EMW-UK CHARITY NEWS

January 2012 Sanctuary News

2012-01-08T04:20:00.000-08:00


January at Herefordshire Sanctuary.

The grass is green, daytime temps ranging from 6C to 12C...could be any month really but although the general feel is more spring than winter we've had gales most weeks. On the whole I prefer this weather to the snow of last year.
Daily 'blogging' has now moved to our facebook page EMW-UK FACEBOOK PAGE

but it doesn't toll the death bell here by any means. It's just time that is tight to bring the blog up to date. It's not like there isn't much to talk about with welfare of animals in the UK abysmal and our esteemed welfare ministers turning deaf ears to those of us who take time to inform them of what is wrong, how we feel things should change and how to implement those changes.
right now it feels like no one is interested. Campaign groups spring up and ideas are bandied about and there is much hot air but then that fades and nothing changes. so hoe do we go forward? Sanctuaries ( rescues) are not the answer by a long way. Non of us can make much difference and with world economies falling apart the precious funding we all need gets ever smaller and harder to bring in. The law makers have to get tough, have to make those who wilfully neglect and abuse pay. No longer should we hear the plaintiff wail of 'civil liberties being breached' and 'minority group persecution' those two defences should be thrown out before they are uttered. I my world it would one offence against an animal and you are hit with the harshest penalty the law allows ( and penalties need to be extreme)
I know all old fogeys harp back to 'when I were a lad'.. but in all honesty we had got it almost right and we had real deterrents, real decency, real values and compassion in our world many decades ago. then along came the liberals and blew our world apart and with it went all the values that kept the majority of vulnerable creatures safe and cared for.

If I could I would happily take us back to a time when if you did wrong you got punished, be that a kid at home where a clip round the ear taught you to not do that improper thing again. where teachers were respected and a little feared for the cane kept us all in line. where older folk could walk safe and sure and enjoy their lives. Where fould language was frowned upon and considered common and uncalled for. ... where kids were taught to care for animals and not harm living things. Long gone now , those times ... so what should we do? I actually think society has gone too far to get it back now. I think that we are on the brink of a vigilante style society ( it's already here in many inner cities) and that our government is out of control of the population with our Police unable to take control and hamstrung by the very laws that should be protecting the law abiding public.
In a sentence, God help us all. Maybe 2012 is armegedon but with the destruction coming from the inside instead of from outside of our fragile world.

Interesting Youtube posting

2012-01-08T04:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayEJacuoJ7I

forget 2012 Doomsday - for animals it's here and now WORLDWIDE

2011-09-13T04:11:00.000-07:00

market foals 'dying' to be sold

EMW RUBY new intake Sept 2011

Take a look at the picture above. Poor foals, tucked up with no future, no hope and a more than greater probability that the market day may well be the last day of their lives. When will this madness stop, where breeding from every mare no matter what her breed, her health or age is deemed the right thing to do. Wake up! an empty womb is no bad thing. Not just native ponies either. When well bred horses like our latest intake Ruby Treasure (right) can be let down this badly, and that picture doesn't do justice to her poor thin body, then this world is a place sorely in need of change. Please support our charity as we try to take the message of change to Animal Welfare Ministers this autumn. They are, after all, charged with the job of doing the bidding of the voting public, people like you who really do care about animal welfare and equine welfare in particular. For until we can get the laws of our land tightened and improved then pitiful sights such as tiny barely weaned foals in auctions and skeletal horses like Ruby will haunt our days for years to come. If you would like to instantly help Ruby or simply support the work of EMW-UK please add a small donation via by text from your mobile EMWS11 to 70070 stating your amount from £1 to £10 or follow our JustGiving appeal link HERE

WHERE WE APPEAR TO GO BACKWARDS IN TIME

2011-07-07T02:29:00.000-07:00

Each day this charity receives calls from worried public who have seen terrible sights of horses and ponies being kept in appalling conditions.

