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~~ SANCTUARY DIARY - JANUARY 2010 ~~
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26 January 2010 There are a number of horses in the Southend/Rochford area on whom we have been receiving welfare concerns recently. One of our Fostering Officers, who lives in the area, checks the horses on a regular basis for us and will always report back to us if she feels anything needs investigating. However, her reports have consistently been that the horses are in good bodily condition, are bright and alert and they either have hay and water when she checks them, or there is evidence of hay having been there. All in all, the bodily condition of these horses makes it quite apparent to anyone who has equine knowledge, that they are getting sufficient feed. The Fostering Officer concerned has been with EHPPS for many years, and we highly value her opinion. However, as the complaints continue about horses in the area with "no hay or water", our Sanctuary Manager and Head Groom (who are also our main Field Officers) spent a good two hours re-checking the horses themselves just in case anything had been missed. With the exception of one elderly mare who was a little "plain", all the other horses were in excellent bodily condition. They had hay and water in abundance and was quite evident by their weight. While we were at the scene we received a call on another matter from a local RSPCA Inspector who thoroughly checks the horses in the area on a weekly basis - sometimes more. He told us that he knows the owner of the "plain" horse and told us that the mare is most certainly fed regularly. She is old - which is why sometimes a horse can look a little scrawny. Having said that, the mare was friendly and came rushing over to us when we went into her field - she was as bright as a button and was frolicking around the field like a two year old. By far our biggest and most serious concern for these horses are the people who truly believe they are being kind to them by constantly plying them with food - usually the wrong food at that! Whilst we were there, we saw evidence of sweets, biscuits, bread and potato peelings. Imagine - 20 people shall we estimate, pass these horses every day and throw in some sort of rubbish for them to eat - THEY are SERIOUSLY PUTTING THESE ANIMALS AT RISK. THIS IS NOT CARING BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION. These actions could cause all sorts of health problems for the horses - laminitis, colic, choke ...... The horses' lives are being put at risk by some of the very people who profess to care. We are amazed that we haven't had any calls about the horses being down with colic given the circumstances. They need grass (which is non-existent at the moment due to the time of year and weather conditions) and/or hay. They do not NEED carrots, apples, biscuits, sweets, bread etc. None of these items constitutes food for horses - the occasional apple or carrot is a treat and intake needs to be carefully monitored by the horse's owner(s). Biscuits and sweets are not good for horses at all and come under the heading of "rubbish" (that's our polite word for it!) We cannot stress enough - if there was something genuinely wrong, rest assured that the matter would be dealt with properly by us once we have fully investigated the matter and obtained the correct facts. |
| Elderly Welsh Section B mare, Nana Bracken, somehow managed to get one of her front legs stuck in the mud this morning - she was stuck fast, but her body carried on moving, resulting in poor Nana going head over heels and quite badly injuring her shoulder. One of our vets attended immediately and gave Nana some intra muscular pain relief to keep her comfortable. The poor old thing was really shook up. Hopefully, time and rest should do the trick. |
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RIP Our saddest news is that we lost our Squirrel Nutkin today. He had been turned out in the paddock for a couple of hours with his constant companion, Destiny, while his stable was being mucked out. Also, the pair of them are quite arthritic and a stroll around the paddock helps them loosen up. As with all our "oldies" and arthritics, they have daily glucosamine supplements to help keep them supple. One of our grooms saw Squirrel down in the paddock, trying to get to his feet. He was unable to do so. Staff and volunteers rushed out to help him, to no avail. It was about this time that one of the vets turned up to check Nana Bracken over, so he was rushed immediately out to the field. A strong painkiller was administered to Squirrel and we waited for 10 minutes for it to kick it. We also put a call in to the local Fire Brigade for assistance in getting Squiggs to his feet. However, he took a sudden turn for the worse and started fitting - our vet strongly believes it was a serious colic attack. How it came on we have no idea. There was no choice but for us to have Squirrel put peaceably to sleep. As you can imagine, there were plenty of tears afterwards. The most heartbreaking part of it all was Destiny - Squirrel's constant companion - she was calling for him and was so distressed. We put her in a field shelter with two of our other ponies that she is fond of - Tina and Flossy - and sedated her to calm her down. To say Destiny was distraught is an understatement. Our sincerest thanks to the lads from Leigh on Sea Fire Station for coming to our aid and, most of all, for treating our boy with the dignity and respect he deserved. |
