Black Isle Farmers’ Society members have voted to uphold a decision to cancel the full-day horse show at the Black Isle Show.
In January the society announced that the horse show, which normally takes place the day before the main show, would no longer go ahead due to financial losses.
It said an analysis of costs and income streams had revealed that last year’s Wednesday horse show had lost a five-figure sum when accounted for separately and said this “presented a conflict to the charitable aims and objectives of the society”.
The decision to cancel the horse show caused outrage with members of the society’s horse committee who then called an extraordinary general meeting, which took place on Monday, to review the decision.
Horse committee members said they believed the decision was invalid as it had not been stated on the agenda of a full society meeting in January.
To resolve the conflict, Black Isle Farmers’ Society members were asked to vote on whether or not to re-instate the full-day horse show.
The vote, which took place on Monday, saw 195 members vote to uphold the horse show cancellation decision and 83 members vote to reinstate the show.
In a statement, the society said the vote supported the difficult decision made by members in January to cancel the horse show.
“The directors hope that this decision by the members will be treated with respect as it was carried out in a fair and transparent manner,” said the society.
“The members efforts will now be concentrated on the ongoing society business – the collaborative venture with Royal Highland Educational Trust with the fun with food and farming days allowing 250 local school children to gain an understanding of where food comes from; the enhanced bursary scheme for which details will be coming out in the near future; and most importantly the planning and running of the flagship annual Black Isle Show held on the first Thursday in August and the Wednesday evening preview which will follow the same format as in previous years.”
This year’s show takes place on Wednesday, August 3, and Thursday, August 4.
