

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21 Insurance

In conclusion: Each horse owner will make their own decisions based on their individual circumstances.

The BEVA policy is interesting in the sense that does this let owners down when faced with difficult and emotional decisions? Is it really in the best interest of the horse who has a long term problem but where the owner can’t recoup any financial assistance from the insurance company? In terms of welfare does this mean horses that should be euthanized aren’t?

Clearly there are substantial differences in the price of insurance based on one example, is the quality of service different if you pay more? That is a difficult question to answer as you won’t know until you need the insurance and then its too late. The equine sector is in fact a very small sector of the overall insurance market so it is unlikely that competition between companies will ever have a significant impact on the cost of premiums.

An area that is though without doubt of great importance is that of public liability insurance.

In an ever increasingly congested world of traffic, mountain bikers, walkers, etc. where people are more than happy to take legal action if they feel that they or their property has been damaged it would seem foolish not to be protected from such a risk, yet there are more options available to access this level of protection and it could be argued that the levels of protection given through the policies outlined here are in fact insufficient.

Ultimately it comes down to individual preferences and decisions as to what they perceive their needs to be with regards to this area.

Jean Connell – President of the Highland Pony Society

Jean Connell took the chair as President of the Highland Pony Society in 2013. She was a junior member of the Highland Pony Society in the 1960’s and a full member since the 1970’s. She is also breeder of the well known Achnacarry Ponies and is a committed and dedicated enthusiast of the breed. As like many of the breed’s stalwarts she has an interesting history.

Her family were not involved with ponies or horses, although as she grew up in the era of horse drawn milk carts and coal carts and with Clydesdales ploughing the local fields, Jean developed an affinity with horses. Also her father served in the war where horses were widely used and she still has photographs of his horse, Sally.

Jean was born in Edinburgh and was mainly based in Lanarkshire until she was 10 years old. However her father went out to East Africa, to Kongwa, in 1948 and along with her mother and brother she went out to join him there. Her father was employed by the agricultural college and went out to work on the introduction of the Ground Nuts Scheme (peanuts) which ultimately was a failure. The family stayed in Kongwa for three years and Jean was 4 years old when the family returned to Scotland. The following year they returned to Africa, this time to West Africa, and lived in Accra in the Gold Coast, now know as Ghana, where they lived for two years.

In the 50’s, after their African experience, Jean’s father retrained as a school teacher and with associated school holidays there was nothing they liked better than to spend time in Portmahomack near Tain in Rosshire. On route they passed through Newtonmore where there were always highland ponies at the roadside and these struck a chord with her and started her love affair with the breed.

Jean longed for a pony of her own and

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would cycle miles in the hope of finding a pony on which she could beg or borrow a ride. She used to write to all the societies and rescue centres to see if they would lend her a pony. One of these societies was the Highland Pony Society and they put her in touch with Ella Kirk who lived at Kaimeknowe, Glendevon and bred Highland ponies under the Hunthall prefix.

Jean and her mother were duly invited to see the ponies. One of the stallions was Mac of Hunthall who appeared on the Society leaflet years ago ploughing along with another pony. After this visit Jean was hooked!

Tragically in 1962 Jean’s brother died at the age of 24, which devastated the family. To help her come to terms with her grief, Jean’s uncle offered to buy her a pony and on contacting ‘Tella’, as Ella Kirk was affectionate known; they were put in touch with Ella’s cousin, Mrs Margaret Barr of Drumloist Farm in Callander who just happened to have some ponies for sale. They purchased a rising three year old yellow dun gelding, Drumloist Jock (by Mac of Hunthall out of a black mare called Cullvouie) in 1963. He gave Jean endless pleasure until 1975 when sadly he had to

Jean has a strong commitment to the breed and simply states that she cannot live without highland ponies in her life.

At present she has 17 ponies. She loves everything about them. She has always been a fan of their beautiful long manes and thick and luxurious tails. She also loves the variety of colours, their good bone and their great feet, their kind eyes and of course their superb temperament. In a nutshell they are her perfect pony. She does appreciate other native breeds but considers the Highland Pony to be in a class of its own. Jean is anxious to conserve highland ponies and ensure that owners and breeders don’t alter the breed standards by modifying ponies to

produce for the show ring and forget the purpose for which they were originally bred.

All Jean’s highland ponies have touched her life, some more than others, but the three half sisters out of Julie of Lundie have to be amongst her favourites - all special - but different. Meg was her perfect foal and they had loads of fun together winning many championships and Jean regrets that she didn’t breed more foals from her.

Midge (who is the dam of Rannoch, Rowan and Rosanna to name but a few foals), has always been a favourite and again Jean had a lot of fun with her. The other half sister was Mhairi who like Meg was broken to saddle, so again only had a few foals because she was ridden so much. Of course their dam, Julie of Lundie was quite a character and scared the life out of some of Jean’s friends with her habit of flattening her ears back at people and wrinkling her nose when she came towards you...but another old favourite. Then of course there was Xanthe of Whitefield, purchased as a foal and another who gave such fun. Xanthe could turn her hoof to most things; from performing in the local outdoor nativity play where she walked on to the stage; to playing at being a western pony. All the ponies played a part in Jean and husband Tim’s lives. Skye was Tim’s pony and a firm favourite but little Rowan was his second favourite. Then of course there is the “golden boy”, Euan whom Jean loves dearly and then of course all the rest.

Jean’s philosophy is to breed a type of Highland Pony which has; good bone, a pony head, a good top line and a good temperament is paramount. They must also have feather and good thick manes and tails and excellent feet. Ideally they are around 13.3hh to just over 14hh but sometimes larger ones pop out! Her philosophy obviously works as Achnacarry ponies have been prolific winners for many years.

23 Jean Connell – President of the Highland Pony Society

be put to sleep.

By this time, Jean couldn’t live without Highland ponies. In 1977 she visited Whitefield Stud and was shown round every single pony by the late George Baird. She bought Ella of Whitefield who was in foal to Crusader of Whitefield. Ella produced a lovely filly foal in 1978. This little foal was her first homebred pony and was named Mollaig of Achnacarry. Jean’s maiden name was Cameron, the family home in Falkland was called Achnacarry after the ancestral home of the chief of clan Cameron and so it became the appropriate name for Jean’s highland pony stud. In 1979 Jean bought Julie of Lundie at the dispersal sale of the Lundie and Campsie ponies in Perth Mart, and she along with Mollaig were the backbone of the stud. Apart from buying in Xanthe of Whitefield and Tarka of Orangefield, her older stallion, her ponies all go back to these two mares.

Jean Connell – President of the Highland Pony Society

Amongst her greatest achievements Jean ranks; winning her first red rosette at the Highland Show with Mollaig of Achnacarry her first homebred filly as a 2 year old in 1980; winning Reserve Female Championship with Julie of Lundie as a 3 year old at the Highland Show in 1982; winning Reserve Female Championship with Rowan of Achnacarry (Julie of Lundie’s grand-daughter) at the Highland Show in 2009; winning the Gelding Championship with Euan of Achnacarry at the Highland Show in 2010 and winning the Male Championship and Reserve Overall with Rannoch of Achnacarry at the Highland Show in 2011. Her main ambition is to win the Female Championship and Supreme Championship at the Highland Show, but considers that it would also be very nice to win the championships at the Breed Show and Blair Atholl, both of which have always eluded her.

Jean will have completed her two year term of office as President of the HPS in June 2015 when she hands over the reins to the incoming President. She stresses that it was a huge honour when she was invited to take on the role and a privilege to carry out the subsequent duties. The job is a vastly interesting one but at times can be quite difficult. She maintains that as President one has to be tactful, a good listener with a good sense of humour and a thick skin! It involves a lot of hard work but is rewarding and it is always good to catch up with like minded people at meetings and shows. She also is adamant that every president needs a good efficient secretary and Susie Roberston definitely fits the bill.