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24 January 2010 Things have been rather hectic of late with our team receiving a particularly high volume of welfare concerns over the past couple of weeks. Some warranted - some not. Still, we thank the caring people of Essex for continuing to report their concerns to us. Without your eyes and ears our work would be impossible. Well all the knocks and bruises seem to have healed well so far as our poor "abused" staff are concerned(!). We just hope the weather will now improve enough for us to turn our horses and ponies out now on a daily basis to let off steam (or buy some of them a set of boxing gloves each!). |
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On the subject of letting of steam - all you horse lovers know exactly how we at EHPPS feel about cruelty/abuse/neglect of our magnificent friends, but there is another bug bear that really does make our blood boil ...... we have received no less than EIGHT requests over this very weekend to take in horses that are no longer rideable - whether forced through injury, illness or old age. EHPPS was formed to RESCUE horses and ponies from abuse/cruelty and was never set up as a retirement home for horses that were past their "sell by date". The harsh truth is that there are thousands of equines in the Country that fall into this category. We are well aware that some caring and responsible owners DO keep their elderly / unrideable horses until the end of the days and cater for their every need - but, from our own experience, we find that there are a whole lot more that don't. Of course, there are genuine circumstances where an horse owner becomes ill, finds themselves in financial difficulties etc. and we have every sympathy for both owner and horse in such cases; if we are in a position to help, we will. However, this Charity's finances are constantly stretched to the limit with the cruelty cases we need to admit. This winter alone, we have had to double up in stables where we have had new intakes and a few horses returned from foster. We have horses at the Sanctuary who have been sold on as "light hacks" when it transpires that their original owners knew full well they weren't. The lucky ones have eventually found their way to EHPPS and other equine welfare organisations; but a whole lot of them don't. The ones that have come to us in this manner have usually been to hell and back first. IT IS NOT FAIR AND IS NOTHING SHORT OF IMMORAL. We really do speak from the heart on this subject simply due to the fact that we have had to pick up the pieces far too often for our liking. So ... if you have a horse/pony that is old/unrideable and are simply trying to rehome them so that you can go and get a rideable horse -we ask you to think again and do what is morally right. To those people who genuinely have to search for new homes due to unforeseen circumstances - we certainly will try to help you at such a sad time if we are able or at least point you in the right direction. And to you lovely, lovely horseowners who do stand by their horse - bless you all! Please see TAKE RESPONSIBILITY on this website.
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14 January 2010 Oh dear, our Laur's joined the EHPPS walking wounded now and is sporting a lovely black eye courtesy of Welsh Section A, Jacob (Photos show Jacob and Laura). Jacob is a dear little soul, but hates (1) being bathed and (2) taking any form of medication. The whole incident occurred all because Laura gave him a wormer. Jacob retaliated and returned the favour with a right hook! That's
two full time staff down now - and two to go....... watch this space!! |
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1 3 January 2010As
expected, we have been receiving calls by the dozen concerning horses and
ponies out in the snow / no hay to be seen etc. In fact, with the
volume of calls we've had asking us to investigate such cases, we've had to
very seriously prioritise them in order of urgency as we simply don’t
have the manpower required in such an extreme situation as we currently find
ourselves in. Of course welfare centres all over the Country are
experiencing a higher than average amount of concerns.
In some instances, we are getting a lot of calls concerning cases
that we are dealing with or have dealt with.
