Thimbleby & Shorland held their 49th Autumn Show & Sale of Shetland Ponies under the auspices of the Shetland Pony Stud Book Society, on Wednesday 18th October.
There was a good entry of 123 ponies, 26 more than in 2016, made up of 21 colt foals; 54 filly foals; 8 stallions & entire males; 5 geldings; and 35 mares & fillies.
There was a buzz in the sale ring (more reminiscent of the ‘good old days’!), which was full throughout the sale. There were a lot of new faces and new buyers amongst the regular supporters and breeders, who travelled from right across the country, as well as from Austria, Holland, Germany and Belgium. Of the 123 ponies that were catalogued, 117 were offered, and 106 sold. The clearance rate was an excellent 90%, a small increase on last year’s figure. 7 ponies were sold to buyers from abroad.
18 of the 19 colt foals offered were sold, the top price being 670 guineas for Ms C Jacob’s Carain Olaf. The average colt foal price was substantially higher than last year, at 317 guineas. 
This year the top price for a filly foal was the Hughes Family’s Edern Pippa, a beautiful buckskin miniature. She sold for 2,100 guineas, and was the highest priced pony in the sale. 12 other fillies fetched in excess of the 1000 guineas mark. The average for the 45 fillies sold was 747 guineas, another huge improvement on last year.
All of the 8 stallions and entire males were sold, at an average of 308 guineas. 5 geldings were offered and all bar one was sold. The average price was an encouraging 968 guineas, with Ms Fox’s 3 year old Palomino Cadno George’s Dragon fetching 1800 guineas.
34 mares and fillies were offered this year, slightly up on 2016, again with an 88% clearance and 8 ponies making 1000 guineas or over. The two highest priced mares were both from Elaine Curtis; Shandwick Summer Rose which made 2050 guineas, and Shandwick Snowdust coming close behind at 1900 guineas.
In the pre-sale Show judge Ian Bailey made Clifford and Jackie Percy’s buckskin filly Snelsmore Ups-a-Daisy the Overall Champion Foal, and Mrs S Belton’s 4 year old chestnut filly Sharptor Etienne the Overall Show Champion.
Auctioneer and Thimbleby & Shorland director Chris Boreham said; “What a fantastic sale! We thought things were on an upward trend after last year and so it has proved, with another marked improvement in the trade. Not only was the clearance rate again excellent at just over 90%, but also the overall sale average price was an exceptional 644 guineas, a huge increase on last year. The standard of ponies on offer was the best for many years and there was a very noticeable air of expectation this year. I was delighted to see that, as we had hoped, the continued improvement in the quality of ponies offered was rewarded with a significant improvement in prices. I’m sure that everyone will do their best to keep it up!”