You asked what I thought in an earlier thread Blowz, so here's my answer now..sorry for the delay.

I think it should be stopped, unless changes are made.

If the RSPCA cannot man it safely and the people who are attending have no respect for horses, then they deserve to lose their fair and their tradition.

To hell with their 'charter' and to hell with them if they refuse. If they cannot police it themselves...the Travelling Families that is, then they have no right to continue it.

All animals should be treated with respect. They are NOT there for amusement or for idiots to prove how strong and tough they are. The fact that the snivelling little creep 'ran off' speaks volumes I think. If it was an accident he'd have been distraught rather than frightened. Full marks to the people who went in to try and save the horse though/

The real test now though is if they turn in one of their own. That is the true test. If they give him cover or shelter, when he should be brought to task for what he did, then they should lose all respect from others and they should have their Horse Fair taken away.

I have no sympathy with any person who deliberately hurts any animal, or child, or human being. Life is sacred and it matters not if you are a spider, a fly, a horse or the King of Siam..Everything has a value and a reason to be here. Everything has a soul. ?Everything matters.

Tradition is no excuse whatsoever for abuse and murder. Once upon a time it was a 'tradition' of sorts to watch people hang, but thankfullly we've moved on. We can also move on from The Appleby Horse Fair, unless the people concerned 'move on' and start taking responsibility. To start with NO horse should have it's head put under the water...what a disgusting, terrifying thing to do. No horse that is not 100% comfortable in water, should be taken/forced into it...and anyone, ANYONE caught being cruel to any animal gets every book going thrown at them. That's how I'd run it.

But...as I said...it's now up to the travellers themselves to behave with integrity and honour over this, for themselves and their own pride and for the soul of that poor horse too, who died for no reason that I can see, other than an out of control idiot. At least in
death, his/her soul deserves some respect and the man who did that should be accountable and have the guts to be so too.

IF he wants to prove what a 'man' he is, then come forward and face the consequences of his actions. They should throw every law they can at him and make damn sure he's prosecuted.



Blowz... if you look on the links below you will find someone to restore your faith a little....

Her name is Cathy and the first link below is Cathy's Myspace page, which is a tribute to her Mum, Susie Bundrick, who died in April this year. Susie was married to John 'Rabbit' Bundrick. She was deeply loved and greatly missed, as you'll see. Susie's the sister-in-law of Reg Meuross. She was passionate about animals, horses in particular, and she had charities going for them. Cathy is now trying to raise enough money to buy land for the Horse Sanctuary that her mother so dearly hoped to be able to get.

She has a few Myspace pages now for their various charities and we can all help raise funds for them by donating old phones and cartridges, the details are all in the second link below...

I've great respect for what Cathy is trying to do and I'm sure she would have been as distressed as you obviously are Blowz...

Thank you for bringing it to everyone's attention.

Susie Bundrick's Myspace - It takes a short while to load so please be patient

'Last Angel' - Equine Defence



Lizzie