In the 1980’s Jean was introduced to Major Tim Connell at a HPS dance. Tim was an active member of the HPEC, having the ride and drive pony Nashend Griffon and ridden pony Ailsadene. He completed a term of office as chairman

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and was also treasurer for many years.

Tim had just been given a posting to Nepal and so it wasn’t until 1990 that they met up again. This time it was when they were both on Central Scotland Highland Pony Club committee and were helping set up rings for the club show. Tim asked Jean if she liked the theatre - and that was it. The rest as they say is history. Tim was the best thing that ever happened to Jean as she freely confesses. Certainly it was remarked upon by many people that they were made for each other. As a devoted couple they were seen at very many events together, clearly enjoying their shared love of highland ponies and usually with an escort of Standard Schnauzers and a Labrador in tow. They jointly acted as HPEC area reps for Scotland for many years. Sadly Tim died at the beginning of 2014.

Jean is bravely carrying on showing both her dogs and ponies and breeding more of her beloved Achnacarry highlands. With her devotion to the breed, it is hoped that at some point in the near future she will achieve some of her showing ambitions by winning the coveted Overall Championship at the Royal Highland Show and the Breed Show.

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Jean and Rowan

Pear tree Paddocks and our memories

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I was made redundant in early 2010 and with three horses at livery the prospects of them all staying with me was not good. I was gutted. Artie was 16 and had been with me from a weanling and joker was Harriets trusted pony so it looked like the likely candidate for rehoming was Gamble. She is the horse that I ride (being a partbred she is 15.1hh) and was more comfortable after my car crash some years earlier in which I had sustained a back injury. To say I was gutted was an understatement.

We had previously loaned a section A for Harriet from a friend and she kept three of her ponies on some land in a village about three miles away. She heard that I was in difficulty and in Morrisons one day she stopped me and asked what I was going to do. She offered me part of the field, Just over an acre and a half and the payment each month was £80 (my livery bill being £320!)

On 3rd march 2010 I moved the horses to the field, a cold day and I a bitter sweet moment. I had left behind a lot of friends at the yard, a safe space for Harriet,

an indoor school, trailer parking, a coffee room but I kept my beloved ponies.

I cried every day I went to see them but with the help of my family and Mark we managed to put things in place and make it right. My friend had moved her section A ponies the day before we had arrived so I had the full three acres and she had decided to rent other land so I feel I almost queue jumped into what has turned out to the best thing I ever did for the horses.

As the months of that first year went past and the days got warmer we prepared for our first winter. I was dreading leaving them out having had them in on snowy days for the last few years and in the middle of the summer my friend gave me a stable from her field as the roof had blown off and she was not able to mend it. Mark took up the challenge and repaired the roof and then we had a few lads down for a roof lifting party and Joker had a stable.

ber some of the better days, see my daughter Harriet and the ponies grow up. Enjoy the ever changing paddocks.

Remember the highs and lows, look back at the weather a year ago or two.

We now rent land around the corner and grow our own hay, and our ponies have almost become self sufficient!!

So from that day in March in 2010 when my friends from the yard made no comment when they saw the state of the field I had been forced to move to, right up to this morning which was crisp frosty day when the ponies asked to go to the middle field (where the grass is greener), I can now say that I am changed. I cannot think of or imagine life without the paddocks, the fresh fruit and vegetables that it gives me, the glorious sunrises that it shares, the loving moments with the ponies who have become closer friends and who give me special moments of joy of interaction.

The blog gives me more. It gives me the moments back in the winter evenings to enjoy again and again.

Please visit us and see my family at peartreepaddock.blogspot.co.uk but more importantly set up your own blog. Let your special moments with your ponies become an important memory and have fun. Our pony ownership may not always be how we wish it but it is special to all of us and can be transformed into our story.

Happy blogging everyone!!

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Pear tree Paddocks and our memories

On 18th December in the middle of a snow storm (and an early present from my parents) our new double stable was erected by Sean and Mark (I was ill at home – something that I have never been able to forget!!) and Artie and Gamble had a home.

So 2011 brought about the new challenge of learning more about the land, mending and painting fences and the paddocks came to life.

In that year we made big big plans for the paddocks and Mark put together a blog for me. I was not convinced as I was bit of a technophobe but he convinced me to try it and post pictures of what we were doing. I couldn’t do this and so Harriet was put in charge of taking pictures and putting them onto the blog. We had a small allotment and I took some of the people I work with along to dig potatoes and cook them. Most had not seen a sheep in real life so horses to stroke was amazing and digging potatoes from the ground was something else.

In 2012 I got my first smart phone and pictures became my daily thing. Early morning rises to put in eye drops, let ponies in and out of fields, or breaking ice in water buckets have become a fun moment and the point in the day that I cling onto. The paddocks have become a massive part of my life and an ongoing story. The ponies have a lovely home, warm stable, woodpeckers (and Kevin Phillips the footballer) as neighbours. They are calm, they are quiet and I am content.

The blog has enabled me to remem-

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A Cup of Mystery

For the past thirty years or so my Mum has had racehorses in training. As a family we have all enjoyed going racing together and although none of our horses have been “black type” (winners of listed or group races) we have had some good times with them at various tracks around the country. Thy have all been National Hunt horses so have run over steeple chase fences or hurdles with the occasional National Hunt flat race (a bumper).

One of her best horses was named Cantorial and he ran at various tracks throughout the south and south west. Cantorial had a distinction of never falling in any of his races and in retirement went on to be a successful point to pointer for a young lady.

On one memorable occasion he was entered for a sponsored steeple chase at Plumpton in East Sussex and we all set out with high hopes from our homes here in the west country to take a tilt at the race in the south east. To our great joy Cantorial won the race and Mum duly accepted the prize and a lovely cup which had been presented by his family in memory of a local showman. We returned home bathed in the golden glow of success and the trophy graced Mum’s mantle piece for a year until it was time for the race to be run again.

In order to return the cup safely to Plumpton Mum arranged to take it tour local racecourse at Taunton to be collected by a Stipendiary Steward – that is a steward of the jockey club who is paid and covers a number of racecourses rather than a local steward which is usually an honorary position held by someone from the local racing community. The cup was duly collected and taken on the journey back to Plumpton in time for the race.

Mum and Dad were in the lounge a few days later taking a drop of sherry before lunch when the phone rang. Dad bustled off to answer it – no doubt wondering who on earth would be phoning them at sherry time – and a gruff voice said to him “if you want to see your silver cup again you will have to leave five thousand pounds in used notes in a bin at the bus station in Lewes”. Well – my Dad was not a Dessert Rat for nothing and he was not going to be threatened in this way by any old thief! I can just imagine my Dad saying something on the lines of “Now look here young man ………..”. Dad called the police and later in the day a couple of detectives came to the house. Much to Mum and Dad’s amusement they were interviewed separately – Mum in the kitchen(!) and Dad in the lounge. They told their story and the police in East Sussex were informed.

It transpired that the car in which the cup had been travelling had been parked – somewhere where maybe it should not have been (but that is someone else’s story!!) and whilst there it had been comprehensively robbed of the contents. The cup had been traced through the engraving on it of the name of the horse, the trainer and my mother.

The thief had gone to the trouble of tracking my mother down and then made the mistake of threatening my father!!

The lovely cup was eventually found roughly hidden in a grave yard when a lady went to change the flowers on a family grave.

