31-05-2025
Animal welfare charities get ready to celebrate awards at Appleby Horse Fair
STAFF from eight animal welfare charities who make up the Appleby Horse Project are making their final preparations.
The annual gathering of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, which is the biggest in the UK, officially begins next Thursday, June 5, with the biggest days traditionally taking place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Hundreds of horses are bought and sold at the event, which is also an important holiday for many Fairgoers.
This year is the 10th anniversary of the Best at Appleby Awards, led by Redwings Horse Sanctuary with support from the rest of the animal welfare charity partnership.
Redwings' vet Nicola Berryman is head judge of this year's competition and said: 'I've been working at Appleby since 2012 and have been helping to judge these awards since their inception 10 years ago.
'The response to the awards has changed so much over the years. We now have so many people bringing their horses to our golden tent on Salt Tip Corner that we're reverting to how we used to run them this year, where one of our vets must spot and approach you.
'The awards have become an incredible tool for building relationships, as we always hoped they would over time, and we can't wait to meet this year's winners and their owners.'
The awards recognise the best horse health, happiness, and horsemanship at the Fair, with categories including Best Hoof Health and Best in Harness chosen by experts.
Leading farrier and educator Dean Bland will be judging the Best Hoof Health Award, and Master saddler and harness maker Chris Taylor and Laurence Pearman will be judging the Best in Harness Award.
The operational team, led by the RSPCA, will be putting on extra evening patrols after reports that horses were being overworked at that time of day last year.
RSPCA chief inspector for Cumbria, Rob Melloy, oversees the operational team and added: 'Overworking is a key focus for us this year after it proved to be an issue at last year's Fair.
'We had a lot of reports from Fairgoers and the settled community that horses were being worked hard at night, so we'll be putting on extra patrols in the evening."
