The first show of the year took place on 22nd March  2009 at the Conquest Centre, Nr Taunton. Despite it being Mothers Day we had a good turn-out of over 100 entries and class sizes were good.

The sun shone and we were blessed with good weather, which helped the friendly atmosphere. Our judge was Mrs P Grylls who kindly stepped in at the last moment as our booked judge was ill and unable to attend.

A raffle of two large Easter Eggs was held which were won to the delight of two lucky winners.

The Championship winners were as follows:
Standard Junior Champion - Sharptor Ultra sonic
Standard Reserve Junior -  Sharptor Gazelle

Miniature Junior Champion - Halstock X- Factor
Miniature Reserve Junior -     Halstock Prudence

Standard Senior Champion - Samber Spritzer
Standard Reserve Senior -     Lakehead Elsanta

Miniature Senior - Benson Gloria
Miniature Reserve Senior - Wotknotts Conquest

Ridden Champion -Brockville Merry Meg (below)

Overall Champion - Halstock X- Factor
Reserve Overall Champion - Samber Spritzer

Well done to all who won their class, and those who went on to win championships.  A big thank you to everyone who came to the show and made it such an enjoyable event.

All child handlers received a medal and Cream egg, one youngsters smile broke from ear to ear as you can see here.

The weather was kind to us even though we did have a little short lived splash  of rain it did not dampen our spirits or enthusiasm. There were a lot of new people to the showing world bringing their ponies, all did very well, and how lovely it was to see classes of ridden ponies and the young handlers supported – well done to everyone.

We were all  able to enjoy the  Country Fayre  exhibits and sample the  lovely things on offer including  real ales, delicious  cooking  which tantalised the taste buds, and of course watch the other exhibits such as the falconry displays, driving, heavy horses  and vintage tractors and vehicles.

It was fantastic to see such high quality ponies in the ring and a credit to everyone for the way in which they were prepared and presented. The atmosphere was supportive and friendly.

Our judge for this show, Mr Guy Hurst, President of the Shetland Pony Stud-Book Society had a very full day with 19 classes to judge.

With well over double the amount of entries of 2008’s show all classes had a good representation, our congratulations  went to David Hodge who won the Miniature Senior Championship with Keensacre Eclipse and together they went on to take the Supreme Championship. Julian Walters took the Junior Standard  Championship with Kinkell Gullia , Senior Standard  Championship with Schivas Amber and Reserve Senior Championship with Sharptor Laser Red and then followed that up with Reserve Supreme with Amber. Well worth coming up from Devon for the day.

The Junior Miniature Champion was Eiger Izzard  and the  Reserve  being Wytchlife Melini.

There were some very pleased miniature gelding owners who as the highest placed gelding in the class, came out of the ring with one of the lovely  special rosettes.

Plans are already well underway with the secretary of the Town & Country Fayre to make  the 2010 Country Fayre Wessex Shetland Pony Group show even bigger, so we all look forward  to that. Hope to see you there.

The main Summer show was held at Wincanton racecourse on 23rd August 2009. We were blessed with lovely warm weather and together with a tranquil venue it made for a superb day; the racecourse offered itself to a calmness appreciated by all the exhibitors. The judges, Mr & Mrs Rees were kept busy with 129 ponies entered from a wide geographical area. The classes were well supported; the yearling class was split into filly’s and colts with Mrs D Elphick’s filly winning the overall yearling trophy. The miniature stallion class was strongly contested with ten super ponies forward, being the biggest seen during  the year.

The trade stands were busy offering a variety of merchandise - the catering van, ice cream van, the Equine Clothing Company specialising in miniature sized tack and rugs, Ellie Taylor’s delicious home-made cakes, and of course the photographer who was popping up everywhere.

The  Championship winners were:

Miniature Junior Champion – Kerswell Mastermind
Reserve Miniature Junior Champion - Wytchlife Meli

Miniature Senior Champion – Kerswell Maxim
Reserve Senior Champion – Wytchlife Maximus

Standard Junior Champion – Samber Scholar
Reserve Standard Junior Champion – Slades Veronique

Standard Senior Champion – Champlers Elsa
Reserve Senior Champion – Champlers Ebony

Ridden Champion – Hayne Blackberry
Reserve Ridden - Wotknotts Carruthers

Miniature overall ring Champion – Kerswell Maxim
Miniature reserve overall ring Champion – Kerswell Mastermind

Standard overall ring Champion – Champlers Elsa
Standard reserve overall ring Champion – Champlers Ebony

Supreme Champion – Champlers Elsa
Reserve Supreme Champion – Kerswell Maxim

The Autumn Show, Kingston Maurward, Dorset

1st November 2009

The Autumn show was held at Kingston Maurward College Equestrian Centre in Dorchester on  1st November 2009. The weather had been absolutely awful the night before and during the morning of the show the wind and rain continued to whip around but it did not deter the exhibitors who again made our entries top over 120. Our judges Ms G Wright and Mrs J Elliot had a busy day but found their Supreme Champion in Champlers Elsa and the Reserve Supreme in the miniature stallion  Eiger Bertie owned by Mrs S Cooke, both winning embroidered fleece rugs.

There were quite a lot of new people to the showing world and it was lovely to see the  children in the  young handler and ridden classes really enjoying themselves.

The  Championship winners were:

Miniature Junior Champion – Eiger Jupiter
Reserve Miniature Junior Champion – Wotknotts Buccaneer

Miniature overall Champion – Eiger Bertie
Reserve overall Champion – Eiger Jupiter

Standard Junior Champion – Champlers Victoria
Reserve Standard Junior Champion – Coppice Maggie May

Standard overall Champion – Champlers Elsa
Reserve overall Champion – Champlers Victoria

Ridden Champion – Stallcombe Barnacle
Reserve Ridden - Wotknotts Carruthers

Supreme Champion – Champlers Elsa
Reserve Supreme Champion – Eiger Bertie