|
|
| Reading, an overview by GH. Of the 116 ponies catalogued, about 100 were forward. Auctioneers Michael Kimber and Richard Dance worked hard to get 45 ponies sold, many leaving the ring without a bid. Buyers were few in number, even the dealers usually massed around the gavel were absent, with rumour that they still had the ponies bought in the autumn unsold. Not a fan of their activities, nonetheless they put a 'bottom' in the market, and give the auctioneers something to start with. Despite the paucity of buyers, both auctioneers maintained an air of enthusiasm, and no vendor could complain of a lack of effort as they wrang every last bid possible from what was mostly a viewing audience. I'm not aware that vendors were being ambitious in their expectations, but the consensus was, given we are still in the grip of winter, no grass and with hay scarce and expensive, it was easy to resist the temptation to bring home another pony to feed. Having said that, Society President, Sue Bowling paid 2000gns for a yearling filly, the progeny of two Athelney ponies and some other good prices were realised. (T&S Report here shortly) Colts and youngstock mostly were a struggle, but adult mares, either due to foal or ready to cover when spring eventually arrives were most popular. There were some cracking colts about unsold and will appear here shortly when a wider viewing audience should find them new homes. All ponies were well turned out and in good order, a credit to the vendors. Anna Stevens from Wales took the pre sale show championship with a very smart stallion, dun and white skewbald, Niceman of Catchpool under judge Mrs Cozens who sorted the show exhibits very well. |
|
|
The Glasgow Agricultural
Society 149th National Stallion Show 6th March 2010.
pic by The principal results are as follows- Miniature Champion and Supreme Shetland Pony Champion - Lexus Daphne a 12-year old bay mare owned by Lorna Jamieson (Lignite Stud) - Standard Champion and Reserve Supreme Shetland Pony Champion - Charlotte of Transy a 3yr old filly owned by The Transy Stud. |
|
The
South East Group AGM was held yesterday lunchtime at The
Star, Alfriston. The
members and invited guests were treated to The Star’s
usual hospitality. There was a very successful and well
supported auction of items both equestrian and most
definitely not equestrian, following on from the
formalities and the lunch – also the usual bumper
raffle.
Caroline Sear.
Membership Secretary/Treasurer. |
|
Sat 13th MARCH - Carlisle -The 4th Spring Show & Sale 116 REGISTERED SHETLAND PONIES (under the auspices of The Shetland Pony Stud Book Society) 18 Yearling Colts 30 Mares, 25 Yearling Fillies 6 Licensed Stallions, 26 Fillies 385 Lots of Tack. 11 Colts & Unlicensed Colts 9am - SHOW CLASSES.
10am - SALE OF 385 LOTS OF TACK CATALOGUE - http://homepage.mac.com/tumpline/100313horse.pdf |
| If you are coming to the
South East group AGM & Lunch on 7th March,
don't forget to bring
3 items for sale in our auction. You keep the proceeds,
all you pay is £3 to cover entry for all 3 items. A
RAFFLE PRIZE WOULD BE GOOD if you can. Auction
items............ for example, we will be selling, a
showing waistcoat, a Lionel Edwards framed picture of
Shetland ponies and a white teapot! also a 'bronze' wall
plaque of a Shetland pony donated to be sold for group
funds. Bring anything that you no longer require (No, we
won't auction off your worn out hubbie!) |
| Reading Sale 10th MARCH. THIMBLEBY & SHORLAND AND THE SHETLAND PONY STUD BOOK SOCIETY, WISH TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THE SPOTTED FILLY OFFERED FOR SALE, LOT 114 FOLLOWING THE SALE OF REGISTERED SHETLAND PONIES, IS NOT A SHETLAND PONY and IS NOT PART OF THE SHETLAND PONY SALE. It is an 'extra' lot and is not sold under the auspices of the Shetland Pony Society. |
| Winter grinds on
and we've all got our heads down coping with the snow,
rain, floods and mud etc. I have an alert (as if
you haven't got enough on your plates) jus be warned in
these horrendous ground conditions, no grass, and a sea
of mud, that redworm thrive in this. It might be worth
getting a worm count done if you have anything with a
starey coat despite it having been wormed as part of
your usual regime. On a lighter note, as there is a paucity of news, take a look at this clip of a labrador eating its dinner, as the person said who sent it to me, 'some people have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time on their hands'. ENJOY Click |
|
Jennifer Taylor It is with an aching heart I have to
convey the sad news that my mother, Jennifer Taylor
passed away on 17.02.2010. Her love, respect and admiration of The Shetland pony lasted twenty five years. Together with my sister, Vicky Morgan, and myself we bred and showed. Standard ponies of mainly Lakehead and Wells Lines. We were blessed with some wonderful ponies, Celtic Matilda, Celtic Mutineer, Celtic Music to mention a few. Her passion with the pony, and her friendships with other local breeders and enthusiasts resulted in the co-founding of the South and West Wales Shetland Group which continues to grow and flourish. My Mother had an unconditional love for the Shetland Pony, and in her words," There is no other pony to compare to a Shetland" Zoe Snape
The funeral is to be held at Parc Gwyn
Crematorium, Narberth, SA67 8UD, on Monday March
1st. at 3.15pm.
