I am standing on a stone bridge in the quaint - and, for 51 weeks of the year, blissfully quiet - Cumbrian town of Appleby as a tracksuit-clad child walks past pulling a tiny, ragged pony.
The vehicle was stopped in Appleby on its way to the Trading Fields on the site's Fair Hill, Cumbria Police and Westmorland and Furness Trading Standards said.
Every year in the first week of June, videos begin cropping up online showing Travellers riding in their horse-drawn wagons as they prepare to descend on the market town for the fair.
About 10,000 people from the Gypsy and traveller community are expected to attend this year's gathering in Appleby, Cumbria, along with 30,000 visitors between June 6 and 12.
A fire broke out at Appleby Horse Fair in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, on Saturday, engulfing a tent, stall and van in flames as firefighters worked to tackle the blaze.