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Where it all started - The first ever Highland Times

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Where it all started - The first ever Highland Times

had no experience of horses while growing up in the U.S. or in my young adulthood in England and the whole world was fascinating, enthralling, intimidating, exciting and comforting in equal measure. I didn’t mind being a middle aged man entering small competitions at the local riding school and getting beaten by any number of teenage girls-that wasn’t the point, it’s the “ride” in the broad sense that fires me up-perhaps the right word is “adventure” (unfortunately I can’t use “journey” as it’s so debased by reality TV programmes). As well as gradually improving my riding skills and understanding of horses (from undifferentiated to hugely individual), I have also learned about the differences and uniqueness of the native “hairy” types, Highland, other ponies and cob, quite apart from throat latches, martingales, getting an outline and flying changes (how does anybody do those deliberately, by the way…) etc.

By 2011 I was enjoying regular twiceweekly lessons and also contributing to Shay’s care, but the next stage of the adventure was about to begin. A mother and (adult) daughter based at the stable offered me a one-day-a-week lease of their Highland pony/cob/ID cross Morag, a (then) 18-year-old grey mare around 14 hands three inches. Morag had and has no trouble carrying my 13 stone weight and 6’ 1” height although early on she did seem-how shall I put this-very resistant to the leg! But we soon got to know each other and, even though I didn’t increase my overall riding frequency of typically twice a week, the fact that I could go around the bridleway, and do other things with Morag with a bit more freedom and with a regular commitment to one horse was another new experience for me. cont.

49 Ten years of riding: A part-Highland adventure

In 2005 I was casting about for a new hobby after a few difficult years. I enjoyed going to watch cricket and live music, but these are ultimately passive activities. I tried a canoeing course and enjoyed this well enough but realised the best bit was the Eskimo roll where you had to actually get into the water-and I already liked swimming! But I was missing something.

Two years previously my wife Bronagh (Walsh not Verschuur) had started riding again for the first time for a number of years, having regular riding lessons at a friendly local riding stables. For about a year she suggested I should give it a try but, for some reason, I was resistant (it baffles me now why more men don’t ride). In the summer of that year I finally gave it a go. I had only been on a horse twice before in my life but never anything as far as a lesson. I can still remember the very first lesson on a warm summer day where my instructor patiently started me off with a few basics and we got as far as a first tentative attempt at rising trot. I really enjoyed it and decided to do it regularly but at first infrequently-first every three weeks. Soon it became every two weeks, then weekly, and finally twiceweekly, all lessons in an outdoor flood-lit sand school.

A year later, in 2006, Bronagh bought Shay (Seamus of Langsett), an eight-yearold Highland Pony gelding. So not only was my embryonic experience with riding as adult learner (38 years of age when I first started) involving riding lessons, but also learning about what owning a horse means, with its attendant joys and pains (sweet itch, finding a saddle that fits properly for a wide-backed native pony and in the longer term challenges with loading), albeit at slight second hand as Shay was very much Bronagh’s. The whole experience from my point of view was hugely exciting. Despite the fact I always loved walking, nature and animals, I

50 Ten years of riding: A part-Highland adventure

Shay and Morag together-they make a handsome pair, both beautiful Highland faces. One aspect of the whole adventure has been the bond with my wife Bronagh. Using the horse box (and, incidentally, getting some extra loading training from the incomparable Sarah Weston as Shay is not a very good loader-even this has been interesting!) has allowed me to get to know Shay, Morag, and has been a great experience to share with Bronagh.

Sometimes we take our lurcher Tilly who inexplicably likes the horse box as much as she hates our “normal” vehicles.

I don’t know where this will go next exactly-for the moment I’m happy with the arrangement (one weekday evening group lesson, Morag on Sundays, a trip out for hacking or a show every so often, the odd local competition, being a groom for Bronagh and Shay at shows) but one day I can see getting my own horse-we have even considered whether we could share despite our more than one foot difference in height.

So 2005 was a great year for me-England won the Ashes, Hampshire Cricket won their first trophy in 13 years, Liverpool won the European Cup, heavy metal band Pelican produced my favourite album of all time, and I started out on a riding/Highland adventure that has got me hooked. One truly amazing thing about horses and riding is, once you are smitten, you have something truly special that you get to pursue for the rest of your life. I’m looking forward to the next ten horsey/ Highland years (this year we are going to the Royal Highland Show for the first time)-and many beyond those.

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51 Ten years of riding: A part-Highland adventure

During that summer we hired a horse box to take Shay to a local show-this was a real blast. By the end of the year we had bought a horse box (after some initial resistance on my part, I will admit). Our first few trips out that winter were forays into the New Forest which is near where we live in Southampton, with Bronagh driving and me riding Morag at our destination. My first ride out on my own on Morag was what I can only describe as a moving experience. I’ve always loved walking, but there is something about being out on a horse out in nature under your own and their steam that gives a unique and exhilarating sense of freedom. Cantering up a hill in the open is an incomparable experience, at least for somebody who never so much as got on a horse until well into adulthood. It wasn’t all plain sailing/riding: During the very first trip out, we were ambling along near a group of ramblers who had parked a group of cars together when a Shetland Pony suddenly came out from behind a large bush and made a beeline for us. Morag freaked out-the only term I can think of-spun round and we did a little gallop towards the cars. I managed to pull her up and there was no harm done.

If anything, it cemented my feeling that I really wanted to do this (although Morag was keen to avoid this pesky Shetland), helped by the fact that, while Morag has a Zen-like calm presence (and some tendency to laziness, let’s be honest) she also has a “second gear” where she can get very excited, even into her later years, for example if she is jumping. The first time we did this I was amazed to discover her bucking, head-tossing and snorting! I guess this is Highlands in a nutshell-calm and phlegmatic, and stubborn as hell, but with a bit of something else about them.

The word “presence” seems about right here.

Since then, we have taken Shay out and

The Happy Hacker Goal

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I have read some fantastic stories in this magazine of wonderful accomplishments of Highland ponies and their owners in the world of showing, dressage or endurance ,whereas my ambitions lie as a Happy Hacker with my Highland pony Duncan of Dykes. However I am possibly typical of many owners of Highland ponies out there who don’t necessarily wish to compete so this is my story.

I have loved Highland ponies since a child in Scotland where my local riding school had a small herd. Although I got my first horse in my thirties, I had to satisfy my craving for a Highland with many years of regular drives out to Masham, the home of the Dykes stud, not too far from where I live in North Yorkshire. There I would go Highland Pony hunting with my camera and pat them over the gate.

I finally found myself in the lucky position of looking to buy my very own Highland pony. The pony was to be a fiftieth birthday present from my partner Neil. The most obvious place to go first was indeed the Dykes stud and luckily there was a two year old mouse dun gelding available who I fell in love with immediately. He did not fall in love with me so quickly as we were the first people to attempt to handle him since he was gelded and clearly didn’t want that experience again. So we watched the girls try to catch him for half an hour first which made me wonder if I was doing the right thing. Once caught, he was very sweet and a couple of weeks later he was my very first Highland pony and I was over the moon. Duncan of Dykes was the offspring of Bannoch of Dykes, a most beautiful stallion and Velvet of Dykes. One friend enquired what I was going to do with this youngster for the next few years, to which I replied,” I am just going to look at him”, which is a very expensive hobby!!

Shortly after acquiring Duncan, we bought a house at the top of a very bleak hill which was our only hope of ever owning a house with a few acres of land and it is true Highland country with rough moorland grazing despite being south of the border. Although Duncan still manages to gain too many calories! He lives with my very bossy 21 year old Irish cob and a quiet little Dartmoor type pony.

Apart from just wishing to stare lovingly at Duncan, he was bought as a happy hacking pony. Although readers who use the HPEC forum will know that “happy” may not always be the correct word. I did however put in the homework with him before he was started under saddle. We did lots of groundwork and I flapped plastic bags all over him, held umbrellas over his head and walked him over tarpaulins and past wheelie bins. All of which, led to quizzical looks but he was completely unflappable.I also schooled him right next to the road which has really helped him get used to traffic.

