UPDATE - July

Dear Editor,

Several months ago I asked for help with the care of two rescue horses and the response was fantastic. Sadly, one of the horses Nat has lost his fight for life, his cancer  was so bad . He was put to sleep on Monday and died in my friend’s arms. For the last 7 months he has had all the love, care and attention he could have wanted, so I feel he has had a good end to his life and it in some way would have made up for the serious neglect that he had suffered before hand. Solid, the other rescue horse, has settled in with my friend’s own horses and is well on the road to recovery, but still has a long way to go.

Many thanks to your paper and your readers for the kind donations.

Regards Marjorie Morrow 

UPDATE - April

Dear Editor and readers,

The rescue horse Solide continues to improve. Solide has his birthday on the 11/04/2010 and will be 26 years old. Nat is making slower progress as his cancer holds him back and he will be 30 years old on the 22/04/2010. Both are enjoying their new life and thanks to the kindness of Vicky and John who have donated rugs for them, they are more comfortable now.

They are still on three meals per day with extra vitamins provided by Vicky and John. Both horses have perked up no end and are enjoying the sunshine as we all do.

Please don’t forget if you would like to see these horses or help in any way to contact me. Any visitors would be very welcome. Two ladies came to see them and spent some time grooming them which they loved. If anyone is interested is seeing the condition of these horses when first taken in to the care of Chem, the web site is www.chem.fr. Please note that the pictures of the horses are very distressing and there is one of the horse that had to be put to sleep. If anyone would like to me to email pictures of them now just let me know and I will do my best. It’s heart warming to know that others care enough to give what they can and I would like to thank everyone who has helped and to those who will help in the future. These horses will remain in the home they have now until life take its natural course. We are trying to make their life as happy as possible and with the generosity of others we will succeed.

UPDATE - March

Time for the Bugle to blow its own trumpet.... A big thank you! We have had a very generous offer of help with the two rescue horses Solide and Nat. I also had a call from a lady called Vicky with the offer of rugs. I was away in England so if Vicky would be kind enough to phone me again on 05.55.65.16.58 I would appreciate it very much.

Solide has gained 50 kilos and Nat 46 kilos. This should have been more but their teeth were in urgent need of attention. Fortunately, a local charity has come forward to help with the dental work and we are hopeful that they will continue to gain weight.

Nat has had an infection where his cancer is and is on antibiotics but is making good progress. The cancer seems to be at a standstill so let’s hope he makes it to a fantastic summer.

Yesterday we moved them into a new field; what a beautiful sight it was. Both Nat and Solide were like spring lambs. Off they set at a canter around their new field. Heads up, ears pricked, eyes shining. What a fantastic difference in them.

Solide and Nat adore being stroked and having human contact. If there is any one out there who would like to groom them or just spend time with them please let me know and we can try to arrange something.

Regards and thanks to the Bugle,

Marjorie Morrow
05.55.65.16.58

Dear Ed,

Shortly before Christmas 2009, I spotted three horses being moved to a field opposite my home. I noticed they were thin and I mentioned this to my friend who knows a great deal about horses. I had also noted they were not being fed.

We reported these horses to a charity called Chem. On the 28th December, two members of the charity came to see them & they were appalled by what they saw. Arrangements for the vet and police to attend were put in place and on the following day the vet arrived.

He reported they were starving to death. A day later the police arrived together with the owner. The vet was called again as one of the horses was down and couldn’t get up; this horse was put to sleep there and then. Unfortunately we were too late for that horse.

The police informed the owner that unless he signed over the two remaining horses he was likely to be arrested. He obliged. My friend and her husband agreed to care for them on behalf of the charity. This charity pays for vet’s fees, a friend of mine in England sent 300 euros to help with costs and I donated food and straw.

We need help with the feeding & care of these horses, so please get in contact if you think you can help in any way: rugs, food, worming products etc. Repairs can be made to rugs if they are damaged. Any surplus will be passed on to other horses or ponies. 
Solide 17.2 hh and Ossilip-nat 16.1 hh were both competition horses at one point in their lives. Ossilip has now been diagnosed with cancer and Solide was taken ill with colic caused by a massive botfly larva infestation, even though they had been wormed twice already.

If you think you may be able to help at all, please contact me, Marjorie Morrow:

05 55 65 16 58

Kind regards

Marjorie Morrow

When Kerry Turner left her 20 year career as a management consultant and acquired a house in rural France she created the perfect opportunity to fulfil her lifelong ambition to write a book. “Riding Dynamics”, the process of learning and its application to riding, is the result.

What can riders learn from the business world?

Kerry’s work as a consultant focused on understanding the dynamics of business to improve decision making and business performance. She uses these techniques in this book to explore the dynamics of riding and training horses…..literally what affects what when we ride. By better understanding these dynamics we can make better choices and improve our riding performance.

Unlike many books on riding and training the author is not a professional horsewoman. Kerry freely admits that she is not a natural rider. She struggles with nerves, with tension (mental and physical) and with physical problems. She started writing in a diary to capture the results of her own riding experiments. What she had tried. What had worked. What hadn’t. Why? What to try next. She found that her writing complemented and reinforced what she had learnt about herself and the riding process.

Charitable aims

As she started to structure her notes she realised that these could benefit other riders similar to her self and, through these riders, the horses they ride. The decision to donate the profits of the book to her favourite international horse charity, the Brooke Organisation, completed the project. Kerry says, “I liked the idea of a book written to benefit riders and their horses in the developed world also benefiting horses and their owners in the less developed world”.

