appleby horse fair

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bonney

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is anyone going this weekend?
i went last year and it was my last time i thought it very upsetting watching the poor horses going up and down from the fair into the village on a real hot day and the sweat dripping from them.
then there was horses down at the river and they would have another horse tried to another horses tail by a lead rope and there was nothing said to the people who had them.
 
Yes, I am going tomorrow.

Go to any British Driving Society drive... and you will see horses sweating. I am bringing my hunters back in to work... and boy do they sweat.

If you go anywhere, even to posh shows and competitions you see dreadful things. Take any large group of horse people and you will get bad eggs.

It would be unwise to say anything about anything at Appleby. Leave that to the police and RSPCA officers.
 
I haven't been for a few years cos I end up getting upset and asking RSPCA what they are going to do about the things going on - the answer is usually nothing
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why do people only post the negative sights ?
appleby is a truely wonderful experiance enjoyed/visited
by a wide variety of people . even non horsey.
open your eyes to the magnificent horses and the true gypsy
way of life, and the true natural horsemanship.
ive seen crueler sights at my local show!!
as yorkshire lass says you will get the odd bad egg.
but i look forward to it from christmas onwards every year .
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I have been once about 10 years ago and I really enjoyed it. We watched the trotting races on the track in the evening, which was great fun. I really didn't see anything untoward with the way the horses were treated ... but maybe I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 
last year when it was really hot we kept seeing the same pony a section a type in a cart with three men on it .
it was going up to the fair then back down to the village the sweat was dripping from it and its mouth was wide open as it was gasping for air but the poor pony kept getting hit with a piece of blue piping to keep it going.
i have stayed up in appleby over the years and have watched the fair go down hill over the time.
it is not the travellers who a cruel to the animals but the wanabees who try to look good.
there was once a pony left in the village to die after after it collapsed due to been exhausted i would say that is cruel.
when you only go for the day you dont see everthing go for the weekend and you would get your eyes opened.
like i said in my first posting i will not be going again and i have alot of friends who will be there but also alot who wont be either and these people have also gone to the fair for many years.
 
I have had to go to Appleby Fair as part of my work and I can quite openly say, I hate it. The traditional fair has all but gone and has been taken over by hangers on and wannabes. You see the same horses hammered up and down constantly on concrete. Why anyone would want to buy such an animal I can only wonder.
One was seriously lame and I had it out with the teenager that was on him. He reckoned it was the ergot that was making him lame. He got sharp words I can tell you.

Last year one horse drowned, the year before, one slipped as it was being trotted hard downhill on the road. It fractured its' pelvis. The guys that were with it stripped it of its harness and abandoned it in agony.

The fair is sold to people as a traditional gypsy fair - it is certainly not and the Romany gypsys don't go anymore. It is a political pharse.

The saddest part is at the end when all the caravans go and the unwanted horses are left behind.
 
i do go for the whole weekend, so i do see it all.
yes v sadly 1 drowned last year and im sure 1 slipped .
but there are many many more deaths of poor horses
on the cross country course (dripping in sweat )
and a race course (mouth wide open gasping for air )
and surely if its that bad the ones left behind arnt the saddest
part their the lucky ones?
 
stacieandjed
all i can say is go to you tube and enter appleby horse fair.
enjoy or not as the case may be !!!!!!!!!
 
Ive just google searched it and the first thing that came up was the story of the horse that drowned! How the hell can some one dunk a horses head under water risking this happening!
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And they are not willing to put a stop to the tradition because it is in fact tradition! Oh it makes me so sad to think what that poor pony went through!
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I think ide have to much to say if i went there and probably end up being shot for saying such things!
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Everyone goes on about tradition - but the traditional way of Gypsy/Traveller life is gone. It's all wannabees.
Look at any of the photographs on the sites - and see huge overweight blokes on small ponies going into the rivers. Most of the animals look terrified with the whites of the eyes showing.
We live in Kent and regularly - they will illegally shut of parts of the A28 and block with cars to hammer or "flash" as they say little ponies of the road.
The True Romanies need to "police" their own and stand up for what is right - otherwise I am afraid that us Gorgas as they call us - will tar them all with the same brush.
 
I used to go every year and thought it really was a magnificent horse fair but the last two years I went most things I saw upset me.
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For instance, very young ponies/horses (too young to be shod although they were) being raced up and down the road until they were exhausted, 1 horse was so exhausted that when it was left tied to a tree it collasped, got caught up in it's trap and had to be cut free, young horses terrified of the water being made to go in anyway and horses left in the blistering sun with no water for hours on end.
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My problem is not with gypsies, it's with anyone who mistreats animals. Lets hope all the horses at Appleby survive this years fair.
 
It really has changed over the years and now many of the 'true' romanies dont go anymore. Also a lot of the tack stores dont go anymore and part of it is just like a market on a hill.
we are not going this year, mainly as hubby has said no, plus i'm not sure i would fancy it with a double pram.
irishdraugh - what happens to the horses left at the end? i would happily take some/one in.
 
Has anyone that has been to the fair this year noticed any Springer Spaniel puppies for sale. If so do you have any idea of the price. Thanks in advance.
 
Out of interest does anyone know how much the horses sell for? I'm tempted to go but I know it would upset me. I would have to bring one home. I would love to look round all the 'traditional' parts. But wouldn't like to see the horses getting hammered.
 
i know we once asked the price of some of the shetlands and they were veryyyy overpriced - BUT, they know the 'horsey people' from 'their own' so to speak and try it on with the prices as a result.
re puppies, they really cut down on the selling of puppies, birds etc now and they are pretty hard to find for sale, 2 years ago my friend was after a puppy, and we struggled to find any, you normally have to look for the groups of girls walking round with one and ask them
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