Chief after rehabilitation at Blue Cross
Blue Cross Shares Welfare Expertise At Appleby
9 years ago 
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Blue Cross is teaming up with other horse welfare organisations at Appleby Horse Fair in June to exchange skills, knowledge and experience on horse care and welfare with owners attending the fair. Right at the heart of the Fair on Salt Tip corner, the information tent is in its fifth year and attracts owners from all areas of the country and further afield.
Appleby is an ancient horse fair held in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria during the first week of June each year. It has taken place since the reign of James II of England who granted a Royal charter for the fair in 1685. It attracts around 10,000 Gypsies and travellers and more than 30,000 visitors. Over the past five years Blue Cross, together with the RSPCA, WHW, Donkey Sanctuary and Redwings, has attended the Fair to engage horse owners in all matters to do with equine welfare. This year they will joined by the British Horse Society and Bransby Horses. The charities provide free information, advice and encourage owners to take part in interactive activities to build trust and share knowledge across the generations of families that attend the Fair with their horses.
Kerry Taylor, Education Officer at Blue Cross, explains: “Our presence at the Fair is growing in popularity and attracts all ages from grandparents to young teenagers. Each year we bring pots of worms, tethering equipment and pictures of horses with strangles, which have proven to be great conversation starters. Listening to horse owners talking about the health issues facing their horses is an ideal learning tool, helping us to provide the most relevant information and advice.”
Blue Cross also offers help with the handling and transport of horses in need at the Fair and takes in horses that have either been abandoned or legally removed, such as young trotter Chief.
Chief was seized at Appleby Horse Fair last year. At just two-and-a-half years old he had been worked to the point of exhaustion. He was very underweight and had cuts and sores over his back legs and face where his tack had rubbed him. Chief was nursed back to health at a specialist Blue Cross centre and has now been rehomed to an experienced person who will take him through the backing process and bring him on as a ridden horse.
The Appleby initiative is a part of an overall equine welfare preventative strategy, which is a collaborative approach to address the horse crisis driven by horse welfare charities and supported by BEVA.
Visit www.bluecross.org.uk and www.newc.co.uk to find out more on horse welfare and charity initiatives.
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