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Post by bunny on Aug 22, 2016 19:24:47 GMT
We had a great time. Had been lucky to stable in the Highland pony section. Very quiet down there. Ponies were brilliant, showers not at all great but thank god I didn't find a poo in them! We found judging generally pretty good but we did very well in parts so couldn't complain. Agree the M&M finals would be nice indoors, mind you think the main ring was better than some of the others. Looking forward to next year!
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Post by teabag on Aug 22, 2016 19:35:41 GMT
We had a fantastic time at Equifest , some good results some not so good . Entered my daughter in a variety of classes from showing / concours and a workers class . Also a couple of palomino classes . We always have a good time at Equifest even if results are not great as lots of friends go . I think it's what you make it . Only complaint ( not Equifest fault ) was we had a pony behind ours that constantly tried to kick its way out every time something else got fed . Not helped by the owner wandering down to feed it at 8.30 long after everything else had been fed . This really upset our pony and he was also really tired by the end ( don't remember him being so tired last year ) . The poor lady who was stabled next to it had to feed it every time she fed her own horse . Do wish they would move the m and m finals out of the main ring , the ground was awful ( this wasn't as much a problem for our ponies as it was for others as we don't have a school ) there was absolutely no atmosphere in the main ring in the day would have been lovely to be in the in door or the demo ring . Anything would be better than the main ring in the day . We were camping directly opposite a horse who kicked it's door constantly all night because the owners didn't leave it enough hay to keep it occupied..... I realise that some horses have to have their diet carefully managed but at a big show like this when the horse is working more (this one was doing 3 or 4 classes a day) surely it's only fair to give it more to eat overnight? It kept us and all the surrounding horses awake all night :/ the owners obviously know that it does this, as they set up camp a long way from the stable despite arriving early on Tuesday morning when the field was almost empty!
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Post by Philippa on Aug 22, 2016 22:23:40 GMT
I'd be furious if someone took it upon themselves to feed my pony regardless of it banging. Some horses are just like that. We have one on the yard, I'm usually there between 0600 & 0630 to do mine as I'm the only one on DIY but the rest of the yard doesn't get fed or turned out until about 0745. I wouldn't dream of feeding this horse unless I was asked to.
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Post by ilovenatives on Aug 23, 2016 0:35:37 GMT
This one wasn't just kicking though it was double barrelling the stable wall constantly to kick its way into its neighbours stable . One morning it forced all the riveting out of the stable panel and kicked through but the owner still didn't come down to feed it till 8.30 . They were not parked that far away so must of heard it . What was the owner of the horse next door meant to do when the owner clearly didn't give a d**n . When it kicked off the whole block was shaking . This is an entirely different situation than on a diy yard where others bang a bit when yours get fed a bit earlier .
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Post by ilovenatives on Aug 23, 2016 0:42:22 GMT
We had a door banger next to us but it just banged on the door rather than trying to constantly kick its way out like the horse behind so I just ignored it . If the horse behind was just like that then perhaps the owner would have been better off getting up and feeding it earlier as they were onsite quite near .
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Post by chloesmum on Aug 23, 2016 7:19:04 GMT
Gosh poor you! Makes me think Jacob isn't so bad as we think! He just like to climb up and peer over to view his neighbours! We blocked all the sides so he couldn't touch noses with any of his neighbours as that is what starts him kicking. We are very aware and don't want to upset other ponies but he doesn't kick or bang if he can't touch. We were very lucky to have great people round us and we did ensure he always had a full haynet.! After the first morning he was a saint - think he enjoyed his holiday. I do think consideration should be given to where stallions are stabled. I think the blue stables were on the flimsy side heard of several cases of horse kicking through, we were fortunate enough to be in sponsors. I would never put him in blue as it would be a recipe for disaster..
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Post by ilovenatives on Aug 23, 2016 7:38:54 GMT
We love Jacob , he still has that wow factor for me when he trots round . I'm sure he loved being able to strut his stuff again . I know some ponies don't stable well when they are away but keeping them fed and topped up with hay to keep them occupied really does help . We were in the sturdier blue stables luckily as I think the horse behind would have got straight out of the weather boarded ones . Hopefully they will go back to the usual stables next year not the old wooden ones they had this year .
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Post by striderpants on Aug 23, 2016 9:44:08 GMT
We had a fantastic first time at Equifest. We took our coloured pony and whilst didn't get the best placings in the world, we did manage to get round the whole intermediate whp course which I was so proud of and into the evening performance and get a third alongside some much bigger ponies! The steward in the evening was brilliant with the first riddens - I lost count of how many times he ran round with them to make sure they were ok! The rings were quite slippy but can't help the weather. My only complaint is one mother who thought it acceptable to hit her lead rein child with a whip several times as he wasn't paying her enough attention - he only looked about 4 - disgusting behaviour. She should be ashamed of herself.
All in all a fantastic show and we will be back next year!!
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Post by halycon on Aug 23, 2016 13:48:27 GMT
We had a fantastic first time at Equifest. We took our coloured pony and whilst didn't get the best placings in the world, we did manage to get round the whole intermediate whp course which I was so proud of and into the evening performance and get a third alongside some much bigger ponies! The steward in the evening was brilliant with the first riddens - I lost count of how many times he ran round with them to make sure they were ok! The rings were quite slippy but can't help the weather. My only complaint is one mother who thought it acceptable to hit her lead rein child with a whip several times as he wasn't paying her enough attention - he only looked about 4 - disgusting behaviour. She should be ashamed of herself. All in all a fantastic show and we will be back next year!! Agree totally disgusting of that mother, was it serious enough to report to the organisers? IMHO I feel this sort of behaviour needs to be reported just as much as any horse abuse! Not critising if you didn't manage to report it, but it just goes to show that some are not afraid to abuse their children in front of others as well as horses
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Post by fudge21 on Aug 23, 2016 17:00:18 GMT
Well seems abit off a mixed review but on the save for next year and start the qualifier search in October so fingers crossed will make it next year went 5 year ago and always wanted to return with my own pony who know sud be ready to go count down starts.
