Record Numbers visit Open Day to see the 7 Colony foals

A special Open Day was held on Sunday 2nd August for visitors to see the seven Suffolk Punch foals born this year at the Colony Stud owned by the Suffolk Punch Trust.
Visitor numbers were terrific, entry was £5 per car and an estimated 4500-5000 people came throughout the day, the largest one day crowd at the Trust since it purchased the Stud in 2006. The 32 Suffolk Punch horses, especially the foals, were the main attraction but there were also displays of farm machinery and tools, rural craft displays, local trade stands and Birds of Prey.
Many visitors came in family groups and made a day of their visit, they brought picnics and leisurely walked the trails that have been created around the 200 acre farm as well as noting the work in progress on the new Learning and Heritage Visitor Centre which is due to open in Spring 2010. They supported all the craft and food stands, the Trusts raffle and there were some very generous individual donations on the day and the Trust donation box collected over £400.
It marked the end of a busy 7 days for the Trust- the day before they had given wagon rides with Suffolk Punches in nearby Woodbridge. The previous Sunday, 8 Colony Suffolks were at the 3rd annual Suffolk Punch day held in support of the Suffolk Punch Trust at Helmingham Hall by kind permission of Lord and Lady Tollemache.
Philip Ryder-Davies, chairman of the Suffolk Punch Trust, said we had a splendid day at Helmingham Hall and today too the atmosphere was just lovely and so many of our visitors made a point of saying how they had enjoyed their visit.
We still have a lot of work to do before we open to the general public next Spring, more volunteers are welcome to come and help us, but a day like today and the support we have received makes it all worthwhile.