Madam, – The chief executive of the RDS must congratulate himself on a highly successful “Monty Roberts advertising campaign”, for if numbers of people are anything to go by at the RDS on Sunday, then cashflow must today be looking very positive.
However, positive would not describe the Monty Roberts experience that I and my two Monty-mad young daughters had on Sunday. Corralled as we were against fencing with hundreds of other hopefuls, we stood in the August sunshine in Simmonscourt waiting for the horse whisperer Monty to arrive for his show.
There is only one seated stand and this was already full with people watching a jumping class. Realising we would not get a seat, we left to find space against the show ring. This too was elbow-to-elbow. The final straw came when the stewards opened the gates of the show ring to allow people in to stand against the small enclosure that Monty was in. Nobody outside this area could see anything. The overhead screen was useless. At that stage we and many others left. Back in the main arena all was peace and calm. The near-empty stands reserved were overlooking world-class show jumping.
Shame on the RDS bosses. Next year, please make an effort for the ordinary people and their children, and put Monty Roberts in the main arena so everyone can sit in comfort and safety to watch him. – Yours, etc,