In The Saddle | Horse Searchers Blog

As the more eagle eyed amongst you might have noticed; Horse Searchers is undergoing a bit of a change and I thought I would take a couple of minutes to run through a couple of things that have changed (we hope for the better).

We are still the same Horse Searchers, that hasn’t changed; and we will be bringing you the usual collection of amazing horses for sale.

What has changed though is the way we do things on the site. After doing tonnes of research, chatting to advertisers and users we found some useful information out that has helped us shape the way that Horse Searchers version two looks and works.

Firstly you might have noticed the obvious; we have had a bit of a change to our homepage and to our landing paged like this one. The new interface looks better and helps you the user find your way around the site quicker and with less fuss.

Secondly we have added postcode search functionality which might not mean a lot but the results are staggering. Simply type in your postcode, the distance you are willing to travel and you will be shown all the horses in that radius. Cool right?

Finally we have made it easier than ever to contact advertisers if you are interested in a horse; it’s all on one page and makes it a lot more fluid.

Well that was my quick update but we have a lot more features in the pipeline that will be launching soon!

- PG

This is Poe and he could be about to be declared the world’s tallest horse. He is pictured with his owner Shereen Thompson, in Tupperville, Canada. Poe stands 20.2 hands tall at the shoulder and 10 feet tall with his head upright, and weighs 3,000 pounds.

The RSPCA is urging horse owners and farmers to check their electric fencing after being called twice in a week to deal with reports of deer trapped in the fencing. In both cases the deer were freed and released unhurt.

Lee Hopgood, an RSPCA Cheif inspector was called to a report of a fallow deer caught buy its’ antlers in fencing at Stourport-on-Severn, on 9 September and to another incident in Halesowen on 12 September.

The British Horse Society have backed the RSPCA telling horse owners that “It’s common sense really, regardless of whether it is a deer stuck in your fencing or your horse, you should be checking it regularly.”

Woow Guys, I actually beat Paul to a technical post and this is big news for us. You can now upgrade your add from the normal free listing to a ‘Featured’ listing for just £5.

So what do you get for your hard earned money then? Well as you know we try to offer pretty much the best free listing package on the web. For those who don’t know, our free ad listings include:

• Up to 3 images
• Up to 600 words
• Your advert is online for a massive 3 months

Well we have gone one better with our featured package, in addition to all of our awesome free package features, featured adverts get:

• Up to 5 adverts
• A whopping 1500 words
• Increased advert exposure
• Higher visibility in our newsletter which is sent out to our list of users searching for a new horse
• Free video inclusion*

*Video service coming soon.

Sometimes you read a news story and have to ask – can this be serious? Can people really be so desperate? While trawling the web this morning I saw this article on Horse and Hound. It really does make you wonder what the world is coming to. I guess the only way to look at this story is to be grateful that the horses didn’t escape during rush hour traffic and that nobody was seriously hurt.

Police are appealing for information after the theft of gates from a field resulted in four horses being killed in a pile-up on the A1.

Three horses were killed outright and another had to be put down as a result of its injuries.

Five vehicles were involved in the smash on the southbound carriageway near Ferrybridge Services in West Yorkshire, in the early hours of yesterday (Sunday 20 September).

No people were seriously injured.

The animals were among 11 horses that had escaped from a field two miles from the crash site after thieves stole two gates on Saturday.

The other horses — all of which belonged to Timbertops Equestrian Centre, at Wentbridge, North Yorkshire — had been rounded up.

Police are appealing for anyone who saw people acting suspiciously in the area or knows anything about the theft to contact them.

PC Lee Brook of Selby Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “The theft of these gates has resulted in a serious collision which tragically ended with the loss of four animals.

“Thankfully none of the occupants of the vehicles was injured, but they were very shaken up. The potential consequences of the thieves’ actions don’t bear thinking about.

“I am appealing to anyone who saw anything suspicious on Saturday evening or Sunday morning or who knows anything about the thefts to contact police.

“I also appeal to people at local auction marts or agricultural sales to be on their guard against purchasing metal gates and contact police if they have any suspicions about where they have come from.

“The monetary value of these gates is very little compared to the devastation caused on Sunday morning and we are determined to find out who was responsible for the theft.”

Anyone who has any information, should contact York CID on 0845 60 60 247 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Source: Horse And Hound.