He has a typical steady approach to life and is rarely spooky. I was determined that I would have a pony that happily hacked out anywhere. When he was four, I backed him and I was ecstatic to be the first person to sit on him and like many Highlands, it didn’t bother him one iota as we plodded around the school in a rather wobbly fashion. I was helped by my very experienced friend but when she got on him, he refused to budge as he couldn’t understand why this stranger was on his back! At that point I realised that we had built a solid relationship. After a couple of months of lessons and some short hacks out I turned him away for winter mainly because it rained non-stop! But also to let him mature a bit more. From there I can say it has been a roller coaster ride that many of you may recognise. He is now five. He does not particularly like schooling

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53 The Happy Hacker Goal

and I have to make it very interesting indeed or he quickly switches off. We have had our ups, where he has willingly hacked out as if he was an experienced mature pony, but also the downs, where he hasn’t done anything at all apart from plant his feet to the ground and refuse to budge without an argument! That is the worst he will do however, which although annoying, could be much worse. Having a young Highland can be the most frustrating experience but also the most rewarding too.

It has to be said that he has to put up with some rather dim moments from his owner too. There was the time, the saddle slipped all the way around till it was under his tummy, leaving said owner rolling around like a giant turtle underneath whilst the “baby” stood stock still looking down with a bewildered expression at his mad owner. Or the time, I stupidly turned him away from home to re-mount whilst hacking but failed to go with him when he, with unusual speed, turned to face the correct direction for home and I ended up with a shredded and bruised thigh and a very sore back!! After the latter incident, all my confidence dissolved away and I seriously considered never ever getting on a horse again and resort to just looking at my Highland again! Luckily, I have a very short memory and was soon back on board again.

We still have the occasional planting issue but he is learning that he never gets away with it so he doesn’t try it on as much. I am no great expert and I get some things wrong but when I look back and see that actually, I backed this pony myself and now I ride him on a busy road with lorries and bikes and cyclists galore.

And he takes me up and down some seriously steep hills, so although we don’t enter shows or dressage competitions, we are succeeding and progressing in our own quiet way just like many other Highland pony owners out there.

My aim is to ride when I can through the winter but pick up properly in the spring and start to take him further afield and have some lessons again. I can already tell that he is going to be a wonderful hacking pony and is great fun to ride.

Despite their sometimes stubborn temperament, Highland ponies are generally calm and sensible and beautiful and my love for them hasn’t changed in over forty years. I feel very honoured to own one of these ponies. At least for now whilst we are on an up moment!!

Parlez-vous francais Fingal?

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When spending part of my summers in our house in the Alpes Mancelles region of north-west France, I had missed my pony back home and often wished he could come to France with me. I decided that 2014 would be the year that Fingal, who would be 7 then, would come to France from April to September time.

Last year a property near us had been bought by an English couple. The property had previously been a stud for lusitano horses and there were stables, grazing, indoor and outdoor arenas and Nicci had one horse!

The Alpes Mancelles region is in the Sarthe area, South of Normandy and Sarthe’s only claim to fame is the city of Le Mans.

However the region is well known to the French, who are the main tourists. The area consists of large areas of forests and steep valleys with pretty rivers running through. It is very rural but the French’s obsession with cycling and fishing means there are lots of mountain bike trails and fishing lakes.

Living in North Yorkshire it was not practical to transport Fingal myself so John Parker was contacted and the transport arrangements made. However there is a certain lack of communication with this company and I began to despair that Fingal would ever be collected. The day before his journey, I was contacted to say that he would be picked up the next day.

It would take three days for him to arrive at his destination. Eric Gillie’s were to collect him and take him to Newmarket where he overnighted. He was collected from there by John Parkers and his onward journey began. My husband was already in France to supervise Fingal’s arrival. Despite a few communication problems Fingal duly arrived on a Wednesday evening and was certainly pleased to see some grass! He seemed very chilled by the whole thing and started practising his language skills with Julipo – a big Nor-

mandy cob that Nicci had now bought for her husband and to keep Milly, her mare, company.

It was another week before I arrived too.

By this time he was well settled into his routine of coming into a stable in the morning for a few hours. However he was proving to be very spooky in hand with all the different things in the yard.

My lovely husband accompanied me on a bicycle on my first ride out. Fingal was certainly quite spooky and this proved to be how it was going to be for quite a while. His particular nemesis were the cows who had just been turned onto the fields after being in for the winter and were equally spooky! A dozen or more galloping towards the fence to view this grey hairy pony was rather more than Fingal could cope with and on a number of occasions we pranced sideways down the narrow roads. The roads are quite narrow and have well cared for ditches on each side. Unlike the British country roadsides which are now very overgrown.

We did end up in the ditch on one particular spook, which somewhat unnerved Fingal but he learnt quickly from that about the ditches and was very careful when he spooked after that, and could stop equally speedily before he toppled into a ditch. Nicci was on holiday when I first arrived so it was another two weeks before she returned and we were able to hack out with her. My husband’s knees were beginning to give up with all this cycling so he was quite relieved to see her return.

Nicci was very familiar with lots of different hacking routes and she proceeded to introduce me to all the different permutations of routes. As I have said the area is largely forests interspersed with grassland. There are lots of stoney tracks which connect the quiet country lanes and which also go through these woodland areas.

Nicci is very interested in naturel horsemanship methods and during this time she had a visit from Rio Barrett who is a great friend. She has trained with Pat Parelli in the states and comes from a traditional background in pony club, dressage etc. She has now developed her own methods as she could see defects in the purely parelli methods and translating them to ridden work. She has also written a book, ‘101 Horsemanship Exercises’ . I was lucky enough to have a session with her and watch her working Nicci and Milly. I was very impressed as she rode Milly virtually bridle less and bareback, doing the beginnings of lateral work and schooling figures. After this I began to do some of the groundwork exercises with Fingal to try and improve his spookiness.

We also had a visit from Jeanette from the HPEC forum who came with her family to stay in the gite at Nicci’s. It was great to meet Jeanette, who I knew well from the forum but had never met and she rode Julipo every day with Nicci and some days I joined them too. Jeanette learnt that forwardness was not about the type of horse but about the mind of the said horse, as Julipo is VERY forward and yet is a huge broad cob. Jeanette enjoyed her rides as he is also very responsive when ridden by an experienced rider, yet totally safe for a beginner, providing you can find some brakes when needed! Julipo was used for all the visitors during the summer, some of whom had not ridden before but were allowed to take him out for a hack.

He is the sort of horse everyone needs.

Nicci also is a regular competitor at Le Trec in France. She will be the first to admit that her map reading skills are not the greatest but she is very keen and practises lots of the obstacles in her arena. cont.

55 Parlez-vous francais Fingal?

These are really tracks for the farmers to access their different fields but are widely used by cyclists. But you can meet the odd tractor on these routes.

Fingal had been shod before he left the UK but by now he was needing re-shoeing. My farrier had made me a set of shoes to take with me as I thought this would be easier for the French farrier.

How mistaken was I. Nicci told me that, unlike in the UK, once you contacted the farrier for an appointment, he would usually turn up the next day. How great is that? When he turned up, being used to the stocky British farrier, he was tall, slim, blonde, young man, looking rather like a surf dude. I asked him if he would use the shoes I had brought with me and he said, mmm yes he would. What a mistake that was. Over the course of the next few weeks, I saw rather a lot of this gorgeous farrier as Fingal lost one show after another every couple of days. It became a standing joke that I was purposely pulling off the shoes so I could have another visit.