Tea afterwards at The Nant y ffin Hotel,
Llandissilio, Clynderwen, SA66 7SU. Friends very
welcome.
Family flowers only. We would appreciate donations
which will be equally shared between Macmillan,
Ty Bryngwyn Hospice and St. Clears Surgery. Cheques
made payable, and sent to, Oliver Evans & Son
( funeral Directors) , 125 Priory Street,
Carmarthen, SA31 1NB.
|
|
|
| Just feeding the birdies, 5 minutes 'off guard' and a sneak thief strikes. Carol Crowe from Hawsker stud in Whitby, will be 'off the air' until she recovers/replaces her computer, stolen as outlined above. |
|
Bit short notice, but,
this coming weekend
Lionhearts Spring
Warm-Up Show
Sunday 21st Feb Baker
Barracks, Thorney Island PO10 8DH. Classes for
everyone, RL Qualifiers,
£50 to Supreme, £30 to
Reserve, £20 to Res. Reserve. Schedule on
www.lionhearts.co.uk Entries on the day.
Refreshments
|
|
READING SALE. 10TH
MARCH final numbers for March - 116 ponies Yearling Colts12, Yearling Fillies 37, Mare/fillies 36, Entire Males 3, Licensed Stallions 24, Geldings 3 FOLLOWING THE SALE OF SHETLAND PONIES.......Spotted filly 1
|
| A reminder to start
feeding ponies to avoid the dread hyperlipaemia.
THERE REALLY IS LITTLE OR NO GRASS NOW FOLLOWING THE
SNOW AND FROSTS. YOU MAY HAVE GOOD HAY and fat ponies,
but these are the ones who are most vulnerable. For
minis, which are most at risk, a pound of pony nuts per
head per day, will help protect them, providing energy
and minerals. Proportionately more for standards.
It's a fine line, but they must not be overfed as you
don't want large foals. Ponies prefer grass however
lacking in nutrition at this time of year, and with
mares now getting heavy with foal, mobilizing
their body fat is nature's way, but it finishes the
liver and more often than not, kills the pony as a
result. ALL OF US have our ponies too fat, it's
mainly as a result of showing, and ponies should be
'plain' going into the winter., certainly not 'in show
condition' Nature would not be able to mobilise fat that
wasn't there and a mare would either carry its foal to
term, or abort it, saving the mare. In either event, ie
if the mare foaled, she would pick up in the spring with
a foal, and if she'd lost it, would get in foal in the
spring whilst lean and then pick up. If your stud is
vulnerable (our has been in recent years) Be warned,
separate empty mares from those in foal, and start
feeding now. Below is comment from a reader. You may wish to follow this advice, it's up to you. I'M NOT FOR COMPLICATING THE SITUATION. THESE ARE NATIVE PONIES and should manage on sparce rations. Overcomplicating their 'needs' risks undermining their basic inbuilt hardiness and thriftiness. The basic problem is excess fat on ponies, addressing that is a whole different issue.
A comment on the feeding
of pregnant mares at this time of year:
For those of you with
pregnant mares that are due to foal in the next
couple of months and have concerns about them not
getting enough of the right proteins, vitamins and
minerals, I would recommend using a stud feed
balancer. This is fed in small quantities so a bag
goes a long way. I feed Baileys Stud Balancer to my
mares and the LoCal feed balancer no 14 to the
youngstock and have noticed it makes a real
difference to their overall condition WITHOUT ADDING
THE WEIGHT. Bailey's have a nutritionalist who is
happy to offer advice or recommend other products if
theirs is not suitable. Of course they need their
forage about 7.5kg per 100kg of body weight per
day. Good luck to all of you expecting foals this
year.
