Pen Selwood Horse & Dog Show

[geoff parcell]

The second Sunday in August is a special date for local riders and dog owners. The Pen Selwood Horse & Dog Show was a great success this year. We were blessed with a lovely day, not too warm or too cold.
The entries were up on last year, particularly for the dogs.

Two of our charities were present with stands, Horseworld from Bristol and Greyhound Rescue West of England.

The championship cup presented for the most points in the show classes, dressage and jumping went to Arabella Raymond from Milton On Stour on her horse Mr Blue Sky.

One of the highlights of the day was the Fancy Dress class. This was judged by Fanny Charles, former editor of the Blackmore Vale magazine. It was a hard choice between Alice in Wonderland and the Gruffalo, the ponies were so good allowing themselves to be dressed up, the Gruffalo was mounted on a mouse!

 

My personal highlight was seeing the joy and delight on the face of a very small boy with cerebral palsy held on by his father, the pony led by his mother as his pony broke into a fast trot across the show ring. Is this how our gold medal winners from the Paralympics started out?

This show runs with the help of a large group of volunteer helpers and I can’t thank them enough for all their hard work.

Proceeds from the show will go to The Red Cross, Somerset & Dorset Air Ambulance, Medical Detection Dogs and the Village Hall as well as the charities mentioned above. 

Penny Varnes

[photos: Simon Painter]