Florien, the farrier, then explained that the French nails were lighter than the British ones and could not hold the heavier concave British shoes. By this time I was in despair and decided to take off Fingal’s back shoes and leave him barefoot and have French shoes on the fronts. I purchased some Cavallo sport boots for his hind feet to help him over the transition and to cope with the stony tracks. Fingal took to these very well and they certainly made him more comfortable and allowed him time to grow more hoof. The French shoes on his fronts stayed on brilliantly.

They are a much lighter shoe and flat. I must say that they suited Fingal much better as he has never had very good feet and breaking of his hoof wall has always been a problem. After six weeks of no shoes behind, I went back to shoeing his rear hooves too with the French type shoes.

56 Parlez-vous francais Fingal?

cept competition horses and racehorses) has to be notified to the National Stud in Perigord for inclusion on their database.

So Fingal’s passport was duly sent off and I was certainly relieved to see its return with the necessary S.I.R.E. document and number to enable me to get the forms from the DDPP(Direction Departmentales de Protection Publiques) Area office, for my vet to complete. This health check, along with all the information regarding the driver, wagon license number, route plan (four forms just about the Transporter) have to be over-stamped by the DDPP Ministry Vet and there is then 48 hours for the horse to leave the country or the whole process has to start again.

However as it turned out the vet check was a hastily scribbled note from the vet, the paperwork was produced and overstamped and yet he wasn’t picked up for a further three days but returned safely to the UK in the early hours of the morning.

It was very certainly a great adventure for us both and the prospect of excellent hacking and quieter roads might entice me to repeat the visit next year. Watch this space!

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57 Parlez-vous francais Fingal?

She takes everything very seriously and Milly is fabulous as a first horse and does everything asked with a willing nature. I wasn’t able to go with Nicci to any of her events but she often returned telling me that there was a goat tethered near to the track where they did their control of paces. It seems to be a particular thing with the French competitions to include lots of mystery extras!

Of course during this summer the World Equestrian Games were held in Normandy and my husband and I got tickets for the cross country which was held at Haras du Pin (the National Stud) which was the closest event to us. The weather had been particularly wet and so the going was heavy with lots of tired horses but despite what has been reported in the press we had a great day, weren’t stuck in traffic, and saw the first horse set off. The French are very vocal at these events and the noise was deafening when a French horse was out on the course. I don’t think the transport of the competitors to Caen for the final show jumping was ideal and certainly our local Yorkshire rider Nicola Wilson’s horse, was just overwhelmed by it all. It would have been so much better for all the horses, if it had been held at Haras du Pin, as the final vet’s inspection was held at 6.0 am to allow for transportation the one and half hours to Caen.

It was soon time to think about Fingal’s return to England. This time I chose to use LOC Transport for this as I had failed to get any satisfactory information from John Parkers regarding the new paperwork needed for his return, since the Tripartite Agreement was changed in May 2014. Facebook was full of contradictory advice regarding this and everyone I asked had lots of conflicting advice. My own research on the Haras website and talking to someone who had done this return trip, it appeared that a horse that is imported or introduced to France (ex-

A word from the BHS

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The British Horse Society (BHS) Welfare Team are striving to make a difference for horses throughout the UK by providing advice and support for their owners and guardians. As well as a HQ-based team, we are proud to have a nationwide network of nearly 200 equine specialist Welfare Officers, more than any other UK organisation or charity, who respond to concerns raised.

A very important part of the work of the BHS is that done by our volunteer Welfare Officers. Our officers investigate reported welfare concerns and act as an advice point for all horse owners. We have superb nationwide coverage and we are usually able to respond to reported welfare concerns promptly. Through the work of our Welfare Officers, the lives of literally thousands of horses have been improved.

All our Welfare Officers are experienced horse people and are fully (and regularly) trained specifically for their welfare work by the BHS. All officers carry an official BHS identification card – anyone who is not able to produce an identification card should not be considered as acting on behalf of the BHS. When a welfare concern is reported to us, the closest available Welfare Officer will visit and make an initial assessment, what happens next depends on the outcome of this first visit. In serious cases the Welfare Officer will liaise and work with enforcement organisations or other welfare charities to ensure swift and appropriate action is taken.

Where the Welfare Officer feels that the horse’s welfare is compromised, but not severely, they will attempt to locate and contact the horse’s owner. The BHS is unique in being able to work with owners over a long period of time to provide support and education to ensure the horse’s welfare.

In some cases the Welfare Officer will take no immediate action but continue to mon-

itor the situation. The Welfare Officer may feel that no action is needed, while this may not please the person who reported the concern, it is important to remember that Welfare Officers are fully trained in both the law and acceptable standards.

People keep horses in many different ways, we may not agree with some of there, but this does not mean that welfare is being compromised.

BHS Welfare Officers are also an information point for any owner who has questions about their own horses or who needs support through a difficult time. They are also an excellent source of local contacts, and therefore may be able to put owners in touch with each other. Many BHS Welfare Officers are involved in delivering training to other organisations, such as the emergency services or local authority Animal Welfare Inspectors.

There are some restrictions on what a BHS Welfare Officer can do. For example, as we do not have a rescue centre, the BHS cannot take on rescued or unwanted horses and ponies.

If you would like to get involved to be part of the team that helps thousands of horses contact the BHS Welfare Team to find out more: welfare@bhs.org.uk or call us 02476 840517. You can also visit our website www.bhs.org.uk, where you can also find details of how to contact us about a welfare concern.

Gemma Stanford Head of Welfare & Passports British Horse Society

can on foot.

From that first autumn I’ve come to know the local roe deer; the doe in the first part of the woods, who had twin female kids the following spring, all three of whom I still see in the same vicinity almost every time I ride; the bucks who are more likely to be in the meadows, but shelter in the top part of the woods; and lately another group who have moved into the water meadows where the cattle graze in the late summer. I’ve encountered a buck sunning himself in the middle of the path who was rather disgruntled about having to get out of our way and been startled by the female who jumped out of the muck heap as we cantered past one day. I’ve cantered down the track with a couple of deer cantering ahead of me and I’ve walked past a few feet away as they lie in the trees on a frosty day. I’ve been privileged to see the does suckling tiny kids and, one memorable day, Shay had to stop to allow a female and kid (still with its stripes and spots) cross the path in front of us.

I’ve become familiar with the local foxes too and now know where their den is and the best place to watch the cubs playing on a summer evening. One large dog fox was often seen warming himself on the muck heap on frosty autumn days and I’ve watched them hunting rabbits on a regular basis. And one summer evening I saw a badger, bounding away across the meadow, struggling with his short legs in the tussocky grass. He must have heard us and stood up on his hind feet, snuffling the air for a while before heading off into the trees. I love to see the bats although I was surprised to see a lone pipistrelle at dusk one November evening.

Rabbits are often seen on the edge of the country park, but not so many as you might expect – perhaps the fox family are keeping the numbers in check. cont...

59 Wildlife Walks with a Highland

Early in 2013 my pony, Shay, suffered a stifle injury that kept him out of action through the whole summer. No sooner had he started back in work than he went lame again and this time was diagnosed with navicular. For a while I wondered if I would be able to ride him again, but with an excellent vet , remedial farrier and lots of support and advice from the HPEC Forum we began gentle hacking again. I was delighted to be back on board but a bit disappointed that the vet thought that gentle hacking only. I was also apprehensive. I had a real loss of nerve a few years ago and it was a long journey back to any kind of riding confidence, but I still wasn’t comfortable out hacking. Now it was going to be hacking or nothing.

