A Personal Viewpoint - Jackie Syme

(27th Sept 2009) A PERSONAL VIEWPOINT - Jackie Syme

SHETLAND PONY FESTIVAL 2009

A personal viewpoint........

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who gave up their time (and sanity!) to organise what was a truly amazing week. In the words of the song, “I’ve had the time of my life”. Thank you to all those visitors who came, with or without ponies, from all parts of Britain and from as far away as Australia. You proved that the comment on a well known Shetland Pony website about “This meaningless and unrepresentative Breed Show” to be utter rubbish. Well Done!

My own week was rather chaotic, I had to swap a number of shifts in order to be able to attend the show and AGM at all. God help me in November when it’s payback time! I thought that I was fairly well organised for the stud visit at 9am on the Monday morning and had offered to help my friend with his at the end of the day. I was just enjoying a well-earned cuppa on the Saturday night, having just got home after Walls show when the phone rang. One of my colleagues had to fly south as her son had been taken seriously ill, guess what, I was the only one who could cover Sunday nightshift! I agreed provided that I could leave at 6am instead of 8am. This, I thought would allow me to be home by 7am, quick cuppa, let dogs out, do morning chores, catch and brush the three stallions, remove boiler suit and brush hair . That was the theory. I got as far as catching the second stallion and the first coach arrived. It seems that a plague of midges at the first stop had driven the visitors back onto the bus so they arrived beside me somewhat earlier than expected. Instead of the well groomed (me and the ponies) professional image I wished to project, the visitors got me in normal “dragged through hedge backward”, red boiler suited mode, in which Shetland folk know me best. Ah well at least it was a clean boiler suit!

At the other end of the day I was helping Norman Leask with his stud visits, nearly falling asleep in the warm sun whilst waiting in the car for the coach to arrive. By the way, my apologies if I talked rubbish, I had been up for about 36 hours at that point. I got home, did the evening chores and stuck a pizza in the oven. I took it into the sittingroom to eat, turned on the telly and fell asleep. I awoke at 12:30 and have no idea if I, or the dogs ate my pizza, all I know is that the plate was clean. It had been a rather hectic day, in between my visits and Norman’s, I’d had to get the vet as one of my stallions had torn his eyelid and also had an unexpected car load of visitors. I really loved hosting the stud visits, living as I do, in the “back of beyond” I don’t often get the chance to show off my ponies.

Unfortunately work commitments meant that I did not attend the seminar but I had Thursday and Friday set aside for washing ponies and visitors, (no, I didn’t wash them !) It was lovely to see some old friends particularly Maurice Arden and Shirley Nadine. I was so pleased to show them Claylands Sugar who I’d bought from them as a foal some six years previously, especially as they recently lost Sugar’s mother, Candy at the age , I believe of 27. Candy was one of their foundation mares and Sugar was her last foal.

On the Friday night I attended my first SPSBS AGM, fortunately it didn’t go on too late as I had an early start next day. I’d made a last minute decision to share a hired truck with a neighbour and it was coming to pick me up at 6.30am. I wasn’t even dressed when I heard the truck reversing down the hill at 5.30am. I’m afraid that there was some bad language at this point. Fortunately I’d organised everything well the previous day and managed let the dogs out, throw some food to pigs and hens, and get five ponies and my gear into the truck in 20 minutes flat.

The show itself was wonderful, and the weather remained fine all day. It may not have been the cleverest idea in the world to enter ponies in three different rings but with the help of two friends we managed to get the right ponies to the correct rings without me having a nervous breakdown. I really enjoyed seeing my stallion Kinkell Gordon, shown by his breeder Jane Barry. Jane hadn’t seen him since she put him on the boat as a foal 8 years ago. Another friend up from “sooth” showed my 3 year old filly, they’d been unable to bring their ponies and he really wanted to show something. My mini yearling colt got a lift with one of the N. Ireland competitors to his new home in Co Antrim, having aquired a Breed Show rosette on the way. It was a very long day but it was lovely to meet some of the well known pony breeders and the ponies whose pictures we often see in the show reports, and to have the chance to compete against them.

After a rush home and seeing to animals I made it back to the dance at 10.15pm. Fortunately there was still some food left. I couldn’t make it to the Sunday morning events but managed to put in a brief appearance at the farewell reception before heading home to prepare for nightshift. I hope that our visitors enjoyed themselves and that many will come back again.

They say that Shetland will be offered the Breed Show again in 10 years time. It’s a scary thought that I will be 65 then, but I WILL BE THERE!!

Jackie Syme
Schiehallion & Simonside Studs