Our usual procedure is to ALWAYS call a complainant back to give a
basic report on our investigations and to make them aware that we have dealt
with or are dealing with the matter. However,
at the moment with the adverse weather conditions, it is impossible to
report back to everyone who has left messages on our answerphone giving
details and locations of horses they are concerned about.
We
can assure you that we ARE looking into every concern reported to us – but
don’t currently have the time to get back to those people who reported
them to us. We have a
choice here – go and check the horses which are causing concern OR sit
discussing the matter on the ‘phone with the complainants.
So please bear with us at this time if you have left us a message or
emailed a welfare concern to us, but we are sure you will appreciate that
our time is better spent at the moment carrying out investigations as
opposed to sitting on the ‘phone for hours on end calling everyone back.
All we can say is a huge thank you to all those lovely people who
have shown such compassion and concern for our equine friends and indeed
bringing their worries to our attention.
For example, last Thursday alone the office logged 35 calls regarding
welfare concerns. We usually
average around 10 to 15 per week! Over
the past few days we have been receiving calls about horses that are stabled
rather than those living out. These
calls are from caring owners who have suddenly discovered that their little
(or big) darling has become the horse from hell!
The crux of the matter is that most areas have been so icy and
dangerous that the majority of horse owners are loath to turn their horses
out for fear of injury – or even death if the horse breaks a leg.
Of course, the horses in question don’t understand that the reason
they can’t go out in their fields or paddocks as usual is for their
safety. How can you explain it
to them! A
couple of owners have admitted that they are becoming nervous at being
around their own horses for fear of injury.
All we can advise is that these owners take extra care when handling
the horse when it is pent up and pray that the cold and icy spell is now
nearly over. We are sure once
these horses are able to be turned out again, they will revert back to their
normal selves. Just bear with
them and understand their frustration and boredom BUT be extra vigilant when
in their stable and/or handling them. We
are presently having exactly the same problem with some of the Sanctuary
residents. Some accept that
they have limited – and sometimes no - turnout in this weather.
However, some don’t. We
had the fright of our lives yesterday when Cheryl, one of our grooms, was
leading a horse back into his stable to bed him down for the night, followed
by one of our volunteers who was leading the horse’s companion in. They had been turned out in the field for a few
hours to expend some of their excess energy, but it obviously wasn’t
enough. The gelding, who is a
strapping 16.3hh, knocked Cheryl to the ground and kicked her straight in
the side of the head. We are
sure he didn’t do this to hurt her, but simply by being a huge, powerful
animal in a strop, he managed to badly injure someone.
His companion, a 16.3hh mare, then spun around and ending up adding
to Cheryl's injuries by delivery a hefty kick into her side.
As we say, they are not normally nasty and we are sure they didn’t
plan to harm a member of our staff, but just by being on their toes and
being the size they are, they inadvertently caused some nasty injuries.
Cheryl was
rushed straight to A&E where she was thoroughly checked over and had to
have a CT scan on her skull. |
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very same day, one of our other grooms, Nic, was leading one of the other
horses to turn him out, when he got so excited at finally being allowed
out, that he reared up, taking Nic with him by completely lifting her off
the ground. That's quite a way when you're swinging off a 16.3hh
horse! Thankfully no harm was done, but it does shake you up
somewhat.
So
you see, some of our horses are acting out of character too; the
problem isn’t isolated. Sue
Allery, our
Sanctuary Manager's mare, Nell, has almost grown devil horns over the past
few days. She has worn her
hooves down completely at the toe where she is constantly pawing at the
ground or kicking her stable door because all she wants to do is be turned
out. However, the fields at
the yard are treacherous and none of the horses are going out as yet.
When taken into the indoor school over the weekend for some free
schooling to work off some energy, Nell spent the whole time backing up on
Sue and another livery trying to “double barrel” them!
Nellie has a reputation for being, shall we say, wilful, at the best of
times anyway, but she has never shown this type of behaviour before.