At around the time when Shay and I started to venture out on short hacks (20 minutes every couple of days at first), I had commenced a wildlife diary. This was an exercise in mindfulness. I’d read that keeping a diary, even a sentence or two a day, was beneficial for anxiety and I liked the idea of keeping a record of the wildlife I saw every day. I’ve been keeping the diary, and hacking out 4-5 times a week ever since. So, in the spirit of John Lister Kay (the naturalist and writer whose ‘At the Water’s Edge’ describes the wildlife he sees on his daily walk at his home at Aigas) I’d like to share some of the highlights of my wildlife walks on a Highland Pony.

Initially, I didn’t expect that I would see too much whilst riding. Shay is based at a busy yard in a semi-rural area on the outskirts of Southampton. Our hacking is pretty limited to a short bridle route through the woods on the edge of the adjacent country park. However, it is rideable all year round and we don’t have to do any road work. And, as it turned out, the local area has a lot more wildlife than I had ever really given it credit for – and the advantage of being on horseback is that you can get much closer to things than you

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More surprising was the sight of toads and frogs crossing the path in the spring, presumably returning to their home ponds to spawn. A basking grass snake was ignored by Shay, even as it slid away from his feet. The local grey squirrels are another matter; I know that Shay would not have encountered them during his early life on the Isle of Wight and he remains convinced that they are ponyeating monsters. There are times when I wish the dratted things hibernated, but my diary observations confirm that they are active all rear round!

What else have we seen? Well, birds for a start, of all shapes and sizes. Keeping a record of what you see has the beneficial effect of making you look harder than you normally would. I suppose that is why the diary-keeping is mindful too – you focus your attention on what is happening around you and not on what is happening in your head. I’ve become fond of the robins who follow the horses down the path to take advantage of any worms they disturb. What else? Flocks of chaffinches, goldfinches, green finches and siskins that congregate in the hedges.

Pied and grey wagtails. Herons, swans, pink-footed geese, lapwings (one of my favourites) and, during the wettest winter in 100 years, lots and lots of little egrets. I counted 20 in one paddock one day. One thing that fascinates me is the differences in the birds you see in quite small areas.

The paddock with the bit of heath-type vegetation was where I spotted a Dartford warbler one spring. Just across the path is a wet paddock where the egrets congregate. Lapwings prefer the meadow fields. In the woods I see my favourite long-tail tits, goldcrests and the gorgeous nuthatches and treecreepers. There are two types of woodpecker too. Kestrels often hunt in the reeds by the meadow field, sparrowhawks shoot out of the woods to take small birds in the paddocks

(and sometimes not so small, although I did think that the one I saw chasing a flock of jackdaws one day was a bit ambitious!) and buzzards are a regular sight.

One in particular is a familiar companion on many a ride; she sits in dead trees at a couple of points on the route, eyeing us as we approach, and often waits until we are right under her before dropping down and gliding down the path ahead of us before swooping up into another tree.

I have now realised that the bank at the start of the canter path is where the buzzard takes her food and there is often a pile of woodpigeon feathers there. Shay is remarkably unbothered by her swooping over our heads, sometimes from behind, but he was startled one day when she shot up from under his feet when we trotted past as she was tucking into her meal.

One of the joys of the past year and more of wildlife watching has been to notice the changes of the seasons, such as the hawthorns coming into leaf in March, the first swallows in April, the deer rutting in late summer and the final leaf drop (very late December this year) that indicates that winter has really arrived. We’ve seen woodland white butterflies and stag beetles in the woods, dragonflies, peacock butterflies and the dreaded hornets in the meadows. We’ve ridden in all weathers, including through one of the wettest winters on record whilst bringing Shay back into work (which has turned out to be more than just gentle hacking). I found that he hates puddles, but loves crunching through them when they are frozen.

One of our more exciting rides started in light rain and ended with a mad dash back to the yard through giant hailstones as we got caught in a tornado, but we’ve also experienced balmy spring and summer evenings and golden autumn days.

And whilst I will never be the bravest,

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I’ve really learnt to enjoy my hacking again. At the start of another year I’m wondering what wildlife wonders we’ll encounter in 2015.

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Bakewell Show 2014

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Derbyshire Fell, Dales & Highland Pony Show – 15 June 2014 Our fifth year joining the Fell and Dales at this show was again a very enjoyable day although entries were a little disappointing. Youngstock entries were very thin on the ground and there were no stallions or brood mares and foals forward. The adult and ridden classes were better supported and our judge, Mrs Menna Macbain, had good quality ponies from which to make her selection. She then moved onto judging Dales and Fells as well in the combined classes for Veteran Ponies and Novice Handler and Rider.

These were for genuine novices and the competitors appreciated the relaxed atmosphere.

From the Highland in hand classes the youngstock champion was the upstanding two year old colt, Lochlands Prince Tamino, bred by Kate Lawson and Willie Sinclair and owned by Mrs Anne Owen-Walker. Reserve youngstock champion was last year’s winner, Strathmore Munro, owned by Emma Barnes. The adult champion was the lovely grey mare, Orla of Carlung, belonging to Mrs P Daniel, a relatively new convert to Highlands! Reserve champion was Geordie of Castle Green, winner of the gelding class, whose owners, Julie and Laura Drake, are great supporters of the HPEC events.

Orla of Carlung also won the First Season Novice Ridden while Michelle Parkin-Vaughan’s Dunedin Freya won the Novice Ridden. The ridden championship was taken by the winner of the Open Ridden, Geordie of Castle Green, with Dunedin Freya standing reserve.

Overall Supreme Highland was Lochlands Prince Tamino with the Ridden Champion being reserve.

In the dressage classes Michelle Parkin Vaughan with Stock Ruaraidh enjoyed some good results Hopefully next year we have even more ponies forward supporting the show which is one of the few to have a full range of Highland classes without the distraction of qualifiers apart from the dressage.

Above; Salcroft Raithneach (“Fern”) at the Royal Bath and West Show ridden by Jessica Talbot.

Below; Kingsmoor Fraser at the SWPA Championship 2011. Ridden by Poppy Hemmings.

Fraser was Reserve Champion Veteran.

Remembering Kingsmoor Ponies

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Welshflora

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Long, long ago, back in the 70s, I spent my days riding an Irish Draught ex-show jumper called Jago. We used to ride miles to get to the best places to ride – and those rides weren’t complete unless we’d found lots of obstacles to jump over along the way.

Now, as a generally riding-phobic 50 something, it all seems a bit dreamlike.

The reality for me is that jumping is very frightening indeed. It usually requires a slow steady approach which gives me time to hold my breath and repeat the mantra, ‘Weight through the stirrups, don’t forget the forward seat, when should I fold? Which bit of the jump will I land on and how much will it hurt?’

Add to the mix a 6 year old Highland pony in his first full season of ridden work, uncannily sensitive to my every thought, and the outcome is fairly well summed up by this photograph, from a year ago.

A 3 day Cross Country Confidence Camp at our local equestrian centre seemed the perfect plan. I arrived full of enthusiasm, but felt horribly out of my depth when we all unloaded and stabled our horses. There were 8 gleaming eventers whose riders greeted each other with such snippets as ‘I haven’t seen you

since we were competing at Moreton!’

– and my hairy, knobbly-kneed 13.2hh Blue (who, incidentally, was deemed the only one who would cope with the flapping and rustling of the temporary stabling, intensifying our perceived poor-relation status.)

I spent much of the first two days of camp feeling fairly hopeless and trying to think of good excuses to leave. I felt overwhelmingly scared of all the jumps and scared of the wide open spaces.

At one point, Blue over-jumped a little obstacle and then bolted towards his friends on landing. It felt like my worst fears were realised and it shook me up terribly. Nevertheless, despite all my self-preserving efforts to prevent them, some glimmers of positivity were filtering through to my fear-frozen brain.

