Over priced stables

[BettyBo]

Well had a lovely time at East of England show, (except for the awful catering YUK) I booked in advance 2 stables for 1 night (Saturday) at a cost of £50 x 2 but decided to go on Friday night instead ££ another £50 x 2!!! NO Bedding was provided but you could buy the smallest bale EVER that only filled 1/4 of stable for £6.50!!

I felt totally deflated and ripped off, talking to a heavy horse person at show who told me their stable was £30 AND they got a cheque back for £20 if they left stable clean PLUS that included bedding what’s going on here then??

I asked WHY they said nobody comes to see the show ponies!!! Only the heavy horses so they get discounted stables!!! There prize money is around £100.00 per show so they are definitely quid’s in if they have a few horses going.

Is this fair i certainly don’t think so???

[armada]

Punters love to see the heavy horses, pulling drays full of beer, takes the awd folks back to their childhood, always the same, they draw a crowd, PLUS, they are dying breeds, so get a brucie bonus to exhibit, and I believe the Heavy Horse Societies heavily sponsor the classes to entice breeders and exhibitors out.
If you look at most if not all of the Heavy Horse classes at County level, the same score applies.
Personally, I dont object to it, they are a huge part of our heritage and need to be encouraged.
For the rest of us, we can get up at sparrow fart or take our own bedding - which I do.

[peds]

I was with one of the heavy horse teams at East of England, they are crowd pullers and the rarer breed owners receive money for any classes they enter.
I don't have heavies myself but agree they are a dying breed and think anything that helps keep up the numbers is a positive.

[m&mwhp]

As the other posters have said, they are breeds which are dying out - they are afterall our heritage!

There are barely any heavies anymore out and about, they aren't bred as they used to as they were used for work not showing like we use our pretty horses and ponies for.
My grandfather used to have shires, used them for work and would do the occasional show with them - eventually he won at HOYS. However, the heavies were out in force in them days unlike now when only a few turn up.

We show our ponies to enjoy ourselves (well, we should but some of us take it too seriously!), the heavy horse owners take their beautiful big beasts to try and keep our heritage alive and make people realise that they ARE dying out. So they should be encouraged - how ever fair or unfair. If this means giving them stables pretty much free, then it does.

[thecremellosociety]

I have looked into the cost of hiring temporary stables for shows, from a shows point of view and they are not cheap, and if you fail to fill them, then you are stuck with an outlay, this is why at Derby, we choose not to have them, even for the heavies at the moment, though an equestrian centre 20 mins away will do a box for £20 per night in quality permanant stables with bedding.