Appleby Horse Fair RANT

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JessnGeorge

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I was in North Yorkshire at the weekend and I knew the fair would be on BUT I cannot believe the amount of horses TETHERED on the verges of the A66 and in local villages with NO water, and no-one watching them in one of the hottest days of the year. It almost broke my heart. Don't want to use the P word and the F word in this post but, how awful
 
I'm at a loss to understand how it's still allowed to go on to be honest.

Despite an apparently large RSPCA presence, I'm sure there will be the usual upsetting stories.....
 
I didn't see one RSPCA officer although I wasn't at the fair itself (couldn't and wouldn't dare) but that isn't where the problems lie IMO. What if one of the horses had broken free and got onto the main road, what about the poor dehydrated horses in the local villages left on the road sides?

Also, the rubbish and (human) waste left behind in the said villages. I was shocked and appalled. Plenty of police though, but very little welfare checking again
 
I haven't been there for years and won't go ever again. The RSPCA just stand idily by whilst horses are hammered into the ground, foam and sweat dripping, with terrified eyes.....and yes, I have been more than just a couple of times when I was younger......

I even made comment to an officer about the way those horses were sent up and down, he mumbled something about 'having a word' but I knew he wouldn't....
 
I agree amymay. But quite frankly the animal welfare laws in this country are a joke so it doesn't suprise me it's still allowed to go on.

At one end of the spectrum we've got a ban on foxhunting where dangerous, vicious creatures are protected to within an inch no matter what they do (per today's news story). At the other end we've mass mis-treatment of animals at the hands of folks like James Grey and the frequenters of appleby fair which basically goes unpunished. It's all just madness.

I believe that many of the animal welfare officers go "under cover" in plain clothes as it were now, as it's quite a risky job for them. Again they are pretty much powerless to do anything about what is going on anyway.

This has just come up on BBC...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/10252873.stm
 
I definatley agree with amymay and hellsbells
I have no idea how it is still aloud to go on!! It makes me extremly sad and angry at the same time. Do they know what harm they are causing or do they generally believe hammering horses around and wacking them if they show any sign of a personality is okay?

I was very suprised as to how many people from my livery yard are going because they enjoy it :| (I haven't been at this yard long) They go every year and although they don't take horses they say it's a really good day out. No thanks! Not my idea of fun
 
The majority of people attending Appleby are lasw abiding and love their animals as much as you or me. Yes there are bad apples who give the rest a bad name but to tarnish them all with the same brush is just short sighted!! A lot of these travellers are keeping old traditions alive and should be allowed to take part in something that has been a part of their culture of centuries. As the article has stated, the police have seen a decrease in crime and weapons this year which surely is a good thing!

I am not agreeing that leaving horses tethered with no water is acceptable, but tethering if done correctly is fine (and where else to you expect them to leave their horses... are you offering out your fields) and these horses may well be offered water on a regular basis.

Its very difficult to judge people on one snapshot in time (which people in here seem to relish doing)!!
 
Just got back from a fantastic weekend at Appleby Horse Fair.
What a shame horse shows etc do not have RSP{CA etc covering them as i see horrific cruelty at these places.
 
horses13 said:
Just got back from a fantastic weekend at Appleby Horse Fair.
What a shame horse shows etc do not have RSP{CA etc covering them as i see horrific cruelty at these places.
Click to expand...

How true is THAT!

How many times do you see people (and not just kids) jumping over and over and over and over......than cantering all over the place all the time? I was at a show last week and told two kids to quit it and for the last 30 minutes they had cantered round and round and round, jumped and jumped and jumped, ponies had heaving sides, nostrils blowing....poor things just needed a breather!

'Gonna get me dad onto you!'..

'Good! I'm waiting...'..

Dad never came....

In our riding club, I have pulled people up for 'excessive use of the whip' in the practice ring....in years gone by, you got disqualified for that, whether you were jumping or not!

And can someone please tell me WHY OH WHY you have fancy kit in a horses/ponies mouth to stop it then are wearing SPURS??? I'm sure someone will have the answer for me..!
 
I notice that a lot of the frustration listed on these Appleby forum posts is aimed at the lack of action by the RSPCA, as an organisation I really do wonder what they contribute toward horse welfare.

We own a number of horses all of which are well looked after, fed, watered, live out, and exercised. Last week completely out of the blue we had a call from the RSPCA notifying us that they were investigating complaints about us from an individual about one of our animals who it is claimed is being starved. We beleive from someone who regularly tips rubbish at the back of one of our fields who we have spoken to one occasion. The horse in question is a very fine thoroughbred mare, who despite all of our efforts we cannot get any weight onto her top line, she came out of flat racing last year and we rehomed her or otherwise she would have just gone to the meat man like many other thoroughbreds who don't make the grade. She is wormed, injected, shod, and well looked after and we will be bringing her on this summer to make a lovely all round pony.