(Photo: Naughty Nell - the Blonde Bombshell) Fingers crossed the weather conditions will soon improve and we can all get back to turning our horses and ponies out regularly and they will, once more, become our little darlings. |
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10 January 2010 Oooo - we are so fed up with the snow and appalling weather, so we thought we'd spare you our moans and groans and give you something lovely to read about. We received this email today from Suzanne Heron, our Tyson's foster mum, giving us an update. AND not only does Suzanne and her sister, Kathryn, care so well for Ty and their own horse Monty, Suzanne has also been very busy raising money for the EHPPS horses too. |
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Hi
Sue and everyone at EHPPS, Thought
I'd drop you a little note to let you know how we are getting on
with Tyson - I can't believe it's been a year since we picked up that
gorgeous ball of fluff! I remember you had to remove
the stowaway goats out of the trailer before we got him loaded! I
came to the Sanctuary looking for a companion to keep Monty, our
other horse, company after a very serious tendon injury required him to be
box rested for 6-9 months. I had intended to get a pony, but ended up
getting one of the biggest horses there! The rest of the family joke
that I am never to go shopping for a pony again! It wasn't hard to
fall in love with Tyson. All the other horses came over for a nose
when I got there, but Tyson kept his distance, standing back from the
others and he caught my eye straight away. Then when I saw him
grooming the black cat, that was it, I knew he was the one. Tyson
settled in straight away and after a few weeks, it was hard to imagine
life without him. Monty, however, wasn’t so sure at first but the two of
them are best of friends now, and enjoy their daily grooming session
together. We knew Tyson had arthritis and hadn't been ridden for a few years due to this, so we decided to have some x-rays and blood tests (carried out by the lovely vets at Paton & Lee) to see how bad it was and if there was anything else we could do for him, supplements wise etc. The tests showed that he had liver damage, but that the liver was working normally, so we put him straight on Milk Thistle that helps with liver function, and a high protein diet. To our great surprise, Jonathon said that although he did have ringbone, he could actually benefit from some light exercise, and after putting him through his paces on the lunge, was quite satisfied that we could ride him. Due of the nature of his arthritis, he struggles on uneven ground as his joints don't flex in the way that they should, so hacking out is the ideal exercise for him. He is on a joint supplement that contains all the things beneficial for older horses and is completely sound. He enjoys his hacks out and we are lucky enough to have lots of land to ride on where we keep him. We have a disused railway line near us, that he loves having a little canter down. He is so obedient and is an absolute pleasure to ride. We took Tyson to a few shows last year, which he loved and we intend to bring him along to the next EHPPS show. I can't really think of anything that Tyson doesn't like, apart from chocolate, but that's not such a bad thing considering his waist line. He wasn't keen on the quad bike at first, but he soon realised that this noisy thing delivers the hay in the summer when they live out, so in no time at all he was eating hay off the back on the quad bike. We've
just started to do Parelli Horse Training with Monty as he seemed to have
lost his confidence after his lengthy box rest, and we are really noticing
some results. Tyson seems to respond really well to the techniques we have
learnt so far, so we will continue with that, and hope to take him to a
Parelli training weekend this year. We have also got a trip to the beach
planned this year, and have told him to pack his bucket and spade. When
we got Tyson home, having lived out for the last few years, we said 'oh,
we won't rug him up or molly coddle him', but it was only a matter of
weeks before we trotted of to Ingatestone Saddlery to get him a couple of
rugs, flavoured likits, colour co-ordinated bowls and brushes. We
felt so guilty rugging Monty up and not him. So now, he has everything
that Monty has and is completely and utterly spoilt, which is what he
thoroughly deserves. We
feel so lucky to have found Tyson and can't wait to be able to ride him
and Monty out together in the Spring when Monty will hopefully be back in
work. I've
raised over £500 for EHPPS so far, by holding raffles at work, and intend
to raise another £500 this year, every little helps. I've
attached a few pictures of Tyson over the last year, from when we got him
to now. Photos from left to right show Tyson giving kisses, Christmas
photo with Monty and my sister Kathryn and Tyson's first bath when he came
to us.
