23 June 2023

Eighteen welfare awards given out at Appleby Horse Fair

Eighteen awards have been given out in celebration of the best horse health, happiness, and horsemanship at this year’s Appleby Horse Fair.

The annual Gypsy Roma and Traveller gathering, which is the biggest in the UK, took place between Thursday 8th June and Monday 12th June in the Cumbrian town of Appleby-in-Westmorland.

Appleby Horse Fair is centred around the trading of horses and has been in existence for at least 300 years. It is very important to the GRT community who love them. Around 10,000 people of GRT heritage attend the Fair, as well as around 30,000 other visitors.

Nine animal charities* - all members of the National Equine Welfare Council (NEWC) - sent staff to the Fair to support the protection and wellbeing of horses, and the awards are organised by us to recognise the very best welfare at the event.

Andie McPherson, Campaigns Manager here at Redwings and co-ordinator of Appleby Horse Fair Equine Welfare Project, said: “The award winners were chosen either by our longstanding, committed vets at the Fair or one of our invited experts.

“This year we were supported again by leading farrier and educator Dean Bland along with Master harness makers Chris Taylor and Laurence Pearman who found our Best Hoof Health and Best in Harness winners.

“The most prestigious awards were announced on Sunday, after all the vets agreed on an overall Vet’s Choice Champion and the Best at Appleby social media ‘votes’ were counted for the People’s Choice Champion. The awards give us the chance to put focus on the passionate horsemanship and high welfare standards at the Fair which often get overshadowed by the relatively few welfare cases.

“It’s a privilege to give each owner the award and to see how made up they are with the recognition – many who go on to share their valuable horse knowledge with others.

“We are very grateful to everyone who supported the awards including the Traditional Gypsy Cob Association who sponsor them each year and to every previous winner who came to speak to us.”

The Vets’ Choice Award went to Lemon, owned by Craig and Sophie, whilst the People’s Choice Award went to Sundance Kid, owned by Liam and family, whose post had over 500 likes and a reach of over 17,000 across the Best at Appleby Facebook and Instagram pages. A TikTok account was created for the competition for the first time this year which has had almost 45k views in one week.

Watch Nicola Berryman, one of Redwings' Welfare Vets who attends Appleby every year, talk about her role at the Fair below:

Ten-year-old Johnny (pictured below) was given a Rising Star Award, which is given to under 16s who impress, for his work with his pony Heartbreaker. Johnny said: “(I’m) really happy that I won. I was talking to one of the RSPCA and then I turned around and I saw the ribbon and I was so, so happy. [I won it for] looking after my horse the best. Looking after it and making sure she's in good condition. I make sure she is not dehydrated, lots of feeding, make sure she is not sore or lame, make sure the harness is okay on her, and everything! Make sure she is going good!”

Heartbreaker and Johnny - Rising Star 2023

The full list of winners are:

Annaliese and horse Jacob (pictured top) – Rising Star Award (Under 16s)

Martina and horse Apache – Returning Winner Award

Freddie and Lily and horse Queenie – Rising Star Award (Under 16)

Michael and horse Rosie – Best at Appleby Award

John Paul and horse Duchess – Returning Winner Award

Tiegan and horse Smoking Sally – Rising Star Award (Under 16)

Eden and Robbie and horse Bobby Dazzler – Best at Appleby Award

Liam and horse Sundance Kid – Best at Appleby Award

Alison and horse Magic – Best at Appleby Award

Dawn and Cal – Returning Winner Award

Carl and horse Lucifer – Returning Winner Award

Johnny and pony Heartbreaker – Rising Star Award (Under 16)

Kennson and horse Mafia – Best in Harness Award

Hannah with horse Joe – Rising Star Award (Under 16)

Lara and horse Joey – Best at Appleby Award

Craig and Sophie and horse Lemon – Best Hoof Health Award

Lolly, Clare and Matt and horse Lucy – Returning Winner Award

Shanny and horse Smartie – Returning Winner Award

Appleby Horse Fair National Equine Welfare Project team

For the first time this year, fairgoers were asked what changes they’d like to see to make Appleby Horse Fair the best possible event for horses. The information collected by the Equine Welfare Project Group, some of who are pictured above, will be used to develop our work for the next five years.

RSPCA officers and Welfare Vet Suzanne with Holly the dog at Appleby Horse Fair

The RSPCA recorded 288 interventions by their officers at the event. Nine investigations are ongoing and 14 warnings were issued, mainly for exhausted horses. Nine equines, two dogs, 13 puppies and two chickens were seized by police and placed in RSPCA care.

RSPCA Chief Inspector Rob Melloy said: “We’re obviously going to be disappointed by the number of exhausted horses we’ve seen over the Fair. Some people were working their horses too hard in the heat and our vets were very busy helping those who needed it.

“The Best at Appleby Awards have highlighted some of the amazing horses and horsemanship at the Fair and we’d encourage the brilliant horse people here to use their influence, intervene or tell us when they see things they’re concerned about.

“The Appleby Horse Fair Equine Welfare Project team have been collecting the views of fairgoers and we will be planning our operation next year informed by this feedback. Thank you to everyone who spoke to them.”

*The nine animal welfare charities working in collaboration on the Appleby Horse Fair Equine Welfare Project are the RSPCA who sent 34 people this year; Redwings who sent nine; Blue Cross who sent eight; World Horse Welfare who sent eight; Bransby Horses who sent six; The British Horse Society who sent three; The Donkey Sanctuary who sent three; Oak Tree Animals who sent two and The Horse Trust.