Each day this charity receives calls from the public with regard to horses being run flat out in harness, we get calls about thin horses, fat horses, horses with terrible feet, horses being kept in filth, horses with no apparent clean water source yet standing in high summer temperatures. There are horses with foals at foot, massive horses that are roaming the streets of towns and cities, horses being attacked and horses being victims of road accidents and other atrocities so revolting that it beggars belief that humans can stoop so low and commit these crimes. Thank all the animal gods that there are we no longer, in the UK, use horses as regular transport otherwise we could be forgiven for thinking we'd stepped right back in time to the later 1800's and early 20th century, the times of Black Beauty.
Equine welfare law in the UK is a joke, a sad and totally out-dated provision that does nothing for the animals who are being so badly let down.
We need to implement changes and those changes must come soon. This charity will continue to campaign to update the laws relating to equine welfare and call for the strongest penalties possible for ALL animal abuse crimes. If we can stamp out animal abuse we will be more than half way there in stamping out abuse toward children too.
We want your backing and need your support to help this charity continue to campaign for our E.N.D. Campaign (Equines Need our Defence) If you can donate just a little today please text EMW11 and the amount to 70070. We thank you for your support.

WAYS WITH HORSES

2011-07-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

WAYS WITH HORSES
FEATURING JOHN JONES
THE HORSE LISTENER
Equine Market Watch Sanctuaries (UK) Herefordshire Sanctuary.
September 4th 2011.
We have gone back to our original style of open day which ran successfully - albeit damply - for 2 very good years.
THIS YEAR
We have some superb demo's showing many and varied ways with horses including and featuring the great @John Jones
You will be enthralled by John and his magical gentle approach to horses with problems and horses that have been messed up by humans. John will hold you spellbound while he explains his method of turning equines around and setting them up to succeed. John's record of remedial work speaks volumns. Come and see for yourself and take away with you a new way of thinking, a new approach and a better understanding of your horse.
Our WAYS WITH HORSES event has an emphisis on naturalistic and holistic methods, come along and be enthralled, ask questions, get involved and learn something new.
We have Dave Edwards 'Doing the Feet' - Dave is excellent, calm and patinet. he will be doing some exhibition trims but will also give a talk in the marquee and is happy to do question and answer. He will be on site all day.
The spine tingling ability of Elizabeth Lee Crowther - Animal Communication - will be making us all think long and hard about our animals and their inner voices.
Be Orford will giving pet massage to animals on site showing how your pets can benefit from gentle hands on therapy.
Emma Knowles will show the amazing T-touch.
We also have Jane Evans talking about the benefits of Aloe Vera to name just a few practitioneers who will be onsite and demo-ing. We expect to have information on NAF products and Pure Feed along with Dengie and other feeds.
Your dogs very much welcomed but please on leads all the time as we have to be aware of surrounding livestock. We'll make sure we have plenty of bins for you to pop your bags after cleaning up after your best friends!
We also have fun agility for ponies and dogs along with fun dog show. We've even got a bouncy castle there for the kids!
We will be introducing you to some of our resident horses and ponies and showing how we work with those with issues.
don't forget about our great trade stands either ..we have wonderful people offering wonderful products for youto sample and to buy..if yo would like to bring your stand along please get in touch, we've plenty of room and welcome a really diverse range of products for our visitors.
A great fun raffle for a stonking brand new wheelbarrow amonngst other fab prizes and with more names being added daily this is gearing up to be a great day.
Free entry (£5 donation on entry appreciated)
Catering on site and overnight camping from 3rd with an evening reception and social get together for those onsite .
Watch this space for news and updates on demo sessions.
Demonstration and trade stand spaces - INCLUDING CRAFTS AND NON-HORSE RELATED GOODS- are now being taken up very quickly but if you have a skill and would like to help others learn and would like to join in on the day please contact
emw@emwuk.org.uk immediately to book your place.
http://www.mediawebz.co.uk/emwuk.org.uk/images/stories/WAYS_WITH_HORSES_POSTER_MARCH_2011.pdf
please download a poster and display

