Platinum Jubilee Kermis at Mulben's Touchdown Memorial Home for Horses excites families with horsey fun, stalls, games and special equine guests
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A UNIQUE Platinum Jubilee event at Mulben's Touchdown Memorial Home for Horses went down a storm last Friday, May 3.
The much loved equestrian centre threw a Kermis, a traditional Dutch fair to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee involving horses, fair games and stalls.
Touchdown founder and manager Frances Davies decided to put on a Kermis for the Platinum Jubilee due to her own Dutch heritage.
She said: "I am originally from the Netherlands. I love Kermis very much and it is a family tradition.
"Both my parents and my grandparents met at the Kermis so it is great to be able to hold one here.
"My grandparents met on the steam carousel and my parents met on the bumper cars.
"We are bringing a bit of the Netherlands to Scotland."
In true Touchdown fashion, there was a strong equestrian presence at the Kermis, with competitions in showjumping, dressage, inhand and ridden showing and gymkhana.
Equine guests of honour, police horses Logie and Elgin, made their way up from the central belt for the festivities.
The pair met old friend retired police horse Lauder, a Clydesdale, who was working hard giving pony rides for £3 a go.
PC Karen Graham was riding Elgin, who was originally from Moray, and said it was good to see Lauder again and to meet the local community.
She said: "That is the main reason why we came up, because our big ex-police horse Lauder is retired here.
"But they love standing and getting attention, and lots of treats.
"They are always looking out for treats!
"It is nice for people to just see us in a kind of friendly atmosphere rather than our normal environment.
"We are always friendly and even have followers that will come to the football and bring them treats as well.
"But it is lovely to come to community events like this."
Local businesses also made an impact at the Kermis, with stalls from Keyflow feeds, Drumnagorrach Designs, Ardenlea Feather, Fur Feed Supplies and Highland TheraPlate selling to an interested crowd.
The Moray Firth Amateur Radio Society also showed off their own portable radio mast at the event, which is housed in a car trailer.
On the day, the group used their equipment to contact other radio enthusiasts as far away as Cornwall. They and gave visitors free introductory morse code lessons, with graduates receiving signed certificates of achievement.
Children enjoyed the coconut shy, raffle, tombola, tin can alley, horse rides and children's races, while top food was provided by Rothes company Mother Goose Catering.
Mrs Davies said: "The day has been amazing – and it is great because you don't often get the chance to see the big picture of the project.
"You are constantly looking at the little things and you tend to get bogged down.
"The big picture is that Touchdown has been a huge success and I hope it will stay a success moving forward."
