What are the benefits of leaving a gift to a charity in your Will?

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7 October 2021

The philanthropy of give to charity aside, are you aware of the tax benefits of leaving money to Charity in your Will? Private Client specialist Lesley Eveleigh explains:

What are the benefits of leaving a gift to a charity in your Will?
Not only is a gift to charity free of inheritance tax (IHT), should you gift over 10% of your estate to charity and your estate is still subject to IHT, it will be charged at 36%, rather than the usual 40%.

What are the different types of legacy you can leave to a charity?
You can leave them a fixed sum of money, a particular asset, such as a shareholding or a house, or you can leave them a percentage of your estate.

Can you leave your entire estate to a charity? Can this be disputed?
In this country we have ‘testamentary freedom’, which means you are free to leave your estate to anyone you wish, including leaving everything to charity. However, potentially family members, anyone you have cohabited with over 2 years, and anyone who was financially dependent on you could make a claim against your estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependents) Act 1975. Whether they are successful or not will depend on the circumstances.

How is your donation passed onto your chosen charity after your death?
Your Executor will need to account toa charity for your gift once they have access to your funds and after various
deadlines have passed. This is usually after they have obtained a Grant of Probate which can take some months. In any event, they should if possible account to the charity within one year of the date of death, otherwise ‘statutory interest’ is added to any fixed sum of money left to a charity (but not a share of your estate). This is known as the ‘Executors’ Year’.

How can a solicitor help you include a donation to a charity in your Will and ensure your wishes are carried out?
A solicitor can advise you on the best way to leave a gift to a charity. There are different implications for leaving either fixed sums of money, specific assets or a share of your estate and the procedures after your death and any costs associated with administering them, will be different. So it is important that you take professional advice. Your solicitor can also advise you on the IHT implications of leaving a gift to charity.

For further information please contact Lesley Eveleigh on 01935 846275 or email l[email protected]

How do I overwinter my elderly horse?

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Editorial team

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6 October 2021

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Owning an older horse or pony is very rewarding. They are usually (but not always!) more sensible; if still actively working or competing, they know their job, and get on with it. Traditionally, a horse or pony was recognized as a veteran at just 15 years of age. These days, many horses do not reach their competitive peak until their mid-teens. Countless horses and ponies are still active well into their twenties and even thirties!

Senior horses will find it hard to keep warm during the winter months and so they will most likely need a rug and some sort of shelter. Rugs are great for the senior horse as they can lose weight quickly if they become cold. Please note that horses diagnosed with Cushings disease may get too hot in a thick rug, due to their hairy coats. Providing shelter, whether it be a stable or field shelter is also important as it will offer protection from the weather – sun, wind and rain.

A key factor in maintaining a healthy senior horse is nutrition.
As horses get older their digestive efficiency reduces, which means they absorb less protein and nutrients from their food. There is no one-size-fits- all option, so what you choose to feed should be adapted depending on their health and condition. If your horse is no longer able to eat hay, you will need to provide fibre through a hay replacer. Horses with dental problems may also require a special diet as they may find chewing difficult. Therefore, you will need to provide fibre that your horse can chew, to ensure they get the nutrients they need. We recommend doing an annual health check before the winter. An annual health check, provided by your vet, will ensure your horse is checked over thoroughly and allow them to diagnose any problems early.

What does an annual health check include?
• Body condition score – This will provide a baseline before you go into winter of where your horses’ weight is.

• Dental check – ensuring good dental health will help your elderly horse to properly digest their food and keep weight on in the colder months.

• Listen to heart and lungs – this helps to pick up any problems early on.

• Eye examination – especially important if your elderly horse is still ridden, this again can pick up any early signs of problems they may have.

• Blood sample – a general screen which often includes an assessment of red blood cell count, white blood cell count, protein levels, liver and kidney enzymes.

• Worm egg count – the vet can then advise on what wormer your horse may need.

If you haven’t already, do check the Damory Equine Team out on Facebook and Instagram for lots of information to help with the care of your horse.

We are currently running a great competition for one lucky elderly horse or pony!

by Julian Radburn BVM&S CertEM(IntMed) MRCVS Damory Clinic

Community in Sturminster Newton

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Editorial team

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6 October 2021

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Sturminster Newton is a pretty market town and the ‘unofficial’ capital of the Blackmore Vale. It’s picturesque 1,00 year old mill on the River Stour is seen by all those passing the narrow arched bridge into the town. Once home to Thomas Hardy and Dorset dialect poet William Barnes, Sturminster Newton is a small town with a big community.