Wishing you all well, and look forward to seeing you at the show. Lots of love |
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6 January 2010
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Brandy
(left) has been diagnosed with an eye infection; Lily is on restricted
turnout (aren't they all in this dreadful weather?!) as she's slightly
overdone things and needs to give her legs a chance to continue the
healing process following her successful operation last year to straighten
them. As we are so overstocked with horses at the moment, we have
had to double up on stables again today - Laura and Nic had
the bright idea of putting young Ben and Harley in together to free up a
stable for Shane - which has worked a treat.
Now that Christmas is over, the fostering applications are steadily making their way into us again, which, if the applicants are successful, will help to reduce our numbers a bit. We're currently getting our heads around dates and events for this year. As soon as we have set them, we shall, of course, post them on the site for you. We're currently looking at horse shows, gymkhanas, dog shows and doggie sponsored walks, as well as a fancy dress sponsored ride. Do hope you are able to support some of these and join in the fun. |
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5 January 2010 Ex-Steepler Chaser, Vulkan, who we told you all about last year, has, at long last, gained a respectable weight and is looking like a healthy horse should. As he’s found his strength, his personality has begun to shine through and we can see him for the cheeky chappie he is. We paired Vulkan up as a surrogate “dad” to orphaned Cob foal, Ben last year, and, as a result, Vulkan has become extremely protective of his adopted “son”. Vulkan also provides babysitting services for surrogate mum, Lana, who initially reared Harley for us and now cares for Lily. From time to time, Lana will leave Lily under Vulkan’s excellent care while she goes for a frolic with Harley! Just before Christmas, Vulkan had a slight ear infection and was prescribed drops by our vets. He hated them. The staff had to develop a daily plan in order to get said drops into offending lughole! There was “holding down” where two grooms held Vulkan’s head down while Nic put the drops in. Being on the short side—she had to stand on an upturned water bucket to do this. Vulkan cottoned on pretty quick and was having none of it the next time around. So over to Plan B—they bribed him with an extra succulent feed and while he was noshing away—they managed to complete the task on day two of the treatment. Day 3 arrived and Vulkan was ready for them. He wouldn’t accept the feed so two staff distracted him while the other one sneaked up to get the drops in! This went on for a week. A good job it wasn’t any longer as they had run out of ideas by day 7. |
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Vulkan also became a bit of a lothario as, at one stage, he had both Lana and Legacy vying for his attention between them. Thankfully for Vulkan, they eventually grew tired of cornering him in the field while they tried to entice him with their exotic displays of marehood. His face was a picture as these two mares tried to outdo each other to win him over - we think he breathed a sigh of relief when they discovered he wasn’t interested and left him alone! |
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Rocky (right) owes his very life to the caring person who immediately reported his suffering to us. Rocky had sustained a serious sheath injury which became badly infected. His owner denied him veterinary treatment, which is how Rocky ended up at EHPPS. Physically, he has gone on the make a complete recovery following extensive treatment and hospitalisation. It’s wonderful to see Rocky now enjoying the youth so cruelly denied from him by his ex-owner who broke him to drive at the tender age of a year. Rocky was hauling up to two ton loads of scrap metal around the streets—day in—day out. He was never given the opportunity to enjoy his tender young years. Rocky is turned out daily in our nursery field with a small herd of youngsters and has paired up with nine month old Harley (left) who was orphaned when he was just two weeks old. It’s a joy to watch them playing together without a care in the World. |  |
