Appleby horse fair

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Glenys

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Going to Appleby at the week-end, anyone give me any information about it, Heard some stories and not looking forward to it as much as before.
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Would be grateful if you can help me
 
Cindy -Lou can you take a look at the post gala put up in the lost/stolen section about the horse taken from Soham. Keep your eyes peeled if you are at Appleby please.
 
echo spaniel, i work in Ely near Soham and travelled past that horse and its friend every day... now just an empty field, please keep a look out for him, he's quite a chunky boy from what i could tell from the road x
 
Go with an open mind, a quiet mouth and a very careful eye and you should enjoy the experience and could learn a little about a very different culture!
Would love to hear what you think when you get back...
 
I've bot been to Appleby, but LOVE going to Stow.
Definitely an eye opener, and due to the high RSPCA/Police presence it's unlikely that you'll see anything too distressing.
I'm assuming your female... take your OH! He'll love all the scantily clad gypsy girls - even if they are more than slightly orange!
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hey i go nearly every year (am just going for the day on sunday), its a great experience, just be respectful of everyone and you should be ok, i wouldnt go on your own and make sure you have a meeting point if you get separated
 
A horse has died at Appleby once again in the river, its on another site. It may be a nice place for people but not for the horses that have died there over the years, and the ones who are hammered up and down all day getting cuts from a whip if they dare to slow down (ive seen it) and the poor foals who have to stand there day after day in the heat or the rain and mud. Im sorry but i hate cruelty!
 
Click on "next" under the pic and you can see more. They clearly have the **** on film so i dearly hope they find him and chuck him in with me for half an hour! Poor poor horse.
 
it sickens me what happened!
the poor animals was blatently petrified and despite cries from the onlookers, the irresponsible idiot still pushed the horse's head under the water and is responsible for it's death
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ive been to appleby fair today-saturday and wasn t aware of the incident of the horse drowning , they were still letting people swim and wash the horses in the river with no police presence at the river edge!
on the whole i enjoyed the sights of some stunning horses but would hate to think of all the ruined horses from the thrasing about up and down the stretch of road a few race along. one came off his racing gig into the crowd im sure the poor horse was glad of a rest.i also saw a wee shetland being thrashed about by kids with fresh broken knees!alot of the horses look very young ...
 
It saddened all of us travellers what happened to that horse. Before anyone thinks that we all treat our horses badly and don't care - look at the pictures of the people trying to get it out of the water and read the story about the guy having to run for his life.

Most of us look after our horses very well. Yes, we do race them and work them. But have a wander around the horse fair and tell me the horses are not looked after. There appears to be some ignorance on here - horses with cuts from whips? I just spent 3 days at the fair and didn't see a single horse (and there are thousands) with cuts from whips.

I wish I'd read this post earlier as I'd urge everyone to go along to the horse fair and get to know us a bit - most of us are only too happy to talk about our horses and our lives.
 
From the treatment that I've seen over the years of horses on livery yards by ignorant/cruel owners, I think that often the traveller community are just an easy target. I've been to Appleby and to a fair in Kent, and have never seen such stunning horsemanship. With all the numbers of dealers at Appleby unfortunately there may be a small number of examples of poor treatment, but statistically no more than you would find at any range of dealers ... We have also bought two cobs over the years from a well-known local traveller and they have both been fantastic, beautiful to break and really confident and calm to handle. If they had been ill-treated they would have been very different!
Go and enjoy, and as people have said, keep an open mind!
 
Well said Gary----There are good and bad in all communities and although I do see animals that clearly could be presented better at Stowe there are many more that are in good nick and obviously well cared for.
People comment about being afraid to walk round the fairs but I find if you are polite,don't go in all guns blazing,and keep your mind and eyes open ..I feel safer walking round Stowe than the high street in Evesham!
I hope the travellers catch up with the mindless idiot and he gets what he deserves,I wouldn't like to be in his shoes.
 