“The Boutique” in Market Cross is the renamed former “Community Chest” and contains a hoard of preloved ladies and children’s clothes and accessories. Renamed, but the same lovely quality clothes at fair prices.

The Emporium recently celebrated its first anniversary as a treasure trove of items looking for new homes. The Emporium offers china, glass, “collectables”, kitchen ware, children’s toys, books, music and much more, including now having a Gentleman’s Clothes Boutique with it own changing-room. The money raised from The Emporium and The Boutique is used for the benefit of the town – you will soon see a defibrillator appearing on the outside of the building.

The Emporium is a place for rehoming and also recycling. The plea from Shop Manager Cheryl Basten is “we want good quality goods to sell but our motto is that nothing goes to waste if we can possible avoid it. So please – remember us when you are having a clear out.”

So if clothes and goods are not of good enough quality to sell in the two shops they are sold on for recycling. The Emporium also saves milk bottle tops which go to a cancer charity, stamps which go to the RNIBm , batteries, bras (which go to women in the third world), glasses which are handed on to local opticians, printer ink cartridges, buttons which are put on cards for sale, old woollies which are made into gloves, broken jewellery which is used to decorate handbags.

The Emporium houses a community fridge with free food for anyone who wants to help themselves…..says Cheryl “ we take surplus food from The Pantry or food shops, including produce in season from out local gardeners and most recently free range eggs. So don’t be shy, come and help yourself and fight food waste”

Why you should take Pony Club Efficiency Tests

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Editorial team

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5 October 2021

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The end of the summer holidays brings the Pony Club Efficiency Tests. Members will have been prepared while having fun at camps and endless rallies, and the nationally-recognised upper tests are excellent additions for CVs and Personal Statements.

The Pony Club (PC) Efficiency Tests provide a staircase of knowledge and progression when taken in sequence, starting from ‘E’ and going all the way up to the prestigious ‘A’ Test.

The PC training structure encourages members to take the tests, which enable them to learn progressively about horse and pony care and riding. The PC Efficiency Test levels are acknowledged as a high level of achievement worldwide and definitely worth attaining – if nothing else but as an additional valued qualification on your CV.

What is covered?

The level of knowledge required obviously increases as you work through the levels. For example, the ‘C+’ Test’s objectives are:

to become an educated and practical horseman
To ride over fences at all paces
To gain practical experience and knowledge of the care of a stabled pony and of a pony at grass
To be capable of riding a well-mannered pony in all Pony Club activities

• To ride intelligently and with due regard for others on the roads and in the country, and with a knowledge of pace, distance and discipline when riding alone and in groups.

The recommended minimum age is 14 years, and once you reach C+ level the exam is split into two sections: C+ Horse Care and C+ Riding. You need to pass both before progressing to either B test Riding or B test Horse Care. Once you have passed your C+ you can also do your UKCC level 1 coaching certificate and start assisting in instructing.

How do I book a test?

That depends on the level: • E, D, D+, Road Rider, C and C+ Tests.
These are organised by Branches and Centres – contact your DC, Chief Coach or Centre proprietor if you’d like to book on to one of these. • B, B+, Lungeing and AH Tests. These are organised by your club’s Area Representative
– get in touch with them if you’d like a book a test. • A Test These are booked centrally via the national Pony Club Office. Visit the A Test Training and Test Days page for more details on this much sought after (and recognised worldwide) award.

By: Sara Greenwood

Stud Life | October 2021

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Editorial team

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5 October 2021

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Lucy Procter, co-owner of the Glanvilles Stud, shares a diary of life on a Thoroughbred stud.
This month – pregnancy checks and floating teeth.

October 1st is a key date in the Thoroughbred breeding industry. That’s the date when mare owners are contracted to inform the stallion owners whether their mare is still in foal. If a vet confirms a live foetus is present on 1st October, the stallion covering fees become due.

Monday saw us busily bringing mares in from the fields and our vet carrying out an internal examination on each one to confirm their pregnancy. Thankfully they were all in foal – except for the sixteenth mare we brought in. We’d forgotten she had been left empty and we’d loaded her into the stocks in error. And yes, it is she who is looking somewhat surprised in the photograph!

