Meet the section secretary Laura Macdonald

Here's our Amazing Horse and Trade and Craft Secretary, Laura is amazing and will turn her hand to anything, this year is no exception I am super proud of her as not only has she organised all the horses she has taken the reigns at short notice on the trade stands too! Laura MacDonald who organises everything from jumps (20-95cms) to judges and the classes which run for the entire day of the show on its own dedicated space just beyond the main showground. Shire based Laura really knows her horses. She was the one responsible for the memorable Native Horse Parade at the ’23 show with New Forest, Welshie, Connemara, Exmoor, Dales, and Fell breeds topped off with a Highland which had been previously owned by Queen Elizabeth 2nd, some of which were bred and raised in the area. “I have been riding since I could walk’ Laura says. She was a keen and successful competitor as a youngster “I don’t ride anymore, but I am finding I prefer to be behind the scenes” she says. My previous relationship with horses was more about my own enjoyment and the excitement, I was very ‘gung-ho’! Now the horse comes first, and I get pleasure from being able to use all the knowledge and experience I have gained over the years.” She is already busy accepting entries for this years’ event, and she has witnessed many young riders’ skill improvements over the years as they progress though the age ranges. “The riding passion starts at a very young age with the fancy dress competition and pony games, and we know of several local competitors who have continued right through to British Eventing, with one qualifying for the British Games Team. As well as organising her own section, Laura is busy organising a horse parade again which will showcase in the main show ring with demonstrations during the day of traditional raffia and ribbon ‘dressing’ of a heavy horse mane and tail. Northumberland breeds some fine horses which were traditionally used for carts in towns and for pulling the plough in farming. Some of the regions breeders now export to the USA and Canada and are used promotionally in brewery marketing.  Another extension of the Horse and Pony section Laura has organised is a Farrier demonstration; again, another rural service vital to the equine community with its origins in droving when Smithy’s sprang up alongside drovers’ roads to shod horses and surprisingly cattle, as the Scottish Drovers made their way south to the southern markets. Laura’s pride and joy is her own Dales mare “She has been successfully shown and bred her first colt foal 4 years ago and a filly last year; the colt has already been placed 2nd at the Dales Society breed show” she says. This native breed is from the Upper Dales of the Eastern Pennine range and was used locally to carry pig iron in the 1800’s during the height of the local lead industry. “It is thought to originate from the 17th Century Scottish Galloway breed which were the best pony for ‘pack’ use as well as farm and mining cart work; sadly, also for war which almost saw the Dales breed die out” she says. Even today they are on the critically endangered list by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. The Dales are a popular breed and considered to be a good all-rounder, intelligent, kind natured with an impressive trot, lots of stamina, weight bearing and keen to jump so are ideally suited for riding, hunting and even forestry work.