Police Alert over rustlers

Printed in Derby Evening Telegraph 30th May Page 5

Police have warned owners of horses to keep an eye on their animals amid fears that gangs could steal them to order.

Inspector Erica Green, Co-ordinator of Horse Watch, a partnership between the public and the police designed to cut equine crime said that men had been seen taking pictures of horses in Derbyshire Dales and the High Peak.

She said that she believed that the gang could either be planning to steal the animals to order or to post the pictures on the internet advertising that the horses were for sale.

Payment would be taken but the horses never delivered. Horse Watch members have been sent text messages, letters, emails and faxes warning them to be on their guard.

Bonsall in California - riding club

I emailed this riding group today who are in Bonsall in California. Here is the reply I got...

Hi Jain~

Thanks for the friendly note!

We share the same name, but your area appears to be much more rural that ours. Bonsall, USA is located in a somewhat heavily populated area of Southern California about seven miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Although Vista Palomar Riders count ourselves lucky to own sufficient land for our clubhouse and show arenas, almost all members must still trailer horses to the site. From there, it is only a short bridle path along the roadway to access a pretty good trail that follows the San Luis Rey River and there are other trails in nearby areas. Our biggest challenge is that equestrians are becoming more and more landlocked as available acreage is increasingly converted into residential housing. In fact, our original location in the nearby city of Vista, California, was bought out by developers who built our clubhouse and arenas in Bonsall. In those days, club members participated in an annual two-day ride from the ocean (Vista) to the mountain (Palomar), which is why we are called the Vista Palomar Riders.

We believe that Bonsall was named after a minister who settled the area, but perhaps he was from the UK? I am attaching a copy of a previous newsletter that has a short article about the history of Bonsall. It is wonderful to hear that you are working to preserve the bridle paths. Keep up the good work.

Happy trails!


Mary A. Bennett

If you go to their website and look at their newsletter, you will see that they are doing pretty much the same as us. However, they do organise a "campout" for horses and riders! Liz thinks that sounds a great idea... So watch out for details in the coming months.... J

Bonsall Carnival

Jain Holmes our new Chairperson has spoken to Hazel about the ride for the carnival.

We have arranged that it will be on Monday 28th July. We will start from The Fountain and head away from The Cross because it will be jammed up with people doing the fun run! The Fun Run starts at 7.00 p.m. and goes up towards the church and up Ember Lane and through the fields will be finished by about 8 p.m. back at The Cross.

In order to bring a little more fun to the event, we thought it might be nice to make it a kind of horsey treasure hunt... with a relevant horsey prize for the winner. We will charge a £1 entry fee and the proceeds from this can go into the Carnival pot (this is usual for Carnival events).

So I reckon that we need to do the following:

· Get our BHS membership sorted so we have insurance cover!
· Decide a start time (and let Hazel know ASAP).
· Discuss a route suitable for all levels and probably to include the horses pulling traps/carts. Perhaps 45 mins to 1 hour in length?
· Work out a treasure hunt.
· Buy a suitable prize (? High viz equipment for road safety???).
· ?? Buy numbers for people to wear so we can check them out and returning for safety.
· Organise marshals for the event.
· Get the event on the website and blog.
· Contact all our members and get them to invite at least 1 person and horse along.
· Get T-shirts/high viz vests printed.

Hazel will make sure we are in the Carnival Programme that gets sold all over the village. If we need to get the lorry park for parking, Hazel may be able to sort this out.

Can we have some volunteers to help organise this please? Can you get intouch with Jain Holmes or I please.

Thanks
Pam

Next General Meeting

The next General Meeting will be Monday 23rd June at 7.30 pm at Liz Stoppard's House, 83 Yoeman Street, Bonsall, opposite the Kings Head Car Park, thank you Liz for the offer of the venue!

See you there can you give me apologies please?

Regards
Pam

A bit of fun

If you told this story do you think anyone would believe you? I hope the blow up man didnt get damaged LOL!

Pam