They shake hands with you

Internal examinations are routine, and most of the mares don’t object. For safety it’s usual to use stocks to help prevent the vet getting kicked, but if a vet is checking just one mare they can be examined in a stable if they are quiet enough, or over a stable door. The vet puts on a long, plastic examination glove, lubricates his hand with gel and inserts it into the mare’s rectum. In early pregnancy the foetus is detected using a scanner and internal probe, but at several months old the vet can manually palpate the mare’s uterus via the rectum; “As the pregnancy progresses, some are really easy to detect – they shake hands with you!’ says Paul Legerton our vet as he grapples with yet another leg.

Horses need regular dentist checks too.
Another job for the morning was a mouth flush for one of our broodmares that had been identified with periodontal disease in February. Now post- surgery she was having the first of what will for her be routine, six-monthly veterinary checks. Normally, food and bacteria do not accumulate between a horse’s teeth. Sometimes, though, just as in humans the teeth grow slightly wonkily* , resulting in gaps which food can pack into. This will cause decay, painful pockets in the gums and ultimately displacement of one or more teeth, thus increasing the size of the original pocket and setting up a vicious cycle of dental issues which can become extremely painful if left untreated. We ask the vet to carry out regular, 6-18 month teeth checks on all our broodmares, with the frequency depending on age and any previous issues.

Floating a horse’s teeth

Sharp edges are a result of the natural eruption of equine teeth; coupled with reduced grazing compared to a horse living wild and, if teeth are not rasped smooth by an equine dental professional (‘floating’ – see picture), may cause discomfort when eating. This might cause the mare to reduce her overall feed intake or, if the mare is in pain, it might make her disinclined to eat much at all. This will obviously affect not only the condition of the mare, but may also result in a small, poorly nourished foal.

The Glanvilles fitness regime

Having breathed a sigh of relief that all mares were in foal, we gave them all their Autumn tapeworm dose, measured a couple of the foals who had come in and returned the mares to their fields. With the furthest field half a mile up the track

and each girl leading only two mares at a time, that was a lot of walking. With each of us clocking well over 20,000 steps on a daily basis, we’re all pretty fit here at The Glanvilles Stud!

(*technical Vet’s term! – Ed)

Sturminster Newton Job Fair

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Editorial team

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5 October 2021

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Stur is holding a Job Fair on Thursday 21^st October (The Exchange 10 a.m. – 2p.m.) offering opportunities to job seekers and volunteers. Local businesses and voluntary bodies report that they are struggling to find workers and SturBiz (Sturminster Newton Chamber of Commerce) has responded by setting up a Job Fair to bring them together.

If you are considering self-employment or have a new business idea, then this event is for you. If you’re looking to gain new skills and training, you’ll be able to talk to someone about this. May be you have time to spare for voluntary work, or want to expand your CV – come and see what is on offer.

This event provides access to a wide variety of businesses and organisations offering:

employment
volunteer roles to aid job or career enhancement, or social use of spare time
career opportunities and advice
training

As an employer or volunteer organisation this event provides the following opportunities:

speak face to face with jobseekers / potential volunteers
engage in mini interviews on the day
great networking opportunities
business support, including start up
access to training information and grants
meet potential employees / volunteers and raise awareness of your company or
organisation

Within a week, this FREE event, had already secured 16 exhibitors with many more to follow.

This is a “one stop shop”, where job seekers and career changers can meet employers face to face offering job opportunities within a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, hospitality, service, retailing, engineering, administration, transport and I.T.

To find out more and to book a place use this link – Job Fair Sturminster Newton

SturBiz is the Chamber of Commerce for Sturminster Newton and area and has been working hard to keep Stur. thriving through Covid. SturBiz is the organisation behind a number of events and activities held this year, including the Sturminster Newton Art-week, Scarecrow Festival and Sturminster Summer Fete. SturBiz employs Jacqui Wragg as its Coordinator, working from an office above The Emporium. Says Jacqui “from a room affectionally named the ‘Ideas Factory’, we respond through local intelligence to community and business needs, to make Stur a good place to live, work and play – the town which always smiles”.

One fun event coming up is Stur.’s celebration of National Poetry Day, in The Exchange on Thursday 7^th October 7.00 p.m. – for further information see the Sturminster Newton Literary Festival facebook entry.