Ardanbeag
|
|
We too have had a visit
from trading standards people,
the man also checked our passports, but not the
ponies. This was a random check as we are registered
with defra we have a herd number.
I don't think there is
anything to worry about. I also think that looking
at the passports was to see if they are legitimate.
P.G.
|
|
Good entry of over 100 ponies entered for Reading 10th March..more later Just following on from your coverage of the Horse Tax issue. On Friday, my mother had an unscheduled visit from the council. Apparently they were checking horse passports. They wanted to know how many we had and to see and check all their passport. Luckily, all was in order and they went on their way. It was a completely uncontrolled check as they didn’t check passports against ponies and we could have shown them anything! However, I do smell a rat regarding the horse tax. Why suddenly visit us to check up on what we have got? So they know how much to tax us? So, I queried this with the lady and she said she knew nothing of this nor why she’d never been to check before – funny that! I also checked on where she was visiting and from what we could gather they were all farms/registered agricultural holdings – like mother’s. Of course, I didn’t mention the three ponies at my own domestic property just up the road, and wonder when and indeed if they might visit me. It seems, as with all things, that if you go ‘legit’, keep all the right records etc, it makes you much more accessible and therefore in this instance, more likely to be taxed! Do you think our lovely govt. could be that devious!?? |
|
Passports? Micro chips? Tax on horses?
Bureaucracy AND GOVERNMENT STEALTH TAXES TO PROVIDE NON
JOBS. WHO BENEFITS? NOT BREEDERS OR OWNERS FOR SURE. I
DID NOT PUBLISH THIS EARLIER AS IT MAY HAVE BEEN
PREJUDICIAL TO THE LANDOWNER ON WHOSE LAND 2 HORSES, ONE
EMACIATED and I did not wish to frighten off the
horses owners. The situation is resolved now, but here
is the report from the land tenant/owner on whose land
the events occurred. Gerry, Just thought that I would let you know what happened now that I have a completed story for your interest. Two horses were put in a private field New Years eve (Thursday) . On the Saturday one of them was found dead. Matter was reported to the Police who contacted the RSPCA, an inspector came out to look at the situation and said that we could not do anything about it until Monday as she wanted to get a vet out to look at the dead horse due to it being in very poor condition, On the Monday the vet came out, she checked the dead horse for microchip and surprisingly it actually had one! She also agreed that the other horse needed to be removed which the RSPCA organised IF this had not happened then we would have had to put a notice on the gate asking for it to be removed with-in 14 days and if this was not done we would have been able to claim the horse . Really didn't want this to happen as didn't want another one and we would have also had to arrange for it to have a passport and chipped which all costs money as everyone knows and also you had an equine which you really didn't know what to do with.
The Vet took samples of the dead horse in case at some
point the owner could have been contacted due to it
having a chip and also its condition, Because the horse
being dead on PRIVATE land, we as land owners were
responsible for removing it which also cost us money!
When it wasn't even ours, but that's the law. Alive
horse was removed by RSPCA and they put a sign on the
gate telling the owner to contact them which
surprisingly they did the very next day! From what I can
gather false name and address and also they claimed that
the dead horse was not theirs it was someone they met in
a pub and asked if they would look after it. Strange how
they both turned up in a empty field on the same day and
looked very similar. |
|
This is potentially crippling, please read it and sign the petition. 10,000 Oppose Horse Tax Bill Ministers are under pressure to reconsider controversial plans to introduce a new tax on horse owners after over 10,000 people signed a petition opposing the move. Even before the Government’s draft Animal Health Bill was published yesterday afternoon it had drawn criticism from the horse sector unhappy that the Government is pressing ahead with the plans despite overwhelming opposition from horse owners. Campaigners have been logging on to the 10 Downing Street website since September to have their say on the proposals, which would see every horse owner in the country hit with a ‘tax in all but name’ on each of their animals to help pay for a new Government agency to oversee animal health. Yet despite Minister for the Horse Jim Fitzpatrick telling MPs last week that the Government is “keen for there to be as much scrutiny as possible”, the publication of the Bill comes well before a cross-sector Advisory Group set up to examine the proposals has had a chance to have its say. Horse owners have been highly critical of the plans since they were published last year, with many angry that the proposed new system of charges would place a heavy burden on the horse sector without offering any clear benefits to riders, breeders and trainers in return. Critics have also pointed to the poor value for