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Post by lancs on Aug 24, 2016 8:26:15 GMT
First time at Equifest and must admit I was pleasantly surprised. Didn't see anything to complain about. Had a fab time with lovely friends, the workers rings where large with excellent jumps and interesting courses in the PRP ring. EXCEPT why did the photographer in the workers rings, not equinational, insist on taking so many pictures of my daughters backside, which she admits is not her best feature!!! This was not only us but everyone had the majority of their pictures take from behind with very few good ones to choose from. Our friends pictures of their evening performance when they won were all blurred. Please can we have a different photographer for the workers next year, cos I will be attending again, or send them to college to learn how to take a picture !
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Post by ilovenatives on Aug 24, 2016 10:50:42 GMT
Agreed the workers photography was not good , my daughter was over the moon to come second in a massive workers class shame there wasn't one decent picture . There was complaints about the workers photography last year but they still used the same one this year . Would be nice if they showed a bit of consideration for where they placed themselves as well , during the TSR junior m and m a friend's daughter was doing her show and the second time during her show she went past the show jumping ring next door the photographer was squatted down by the fence making her pony spook .
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Post by lulu27 on Aug 24, 2016 11:22:48 GMT
I'm glad someone has brought up the photographers! I complained about them last year so was quite disapointed when I saw they were here again. I did 3 classes on my pony and in TWO of the classes there are NO PHOTOS OF ME AT ALL!! And in the 3rd class they are out of focus or taken when landing - and in this particular class (WH3 ring I think it was) the photographer took all the photos while sitting down!! I'm quite upset as I am selling the pony so it would've been nice to have a photo from what may well be our last show together. I must say however there are some good ones of my pony in the PRP ring (although not me riding) but again he got missed in the evening presentation for the class!! I have been told Equinational do not have enough staff to cover the worker rings as well...but maybe the "other" photographers would be better suited to the in hand, and allow equinational to do the workers!
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Post by thatboythatgirl on Aug 24, 2016 11:53:40 GMT
EQuinational I find hit and miss TBF didnt have a decent pic of just like they didnt at the RIHS but we got some good photos from equifest this year. I think it workers photographer is signed up for a few years on a contract that is why they where doing them again. When collecting photos equinational have to take everyone with them to equifest they have 16 photographers covering all the other rings and don't have the capacity for any more
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Post by chipmokey on Aug 25, 2016 13:48:04 GMT
Totally agree. Quality of the photos in the PRP was rubbish last year and this year. Why do they take so many photos of back end of horse and rider? Those from the front or side were nearly all too early or late showing horse on take off or landing but not in the air over the fence.They'd sell a lot more photos if they learnt how to take them from the right angles at the right time.
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Post by waspblue on Aug 26, 2016 23:09:11 GMT
Never having being - as I thought a few years ago - lucky enough to be able to go to Equifest, having read this thread, I would not now consider going to do this show for so many of the reasons listed here. Such a shame, as I'm sure I will not be alone in my decision, but reading this does nothing to encourage new people to go and compete there.
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Post by candyfloss on Aug 27, 2016 20:08:17 GMT
Can I also stress my disappointment in the worker photographer. I had 3 classes in the PRP ring & I found 1 picture that was Ok, I would not say it was brilliant but wanted a picture of my novice pony jumping there. It were also our first evening performance, where we actually surprisingly won, much to our surprise. There were just 1 photo at the end that was in focus, ALL of the others were blurry! May I just add this ONE photo that was actually in focus, the colouring dim & almost grey. When asking the photographers why on earth was there not one photo from the evening that I could purchase she said that she could change the one that was slightly grey to black and white. I do not find this acceptable.
PLEASE PLEASE Equifest, can we have a different photographer next year! We always have an amazing week and want photos to remember the week by.
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Post by casper15 on Sept 1, 2016 8:06:26 GMT
We had a fab time at Equifest! I only got my pony beginning of June after loosing my previous horse so wasn't expecting much and he completely surprised us! Managed to win the Connemara/Welsh D/NF workers out of 44, 2x4ths and a 7th! The workers courses were fab as usual, especially in the PRP Ring, absolutely loved the derby bank style jumps they had First year getting into the evening performance and he was fab! As for bad behaviour etc, we never saw anything or heard anything and had a fab time, maybe its because we had parked in a corner so very limited neighbours. With the jumping photographers, I got a couple of good photos with them and one being one of my favourites taken! All in all had a pretty great time this year and definately going back next year!
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Post by nightrider on Sept 6, 2016 17:01:26 GMT
Anyone know how the girl in the pairs is. Pony reared over. Didnt see it just heard. Sounded horrific!
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Post by pipandwill on Sept 6, 2016 19:05:31 GMT
Anyone know how the girl in the pairs is. Pony reared over. Didnt see it just heard. Sounded horrific! She posted on facebook that she was more or less fine, and was asking for any video footage to see so they could work out what caused it.
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Post by mcnaughty on Sept 22, 2016 17:54:22 GMT
Workers Photographer! OMG terrible. I emailed the team as I said above and that was one of the issues I raised. They have told me that the workers photographer told them at the end of last year when all the complaints came in that they had an issue with having to replace a photographer due to illness or something and blamed the poor photography on that replacement I believe - however ..... good news they will not be there next year! Thank god for that!
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Post by pipandwill on Sept 23, 2016 19:48:32 GMT
I agree the workers photos left alot to be desired! Which was a shame as there could of been so many lovely shots in those good worker rings
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