Raspberry Crumble Bars

By

Editorial team

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4 October 2021

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Ingredients (makes 12)

For the Base:

230g butter (or dairy free margarine)
100g caster sugar (or granulated)
1tsp vanilla essence/extract
250g plain flour (can use gluten free plain flour)
A Jar of raspberry jam (or any jam)

For the topping:

• 100g oats (regular or gluten free) • 140g soft brown sugar
• 80g plain flour (can use gluten free flour)
• 120g butter (or dairy free

margarine)
• fresh raspberries (or any fruit)
• Plus a little icing sugar and water to finish. for the middle layer.

Heather Brown is a member of the Guild of Food Writers and a home economist with a passion for Dorset’s brilliant foodie scene. Heather runs Dorset Foodie Feed, championing Dorset’s food and drink businesses, as well as working with food industry clients.
*Raspberry Crumble Bars image: Heather Brown*

Method

Preheat the oven to gas 6 or fan 180º.
Line a 9′′ x 13′′ baking tin (approx 1′′ deep) with baking parchment.
For the base – Melt the butter and then stir in the rest of the base ingredients until well combined.
Spread this sticky dough/paste on the bottom of the tin and bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the top is a little golden.
Whilst the base is baking, melt the butter for the topping and then mix in the rest of the ingredients (except the jam and the fresh raspberries). This will make a fairly crumbly mixture.
When the base is baked, carefully spread a good layer of raspberry jam across the base. The base will be soft (and hot!) so you’ll need to be gentle so as not to crush the base too much (Tip: if you sort of blob the jam onto the base and wait for a few seconds, the heat will melt the jam slightly and that will make it easier for you to spread).
Sprinkle over the crumble topping to loosely cover the layer of jam. Add in a few fresh raspberries onto the crumble layer.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin.
Once cool, gently take out of the tin and cut into pieces (I usually cut the edges off, but you don’t need to).
Make up a little water icing by mixing the icing sugar with a little water (you can add some extra vanilla here if you want to) and then drizzle across the top to finish.

“I have been so impressed with how the Hospitality industry has coped with the hugely busy summer – whilst they perhaps have a moment this month to catch their breath, many in the industry might be feeling the strain, physically and mentally. wThis is a great time of year to reach out to your favourite businesses and restaurants to say thank you; write them a great review, share their social media or book a table for a future date are all great ways of showing your support.

If you work in the hospitality industry and you feel like you need some mental health support, then The Burnt Chef Project offer a number of ways that you can receive some free help. Visit their website at www.theburntchefproject.com or you can access their free, 24/7 support service by texting BURNTCHEF to 85258.

This month’s recipe is made using fresh raspberries and raspberry jam, but these can be easily substituted for more seasonal fruit like blackberries and plums. You can also switch out the flour for gluten free flour or butter for vegan friendly butter, making this bake very versatile.”

Heather

Want to take great bird pictures? Carl Bovis reveals his secrets

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Editorial team

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4 October 2021

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Photographing birds is a huge passion of mine, and judging by the interest I see on Twitter, it’s becoming a passion for many other people too. My account (@CarlBovisNature) has recently passed 100,000 followers; I’m not famous, that’s just how popular photos of birds are.

Everyone has a camera, even if it’s just the one on their phone, and therefore we all have the ability to take our own photos. Taking pictures of wild birds is about as challenging as it gets, so the sense of achievement when getting a photo of one of our feathered friends is greater than that of most other forms of photography. Social media makes it easy to share any photos, and get instant feedback. The whole process is addictive, and more and more people are delving into the interesting and rewarding world of bird photography as a result. I’m lucky enough to have a decent DSLR camera and zoom lens; while nowhere near the perfect set-up, and certainly not the most expensive, it does help me to take some lovely pictures. Most people won’t have the same quality of equipment, so here are five bird photography tips that are not dependant on equipment or settings used.

1. Find the birds

Seems obvious; after all, with no birds, there’s no possibility of bird photos! However, you can greatly increase your chances of getting a good bird photo by going to the right places. Most birds are small, so getting as close to them as possible, without disturbing them, is important. Therefore, areas where birds are used to humans are ideal. Village and town ponds are great for this. Ducks, swans, geese and gulls are great photography subjects. Closer to home, your garden is perfect. Instead of going out to find the birds, you can attract them to you with food such as sunflower hearts and fat and seed blocks. A bird bath will also be popular; a plant pot base with an inch or two of water is ideal.

