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~~ SANCTUARY DIARY - DECEMBER 2009 ~~ |
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24 December 2009 Hope you're all in the festive spirit and looking forward to having a nice break. Just for fun the other day at coffee break, we were discussing who amongst our residents we thought the best behaved and who was the naughtiest .... it's interesting how opinions differ .... see here for yourself ("Angels" Left and "Little Devils" Right): |
| Sue
Allery Sanctuary Manager
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ANGEL:
Squirrel Nutkin - I have never
known him to put a foot wrong - a real gentleman.
LITTLE DEVIL: Mmmmm—spoilt for choice here … possibly Shetland mare, Tina. She is a sweet looking old lady (about 30 years old) but has a tendency to sink her choppers in some tender part of your flesh and give you a good nip when you’re not looking! Having said that, I’m the only one here she HASN’T bitten, so perhaps I’m doing her an injustice!
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| Laura
Jardine Head Groom
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ANGEL:
Harley – Oh he’s such a baby still and adores lots of fuss and
cuddles, which I am more than happy to give! Harley just gets on so well
with everyone – horses and humans alike. I’ve never known him to be
naughty at all.
LITTLE DEVIL: No doubt here—Rose Red. Rosie is one of a group of four little old lady ponies (Zuli, Brandy and Nana Bracken) that hang around together. She is very much the ringleader of the bunch. Whenever we try to get them in to be stabled in the afternoon, Rosie lets you get right up to her, then, just before you can clip her headcollar on, she charges off around the field like the wind, leading all the others with her. When Rosie isn’t around, the others are as good as gold!
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| Cheryl
Brassett Groom
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ANGEL:
Oh no hesitation – Tia without a doubt. Tia is a funny mare.
She can be a proper madam at times and is quick to let you know if she’s
not keen on you (she lets her teeth doing the talking!). However, if she
does like you – she is a complete charmer and so loving (thankfully I’m
one of the “chosen few”!)
LITTLE DEVIL: Monty – Don’t be fooled by those handsome looks – this terror jumped on me the other week and trampled me into the ground. I was walking like John Wayne for days where he badly bruised my back.
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| Nic
Bailes Groom
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ANGEL:
I would say Matinee who came to the Sanctuary after his owner
hit him so viciously that he rendered the colt unconscious. Until he came
to us at the age of two years, Mat had obviously never had any kindness
shown to him. I had the privilege of winning his trust within a day or so
of him coming to us. It amazes me how he is so forgiving. I envy whoever
ends up fostering Matinee when he is older - he's one in a million.
LITTLE DEVIL: Benny – He might be small, sweet and cute looking, but he plays so rough! Not amusing when he thinks you’re solely on this Earth to play with him - he relentlessly jumps on your back or rears at you to play “boxing”! |
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23 December 2009 Well, the only full time member of staff still standing (at the moment!) is our Nic! Sue's fallen apart (poor ole dear), Laura and Cheryl are surely contagious with some horrid bug or the other .... and again, we have our stalwart volunteers, Sara Knight, Tom Jardine and Jo Fox assisting on the yard. As at today our Christmas Tree Apples and Carrots have raised ... wait for it ... wait for it .... £3,744! Not bad going - thanks to all who has supported this. Finally for today - check this link out ... one of our (very silly!) Trustees ... Wendy Ritherdon ... sent us this - well WE think it's funny! http://www.glenn.tapley.us/MC.swf |
22 December 2009 The staff are dropping like flies here with all sorets of ailments - but at least all the animals are well! Some of our long term volunteers were here all day to make sure all was okay - supervised from the office by an extremely sickly Laura. Our very special thanks to Tom Jardine, Paul and Sara Knight, Jo Fox, Sarah Bibby, "Tuesday" Paul and Nicky Whitlock. The Sanctuary horses may have ended up with us because of their suffering in the past, but they now have so much love bestowed on them all by the staff, volunteers and supporters who care so much for them. SO FROM ALL THE HORSES, PONIES, GOATS AND PIGGIES - "THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE FOR US - WE LOVE YOU ALL TO PIECES (EVEN IF WE DON'T SHOW IT AT TIMES!) XXX" |
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18 December 2009 We were pleasantly surprised that we only received three calls today regarding horses without hay in their fields - even then, on checking, the respective owners had already put some down or were about to. The snow has certainly put us in the festive spirit here - Alfie, Sanctuary Manager Sue's Black Labrador, had a whale of a time playing in it (Kizzy, her Greyhound, and Laura's Spanish Hunting Dog, DiDi spent their time cuddled up in the warm!) DON'T FORGET TO POP IN FOR A GLASS OF MULLED WINE AND A MINCE PIE ON SUNDAY (1PM TIL 4PM) |
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| Left to Right : Sue, Laura (in strange hat), Ben, Nic and Cheryl wish you all A MERRY CHRISTMAS! | Right - off for a quick cuppa (and a full haynet for me neighs Ben!) | Alfie the Snow Monster |
17 December 2009 Moloco's foot is really healing nicely now, although we still have to continue applying the cream daily. Within a couple of days we could see a vast improvement. Don't forget that at this time of year it isn't just some unfortunate horses that don't get properly fed (and, as ever, we ask you to keep a sharp eye out on their behalf), but also the wildlife needs a little help too in these wintery conditions. If in any doubt as to what to put out for them to eat, why not check out the various RSPB, etc websites for information. Our Christmas Card Carrots and Apples have, to date, raised £3,347 and they are still coming in daily! We are aiming for £4,000 by Christmas - so if you haven't sent in your Apple or Carrot yet, you have just enough time to get it in the post to us. |
14 December 2009 The Sanctuary has been closed over the past few Sunday simply due to too much rain which has flooded us somewhat! HOWEVER .... our very last open Sunday of 2009 is on 20 DECEMBER 2009 from 1pm to 4pm. Please do come in and have some nibbles with us - our Laura has even promised to make some of her special mulled wine for you all. After this Sunday, we are not open again to visitors until April 2010 so we really hope you can make it this coming Sunday. |
11 December 2009 We welcomed two new intakes this morning in the form of a 16 year old Cob and a 20 year old Welsh Section A. Over the past five weeks we've had regular calls concerning these two - mainly due to them breaking out of their field (which was a sea of mud) to get to some grazing. They have been found wandering in neighbouring gardens, in a nearby dog rescue centre and today ... just about to get onto the busy A127. Thanks to a local gardening centre, they were quickly caught in the nick of time. Their general welfare and safety have been of great concern to us over the weeks and we have constantly liaised with the owner to no avail. We are pleased to say, the ponies are now in our ownership and are tucking into some fresh, sweet hay in our isolation unit at the moment. As usual, we shall be getting them tested for strangles, worming and passporting them and, in the case of the Welsh pony, getting some much needed weight on him.
