Surrey Country Fair and Horse Ploughing Competition

I was told about this event by the bell ringers who assured me that it was a great day out.  Further reflection would have made me think that maybe there would be less to it than the family admittance price of £22.00 would suggest.    Although admittedly, the horse ploughing (and tractor ploughing as well) competition was fascinating, especially for Theo, him being the only teenager walking around the huge field looking at tractors and all the differnt sorts of ploughs.  Spotting a judge (carrying a clipboard and wearing a tie though only showing 2 teeth in his whole mouth) I asked what are the criteria for really good ploughing.  They are: entry, exit, ins and outs regularity and a few others.  Previously I had not known that there was such a type of competition, but in fact this was a heat that would send its champions off to the British national competition, and then off to Europe!  Perusing the programme later, I noticed that the prizes were in the realms of the low tens of pounds.  So everything is in the glory.

We then went to get lunch and were surprised at the amount of money we were asked to pay for a cheeseburger meal deal. So all our money was pretty much gone with entry and lunch (why did we not bring a picnic?, or a lot more money?)  The event was held in the grounds of Loseley House.  A stately home near our house, the house is beautiful and so it is a pretty place to go, the weather was fab so lots of people were there, wandering around looking at market stalls and watching the obligatory falconry display, and fly fishing lessons on the lawn.  Then there was the dog agility demonstrations, including the area final showcasing the best 30 dogs (out of 750) and their trainers, most of whom seemed to be over 70!  I think the event should be re-named Senior agility as these ladies were running around with their dogs, coaching them through all the different obstacles hardly puffing at all.  Matilda plans to enrol Rudi, thereby ensuring a long healthy life for herself.  Many people were watching, although this could be because they also had spent all their money on lunch.  It was so warm, the only thing that indicated that it was not the middle of summer was that the sun was quite low in the sky. 

It is quite extrordinary how much English people love their dogs, and when they go to something like this they always take their dogs, and most of the dogs are different.  People are all dressed identically, but they accessorise with their dogs.