July 2019
Volume 43, No 7 Monthly
In reflective mood Carl Hester unveils his new fashion collection
KISS AND TELL
ETN is the official media partner of BETA International
Staff issues in the #MeToo era
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• Bench Saddler of the Month • Retailer profile • AMTRA accredited SQP CPD feature
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Editor’s Comment
In this issue... NEWS Latest happenings
PRODUCT NEWS What’s new?
When they buy a bag of horse feed, your customers know how many days it will last - because they know its weight and how much they’ll use per day. Can you measure the value of advertising you buy in magazines with the same certainty? Do you really know how many copies are printed and circulated? And who is reading them? Independent auditing by Audit Bureau Circulations (ABC) remains the industry standard proof of circulation for consumer titles (and indeed exhibitions including BETA International). But what about specialist equestrian trade magazines? How much exposure are you truly getting for your advertising spend? Well, ETN is coming clean… From this issue, we’re publishing a printer’s certificate confirming the exact number of copies that were printed and distributed the previous month. You can find the first one on the cover sheet with this issue. Everyone is also welcome to ask us (please call Beth Crow on 01937 582111) about any aspect of ETN’s print circulation - how many copies are sent out, when and to whom. We’re not talking here about some fuzzy figure including digital platforms and social media. We mean actual printed paper pages, with your advertisement on them, getting under readers’ noses. Please do ask us… And we hope you will ask the same of other magazines too.
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BENCH SADDLER OF THE MONTH Meet the first winner
RETAILER PROFILE Durham based Pet n Pony The benefits of staff uniforms Latest launches
That remark put it in a nutshell for me. It also shook me out of apathy sufficiently to change supplier.
Who’s new, who’s moved?
In a throw-away era, it’s lovely to be reminded that there are still talented people out there who can make and mend things in leather. These craftsmen and women tend to be understated and modest about their considerable skills. So it’s great to be told by one nominator: “Many thanks, ETN, for bringing bench saddlers some much needed appreciation.” Leather is a bit like the wheel, paper and nailed-on steel horseshoes; hard to improve upon when it comes to doing a job. So let’s salute those who uphold leathercraft skills - and encourage more young people to join their ranks in years to come.
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CLOTHING & FOOTWEAR
to a human to ask for assistance, only to be told: “We promote self-service, you can do this in your own time…”
We’ve already had an amazing number for nominations for ETN’s new Bench Saddler of the Month award, run in conjunction with the Society of Master Saddlers (SMS). Meet the first winner in this issue.
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16 18
PEOPLE 22
TURNING BACK THE PAGES What ETN was reporting five, ten, 20 and 30 years ago
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SQP CPD FEATURE AMTRA accredited nutrition module
26
FEEDING VETERAN HORSES Good grub for their twilight years
30
STABLE, PADDOCK & YARD Electric fencing: vet’s advice on safety Equipment to stock
36 40
LEGAL DIGEST Kiss and tell: staff issues in the #MeToo era
44
BETA MEMBERS’ PAGE Tradestand winners from Bramham 45
COUNTY COURT JUDGMENTS ETN’s exclusive listing
46
Liz Benwell
Time is money, making people who steal our time no better than common thieves. Yet so many businesses are doing it, and getting away with it. From high street (a misnomer if ever there was one) banks to BT, they’re still charging the same but expecting us to help ourselves. I called a corporate’s telephone helpline recently, and eventually got through
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FRONT COVER: Carl Hester wears the new Carl Hester Collection. The range has been developed by the dressage star in conjunction with technical sportswear designer Nicky Fletcher. See page 18. WWW.EQUESTRIANTRADENEWS.COM
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Resource Reg. No. 2110
EQUESTRIAN TRADE NEWS JULY 2019 | 3
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ETN|NEWS/PRODUCT NEWS
BRIDLE HAS TIMELESS STYLE This classically styled leather hunter bridle from Gallop Equestria an is perfect for the show ring, hunting or daily riding.
grip and smart leather outer - are included.
In timeless fashion, there’s a de-badged, flat brow band and broad, plain cavesson noseband. The latter can help to slim down the appearance of horses’ long, straight noses. Half rubber show reins – with an inside
PLANET-FRIENDLY PACKAGING Dengie has introduced carbon neutral packaging which is also fully recyclable. Dengie Hi-Fi Original is the first product to appear in the new
packaging which is derived from sugar cane and certified carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust. Katie Williams of Dengie explained that developing the new packaging was not straightforward. “We have to be careful not to make our packaging too biodegradable as we have a long shelf life on products, so the packaging has to be robust for many months,” she said. Carbon Neutral logos are now appearing on the back of Dengie Hi-Fi Original packs.
Earn and learn at BETA International 2020 Visitors can learn about safety standards, HR issues, worming, saddle fitting, social media and equine nutrition and earn CPD points - at BETA International 2020. Returning to the trade fair, at the NEC, Birmingham on 19 - 21 January, are ITV newscaster Alastair Stewart who will host BETA International’s live debate Talking Business; HR expert Amanda Chadwick from Croner; Master Saddler Kay Hastilow; and Michelle Goodall on social media. CPD points are available to SQPs attending seminars by NAF senior nutritionist Kate Hore (nutrition) and Jim Wishart (worming). While Claire Williams, BETA’s executive director, will updates retailers on safety standards. These BETA International favourites will be joined by other speakers throughout the three days in the show’s Demonstration Arena, Seminar Theatre and The Spotlight. “When visitors told us that these people and what they have to say made a huge difference to them and their businesses, we listened and were delighted when the speakers accepted our invitation to return in 2020,” said show organiser Claire Thomas. • Companies wishing to exhibit at BETA International can benefit from significant savings of around 3% per square metre thanks to the show’s new early booking rate. To qualify for the reduced rate, stand application forms must be submitted, along with a 10%, non-refundable deposit, by 30 September 2019. Terms and conditions apply. For details, contact Darren Mottershead, telephone +44 (0)1937 582111 or email sales@beta-int.com.