Where we get ever busier

2011-06-09T04:39:00.000-07:00

PART OF OUR HERD GROUP AT EMW HEREFORDSHIRE
It's June now but you wouldn't know it. Weeks of chilly winds and cloudy skies but not much rain are keeping remnants of winter coats on our older horses and ponies and even the younger ones seem reluctant to shed out completely. We are high up on the peak of the land so catch the northerly and easterly winds, great for keeping flies at bay but also chilly. We have managed to integrate all our horses and ponies into one big herd, keeping them all on track was the ultimate aim but with dedicated fence breakers and two who have serious weight issues it's not proving to be easy. The hay crop is coming along well, it can be made anytime we get a decent a few days/week now but we also have one meadow set aside now to use as fibre for winter use, on top of the usual hay meadow we graze the ponies on with no hay at all from October to January.
Hooves continue to be the hot topic up here. Jimmy is doing fine. From a condemned old TB with a hoof trying to 'come off his leg' he's gone on to a TB who is actually growing out some quality foot. I've managed to keep him sound and treating his frogs daily is making a massive difference to the old lad. I'm using Pete Ramey advice on frog treatment and it works really well. Chadd is sound and bolshy, always a good sign with him. He'll never lose the 'wedge' from his toe but he's sound and developing concavity in all 4 feet. The white clover ( evil stuff) is coming through fast now so the fencing is paramount to keeping intake of that down to minimum. Astrid (volunteer) and me spend ages setting up ovals and creating wide sweeps of track for those who don't go out and trash it! Larry and Luya continue to be restricted, Larry alternating between muzzle/roundpen and stable and Luya spending a lot of time in the round pen because she is awful in the stable and won't keep a muzzle on or trashes it faster than you can put it on her! Any manufacturers who wish to trial grazing muzzles please do contact us, she'll sure challenge you guys!
We are gearing up rapidly now for many and varied fundraising events including local and bigger area shows where our charity stand will be open. We've got an Equine Touch clinic at our Herefordshire yard on June 18th where spectators are welcome but we ask a donation to the charity if you come along. Following that our fundraising committee and general meeting takes place on 24th, We've got a fun quiz evening on July 8th in Bromyard, a Table Top Tack Sale on 12th at 7pm Edwyn Ralph village hall and loads more in the planning...

LOADS is happening with WAYS WITH HORSES keep up to date by watching our face book posting on this. We've got plenty of room left for more trade and craft stands so give us a shout and come along. We're not charging you but do ask that you give a small donation to the charity, we'll leave it up to you and we're happy if you want to give it in a plain sealed envelope. We've got loads more people coming along to Demo so may kick off on Saturday late afternoon yet..watch this space!
Last bit of news today is a great fun fundraiser we've got planned for OCTOBER 13TH... a murder mystery dinner. book you seats now as its going to be mega! MURDER AT ALL HALLOWS HALL is being held No1 BROAD STREET BROMYARD You won't eat better than this and included is the a complimentary welcome drink as well as a good 3 course dinner while you try to solve the who-done -it which will play out around you. A Halloween themed setting will enhance the meal and we hope encourage you all to dress smartly for the occasion. We'd love gentlemen in evening suits and ladies in glam finery but however you feel most comfortable is fine.We'll be running a great raffle during the evening as well as giving a prize to first correct deduction of the murderer out of the hat. All this for just £20 a ticket. book you tickets today with a N/R deposit of £10 per seat. E-mail emw@emwuk.org.uk

Where we face loss head on

2011-05-09T03:30:00.000-07:00

Luna (Zahara) left us on May 4th 2011 aged 8 years old

We have had to have Lunar destroyed last Wednesday. My poor OH is still pretty much devastated. I think we - family and volunteeers - all are too.
We all know she was the most difficult of little mares but because of her background and her past history we forgave her most things and made allowances for others.
What happened? - a freak horrible and probably preventable accident which has brought me up short, hindsight, tragic hindsight is the best of teachers.
Lunar had come on so well lately. From being almost impossible to handle at the beginning and difficult to trim her feet and things my OH had worked long and hard with her, he because this mare simply did not like female humans at all and would react violently towards us girls.
Lunar was booked to go to our great Patron, Janet George, who had so kindly offered to start the little mare under saddle ( re-starting after a botch job early in her life) and increase her education giving her options and seeing if she could be brought into work and if she would begin to accept women in her life.
Then we decided to postpone her going for a bit as suddenly things were going well with the mare and our general concensus was to keep going as we were and don't rock the boat. She was allowing all 4 hooves to be trimmed and picked out daily and this was a huge step forward for her.

