There were two EMW representatives attending the fair today. We arrived at about 10-30am to find the streets fairly quiet and the parking easy. We walked through the town to the fair site seeing people coming towards us all caked in ankle deep mud. The site was filthy, litter strewn and in a sea of deep mud. As always it was packed with trade stands many showing DVD’s of bare knuckle fighting, harness racing and scenes from previous fairs across the UK. These DVD’s were available to purchase from many stalls.

We saw a young lad, estimated age of around 9 or 10, selling fireworks from a table. There were many designer label goods on sale and masses of rabbit fur items were on show and for sale. The mud made it almost impossible to walk but prams and small children were all still decked in finery that was getting progressively plastered in the slushy sticky mud. There would be a mint to be made from selling washing powder there today! On the bank across the centre bowl we saw four RSPCA officers There were Police officers around the entrance but also two mounted Police ladies, lovely people, who were very helpful when we made a complaint. We mentioned to the RSPCA a poor thin horse that had been hurriedly shut into a tiny single trailer with all doors closed on it and were told they were dealing with it. We found a pen with 11 tiny terrier puppies, supposedly 7 weeks and 1 day old, but that looked very much younger, they had huge swollen worm bellies, and each had a string collar tied round it’s little neck.

We found a cage with 4 mixed terrier puppies in it, all looked depressed and sickly. There was a cage with two Springers and a collie puppy, just wire no bedding, the Springers were dreadfully thin and cold, the collie was older and looked better but all were a sorry sight. When returned to this pen a while later one of the Springers had gone but had been replaced by a Lurcher puppy…we believe this puppy had been bought from a van further down the field and was now for sale at this pen… A lovely Staffie puppy, tiny, almost came home with us but we already have 5 dogs and cannot take anymore at this time. The driving always makes me angry. Bearing reins are horrendous. We saw pony after pony in these torturous devices being hammered up and down till sweat dripped from their bodies. A pair of cobs being driven relentlessly up and down the town was sad to watch. We asked the Police to stop them from going up again to give the cobs a break but were told they would have to be stopped by the RSPCA, but the RSPCA need the Police to back up their action! Two other ponies were being constantly hammered round and through the thick mud. There is nothing wrong with tradition but this horse fair each time it’s held is getting further and further away from the old ways. It seems to me it’s time it was over and done. “ EMW. ‘Following on from EMW’s report of Stow October 26th, here is a report of my experience there. I went as a Horsewatch representative, but with little optimism of finding any stolen horses or ponies there. The travelling community are much too canny these days to haul a stolen equine out on display, knowing that the eyes of the public and law are on them. However, within 30 minutes of arriving, I spotted a very familiar looking pony. This was a pony extremely similar to one that went missing from the South West in the spring of this year. The pony was tethered in an open area. I made my way over and made a fuss of him, all the while looking hard at his markings. Yes, he looked identical. I looked at his teeth, he was the right age. I casually sauntered off, as soon as I was out of sight of the pony I contacted EMW, who quickly put me on to one of the mounted police officers on sight. She rode along and met me, and I explained my suspicions to her. She rode over to see the pony, and while she was looking at him the owner quickly appeared. She questioned him and asked to see the pony’s passport, which was produced. It seemed to be in order, although it was dated from 6 months previously, which would be when the pony we were looking for disappeared I knew that the stolen pony was micro chipped, and the next step was to get the chip number from the loser of the pony, and locate somebody on site with a scanner. All of this took time, luckily the person in charge of the pony didn’t appear to feel under pressure from police scrutiny, his children at this point were riding the pony about. While waiting for the scanner to brought along, I was able to chat to several on duty police at the fair, and the RSPCA officers, and gained a valuable…..valuable to me anyhow…insight into their work there. The officer with the scanner arrived, Now it transpired that this was the first time that they had been asked to scan a pony at Stow, so there were hurried consultations by phone with a higher police authority, and a plan was put into place to seize the pony if it was the stolen one. The police were very through on this issue, where would the pony be held if they took it? How quickly could his owner come to identify him? The situation could quickly become volatile if the travellers were to feel threatened in any way, so it was decided to keep the search as low key as possible. I have to admit at this point that ‘low key’ looked slightly ‘high key’ from where I was standing. Half a dozen uniformed officers in hi viz jackets joined us, and four PC’s from the mounted division on horseback, and various RSPCA officers. Plus a few undercover people, including myself. Sensibly the operation was scaled own somewhat, and only a couple of the mounted officers and a couple of the police, and an RSPCA inspector, moved off to scan the pony. They returned 20 minutes later…the pony was not micro chipped, and it wasn’t the one we were looking for. We were understandably disappointed, and I felt terribly sorry for the owner of the lost pony, who was in contact with me throughout the situation. On the other hand it was valuable lesson for all concerned, not least for the police officers involved, who now have a ‘plan of action’ if this should happen again. I must add, please please get your horses freeze marked. Apart from being a good visual deterrent from theft, it would make everybody’s job a lot easier if the worst happens. Stay safe. C.B.”