Horses in the Countryside. Sulgrave Team at the 2016 Grafton Team Chase
Photograph: Colin Wootton
Richard Fonge writes:
January started with a day of snow, followed by a week of hard frosts. Seasonal weather, with the frosts good for the environment and much healthier for us all.
There has been great change in the Agriculture industry since I left school in the early sixties, and as the industry modernised so did our villages alter in make up. The mechanisation of farming grew at a pace from the mid sixties, and this along with government grants to encourage food production resulted in land being drained for corn growing, hedge removal to make bigger fields to accommodate the larger implements, and modern buildings to store grain, house cattle etc. There was good reason for this as Governments at the time didn’t want the country to be reliant on imports, and were predicting food shortages in the future. This resulted in less people needed to work the land, plus as more industries came to our local towns, there were better opportunities to earn more income. Also the coming of hire purchase saw a surge in car ownership and therefore better mobility.
One profession that has changed in emphasis is the veterinary. Back then most farms had stock and the local vets would spend most of their working day out on the farms, with a small animal surgery at both ends of the day. As more and more milking herds, and stock farms in particular, dispersed so we saw the dominance of the small animals to the veterinary practice, in particular the growth of dog ownership in the last thirty years. Now many vets just treat small animals. The horse is the one animal that has for sometime been treated by a specialist equine vet. Horses are still very much part of the fabric of the countryside bringing employment and enjoyment to many.
I will share a true story concerning yours truly. On a very cold frosty January morning I saw one of my local vets called Carol out for a walk with her dog in a pair of shorts. Later that morning I went to the surgery to pick up some cattle medicine, and whilst waiting to be served, she came out of her consulting room, disturbing my concentration with “Hello Richard”, to which I replied as she disappeared down a corridor “Sorry Carol I didn’t recognise you with trousers on.” I then made a hasty exit with a lot of suppressed giggling from all in the waiting room.
Richard Fonge.
