This year’s Appleby Horse Fair will feature new ‘meet the expert’ sessions and the return of the annual Best of Appleby Awards, which will now be judged on the move.
Hundreds of horses are bought and sold at the traditional gathering of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, which is the biggest of its kind in the UK.
The Fair begins today (4 June) and continues into the weekend, with the busiest days tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.
“These sessions invite Fairgoers who are interested in the latest science and want to keep developing their horse knowledge to find out more, and of course we’d like to learn from them too,” said Kerry Taylor, Education Manager at Blue Cross. “We hope they will be popular.”
Hydration, health and horsemanship
The Q and A-type sessions will take place at 1pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the red tent on Salt Tip Corner.
On Thursday there will be the opportunity to talk about the latest science on watering and fitness with the Appleby Horse Project, made up of the eight charities who attend the Fair.
Dehydration poses a huge risk to horses at the Fair and outweighs any risk of colic to their welfare, the group highlights.
A limited number of free re-usable water bottles with ‘My horse drank first’ printed on them will be given away to those taking part.
Routine health care will be explored with Redwings’ vet and Best at Appleby Awards judge Nicola on Friday, which will be an opportunity to talk about issues like worming and the latest developments on how to protect against equine flu and strangles.
Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire are all equine flu hotspots right now, and owners are being urged not to work their horse at the Fair if they’re showing any symptoms.
On Saturday, a Certified Equine Behaviour Consultant will be at the tent to talk about happy horsemanship and asking Fairgoers what good horsemanship looks like to them.
There will be the latest examples of positive and negative horse and donkey body language giving an opportunity to improve understanding of them, and the chance to ask any questions on the subject of handling.
Best at Appleby Awards on the move
The Best at Appleby Awards, recognising outstanding horse health, happiness and horsemanship at the Fair, are going mobile at this year’s event.
Redwings’ vets Nicola and Chloe will choose the best six examples to award the Traditional Gypsy Cob Association-sponsored rosettes, while they walk and talk to owners — they can be spotted wearing navy and gold hats and backpacks.
“We have some wonderful relationships with previous winners which are very important to us, but we are looking for some new faces this year!” Nicola said. “Please stop us if you see us, we’d love to talk to you.”
Fairgoers are invited to choose their People’s Choice Champion 2026 on the Best at Appleby social media (on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook ) on Saturday.
The Champion’s rosette will be awarded next to the River Eden on Sunday morning.
Six-year-old part bred Pandora captured the hearts of the public who voted for her to win last year and is one of the faces of this year’s posters.
River clearing and night patrols
There will be daily river clearing by the RSPCA’s water rescue team between Thursday and Sunday and extra night-time patrols too.
“There are hundreds of animals at this event, and we’re here to work with Fairgoers to best ensure their welfare,” said RSPCA chief inspector Lyndsey Taylor.
“RSPCA officers from our water rescue team will be removing debris from the water near the ramp every morning on the main days to try to prevent injury.
“Last year we had a busy but positive Fair where if intervention was needed it was received well.
“Many of the issues we did have, particularly with over-working of horses, were later in the day so we’ll be extending our night-time patrols further.
“We’ll be providing a vet station at Salt Tip Corner where assistance can be sought for any animal who needs it between 10am and 4pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and if anyone has any concerns, please approach an RSPCA officer, or police officer.”
The RSPCA is sending 35 staff and volunteers to this year’s Fair; Bransby Horses six; Redwings Horse Sanctuary six; World Horse Welfare six; Blue Cross five; The Mare and Foal Sanctuary four; British Horse Society two and The Donkey Sanctuary two. There will also be four vets donating their time from private practices.
