Though LEX Recruitment is my main business interest and bread earner, I also have an obsessive interest and love for horses and ponies. This year I have had 3 foals born which was so exciting and bought and sold a few ponies to help make by passion financially self-sufficient. I am now up to 11 altogether, 5 of those being foals under 3 months. I also have a stunning stallion who drives and rides with impeccable manners, even though his thoughts are often elsewhere.
The children have had an amazing summer holiday handling the foals and riding. We have even had a camping holiday in North Norfolk at a friend’s Deer park, and were able to pitch our tents and have the ponies join us for breakfast!
My main concern at the moment is how I am going to feed these ponies through the next winter. The hay price has sky rocketed due to the very dry growing season. Farmers have only managed to yield 80% of the usual hay crop. Hay is already being sold at £8.50 a bale and the winter has not even started, (I am writing in August). Hay and straw rustling is set to be a significant rural crime to join house oil theft as a soft target. Indeed the Police in Kent, Cambridge and the Thames Valley have reported an increase in hay and straw thefts already.
The corn prices have also gone stratospheric but this is due to global reasons as well as more localised climatic reasons. Corn has to compete for space as farmers are switching to the production of bio-fuels. The oil price and currency fluctuations have not helped as well as the extreme weather conditions across the globe.
More locally we have also been hit by the closure of Watton Produce near Snetterton. The canny horseman (me – allegedly), could arrive with a one tonne trailer and collect a load of carrots and parsnips for £20. Enough feed for a week at my stock level to supplement the haylage, of which I was paying £26 for a large square bale. My animals came out of the winter very well and one mare was even decidedly fat. This year, I do not know where the carrots will come from and my haylage price is probably going to give me sleepless nights. The sensible plan would be to not have so many animals and hope that we have a mild winter and let the animals take as much from the grass as possible. As a child growing up in Scotland with native ponies, it was normal for my ponies to drop their weight over the winter and fatten up over the summer, we did very little supplemental feeding other than hay when there was snow on the ground. I will, to some degree let nature take its course in this respect, and try not to give in too much to begging, hungry eyes.
Another point to add is that even if I wanted to sell any of my youngstock, I would probably not be able to. I have been advertising to sell foals most of the summer and have only had two unsuitable enquiries. I have spoken to friends who are experiencing similar responses to sales. I will be lucky to give any of them away. But then I think, if a person cannot afford to buy a horse, they certainly can’t afford to keep it. Let’s pray for a mild winter.
Animal welfare groups have already warned that animals will go hungry this winter. Another major issue to look forward to is the abandonment of animals. Also, “Fly grazing” is a problem whereby a horse owner puts his horses on private land without the landowner’s permission. These are not necessarily abandoned horses but horses squatting on grazing land. Perversely, it becomes the landowner’s responsibility to provide for the horses needs.
For advice on Equine Law, contact a member of the Agricultural Team at Birketts LLP in Norwich on 01603 232300. Birketts deal with a range of issues from equine property, syndication, livery agreements, loan, sale and purchase agreements.
Alison Thorne LLB LPC
Fellow of the Institute of Recruitment Professionals
Director and Legal Recruitment Consultant at LEX Recruitment Ltd
Contact 01953 681015 or 0750 239 6649
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