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ETN|CPD FEATURE
ETN’s CPD features help SQPs (Suitably Qualified Persons) earn the CPD (continuing professional development) points they need. The features have been accredited by AMTRA, and highlight some of the most important subject areas for SQPs specialising in equine and companion animal medicine. AMTRA is required by the Veterinary Medicines Regulations to ensure its SQPs undertake CPD. All SQPs must earn a certain number of CPD points in a given period of time in order to retain their qualification. SQPs who read the following feature and submit correct answers to the questions below will receive two CPD points. For more about AMTRA and becoming an SQP, visit www.amtra.org.uk
Veteran vitality By Kate Hore RNutr (Animal), Senior Nutritionist at NAF
Without doubt the equine population in the western world, including within the UK, is ageing. Surveys within the UK find about 30% of horses to be over 15 years old, with 11% being between 20 and 30 years, and 2% over 30 years of age. Therefore, as professionals, it’s important that we’re able to advise our customers on managing the older horse. The reason for this ageing population is likely twofold. In part more of us keep horses purely as pets, and are happy to
commit to keeping them well into their old age. Secondly improvements in nutrition knowledge, routine health treatments and equine dentistry have all contributed to horses living happily and healthily into their twenties and beyond. However that doesn’t mean we’re growing a population of equine retirees - far from it! As improvements in equine health continue, so we find that horses maintain fitness through their teens and well into their twenties. Research in 2001
Saul, the super cob, took his owner Melissa Newman to the coloured championships in Hickstead’s international arena, jumped nicely and did a good dressage test. He semi-retired to Bristol HorseWorld as a therapy horse where he changed many troubled young people’s lives. Saul was put to sleep aged 27 earlier this year after a full and happy life.
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showed that while older horses tend to take it a little easier, the majority are still enjoying their work, with many actively competing into their late teens and beyond. So what can we do from a feed and dietary point of view to help maintain our OAPs? That’s Old Age Performers of course!
WHAT IS A VETERAN? Initially we should establish exactly what we mean by a ‘veteran horse’. There will be some breed differences, but generally, we are looking at horses in their mid-teens and beyond. With the growth of the veteran sector, showing classes are increasingly being broken down into ‘pre-veteran’, aged 15 to 19 years, and ‘veteran’ of 20 years and over; with sometimes a further section ‘diamond veteran’ for the over 25 year olds. However, just because your horse has hit 15 years old, it doesn’t mean you should start to treat them any differently; and certainly their diet should only be changed when you see a real need to.
FEEDING THE VETERAN It was traditionally thought that older horses suffer with reduced absorption and digestibility of the diet, and so struggle to maintain condition; therefore their diet needs to be changed accordingly, away from what you’ve always fed. WWW.EQUESTRIANTRADENEWS.COM
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CPD FEATURE|ETN However that thinking is now a little out of date, as it refers to horses born in the 1960s and 70s who had not had the advantage of modern diets and wormers throughout their lives. Now we find that ageing itself does not significantly affect digestive efficiency in horses until they become decidedly geriatric (late 20s), and not just older. In fact, just as with younger horses, a high Body Condition Score (BCS) should be avoided as it may exacerbate health concerns (see Keeping Sound, below). The advice to owners of older horses, therefore, should certainly be to regularly review BCS and diet as the horse ages, but so long as the horse is maintaining condition and working well, then no radical changes are required. For those horses who do need a little help, ensure the diet stays fibre based but consider short chop fibres or cubed hays which are more easily digested, especially when soaked. Instead, look at how their existing diet can be fine-tuned to make sure they are metabolising it to maximum efficiency, and covering all they need for old age performance. For performance veterans, the addition of oil to a fibre diet provides an ideal form of energy. Easily metabolised by
Grow. Mow. Bag. Nag.
the horse and non-heating, oils, such as linseed or soya, are a useful energy source. If introducing oil to the diet remember to do so gradually, building the level over several weeks, to give the horse’s metabolism time to adjust.
balancers are formulated to include the essential micronutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and trace elements, to balance the fibre based diet.
KEEPING SOUND
However, once established, horses easily digest oil and most can tolerate up to around 500ml per day, which is a really useful additional source of energy, and so condition, for the diet. Just remember if feeding at significant levels, the high oil diet should be balanced with supplementary vitamin E, at a rate of one i.u. (International Unit) per millilitre (ml) of oil fed.
Musculoskeletal conditions, particularly lameness and osteoarthritis, are consistently found to be the biggest concern in older horses. In one study at a UK equine charity, the average age of euthanasia was 20, with 66% of those being due to osteoarthritis. So it represents a challenge for owners who wish to keep their older horses performing.
GUT HEALTH
Of course the joints of performance horses undergo stress as part of normal work, but that is not the whole issue. It is thought that horses, like humans, show evidence of ‘inflammageing’, that is, a raised pro-inflammatory state within their body, meaning aches and pains are far more likely. As obesity also increases circulating inflammatory cytokines, this is a principle reason why all horses, including older horses, should be kept ‘fit not fat.’
One area where it is worth considering supplementary support is in gut health. Gastrointestinal conditions, such as colic, are a major concern in older equines. Research has found colic to be second only to musculoskeletal issues for reasons for mortality in older horses. It is recommended to supplement with daily gut support, such a concentrated balancer, providing live probiotic yeasts and prebiotic sugars, to support a healthy microbiota (microbes including yeasts, fungi, bacteria) of the gastrointestinal tract. Concentrated
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