THE SHOW MUST GO ON

Sir — Based on hard going, record temperatures and the danger to horses of heat exhaustion, I decided recently to withdraw from an unaffiliated one-day event.

The organisers, however, ran the event, justifying their actions by saying they had “spiked the old parkland turf ”. They also warned us to “bring plenty of water”, as there’d be none on site.

I was horrified by this on so many levels. What message does

this send out to youngsters, those we are trying to educate about good welfare practice? And to neither cancel nor postpone the event is beyond comprehension — prioritising monetary gain over the welfare of the horse, perhaps?

Annmarie Ryan Welwyn, Herts