1. Fossils show that the horse’s earliest ancestors cna be traced back about 55 million years to Eohippus – a small mammal with four toes on its front feet and three on its hind feet.
2. Over millions of years this animal gradually developed a single hoof on each foot and longer limbs so it could move over wide areas in search of food.
3. Theses animals roamed in herds for saftey. As the horse travelled across the continents, th differing climates and terrain produced a different kind of horse.
4. The hotter climates produced horses that could cope with the extreme temperatures.
5. Horses from hotter climates were noted for their speed while those from cooler climates were strong and calm.
6. Mongolian tribes were the first to domesticate the horse about 5000 years ago.
7. All domestic horses in the world today are descended from these ancestors and are called in Latin Equus Caballus.
8. For centuries horses have served man in agriculture and industry as pack animals and transport and in warfare, leisure and sport.
9. Today there are over 150 breeds of horses and pony.
10. Horses who do not belong to a specific breed can be categorised into types such as hunter or cob.

It seems like a long time ago now but 8 years ago there was a string of attempted attacks in Epping Forest and now it seems like there has been another. Police in Chingford are investigating claims that a teenager was attacked while riding out in Epping Forest.

The girl was yanked from her horse by a man as she rode close to the corner of Bury Road and Hornbeam Lane in Chingford at 5.15pm. Lucky for the teenager, she was saved by her horse which reared up and then kicked the man with both hind legs, knocking him to the ground.

The teenager was then able to ride to her stables and call the police.

The man is described as a white male, possibly eastern European, with short brown hair and in his late twenties or early thirties. He was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans and was taller than 6ft and of muscular build. Anyone with information is asked to contact the police on 0300 333 4444 and the forest keepers on 020 8532 1010.

I guess for the time being it is advisable that teenagers (and even women) ride out with a partner and keep everyone in the loop about where you are planning on to ride.

Silke Birgitt Lindridge of Consett Veterinary Centre, in County Durham has been found guilty of practicing after her name was removed from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for non-payment of fees.

The German born vet returned to Germany while on maternity leave in September 2006. However Mrs Lindridge returned to the UK on a number of occasions during 2007 and acted as a vet on a number of horses.

Mrs Lindridge claimed to be unaware that she was unregistered and that the fee notices and reminders as well as phone calls had not been passed onto her by her administration team.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons committee decided that while this might have been the case, Mrs Lindridge should have known to renew her fees as this is a professional obligation.

Beverley Cottrell the chair woman for The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons said “The committee would like to make it clear that it is the personal responsibility of every practicing veterinary surgeon to ensure that the annual retention fee is paid and that their names are on the Register.”

The committee took into account the support of her clients and the fact that she might not have been passed the letters into account and decided that a 3 month ban from working as a vet was appropriate.

A Scarborough farmer is angry over being told by Scarborough council that he must rip up and apply for planning permission to build a tennis court and equestrian arena.

Mr Stephenson, a former pig farmer said “I was recycling the stone from my pigs and a lot of dust came up, so the council came and investigated and told me I needed to apply for planning permission.”

However now that planning permission has been denied, he has told reporters that he will do “whatever it takes” to complete his project.

Scarborough Council stated that because Mr Stephensons’ farm lay outside the development limits of the village of Flixton then there were strict controls which meant that only essential developments could take place.

Britan has won a silver medal at the Alltec European Dressage Championships at Windsor. The Brithsh team become only the second nation to beat the strong German dressage team.

The last time the British team won a medal was 2003 but this year Carl Hester, Laura Bechtolsheimer, Emma Hindle and Maria Eilberg wowed on British soil.

Silver seemed in the bag after Laura Bechtolsheimer scored a 76.6 per cent (a British dressage record no less) with Mistral Hojris.

With the 76.6% the British pair of Hindle and Lancet only had to score a 71 per cent to clench the silver.

German was at a loss without the pregnant and susspened Isabell Werth.

“I was aware that everyone was crunching the numbers but I tried to ignore it and just do what we’ve done all season. You cannot make yourself better than your best!” Hindle said.

Who Are We?

In The Saddle: Horse related reflections, ramblings and occasional ravings from the HorseSearchers.co.uk editorial team.

HorseSearchers.co.uk offers a quick, clever and constantly updated horse search, with hundreds of thousands of horses for sale and ponies for sale. It has lots of useful info, too, on all aspects of the equestrian sector.

If you have any questions regarding this blog, please email us at: editorial@horsesearchers.co.uk.

Recent Posts

• Something Awesome This Way Comes
• Is This The Worlds Tallest Horse?
• Horse Owners Need To Check Electric Fences
• New Horse Searchers Features
• Four Horses Killed In West Yorkshire
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• Teenage Rider Attacked In Epping Forest
• Durham Vet Banned For 3 Months
• Farmer Angry Over Development Ruling
• Britain wins silver medal in European Dressage Championships

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