Meet the Team |
The NFED is owned by equine artist Claire Kitcher trading under the name of CK Art. It was designed and created by myself, Steve Kitcher as an offshoot to Claire's website in 1998. It is still run as a part time hobby/business which has to be fitted in around full time employment as a chemical process operator, producing fine art prints, photography, picture framing, looking after and riding our horses. We breed New Forest ponies under the "Brushwood" prefix and are small commoners with just a couple of ponies running on the forest under the "CMK" brand, normally in the Burley area. Although we have our own land at Wootton were we keep our horses and chickens, we have several youngstock scattered around in fields that we have begged or borrowed. Claire enjoys competing in fun events, such as the Team Challenge, Barrel racing, Le Trek and has competed and won the Boxing Day point to point on her New Forest pony Briar (Yewtree Slippaway). I enjoy just riding out on the forest for fun on my horse Mitch, I am also on the committee of Hampshire Horsewatch. The NFED doesn't have an office, but is run from a box bedroom in our small house in the village of Sway in the New Forest. All contributors keep in touch by Email. Everything from the website design, to photography and graphics is carried out in house between the two of us. This gives a unique personal service, helps to keeps running cost to a minimum and makes the NFED very efficient to run with updates made several times each day. Very few sites, if any can match this, one of the reasons why the NFED has become so successful. The cost savings are passed on to the users, giving great value for money to advertisers. The site has received several awards over the years and was a runner up in the prestigious Hampshire Web Awards 2007 in the interactive category. Unlike many websites that hide behind PO boxes and redirected phone numbers, we believe in absolute openness and honesty. The address supplied is our home address and the phone number is Claire's mobile, in fact we often answer queries from horseback! The NFED is intended to cover all aspects of horses and riding in the central southern area, we are very keen to promote and help the New Forest and particularly commoning where ever possible. We hope you enjoy using the NFED and always welcome your comments and suggestions.
To see more of Claire's paintings visit here site at www.ckart.co.uk or www.event-images.co.uk for our photography. For anyone interested in the technical side!
The NFED is created and maintained using the following software:
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