money which taxpayers would receive from such a move, arguing that any new body would spend much of its time collecting charges from people who own just a single horse; a group who make up 65% of all owners. With the administrative cost of collecting the charge almost outweighing the charge itself in these cases, an estimated £2.3m would need to be spent to collect just £4.5m, says Rethink the Horse Tax, the campaign behind the petition. Veterinarians, too, have warned that creating a new layer of bureaucracy will complicate the process of responding to animal disease outbreaks. Welfare groups have also joined animal keepers and vets in expressing opposition to the plans, as they artificially separate animal health and welfare. A spokesperson for the British Horse Industry Confederation, Tim Morris, said: “The horse sector has said it will work with the government to achieve the benefits of reduced risk of disease and enhanced animal welfare. But all we are seeing the extra cost and complexity of an expensive new quango, which will be an unnecessary burden to both the taxpayer and horse owner, with none of these benefits.” “We have been assured by the Ministers that the contents of the Bill are still wide open to debate, but publishing a draft Bill without saying what it will cost and with no visible benefits make this a very hard sell to horse owners.” “The Government need only look at the response that this petition, even before horse owner saw the details, to see that there is a great deal of opposition to this Bill. The Bill in its current form is expensive and unworkable and we urge the Government to now wait until its own Advisory Group has fully considered and costed these proposals.” Notes to editors A) The Petition:
B) The Government’s Proposals:
Further information is also available here: http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/policy/animalhealth/sharing/index.htm
C) About the Rethink the Horse Tax Campaign:
· The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) · The British Equestrian Federation (BEF) · The Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA) · The British Horse Society (BHS) · The British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) · The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) · The National Trainers Federation (NTF) · The Racecourse Owners Association (ROA)
D) Some facts about the UK Horse Industry: 11. 4.3 million people went horse riding last year. Riding is one of the most popular means by which more and more people are enjoying the British countryside. 12. Burdening horse owners with new costs without justification will have a negative impact on an industry which makes a significant contribution to the UK economy in terms of tax revenue and the 270,000 people whose livelihoods depend on the horse sector. 13. Much of the horse sector is funded out of taxed income, making a horse tax a form of double taxation. 14. Horseracing attracts 6 million spectators each year, making it the UK’s second most watched sport. 15. The horse racing industry alone contributes around £750,000 per year to central funding aimed at preventing and controlling infectious diseases. |
|
Get your entries into Reading Spring sale
BY 5th FEB http://www.tsauction.co.uk/entry_forms.asp Entries for this sale close on Friday 5th February 2010.
|
|
NPS Area 20 South East, Winter / Spring show,
Ardingly,
|
| Computer problems??
Here's a good
man...............http://www.oceanpcs.co.uk/
If you live in Sussex/S.East
area. Sensible fees, straightforward, no 'computer
speak/gobbledygook' Link will be on opening page of
shetland-pony.com |
| Here are the answers
for the crossword competition. Proved to be rather
more 'cryptic' than I intended, but the winner of
£50, sponsored by shetland-pony.com
winner drawn at
the Southern Group lunch Sunday 17th. Debbie Pittard
of the Tygwyn stud,, south Wales.
Cheque will be posted on Monday 18th. Congratulations !
|
![]() |
Friday 15th January, new computer system being installed, so will be off air for most of day. If you need to send email during that time either a) ask for receipt, or b) try and control the urge until I notify via this news page we are back up and running. |
| Crossword puzzle.
I've only had two sent back and with the extra clues
below, it's easy. Someone's going to win the easiest
£50 of their life on Saturday so don't miss out, get
it in the post today!! |
|
Letter of receipt from 'Help for Heroes' to:- UK & N.Ireland Shetland Pony Breeders. click This recognises the first batch of cheques I posted after Christmas but not the final total. There will be no
Sussex Show held in August 2010.
This is because the
International breed Show date has had to be moved
from July to August to the weekend that was booked
for the Sussex. As many exhibitors travel a long
distance for the Sussex, moving its date one week
later or earlier would likely affect its entry as it
is hoped everyone will attend the International Show
at Hickstead and may not want to travel to East
Sussex twice in successive weekends. Other dates
coincide with other shows, or our personal showing
campaign dates. As the International is being held
in the South East I hope everyone who shows can
attend the International which looks like it will be
a superb event. |