Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2010 | Page 109

the rider

Island Life - October/November 2010
Island farrier Simon Legge is fast

Simon, a self-employed farrier

building a reputation as one of the

for the past 11 years, said: “The

finest in his profession – and he has

hand-made shoes took about an

the plaques and rosettes to prove it.

hour to make, and then it took a

Simon, who carries out his farrier’s
business from Brickfields, has

show the horse – but it all proved

recently won two prestigious awards

worthwhile, and is nice to be able

on the mainland. He picked up first

to show the winning plaque on your

prize for Best Shod Cob at both

van.”

the Surrey County Show and at the
Melplash Show in Dorset.
He shod Karen Ledger’s horse

Simon hammers
out double win
on mainland

further one and a half hours to

Simon’s two apprentices are
now following in his footsteps.
Michael Bird and Hazel Hufton

Grigio Fumo at both events and

both competed in the Royal

the Surrey success was particularly

Berkshire Show at Newbury, with

pleasing as he beat the farrier who

Michael finishing fifth overall and

had won the competition for the

Hazel eighth in a competition that

previous three years, with the third

attracted more than 20 apprentices

placed farrier a member of the

from all over the south of England.

national team.

Reporting a welfare
concern to the BHS

The British Horse Society has Welfare
Officers throughout England, Wales and
Scotland who will investigate reports of
equine welfare concerns.There are many
reasons why you may feel that a horse
or pony should be reported to the BHS.
These include (but are not limited to):
- Significantly underweight or
overweight animals
- Lack of water or food
- Overgrown or poorly-kept hooves
- Obviously untreated injury or disease
- Poisonous plants in the field
- Unsafe field or stable conditions
- Abandoned animals
- Incorrect tethering
If you have genuine concerns about a
horse or pony, you should report it to
the BHS and one of our local Welfare
Officers will pay a visit to investigate.
Welfare concerns can be reported
on 01926 707791 or 01926 707839.
Alternatively, you can e-mail welfare@
bhs.org.uk.
For genuine emergencies outside
office hours, please ring 01926 707804
and then call the mobile phone number
given in the answerphone message.
However, this number really is for use in
emergencies only.
BHS members can report concerns

directly to our Welfare Officers whose
contact numbers are provided in the
BHS Yearbook. Do remember that our
officers are volunteers, and thus calls
directly to them should be restricted to
reasonable hours.
However you report your concern,
please provide as much information as
possible. The details we need include:
- The nature of the problem you are
reporting
- As much detail as possible about the
horse(s) involved – number, colour,
gender (where known), age (where
known)
- Information about the horses’ owners
(where known)
- The location of the horses concerned.
Please remember that our officers may
not know the area particularly well.
Therefore, the more information you
can provide, the better – details about
local landmarks or directions from a
main road can help greatly, even when
the address is known.
- Your contact details (ideally a
telephone number on which we can
reach you). We realise that many
people will want to report a welfare
concern anonymously; however, we
guarantee that your details will remain
absolutely confidential and under no
circumstances will they be passed on

Visit our new website - www.visitislandlife.com

to the owner of the horse(s). You need
not give your full name as long as we
can reach you. It is, though, important
that we can get in touch with you for
a number of reasons, including asking
for further directions if the Welfare
Officer cannot locate the horse(s).
Unfortunately, we have seen an increase
in the number of cases reported to
us anonymously for malicious reasons
(for example, a dispute between
neighbours) where the horses are in
excellent condition and well-kept. It is
not acceptable to waste our charity’s
funds and our volunteers’ valuable
time, on such cases, and we have found
that taking the complainant’s contact
details minimises their occurrence.
Finally, if we know how to contact you
we can provide you with feedback once
our Welfare Officer has paid the horse
a visit.
If you are not sure whether a
particular horse needs to be reported,
do not hesitate to contact the BHS
Welfare team (details above) and we
will discuss the case with you before
despatching a Welfare Officer.
109