I do hope they catch that *******d as he deserves something similar doing to him, how dare he, thankfully there are not that many complete idiots like that around, sad fact is, i bet he is not reprimanded that much, if at allm, poor poor horse x
 
Went to Appleby on Saturday, saw alot of people who did care about their horses but a lot of young lads seem to enjoy the "show" of entering the water, swimming and then out, did see some lads whipping horses that obviously did not want to go into the water and also mares with small foals going into the water and the poor things have to follow mum but are so scared, why do they do that it seems so cruel. It is quite a show and worth going at least once, all the gypsey girls are all extreamly made up and tanned some of the high heels must have been killing them it was so hot they like to show as well
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Gary im sorry if i offended you, i can only comment on what I SAW when i went to appleby. I saw alot of horses being raced up and down the road, some of the horses were clearly crackered and were being whipped to make them go when they should have been given a rest. I saw two horses with cuts from those whips. I just wish i knew where the photos are. Others had horrible rubs from badly fitted/wrong size harness.
I dont tar everyone with the same brush, i know most of the rough stuff comes from dodgey dealers just out to make fast cash, NOT true gipsies. In fact show me where i said it WAS travellers or gipsies??????
I go on what i saw when i was there, not what i have heard.
 
How absolutely horrendous, I wish the angry crowd HAD catched that disgusting man and beat the living s*it out of him.

I couldnt go to Appleby. Just the sight of seeing them being hammered up and down a tarmac road brings shivers to me. Must absolutely ruin their legs, especially the young ones. And I have been on a horse who has bolted and slipped over on a road so know how easy it is for a horse to fall.

They should ban this stupid ass "ritual" of bathing the horses in the river. How many more deaths need to occur??????
 
I looked after Ginny the horse owned by Roman who lived at Bruntcliffe in Leeds. He always wanted the best for her and I was honered when they left her in my care.
There are good people and bad people and we all are here to learn. Hopefully the lad that unvaled this horrific tragedy has learnt a very valuable lesson this weekend, one that will stay with him for the rest of his life.
I did not go to Appleby but know it was one of Romans wishes before he died earlier this year to see the fair with Ginny pulling his romany caravan.
I would recommend it to anyone as an experiance to the culture of the the gypsies.
I was made to feel one of their own and that was a fantastic experiance.
Rest in peace Roman x
 
Hold on there guys!!

Appleby is an age old tradition and the 'bathing' in the water was actually an age old tradition of backing horses sympathetically!! As the water initailly takes riders weight... etc.. etc.. blah.. blah..

You can't make broad sweeping statements about whole communities of any type nor ethnic origin... or age old customs because of this... would you ban XC because legs get broken... or turnout cause over-reach injuries may happen... what about travelling horses in trailers... or riding up roads?? Everything we do potentially puts a horse at risk including improper care and over feeding!!

There are some superb 'irish' or 'travelling' or 'romany' horsemen.. and BAD in all walks of life... everywhere!

This man was clearly a stupid idiot and not a good horseman.. what he did was awful...absolutely.... but even he 'probably' didn't mean to hurt the horse just an ignorant stupid ba**ard!. If caught he should be punished.. But there are after all just as many people who 'love' their horses into an early grave!!
 
This guy DROWNED his horse though, he forced it under the water and killed the horse! - When I go XC for example, I prepare as much as possible in order to keep my horse as safe as I possibly can! That's totally different! When I travel my horse, again I take every precaution to keep him safe. This man took no precautions at all - he basically murdered his horse. And the fact that mares are taken into the water with their foals in tow is also just asking for trouble. You just dont do that.

Im sorry, but the fact that these people tie their horses to barbed wire fences (see picture gallery post) and batter their horses dangerously fast along narrow roads is just too insane to think about. Ive heard a man was killed on the "flash road" when a trotter trampled him.....