Blue was the only one in our group who would casually pop each new obstacle without having to be carefully introduced to it and shying away from it and introduced all over again. He would splash through the water and didn’t mind how skinny or unusual-looking the jumps were. He would cope with a dog-leg or a tricky corner without giving it a second thought.

Welshflora

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What happened on day 3, I can’t really explain. Somehow and for whatever reason, the teenager in me was reawakened and I wanted to jump. Blue had been wanting to jump all along. Together we found our balance and our rhythm and suddenly I didn’t need to slow down before each jump to repeat the mantra because I was looking ahead to the horizon and the jumps hardly even seemed to matter. Except, of course, that we were flying and it felt incredible.

(And yes, 50cm does count as flying).

Since then, we have become regulars at Arena Eventing competitions, even venturing into the 60cm classes. I’m hoping we might give the 70cm a try later on this year. But this has to be one of my finest moments – winning the 50cm with a cracking (if I do say so myself!) clear round, with some of the fastest, tightest turns a terrified middle-aged woman and a stumpy-legged, huge-hearted Highland could ever manage.

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A member for 40 years

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My original intention was to write an article on Alick of Litigan who was so very special to me and helped to change my life. However although I cannot boast I have been a member of the Highland Enthusiasts Club for 40 years thought it might be of more general interest if new members heard how I got involved and a short account of the ponies that helped along the way although many just as important have been left out of this article.

Kitty Lucas and her home bred pony Ilean Ceilidh of Westlands have a lot to answer for as it was them who started me on the slippery slope of doing things and owning an ever increasing number of ponies and over the years totally changed my life. She became too a very special friend although with hindsight some of the things she insisted I did with Ceilidh were not a good idea!!

Kitty too did a lot for HPEC in it’s early days, edited the magazine which had to be typed, then taken to a nearby hospital school for epileptics to get it duplicated so it could be distributed to members, her and her husband were also very hospitable and gave us lovely lunches, arranged the early rides on Ashdown Forest for members and so on. One year she was presented with the HPEC Trophy donated to member in recognition for outstanding work done for the club and I had the job of getting her to the AGM on the pretext it was for something Ceilidh had won. One of the year’s Ceilidh won the HPS Performance award we had to go all the way to Yorkshire to collect it, Alick won the Novice award at the same time and luckily a friend drove us there and back, Christine was a saint driving us to meetings and Heather too when we were both area reps and latterly when

Heather was secretary although often too when it was more silverware for Ceilidh and latterly Alick Kitty drove and I had to drive her car home as she could not see in the dark, First time I did this I hadn’t driven an automatic and nearly put her through the windscreen the first time I stopped thinking brake was the clutch, Latterly when we went to spectate at Olympia I had to drive her but in the end persuaded her to go by train which was better than struggling with London rush hour traffic, but so many memories and so many people that made it all possible.

Kitty too was wonderful to show for, pleased if we had a good day but if not always the optimist and said always another day.

She never once complained about the judges either which I am sure most of us are guilty of at some time in our lives!

I first met her in 1984 when she asked me to have a four year old Ceilidh for a few weeks schooling and having been and still was earning a living by showing and producing other people’s show horses hacks, arabs, hunters and some dressage it was quite a shock to have a horrid ill mannered hairy thing to school, luckily for me a friend had backed him and said he was a total little yob. Kitty too was very proud of the fact he had never been weaned and as a three year old went with his mother to South of England Show. Separated from mum to go in the ring won and was champion but the judge told Kitty she hated giving such a horrid ill mannered pony the champion rosette. Sadly with hindsight this experience without a doubt accounted for his behaviour on occasions through his long competitive career which left a lot to be desired, On that first stay with me he went to a couple of little local shows although canter was a major problem.

have found out Olympia is no ordinary show and although he was a little angel at the the early morning exercise when it was for real he was like sitting on an unexploded bomb and yes even although it was for a couple of steps he did manage to canter on the wrong leg and worse still in the inhand bit produced his trump card of squealing striking out with a front hoof and putting his hoof over the reins when he was supposed to be doing a smart trot, don’t think the judge was very impressed, we did survive the afternoon though.

He qualified again the following year at the New Forest Show, I had to drive him there had shingles and did not feel great, he actually went well and was champion again and so had a second trip to Olympia.

At the New Forest Show all livestock had to go into the main ring at the end of the day, Posh show horses, cattle and to Ceilidh’s horror he was lined up with a row of goats in costume behind him, everyone’s manners were perfect bar one, guess who and yes it was Ceilidh behaving like a demon and I thought if I came off him I would never live it down, a great friend Roy Trigg who had won the hunters championship advised me to leave the ring whilst I was still on him!! Kitty’s only comment was to say Ceilidh was so excited he had done well!!! He was unplaced at Olympia but I had kept him before the show, he had been clipped a few weeks before we went and was much better prepared plus an enormous amount of work the 24 hours before he went in to the ring and did actually manage to behave himself and go quite well but luckily although Kitty hoped he would he never qualified again.

He had a tremendous show career , was successful in dressage up to elementary, went well sidesaddle,

67 A member for 40 years

And came home with a rosette both times, Kitty then insisted he went home for the winter as he needed time to grow and mature. About this time too she insisted I joined the HPEC which at that stage was more of a Southern club and in the following years I always had a lot of encouragement and advice from Linda Impey Sandy Stewart and many others to go to talks, shows etc which were being run for club members mostly in East Anglia.

The following year Kitty got carried away entering for shows, I discovered Ceilidh although frightened of nothing used loudspeakers as an excuse to pretend they were dragons so a major hazard at a big show and remained one all his life, I still had major canter problems as he pretended he could not go on the correct leg unless I could design my show to get it right and off we went to the Olympia qualifier at Kent County. I had a lot of banter from my posh horse friends when they saw me on this little hairy thing but against all odds late in the evening when the show had almost shut up shop Ceilidh was champion and qualified for Olympia. Came out of the ring went back to horsebox on cloud nine and Kitty asked me if I’d got Ceilidh’s card signed by the judge, Answer no, The steward had not asked me for it and it was still in my pocket!! No problem Kitty posted it to judge who signed it and back it came so times have changed a bit.

Worse was to follow as Kitty then insisted Ceilidh needed a nice long holiday before Olympia so home he went and came back, fat hairy and uncouth as usual four weeks before Olympia!!. I took him to some indoor dressage and because he was good thought Olympia would not be a problem. Wrong again as many people

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did Trec in it’s early days, won many rosettes in the Highland Pony Society and HPEC Performance Awards and was a tremendous ambassador for the breed and spent most of the last part of his life living the whole time with me. I always hoped he would outlive Kitty but sadly it was not to be but as a present after he had crossed the Rainbow Bridge Kitty gave me a lovely canvas picture of him at Olympia. After she died Penny her daughter gave me all the rosettes he had won for Kitty over the years which was lovely to have and brought back so many happy memories .

Kitty too on our show outings always brought refreshments, she knew I liked smoked salmon so always had smoked salmon sandwiches.

1990 was the first year I acquired my own highlands with a view to crossing them with my anglo and pure bred arabs so typically thinking a highland pony was a highland pony bought two mares unseen from a dealer in Cornwall and thanks to Cath McVicar Alick of Litigan as a yearling which she found for me, the idea of having a highland colt was to do the cross the other way round.

At that time Cath had Cameron so as he was Alick’s dad a fairly obvious choice. He was always a sweet pony and as I was used to doing a lot with the colts, stallions I had previously had at an early age did the same thing with Alick, Cath told me years later they all thought I was doing too much with a young highland but didn’t like to tell me!!