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| Laura unloads Zeus back at the Sanctuary | Nic takes charge of little Rajah | Off to safety and some hay in our Isolation Unit |
2 December 2009 Oh dear, it’s been like the set of Casualty here recently. Arab Mare, the stunningly beautiful, Moloco, has always had a small piece of horn growing through her coronet band on her left hind. It has never caused her any problems over the years until recently when it started growing out of control. Our vet has diagnosed the problem which is basically Mo's immune system has gone into overdrive and she is producing too many cells due to this over reaction. This, in turn, causes the growth which is known as Verrucous Pastern Dermatitis. Some special cream has been prescribed for Mo courtesy of the University of Liverpool which, we are told, should sort out the condition. The treatment doesn’t come cheap (does horse treatment ever?!!!!) – the first 7 days supply of the strong cream will cost £230, the next 7 days supply of a milder version will be in the region of £200. Fingers (and hooves!) crossed that Mo will be back to her normal self soon. |
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Anglo
Arab mare, the equally beautiful, Silver, sliced her elbow open at the
beginning of October 2009 – right in an area which was virtually
impossible stitch. She was
put on stable rest to allow the wound to heal, but she still managed,
somehow, to split it open even more.
One of our vets, Alex, had no choice but to stitch the area as best
he could as the gaping wound had become infected.
Silver was put on strong anti-biotics and, at the time of writing,
the infection is gradually clearing, but she is still on stable rest for
fear of her splitting the wound open yet again.
How she did this, we still have no idea. Cob
X gelding, Spirit, was waved off to a lovely new foster home a few days
ago. Although he is a gentle
and laid back lad, he is not particularly used to be boxed and traveled.
When unloading him at his new yard, Suzanne, his foster mum noticed
that he had cut his head during the journey, necessitating stitching by
her vet. Suzanne tells us
that he had to have his forelock cut off in the process.
We are pleased to report that Spirit has settled in well. Bay Warmblood mare Legacy has been lame for most of the summer. She was recently traveled up to vets in Newmarket for specialized bone scans in an attempt to discover what the problem was. Other than slight arthritic changes in some of her upper spine, there is nothing evident for such a degree of lameness. We’ve been down every investigative avenue we can possibly think of to no avail. The lameness is slight, but enough for us not to attempt to ride Legacy. It looks as though she will now be retired at the tender age of 13 years.
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| Back in October, we noticed that Grey Welsh Section A gelding, Jacob had a small growth right at the tip of his penis. One of our vets examined the lump and diagnosed a squamous cell carcinoma, which he felt was best to come off straight away. Luckily, Jeremy Kemp from the Animal Health Trust was at Paton & Lee’s surgery that day and had his special laser machine with him, which was ideal for removing the lump. One quick ‘phone call to Jeremy to ensure he could fit Jacob into his workload that day, and the pony was soon winging his way to the surgery that very same morning. Job done, we collected Jacob from the veterinary hospital the next day and, thankfully, all looks fine. We do, however, need to keep an eye on him to ensure that the growth doesn’t return. | |
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The Trustees are currently having to take a tough stance as quite a number of returned foster horses have been sent back to us with their flu and tet inoculation lapsed. Everytime this occurs, the Society are required to start the whole process again – all of which is a totally unnecessary waste of our ever dwindling funds. It costs in the region of £30-£35 for an annual booster which is the Fosterer’s responsibility while a horse/pony is in their care; for this Charity to restart the whole process as a result of these lapses costs us £128 per time! If we want the Sanctuary to be here in the future for those horses in need of our care, then it is our duty, to our current horses and those in the future, to recoup these monies back from the offenders. We will go to every length to ensure that we are successful.
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you all remember little Rory – the Shetland Pony?
At the tender age of four months he appeared on The Graham Norton
Show to be awarded an “Oscar” by Elijah Wood and Kim Cattrell.
Well, Rory is still pretty much in demand, since that time he has
appeared on countless websites and in animal/children’s magazines
Worldwide. We though all the
fuss had died down, but Rory’s mum, EHPPS Trustee, Sue Allery, was
contacted this week by one of the reporters for National Geographic in
Washington DC who is writing a book about inter-relationships by different
animal species and has asked Sue if she could feature Rory’s story in
there. Of course! ANYTHING
to publicise the work of Essex Horse and Pony Protection Society.
We’ll keep you posted.
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