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Fourteen year old, Bay Warmblood Mare, Legacy became lame in May this year and is only now sound. Her treatment has included many visits from our dedicated vets, Paton and Lee in Witham. Legacy’s treatment started with box rest which did not please Legacy at all as it was summer and the best time to be out with the herd. She had concussion to the sole of her foot, so we had gel shoes fitted and permitted her a light turnout during the day on the soft sand of our ménage. So while the rest of the herd were languishing in the sun merrily munching grass and frolicking in the fields, poor Legacy had to make do with sandcastles! She remained stiff and slightly lame, so we took her to the vet for further tests and x-rays. Unfortunately Legacy had to remain on the sand! She was then referred to specialist veterinary clinic Rossdales in Newmarket for radioactive treatment but no defining reason for her condition presented itself. Finally, in the Autumn, she was allowed out into a small grass paddock. We were all on tenterhooks and prayed she would be okay. Over the next few weeks she remained sound and finally was allowed to rejoin the herd on full turnout. Legacy is no longer lame but remains stiff on that shoulder. However, thanks to the care of Sandy Nicholson, she is beginning to loosen up. Sandy has been studying Equine Body Works which treats all the soft tissue – the approach being mental, physical and spiritual. As Sandy continues to work with Legacy, we look forward to 2010 being a much better year for our Legacy. |
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What is Equine Touch? Equine Touch is a non-invasive bodywork discipline (not massage) made up of a series of unique moves that address the horse on all levels, physical, chemical, emotional and spiritual. The Equine Touch is not designed or intended in any way in whole or in part to be a substitute for orthodox allopathic veterinary practice. It is not a therapy as such but a holistic gift to the equine which is as complementary to allopathic address as it is to osteopathy, homeopathy and herbal medicine as well as the horses own healing system.It works on the soft tissue of the horse i.e muscles, tendons, ligaments, facia, lymphatic and circulatory systems and targets pain. It rebalances the horse in several situations e.g after injury or illness, before and after dentistry, before and after farriery or chiropractice, to name a few. It is known to help back pain and spasm. It encourages detoxification and relaxes hypertonic and spasmed muscles and relaxes and rebalances the horse as a whole. Equine Touch is good for all horses. Young and Old, horses on box rest, sick or healthy (in a healthy horse ET will maintain good health and help prevent injury), retired or working, or competition horses, horses in stress. |
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The particularly cold winter took its toil on Shetland mare, Flossy. Despite being given a daily dose of glucosamine as a supplement for her arthritis, Floss suffered a severe bout over the Christmas period into the New Year. Floss didn’t need twice persuading to take to box rest for a couple of weeks. To help ease her discomfort, we administered pain killing anti-inflammatories to keep her comfortable. All of our older, arthritic horses (and indeed our pigs, Dave and Greg) have glucosamine in their morning feed to help keep their arthritic joints supple. It’s a double whammy for our Floss, as she suffers from laminitis in the spring and summer months if we don’t keep a sharp eye on her diet, and now this setback. We will continue to monitor Floss and do everything we can to give her a good quality of life. |
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1 January 2010 Firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all from everyone at EHPPS. Talk about no room at the inn - there is no room at the Sanctuary; we are bursting at the seams with residents. Shakira and Mo are sharing our huge foaling box - thankfully they get on really well. We have had to utilise the enclosed area outside our gift shop/tackroom/staffroom as a makeshift stable for Rocky and Shetland Bobby to keep them dry. Our little shed behind the office area has been cleared out and is now an overnight stable for Peanut and Coco - they don't mind - they have a nice warm bed every night now. All this has come about as we have had more intakes in need of our care towards the end of 2009 and a few foster horses and ponies have come back to us. It's not so bad in the summer when we have all year turnout and they can live out - but in the winter months it spells disaster for us. I would like to thank all our Committee and Volunteers for all their hard work and dedication, but I have a very special thank you indeed to full time grooms - Laura Jardine, Nicola Bailes and Cheryl Brassett. They work long and hard in the winter months making sure all our horses and ponies' needs are met - often going without breaks themselves and working far into the evening to ensure that all is done. It doesn't stop there - all three then have to go and sort their own horses out before they can even think of relaxing for the rest of the evening. I feel extremely privileged to have such a fine team at the Sanctuary - so on behalf of EHPPS and all the animals - THANK YOU GIRLS- YOU'RE TRULY THE BEST. Sue Allery - Sanctuary Manager |