When Alick was two he had to go all the way to Leicester to be inspected by a panel from the HPS to be approved to get his stallion li-

cence he nearly failed as one panel member did not like him but luckily was over ruled, I would have been totally joked if he had not passed. Soon after this he got colic and on the fourth day vet said to me you either take him to Liphook or else I put him down now. Without thinking I went, Liphook were super but said did I realise the cost if it came to operating and of course I hadn’t so decided he could stay there have whatever tests done that were necessary but if it was an operation he would have to go. He was fairly thin and for ages I had asked my vet what I should do, answer worm him with Equvalan which I did umpteen times but of course did not cover tapeworm and that was Alick’s problem so home he came, Liphook far cheaper than my own vets despite the fact he stayed a week there and my instructions were he could have gentle exercise so turned him out with his permanent wife Succoth Sarah, Alick always liked to keep his private life private and I never saw him cover Sarah,

yellow dun ponies and I lent him to a friend to ride, I was on a green Burnside Holly, another friend rode Ceilidh and the fourth pony was an Alick daughter who is now in Belgium. We had to go up to Solihull as it was the RC qualifier and Alick refused to canter for the luckless boy, a successful eventer who was riding him but apart from that despite being a pair with his daughter his manners were perfect.

Kitty’s daughter drove her up to watch and Kitty’s only comment was that the yellow dun ponies were almost invisible as the arena floor was the same colour so our Baveheart theme did not make it to Olympia!!

I think too as a legacy from his Liphook stay he always hated being in a stable away from home, did nothing wrong but just used to stand in a corner totally dejected so I rarely took him anywhere unless it could be a day trip.

He did win the HPS Performance award three times in succession after initially being placed, best novice and best stallion and when he did this I stopped entering him from the performance award as wanted him to stop at the top, had been upset too as the organisers said as he was so far ahead they did not announce his true score as it would put people off entering, I thought it was not fair on Alick.

Alick stayed sound all his life but in 2011 he started to lose weight and although he seemed fine a friend said to me I ought to get as many mares in foal to him as possible as there were as far as he knew only one or two Cameron stallions left, Alick had the last laugh and managed to get seven out of eight mares in foal!! In October he had developed cancer in his mouth and so there was no option other than to make the heartbreaking decision to let him join all his relations and friends who had already crossed the rainbow bridge and are all living happily in the land above the clouds.

Alongside many other ponies the three mares Trailtrow Funeuch Ensay, Burnside Holly and Summer of Torlundy have taken a very active part in the Fleetmead Ponies so perhaps they may feature in another issue of the magazine.

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69 A member for 40 years

but next year tragically I found Sarah’s colt foal dead so not a very good start to my highland breeding, the following year she had a filly and after umpteen sleepless nights I had discovered Sarah gave you no warning when baby was going to appear, a couple of yawns, lay down and baby appeared almost instantly, Sarah leapt to her feet and that was it. Alick’s other foals around this time were all part breds, the first one out of a Crabbet bred arab mare owned By Joe Cooper’s (of Face the Music fame) wife and was a stunning colt named Ross as the mare had connections with Lady Anne Lytton who apparently has Scottish connections and lived at Ross of Torridon hence the name foal was christened, Ross went on to be a super all rounder and ended up winning an early Trec championship in I think Belgium so a great start toAlick’s breeding plans.

After his hospital stay he always had a hate of any syringe in his mouth and people in white coats so when I was showing him I always had heart failure if judge tried to give him a rosette in a light coloured mac or anything similar.

He played second fiddle to Ceilidh’s show commitments but as his career started nearly ten years later it was quite easy to fit both ponies in, Ceilidh too was concentrating more on dressage and only being shown at big shows. Alick got a lovely write up in Horse and Hound after he won the overall ridden championship at an NPS show saying how well he had done to beat all the show ponies as well as natives and that Olympia beckoned and although I was delighted I never tried to qualify as never thought he was an indoor pony although without exception he always had good manners at a show.

He did a lot of dressage, excelled in particular at dressage to music and even won me a turkey at Christmas for being a Scottish Father Christmas’s reindeer in a fun costume class.

One of his trade marks was coming home from a hack he always called loudly just so his wives knew he was back and did exactly the same thing if he had been to a show as soon as the horsebox turned into the lane.

He only I think ever let me down once when we wanted to do a Scottish Quadrille on four

70 Longridge Mince Pie Ride

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71 Longridge Mince Pie Ride

It has been a tradition, just before Christmas, for over 40 years for a group of ponies to set off on a ride from the small hamlet of Knowle Green on the edge of the Trough of Bowland. In years gone by they were ridden by a group of young riders setting off from Charity Farm riding school under the aegis of Betty Paul, whilst their parents were able to do the last of their Christmas shopping before meeting up at the stables for mince pies and coffee. Today the riding school is just a very fond memory (although Betty still lives at Charity Farm), those young riders are all grown up - but some still celebrate the tradition (some now on their own ponies) joined by friends from the local area.

What is really special is that they were all introduced to highland ponies by Betty (a stalwart supporter of the breed) and the ride this year was ‘an all’ highland affair. Three of Betty’s own ponies took part; Toiseach Feasgar, Mosside Glory and Selina of Caenlochan (ridden by Becky Paul – Betty’s granddaughter, Maxine Braithwaite and Colin Proctor respectively), whilst the others were Mhairi of Castle Green with Kath Dewhurst, Sheena of Langsett with Maria Tomlinson, Annie of Roisbheinn with Jan Pedley and Turin Hill Baronet with Paula Bennett.

The scenery was beautiful, the ride was along quiet country lanes and bridleways which negotiated a couple of fords and as the riders all reminisced, for once the sun shone on them to make it a hugely enjoyable event. As tradition dictated they finished the event with festive mince pies and hot drinks whilst exchanging news, memories and Christmas Cards

Forty years ago….well not quite!!

72

Forty years ago I had a real made thing for horses. I just loved them. My Mum and Dad were confused as no-one did horses in our family but that didn’t stop me. I moaned every day for lessons and stopped everytime I came near any equine. Lessons were expensive. Eventually, at the age of ten, I was given a present of three lessons with the overview that I would not like it so, to my parents distress I loved it and wanted more. I had lessons every other week and at the age of fifteen my parents agreed to let me go on a riding holiday. I went to wells in Somerset to a superb place that I found in the back of a magazine. They had lovely rooms and superb ponies.

To be honest, I cannot tell you much about the pony I rode for the first year as I had fallen in love with a pony that was sick. He had fractured a bone in his leg and he had been on box rest for several months. He was on his last treatment which was the vets last chance to save him. He had found some boots with magnets sewn in from America and felt that these would be the last attempt to get this pony sound. This pony was my introduction to highlands…..

Gordon was his name and he was just gorgeous. He was a full up 14.2 hh grey gelding of fifteen. Born the same year as me he was definitely going to be a favourite and I had to make sure that he was kept clean and tidy (at least for the week I was there). He was my first love.

At the end of the week I was asked to trot him up to see if he was sound and there I was, an eager fifteen year old with a very excitable highland on the end of a rope.

We trotted up (Ive never run so fast!) and he was pronounced sound. Oh joy. I would be able to ride him next year!!

My last evening came and I spent a few

hours sitting on the fence of the little paddock that was Gordies new home for a few weeks. The owner came over to me and said that she had noticed how much time I had spent looking after him and asked me why I liked him. “He is just so handsome.

He likes to chat and his mane and tail are stunning” or something similar was stated and then she asked me if I would like to ride him. She said she wanted to take him for a walk down the rode and asked if I would like to ride him.

So on my last evening I rode the most handsome pony I had ever seen, at rather pace, down the lanes just outside Wells, with nine other girls following who were on a riding holiday. None of them had fallen in love that week except one and my love of Highland began.

Pound Gay Gordon became the pony that I dreamt about for the next twelve months until I could see him again.

To be continued……

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