Publishers were less interested in this aim. Unperturbed, Kerry decided to publish a limited first edition of 500 copies of the book herself. She sought and gained support in the form of sponsorship of some of the printing costs from leading UK horse feeds manufacturer, Dodson & Horrell. 

Selling the book

Two years after publishing the book, Kerry looks back with pride at what she has achieved. Once upon a time there was an enormous pile of cardboard boxes, containing hundreds of first edition books. Now there are a few boxes containing tens of books. And the reason for this?  Lots of direct marketing and selling.  In other words finding the people the book was aimed at, and then persuading them to buy the book.  That’s required a lot of hard work on Kerry’s part – in fact, she has probably spent more time selling the book than writing it.  Over the last couple of years she has persuaded libraries to stock the book, written directly to riding clubs, written supporting articles and given lots of talks. 

Book presentation at St Mathieu

So when the local Anglo-French cultural exchange group, “Culture en Tête”, asked Kerry to talk about her experiences of writing and publishing a book, she was well prepared. 

We all know that getting anyone to drag themselves out in the evening is a challenge.  Add to that it was Friday evening and the start time was 7.30pm, normally the point in the evening where the hors-d’œvres give way to the plat principal and the second (or maybe even third) glass of wine is being glugged.

The Ensemble Vocal de Guéret (EVG) is making an early start to its season of performances this year by giving a concert at St Georges Nigremont on Friday 23 April, St George's Day.

The concert is entitled « Romances Chorales et Instrumentales » and falls into two parts. Claire Lechien and Vincent Péchenart, professeurs of piano and violin respectively at the Conservatoire of Music in Guéret, will play pieces by composers of the « Romantic Period » of the 19th and early 20th centuries including Beethoven, Brahms, Bloch and Rachmaninov. The EVG will sing pieces from the same period by composers including Bruckner, Saint-Saëns, Schumann, Kodaly and Mendelssohn. To mark the significance of St George's Day to English residents, the English members of the EVG, supported by Chef de Choeur, Vincent Péchenart, will sing English madrigals by Richard Edwards and Thomas Whythorn.

The EVG has further concerts, with an expanded programme, scheduled for June (look out for further information in May and June) but why not celebrate St George's Day in style by attending this concert which takes place at 8.30 p.m. in the beautiful church at St Georges Nigremont?

For further information, do not hesitate to contact us.

Sue & Steve Chicken
05 55 81 16 05
email: stephen.chicken@gmail.com

In 2006 Colin and Anne Cartwright swapped their house in Windsor Castle … yes, the Windsor Castle... for life in the Limousin.

Colin, a professional musician, had sung at St George’s Chapel, Windsor for many years and they lived within the castle walls. Colin sang daily and for special occasions like Garter ceremonies, Royal weddings, funerals, christenings etc. He was honoured by the Queen, and received her Majesty’s personal medal of the Royal Victorian Order.

Colin and Anne met at the Royal Northern College of Music, where Colin studied singing and piano and Anne was on the Opera course. In her final year Anne was chosen to give two solo song recitals in the BBC’s Young Performers series and then began her operatic career as The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Dartington Festival, a role she sang many times. Her career continued with Carmen, Cavelleria Rusticana, Turandot, Gianni Schicchi and many more.

Anne joined the English Music Theatre Company and sang at Sadlers Wells, The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, The Maltings Aldburgh and the Opera House in Florence for the Maggio Musicale. She also worked with Sir Harrison Birtwhistle and Elgar Howarth on a TV film.

Anne refers to herself as a ‘jobbing singer’ and toured in classical repertoire, singing in Notre Dame Paris, La Madeleine, Laon, Soissons and many other venues all over Europe. She now enjoys a slower pace in the Limousin, but is still happy to sing solo as well as having started a new venture in choral singing.

Life was good for Colin and Anne, but they had found their French dream and wanted to pursue it. Seeking a quieter life they moved to Cramaud, near Rochechouart. Here, like many others, they are fulfilling their dream of a gentler way of life in a pastoral setting (together with the usual sounds that accompany the restoration of a cottage.) Of course music has always been a large part of both their lives and it wasn’t long before the decibels began to mount!

Colin, Anne and some friends have formed CANTIQUE, a choir now boasting 24 singers. Cantique is an international choir, proud to have Mr Benoît Carde for its President, with a mix of French, Dutch and British singers. They offer music of a high standard and a diverse and challenging repertoire, ranging from 16th century polyphony to Mendelssohn, Elgar and American, French and Baltic music of the 20th century.

Cantique will give a concert in l’église de St Savour, Rochechouart (87) on the 25th April at 5 pm. “The church is friendly, with a great acoustic and the priest, Gerard Caillaud has been helpful and encouraging” said Anne. “We want to make our commune proud of us!”

In May they sing again in Rochechouart and Busserolles (24) with visiting Dutch choir Cigale. Says Anne, “We are really looking forward to sharing a concert with Cigale, who recently celebrated their 25th anniversary.” Colin added “We are committed musicians, some with professional backgrounds, but although we take music seriously we are a lively and friendly bunch. We make just as much noise socially as we do singing! For intending singers there is an informal audition, as we wish to attract those who can negotiate musical scores!”

If you want more information visit www.cantique87.fr