|
FAQs
|
What is the difference between an EHPPS Field Officer and an EHPPS Fostering Officer? |
| Field Officers investigate welfare concerns that are reported to us. Where necessary, the Field Officers have to implement the requisite legal procedures required to seize a horse or pony under the relevant Act. It is imperative in our work that Field Officers are familiar with the laws governing animals.
Fostering Officers have an equally important role, as they are the people who monitor the ongoing wellbeing of our rehabilitated horses that are put in foster homes.
|
| Why don't we open the Sanctuary to visitors during the week? |
| We are so busy in the week with stable chores, paperwork, foster appointments, veterinary, farrier and dental visits, fund raising work, producing our quarterly newsletters, field and home visits, in addition to attending emergency callouts and manning the phones, that we simply do not have the manpower available to open the Sanctuary other than at specified times (i.e. Sunday afternoons and Bank Holiday Monday afternoons - 1pm until 5pm in the summer time and 1pm until 4pm in the winter months).
We simply don't have the time to spend with visitors that turn up without an appointment. Unbelievably we have had several people lately that thought they could just drop in to see what ponies/horses we have available for foster, as though they were on a supermarket expedition, actually becoming aggressive when we had to ask them to go through the usual process of filling in a foster form and waiting for us to contact them with an appointment. What people like this fail to realise is how we, as an organisation, perceive them – we now won’t even consider would be ‘droppers in’ as suitable fosterers, as they are clearly so uncooperative to deal with.
|
| I can't ride my horse anymore, will you give him a home? |
| EHPPS was formed up back in 1986 to rescue horses, ponies and donkeys from abuse, neglect and cruelty. Of course people's circumstances can change quite dramatically and, in exceptional circumstances, such as sudden death of a horses' owner or onset of serious illness of the owner, we try to help where we can by offering a horse a home with us. We are simply not in a position to take on horses that can no longer be ridden or are too old to ride - we would face financial ruin within weeks!
We receive, on average, 20 calls a week from horse owners asking us to give their horse a home because it is no longer rideable. We cannot emphasise enough in these instances - the horse is the owners' responsibility - rideable or not!
|
| I love animals and would like to volunteer to help with your horses, however I don't have any experience so can I learn as I go along? |
| Like any animals, horses can be unpredictable at times, even more so horses that have suffered trauma. An inexperienced handler not only puts themselves at risk of injury, but also jeopardises the safety of our staff, experienced volunteers, visitors and our other horses. Further, there are serious Health & Safety implications that we have to adhere to, which tie in with our insurance cover. Unfortunately, we have to turn down offers of help from anyone without sufficient experience. |
| Why can't we hand feed the horses and ponies when we visit the Sanctuary? |
| Because (1) some of our horses are on special diets and we need to carefully monitor what they are eating; (2) hand feeding encourages biting and (3) we would be unable to monitor the intake of food. For example, if you own a laminitic pony, you would carefully watch the sugar intake of that pony. Carrots contain sugars. Imagine if every visitor that came through out gate on Sunday afternoon fed a laminitic pony a carrot? That could equate to over 100 carrots in an afternoon! Can you understand now why we ask people not to tit bit?! |
| Are your horses for sale? |
| No. The majority of our horses have been rescued from appalling conditions or totally unacceptable circumstances. Should we sell them on, we would have no control over their future. As horse owners know, horses can be sold on from home to home - who knows where some of them end up? By putting our horses into foster homes on loan, we can always monitor the animals' future. Our fosterers are very carefully assessed by us and we are happy if their foster horse stays with them for the rest of his/her days. However, should the fosterers' circumstances change and they are no longer able to care for their foster horse, he or she comes back to us immediately. |
| Have you got any kittens/puppies for sale? |
| Yes HONESTLY! And no, we haven't! |
| We are having an Open Day/Fete. Can we borrow a couple of your ponies for rides? |
| No! We are not a riding school, we are a rescue and rehabilitation centre. Rideable horses and ponies belonging to EHPPS are placed in carefully assessed, experienced and loving homes. Most of the Sanctuary residents are either too old to be ridden, too young, unbacked, ill or injured, undergoing rehabilitation, hard to handle or waiting to go into foster homes. | |
