South Molton Apple Fair

Thank you to everyone who supported us on our P4P stall today!  We raised £123 for the ponies so thank you to Peter for helping to run the tombola and Margaret and Jas for looking after the ponies at the yard!

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People4ponies 2018 Calendar Now Available For Sale!

We're delighted to have the 2018 People4ponies calendar now ready for sale!  We're very grateful to Hedgerow Print for their help in producing the 2018 edition!  It's the same great quality glossy print... and now with an even better grid section which includes separate colour coded weekends and bank holidays, moon cycles, and a snapshot for the following month so you can check out dates without needing to flip over the page!  This year's calendar is available for £6.50 and all profits go to the care of our ponies. 

 

Our calendars have glossy photos with a central binding, each side measures 279 x 216mm (just a bit narrower than A4)  so is nice and big when fully open and displayed on the wall (279 x 440mm).We'll add the calendar to the shop on the main People4ponies website shortly...please do get in touch to order your copy!  They make lovely Christmas presents and we will also have them available on our stalls for as long as stocks last!!

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Hallworthy Horse Sale

We are pleased to report a very much improved horse sale at Hallworthy market today.  Both Trading Standards and Defra were present at the sale so we would like to thank everyone for their efforts - both in the planning of the sale, and during the sale today.

All the ponies/horses were in good condition.  One horse had cut its leg during transport but this was treated at the sale and didn't cause any problem.  There were domesticated horses and also wild ponies from Bodmin for sale.  All the horses and ponies were checked for their microchips before sale.  Straw had been put down in some areas and the handling/moving of the horses was much improved.  The weather was atrocious today but the sale was still very well attended with the gallery packed with people.  There was no official catalogue this year but there was a list of horses for sale published on the auction-house website (with just beyond 100 listed).  Not all the horses sold but a good number were and private homes were buying.

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Ex-Hurricane Ophelia Is Here

Red sun at 10.30 this morning!

Such an unusual start to the morning brought by ex-hurricane Ophelia!  There was a light covering of Sahara sand on the car before I left home.  The sky was yellow until about 9.45 and at 10.30 the clouds parted a bit to reveal a red sun!  Very unusual!

It has been getting increasingly windy so buckets are being stowed away - the good thing is, no rain!!  You can see in the left hand photo Arthur being blown a bit sideways by the wind.  Beautiful blue sky!

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Pony Market News

We heard good general feedback about the Chagford pony sale on Thursday - the car park full of lots of private cars and trailers, not dealers lorries.  Ponies were in good condition - some made quite a lot of money (the spotty ones most likely as these are always popular).  Quite a few went unsold which is not surprising when there were so many entered.  Nothing outwardly noted as any concern which is great!  The publicity about slaughtering the ponies for meat (which reached all over the country) probably helped to attract some extra private buyers.  As we all know, there needs to be an end to the overbreeding of so many unwanted foals...and not using the excuse of "conservation" as a reason for producing them as a "by-product" but I think everyone is already very clear on our views about that!! 

It is so good to know that the promises of action made to us in the 5 page report we received back from the Cornish authorities last year regarding Hallworthy pony market are being carried out.  We appreciate the efforts of all involved to make sure that the sale will be the best it can possibly be.

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Chagford Pony Drift Sale Today

Spare a thought for the 245 little souls for sale at Chagford on Dartmoor today...a hundred more than last year...

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You're Never Off Duty!

On Monday, on the last part of the late night journey home my headlights caught the red eyes of an animal in the road in front of me - I was expecting it might be a fox and it would jump into the hedge...but no!  Despite dipping the lights, the creature was running straight towards me...and as I slowed and got alongside it, it was a Springer Spaniel!   Very friendly but shouldn't have been out past 11pm running on the main road!  He was very friendly and with a bit of persuasion jumped straight into the car.  No collar...thank goodness for our microchip scanner...running it down his neck...beep...chip found!  Off to the local vets, who thankfully had a late night member of staff on duty who could look him up on their database.  When I went to the car to get the piece of paper with his chip number, I saw him sat in the drivers seat just holding my yoghurt (ready for breakfast) that he'd found in the passenger seat.  I went back inside the surgery, the vet tried the contact numbers of his owners several times...but no answer...so she agreed he could stay there until they could be contacted.  Borrowing a lead, I went to get him from the car and with a bit of persuasion he came into the vets where he could get settled in for the night.

Job done, back to the car just before mid-night...and I couldn't help but laugh when I found on the backseat of the car a perfectly clean and empty yoghurt pot, completely polished off, no mess on the car!  Obviously he was a very hungry boy and to be fair I hadn't said he couldn't have it...it was my last one as well...so that was breakfast gone!!!!  I found out that his name is Jester, which is very appropriate (!).  Happily the next day he was reunited with his owners!!!

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October Stars Basil!

October brings us wonderful Basil - I love this photo of him with the Devon village behind, the leaves turning autumnal and you can just about make out his friend Chester the horse behind him.  Basil's been very lucky to have a home with Carol on her farm.  He's a real character and definitely a member of the family!

I can't believe how wet the ground is this autumn - it's so wet underfoot already - much more like February than October, which is a bit of a worry because the winter is a long few months!  The main P4P herd is now out starting their winter pasture.  Topsy and Star had a flock of sheep visit for a few days to get the amount of grass down in their field.

Healing thoughts for Munchie please who, rather unluckily, has abscesses in both front feet at the moment, poor chap - he's getting lots of extra looking after.  He's on the very last bit of his old hoof with the whole new healthy foot above - very frustrating that the abscesses have appeared, and at the same time, but it's all part of the healing process, to get necrotic tissue out.

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