Horse folk want Lammas Fair ban reversed

Vincent Traynor (49), from the Kilraughts Road area near Ballymoney who is the Chairperson of the North Antrim Riding Club and ‘Master’ of the Braid Draghounds, intends to be part of a delegation which hopes to address councillors in Ballycastle on Monday April 23.

Mr Traynor said there is anger at the ban in the horse community and they want it overturned.

He told the Times: “I didn’t deliberately set out to get involved in this but I believe the Council has overstepped the mark. This is a King-Chartered Fair and I don’t know how the Council has the power to stop that.

“The Council has taken this decision because people have made complaints following an incident where a horse was ridden at night and also a few allegations of animal mistreatment. There were a few minuses but what about the pluses of having horse trading at the Fair?

“The Fair has been going for hundreds of years and people have been coming and selling horses for years. The Fair was originally a ‘Farmer’s Fair’.

“There was one horse had a ‘bit’ pulled through its mouth and one of the animal charities made a big fuss about it but there are a lot of good horses at the Fair. The genuine horsey people will ‘police’ the event this year.

“No one knew this ban was going to come about. We were not properly notified about it. I have had phone calls from all parts about this and the horse trading ban needs to be reversed,” said Mr Traynor.