Im not one who goes along with tradition though. I couldn't care less TBH (lots of horrendous things used to go on as traditions). I think change is good, and anything which stops the drowning of horses can only be a good thing.
 
to reply to the last quote-i dont think he deliberately drowned the horse!and it wasnt his.it was said he ducked it headbut when doing this it had slipped of the ledge it was standing on into deeper water and panicked.i dont think he should have ducked its head.or take mare and foals into water if they dont want to.
I didnt see the bloke killed on the flash road but could easily see how accidents could happen as the road is a piece of road set aside for 'flashing'it does warn in big signs it is used for trotting by horses ,yet people were wandering along the road willy nilly ,there are grass verges along the sides for people to stand on. the trotting horses in the racing gigs go really fast they must do 30 mph,they also race each other coming very close to the verges, it is quite hard to stop and slow down ahorse that is in the middle of a race in a cart it is harder.i did think sometimes they were aiming for people as they were annoyed they were on the road.
 
There are many things that were deemed acceptable in 1685 when this dunking of the horses head in the river started, and just like bullbaiting and bearbaiting it should have been stopped due to it being a horrendous way of treating animals.
From the pictures in the Daily Mail today its quite obvious the horses nose was completely covered with the rope he had tight over its nostrils, and being dunked in water was a tradgedy waiting to happen. What a fool.
I would like to see this appalling fair stopped. Other than that I would like to see the committee pay for five policemen and five rspca officials (not just the normal one) to stand on the river side and anybody seen dunking their horses head under the water or forcing foals and their mothers even though terrified into the water should be prosecuted.
If you feel strongly about this incident and want changes made, as I do, then please make your feelings clear to Eden councillor and Appleby fair committee chairman Ella Langan (who believes in this 'tradition' continuing) at this email ella.langan@eden.gov.uk
Hopefully we can stop this fair being a torture ground for the horses and a pathetic attempt at being 'macho' by the boys.
 
I think a new tradition should be started for the "young lads who think they are hard"... ok... lets dunk them under water for say... ummmm 5 minutes and see if they come up trumps!! If they do then they can ride the horses!!!! IF THEY SURVIVE!!!
 
I love my horses more than anything/anyone (with the exception of my daughter, of course!) and this is a tricky one....I actually have a "pikey" friend - I bought a home-bred horse from him only last week, in fact. He went to Appleby on Saturday and took his box with him but added to us that he would buy, but not sell at any fair/sale because he liked to know where his horses were going and to whom they were being sold. He is not a "traveller"; he owns land and lives in an expensive rural part of Hertfordshire, but he travels to Ireland to buy trotters for his sons, and spends a fortune on coloured horses.......but he loves them all (I pity his poor, long, suffering wife!). He breaks in horses (as stated in one of the messages) by riding them into a river (we WON'T be doing that with the mare we bought last week - she's working very well on the lunge, thank you!) but what I'm trying to say is that whilst I'm horrified by what happened at Appleby, not all "pikeys" are cruel and uncaring and should not all be tarred with the same brush. I think my horses have a wonderful life - well fed and in warm stables, well rugged in the winter (although out all day) and in lush pasture during the summer, living our 24 hours. They are loved and well cared for and lack nothing. We have wonderful hacking here and life is idyllic........but I feel sorry for the number of competition horses - particularly from within the dressage fraternity (I know this from first hand experience) who never get turned out in fields ("he might get kicked" or "he could injure himself on a fence") and never hack out (......can the rider handle a playful buck ???)........these are the horses I feel sorry for! There is far more hidden "cruelty" then what happened at Appleby! Come on, let horses LIVE! They don't want to spent 23 hours a day in a stable - that's what I call cruelty!
 
well said keepers cottage - i don't mind the rage against the young idiot who did it - it's the ignorance I abhor. most of the people commenting have never been to the fair and seen the thousands of superb horsemen and their superb horses.

As for taking our horses into the water - we don't "dunk" horses routinely...that is NOT a tradition. when i take my cobs to the river i can barely stop them getting in - they love it. I must add...I worked with polo ponies for a long time and we took them in the river daily - is that different?
 
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