2. Get low

Being at eye level with birds will make your photos more dynamic. Not only that, when you’re low the birds will not see you as so much of a threat and may even walk (or hop) closer if you stay still. I’ve used this technique to photograph many species on the ground, Including ring plovers, bearded tits and pied wagtails. The hardest part is getting up again, especially if you’ve been laying on your front for a while!

3. Watch the light

Photography is all about making the most of the available light, and none more so than with bird photography. On a sunny day, the position of the sun in relation to your subject is vital. Ideally, in most situations, you want the sun behind you, unless you’re wanting a silhouette image with no detail on the bird. If the sun is to either side of you, the bird will likely have a harsh light on one side and shadows on the other. When the sun is low, there’s a more diffuse light that can make your bird photos more striking, so shortly after sunrise and shortly before sunset are great times for bird photography.

4. Predict

Birds move quickly, especially small species. In the blink of an eye, a photo opportunity can come and go, giving you no chance of capturing the moment. The answer is to predict the movements of the birds you are hoping to photograph, you won’t have time to react otherwise. In this respect, it’s worth taking time to get to know the birds and how they behave. If you feed birds in your garden, it’s obvious that they’ll regularly land where the food is, but often they’ll have a favoured spot where they’ll land briefly to check that the coast is clear before coming down to feed. This could be anything from a branch to a shed roof. Once you have identified a favoured perch, set your camera on that perch and wait…

5. Compose

Composition is always important in photography, and bird photography is no different. There are no hard and fast rules, but in general you want a bird to be looking ‘into’ the picture, not out of it. If the bird is looking to the right, for example, then position it on the left hand side of the image. If it’s looking to the left, then position it on the right. If it’s looking straight ahead, position it front and centre. Backgrounds can make or break a photo. I like to change position when photographing a stationary bird so there’s a nicer looking background – ‘busy’ backgrounds can be very distracting, and the aim is to make the bird the star of your photos, not the clapped out Ford Escort behind it!

It’s never all about the equipment

So there you have five easy tips that have nothing to do with camera equipment or camera settings. Remember these and you’ll soon be getting fabulous bird photos, no matter if you have a huge lens the size of a bus or a humble camera on your phone. Good luck, and most importantly, have fun!

Carl

They all touched my heart but Peggy was special

By

Editorial team

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4 October 2021

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What a couple of months we’ve had here at The Rescue in Hazelbury Bryan!

We’ve been inundated with sick and injured prickly friends – from the very young to the more mature.

One of our favourites , we call her WD40, has consumed plastic.

We prove this by examining her faeces under the microscope. She was tiny and failed to gain weight. Plus she would not eat and only drank from a syringe.

Giving her a diet of gravy cat food helped to pass the bung of plastic and, although she is still a little reluctant to eat, she’s now putting on weight so, hopefully, panic over.

I sat in my car and cried

Sometimes it’s hard to save a sick hedgehog.

I had great affection for Peggy who came to us dragging a back leg which was swollen from the toes to the hip joint. When she curled into a ball her foot was left out because it hurt her so much.

We started her on antibiotics and pain-killers and thinking she’s broken her leg, took her to the vet. I feared for her.

For weeks we administered antibiotics and bathed the wound three times a day. But her wound was so close to her rear it was often covered in urine and faeces and just would not get better.

I sat in the car park and cried after my third visit to the vet with her. She did not come home with us – the wound was down to the bone and there was little hope of it healing. Before I left the vet’s I looked into her eyes and begged forgiveness They all touch my heart but Peggy was so special.

A miracle recovery from starvation

Possibly one of the most rewarding jobs I have is to feed the babies and watch them grow into lovely, round adolescents, such as Bonzo and Doodaa, who came to us from Sturminster in late September.

Young animals have such beautiful faces but these two came to us as starving babies.

On their first day with us they gained 40 grams each. This is an unheard growth – they must have been so hungry. I am really glad they were found and brought to us before they expired.

Please continue to contact us for advice to keep our hedgehogs safe and healthy, just call 01258 818266.

N.B

Firework night is nearly upon us so please be wildlife-aware when you position your bonfires and ensure animals do not use them as new shelter.

Hedgehogs are too precious to lose to a fire and what a terrible way to die.