Despite the fact that we have 8 other horses, 4 of which are in the same field as the mare, which are in fantastic condition we have been made to feel like criminals all because of someones ignorance who doesn't know the slightest thing about keeping horses or equine welfare. Today we were supposed to have a meeting with the RSPCA representative. We were asked to call a number to arrange to meet them at our fields, when we did ring we were put straight through to a call centre, so much for the emergency that the so called animal welfare RSPCA had a raised.

This has caused so much stress, anguish, sleepless nights and anxiety at home, my OH has been really down about it. Why do you not see the RSPCA taking the action that they are funded to do. I see terrible things going on at horse sales and many of you have said the same thing about events that you have seen at Appleby. Last year we rehomed a number of pony's that we saved from horse traders and meat men, cleaned them, brought them into good health and put them to nice homes (we always check people out first) often at our own expense and yet we feel that we have almost been criminalised and made to feel guilty whilst innocent! Given this week's experience we've taken the decision that we won't be rehoming any more horses which is such a shame as we've saved so many and given them much better lifes and better welfare than the RSPCA would have applied.
 
And today we took the mare to the vet just to get a second option from a qualified equine vet who confirmed that there is absolutely nothing wrong with her and she is in great condition. Why is it that the RSPCA meddle in things that they know nothing about. This has caused so much stress! Even the vet said that we should ignore the RSPCA as they know very little about horse welfare!

Why do you never see them taking action where they should rather than hounding innocent people.
 
DragonSlayer said:
I even made comment to an officer about the way those horses were sent up and down, he mumbled something about 'having a word' but I knew he wouldn't....
Click to expand...

That's because they don't have the balls to, can't say I blame them neither, pointless having the RSPCA there, all the good they do anyway, plus the fact that if they dare to open the mouths to them, it would be ignored or they would get 'dealt with'.
 
This is my point entirely, the RSPCA don't have the guts to deal with real issues of cruelty, abuse and poor welfare, yet they try to bully completely innocent horse owners based on unqualified comments. We will certainly not be putting anything ever again into a collecting tin.
 
I have to say iv seen horses be whacked on their legs with a walking stick for no actual reason by gypsies, but a while ago i saw some travelling along a road in one of those strange covered carriage things with a traditional cob pulling it and another in front, and i have to say even though it was red hot heat, the horses weren't even sweating and seemed realy happy, they looked well groomed and the harnesses seemed in decent condition. I do no think horse racing is cruel in general, nor do i think ALL gypsies are with their animals, however this doesn't mean ALL racehorse trainers treat the horses with kindness and use reasonable training methods, but you can apply this to ALL disciplines, you will get some cruelty amongst the people in every discipline, from racing to SJ to showing, i think everybody should just do their best for their horses and do what they can, in other countries horses and donkeys live in barbaric condition with no water or shade but its because the people dont know any better and dont have a lot of money, they probably dont beat their horses and probably love them as they probably couldt live without them in terms of money to buy food and clothes. I think people forget sometimes because its not on our doorstep. As for Appleby sales, never been so cannot comment reali :)
 
DragonSlayer said:
How true is THAT!

How many times do you see people (and not just kids) jumping over and over and over and over......than cantering all over the place all the time? I was at a show last week and told two kids to quit it and for the last 30 minutes they had cantered round and round and round, jumped and jumped and jumped, ponies had heaving sides, nostrils blowing....poor things just needed a breather!

'Gonna get me dad onto you!'..

'Good! I'm waiting...'..

Dad never came....

In our riding club, I have pulled people up for 'excessive use of the whip' in the practice ring....in years gone by, you got disqualified for that, whether you were jumping or not!

And can someone please tell me WHY OH WHY you have fancy kit in a horses/ponies mouth to stop it then are wearing SPURS??? I'm sure someone will have the answer for me..!
Click to expand...

I cannot agree with you more, I have no problem with the use of spurs or strong bits but 80% of people don't know how to use them properly or do know how to but cannot control the lower leg enough with spurs!

Iv seen some adults in their 30's racing horses around constantly like this, its tragic really:(
 
just got back from a weekend at appleby fair and..........
bloody loved it as usual :}
we go every year, and am always amazed at the sights of some fantastic looking animals
turned out and groomed to within an inch of their lives.
and when a herd of around 20 cobs were loose following 1 lead horse into the river was a sight that brought a lump to my throat. truly fantastic.
there is cruelty and issues in every event .
normally witnessed at the local show :{
but boy do the travellers know how to enjoy their horses.........and themselves
roll on next june
 
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