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Penny Simms: Harry Potter of the Horse World?
June 6, 2010Author Babette Cole describes her literary creation, Fetlocks Hall, as “A Very Unusual Pony School Where Extraordinary Things Happen.” Shades of Harry Potter’s alma mater, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Pony-mad Penny Simms, overjoyed at winning a place at Fetlocks Hall, soon discovers that she also has a chance to acquire secret knowledge about horses and the magical unicorn world of Equitopia. The requisite conflict between good and evil is provided by the struggle between the unicorns and the devlipeds, an adventure in which Penny soon becomes involved. Written for children aged eight to ten, Cole’s series has struck it big. Sales of her first two books, The Unicorn Princess and The Ghostly Blinkers, sold nearly nine thousand copies in the first week, according to Horse &Hound. Cole’s new series is published by Bloomsbury, the same publisher as Harry Potter. Unfortunately, political correctness there required the author to remove all references to hunting. “They now go team chasing instead,” said author Cole. To read the entire story, click here.
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Equine Nutrition E-Newsletter Launched
May 27, 2010Kentucky Equine Research (KER) has launched a new equine nutrition e-newsletter, available weekly to those who sign up. Topics such as horse supplements, colic, senior horses, and hay will be covered. In the current issue, there is a fascinating article on managing horses on high fructan pastures — what most of us refer to as spring grass. Warm days and cold nights lead to the storage of certain sugars in the lower two inches of the grass stems that, when passed into the hind gut, produce lactic acid, one of the most direct causes of colic and laminitis. Questions as to the best time of day for grazing, why heavily grazed pasture might not lessen the danger, and which types of horses and ponies are more or less susceptible to the problem are discussed. Hind gut buffer products which help horses neutralize lactic acid are also mentioned. KER, located in Versailles, Kentucky, is an international equine nutrition, research, and consultation company serving the horse owner and the feed industry.
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Tory–Lib Dem Coalition to Allow Free Vote on Hunting Act
May 20, 2010
BBC News today announced that the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition document promises a free vote in Parliament on the repeal of the 2004 Hunting Act. That’s good news to pro-hunting forces. Notwithstanding earlier promises by Conservative candidates, the forced coalition with the Liberal Democrats had cast doubts on the ability of Conservatives to fulfill their promises for a free vote.
Will Tory Victory End Hunting Ban?
May 15, 2010
Conservative candidates promised a free vote in Parliament concerning the Hunting Ban if elected. They were. Now what?
Ending thirteen years of a Labour-controlled government, Prime Minister Gordon Brown relinquished his office to David Cameron after voters returned Conservatives to power. The Conservative victory has led pro-hunting Members of Parliament (MPs) to call for an early vote on the contentious issue. They insist that their credibility would be shot if the vote were to be delayed. There’s a hitch, however.
Nancy Penn Smith Hannum, 1919-2010: A Fixity of Purpose
April 1, 2020
“Hundreds of hurrying people pass within a few miles of Unionville, Pennsylvania, every day—unaware of the magical transformation that waits over a hill and down a road. The village guards the entrance to acres and acres of rolling grassland suspended between the suburbs of Wilmington and Philadelphia like a mirage."
“Immediately noticeable about this unexpected sweep of countryside is the luxury of miles of turf as closely woven and sturdy as homespun. And there is a wondrous absence of wire. No barbed wire, no hog wire, no flagged and electrified monofilament. The post-and-rail fences stretch on and on like railroad tracks. It’s the sort of landscape that strikes organ chords of rapture in a horseman’s soul: gallop-and-jump country, simply an outstanding foxhunting country. It has been painted by renowned artists George Weymouth and Andrew and Jamie Wyeth; filmed by Alfred Hitchcock (the hunt scenes in Marnie); been crash-landed on by Jacky Onassis and those not so famous. And for nearly fifty years, it has been nurtured by Nancy Penn Smith Hannum, the master of Mister Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds.”*
New Hamilton Huntsman Comes with Impressive Credentials
The new huntsman for the Hamilton Hunt (ON) is Robert Howarth, son of a Derbyshire dairy farmer. Robert went on his first hunt at the age of seven, when his mother took him a-pony with a lead rein. Within a year he was riding on his own, never missing a Saturday hunt.
