The number of people given advice about their animals’ welfare is at its lowest since 2010.

Appelby Horse Fair, the largest of Britain’s horse fairs, with over 40,000 attendants, has previously suffered due to animal welfare concerns. This year, The RSPCA says the fair was ‘a positive one’ with the number of people given advice and warnings about their animals’ welfare significantly down. 131 people were given advice during the five-day event, down from 198 last year and the lowest figure since 2010. The number of warnings was also down to 5, from last year’s 14.

RSPCA Chief Inspector Rob Melloy said: “There have been a couple of incidents posted on social media, which we’re aware of and have either dealt with or are dealing with, but on the whole this year’s fair has been a positive one.”

There has been a downwards trend in exhaustion of horses, and this year no incidents involving dogs in hot cars or environments. Chief Inspector Melloy said: “This year’s weather was very mixed, with a lot of rain on Saturday and Sunday, but it is still really pleasing that there were not significant issues with either of these things this year.

“It was also really pleasing how positively and patiently people responded when the river ramp was closed due to the weather conditions, which we know can be frustrating.”

This year 34 RSPCA officers attended including specialist equine officers from across England and Wales. It is the charity’s biggest deployment of staff and the biggest multi-agency event of the year, with six other horse organisations also involved. All of these organisations and the British Horse Society manned an increasingly popular information and education tent, and Redwings Horse Sanctuary handed out sixteen welfare awards.