Horse & Hound – 08 August 2019

8 August 2019Horse& Hound 69

forms above the rest

WEalwaysthoroughlyenjoy

thecountyshowcircuit.

However,thisyearwehaveseen

somebizarreissuesatdifferent

shows.Ratherthannameand

shameindividualshows,I’ve

highlightedissuesbelow.I

wouldhopethattheShowing

Councilcoulddiscusstheseand

otherswiththesocietiesand

theAssociationofShowand

AgriculturalOrganisationsto

finda solutionthatbenefitsall:

1.Atonefixture,wewent

tothecollectingringtowork

in,astherewasnodesignated

working-inarea.Whenwegot

therewewereaskednottotrot

asit was“acollectingringand

nota working-inarea”.

I askedwherewewere

expectedtoworkinandthe

stewardsaidthatmostpeople

had“justbeencanteringin

andoutofthehorseboxes”.I

couldn’tbelievetheythought

it wasacceptabletohave

children on ponies riding

aroundmovingvehiclesina car

parksimplybecausesomeone

hadoverlookeddesignatinga

specific area.Itwasanaccident

waitingtohappen.

2.Atanother,torrential

rainfellduringa hugeclass

ofmountainandmoorland

firstriddens.Manygrooms

attemptedtotakejacketsand

rugsintotheringoncethe

ponieshadlinedupandwere

stoppedbythestewardsand

toldthatthiswasnotallowed.

Whyonearthwouldyounot

wantchildrenandponiesto

bekeptwarmanddrywhile

waitingintheline-up?

3.Wemustaddressthe

adultsonponiesweightissue,

butonlyinthecorrectmanner.

I don’topposejockeysbeing

askedtodismountif a qualified

personusingthe20%ratioso

requests.However,adultsat

onecountyshowwereasked

todismount—eventhough

theyareclearlywithinthe

appropriateweightratiofor

thatheightofpony—because

they were too old for the pony’s

respectiveclassandweren’t

ridingthoseponiesinthering.

A verylightweightadult

whoworksforuswasworking

ina 122cmpony.I briefedher

beforehandthatif anyoneasked

hertodismountsheshould

offertobeweighed,butthat

theywerenotallowedtoask

hertodismountbyassessing

howmanywrinklesshehad!

Fortunatelyorunfortunately,

she wasn’t singled out.

4.Ata showwithplentyof

working-inspace,a memberof

theshowstaffapproacheda girl

lungeinga ponyandclaimed

theponywasbeinglungedfor

toolong.Thepersonadded

thatchildren’sponiesshouldn’t

needthatmuchworkinginand

thatif theyweretruechildren’s

poniesweshouldbeabletoput

thechildstraighton.

However,classesspecify

thebestexhibit,notthesafest.

If poniesneedtobelunged

orworkedinbyanadult,that

shouldbeallowedtokeep

childrensafeinsideandoutside

thering.

5.Asa teamweentered 18

animalsforoneshowandwere

sentoneriderpassforeachand

onlyonehorseboxpass.How

couldyoutransport 18 ponies

ononewagon?

It’salsoinappropriate

thatonlytheridergetsa

showgroundpasswhenparents,

connectionsandownerswant

tocomealonganda heftyentry

fee hasbeenpaid.H&H

‘The best exhibit, not the safest’

Julie Templeton providesfiveexamples of why change is needed

Nativeshowrider

Rebecca Penny

NEXT

WEEK

ONLY IN HORSE & HOUND

OPINION

JulieTempletonisa leadingpony

produceranda BritishHorse

Society/BritishShowPonySociety

accreditedelitetraineranda BSPS

and Ponies Association (UK) judge.

POOR

NUMBERS

COULDtheintroduction

ofmandatoryflujabsbe

thedeathknellofin-hand

showing?

JudgeStephen

Howardcommented:

“Thenumberofentriesat

manyshowshavehada

seriousknockbytheflu jab

requirement,nonelessso in

theM&Mbreeds.

“TherecentRoyal

Welshshowsuffered

significantly;theWelsh

sectionB mareshad

onlythreeforwardwhen

historicallytherewould

havebeentwolines.If

toomanyexhibitorsopt

out,thealreadydwindling

numbers willmakein-hand

showingfar

fromeconomic

froma show

secretary’s

point of view’’.

TALKING

POINT

QUALIFIERRESULTS

HOYS,hunters(JCope,A Fradley)

sml.—1 &ch,R Binks’BrookdaleMaster

Piece;2,L Mollard’sSecretTimesII;3,R

Cooper’sTigerEye.l’wt.—1, C Hunnable’s

KilmastullaTrumpCard;2,C Stamper’s

BallardPlayboy;3,GRoss’CarravillaGem.

m’wt.—1 &res,DHarrod’sSVSCamelot;

2,I Darcy’sRomannoRoyale;3,HSnook’s

It’stheKingsSpeech.h’wt.—1, DGibson’s

BallycreenApollo;2,MNicholson’s

BowlandLuckySlipper;3,B Beercock’s

LoughmelvinBuach.WH(JGraham,T

Wiggett).—1, L Roberts’RedWhySalute;

2,J Jones’QualityMack;3,R Lupton’s

Catango

Coedywern Una is top M&M in-hander for Lucinda Ashworth

LucindaAshworth’s(née

Craven)firstvisittohernew

localshowsincetakingoverthe

mastershipoftheDerwentwith

herhusbandSteveninMaypaid

dividends.Herthree-year-old

ExmoorfillyCoedywernUnatook

hometheFrankLeetrophyforthe

supremein-handmountainand

moorland(M&M)pony.

“WewentshoppinginWales

fora three-orfour-year-old

geldingtocontestfutureridden

classesandcamehomewithUna

instead,’’saidLucinda.

JackieCrofterHarriswasat

theringsidetoseeherhome-bred

non-nativeponyDancingLad,

riddenbyyoungproducerJames

Knight,landtheriddencoloured

championship.Runnersupat

HOYSlastseason,thepairscored

50/50forperformanceatthe

2019 Great Yorkshire show.H&H