Then out of the blue Lunar rocked the boat herself last weekend her strange and disturbed mind went haywire again and she attempted to seriously kick my OH. She had no, obvious to us humans, reason for this and had almost become a 'normal' horse, it was the first time she'd done anything like this for a long long time. Once again we forgave her, passed it off as weather provoked, it was very windy, although I was in the same field as her, doing long line work with Beanie, Lunar's 2 year old filly - and volunteer Maria was near the fence line though not touching Lunar at all - all these things could be trigger factors for a small pretty arab mare with a very odd mind
She was fine again on the tuesday, had her feet done by OH, no probs, you could say she was back to normal.
Her sweet-itch had gotten a little worse in the last week or so and OH has been diligently plastering her in de-itch stuff to back up her herbal supplement...she had been rubbing a bit and made herself a bit sore...and this is the where the end of this devastating story began from.
Where she chose to rub was the only weak spot in the fence. It was weak because of a previous break in from neighbouring horses back last autumn. I'd put a hurdle in the fence, put there to stop any further break in or out. I'd been going to move it for weeks ... but I hadn't moved it..
It must have worked loose with her scratching and this is how we saw the deadly progression that followed.... We found her early on Wednesday morning on three legs with a mess of blood and skin and bone..
We assume the hurdle had fallen and she got her back legs through it and then blindly panicked..
It had taken all the skin off both her back legs right down to the bone, clearly bringing her down, and when she got up it must have caught her pastern,smashing it and opening her tendons and doing unbelievable damage her fetlock. My God, it was a blood bath that greeted. Poor Lunar.
With her known handling history and her many other ongoing problems we made the massive decision ( vet backed) to PTS immediately.
I feel sickened writing this as I know it's my fault. I always wanted a pure arab though maybe not one with such problems but hey! thats what we do here at EMW-UK and so she was my dream, a mad infathomable woman hating stunningly beautiful 8 year old arabian mare...She is gone now...and I won't wish again, I'm devastated as much as I was when we lost our oldest lad Tanna, 2 years ago, but with Lunar it should never havve have happened and poor Lunar has paid the price with her life.
Too late for her, we have since gone round the whole place securing fences , not that anything really was a problem or needed changing at all, just that one bloody place, just that.
She was just 8 years old and had been with us for 2 and half years. Beanie (Dragons Flight) is now an orphan, albeit a big one she will be 2 on 28th July, and has now gone into the big herd to integrate and is happy enough though still looks bewildered. She did get to spend time with her Mother after she was PTS and come to terms as much as any mammal can , the death of her mother. She neighed just once when Phillip took Lunar away and so knew her mum was gone.
R.I.P. Lunar...no pain where you are.

Where we get stuck in and get things moving

2011-04-23T04:46:00.000-07:00

Busy long days and so much ahead it's hard to know where to start. We've had our AGM on 12th April and from it has come our new fundraising committee, a dedicated band of folk willing to really get this charity pulling in much needed financial support and getting us out there with the welfare message. They will be meeting regularly and keeping us all on our toes with whats coming and boy have they got some great ideas. Watch this space
We've had a great response to our WAYS WITH HORSES event and all is getting along fine, we're looking forward to meeting old and new friends and supporters and just know that the great John Jones

is going to be so popular with all you lucky folk coming along. We've got a fantastic opportunity for you all to learn and watch the excellent foot trimming techniques of David Edwards and lets not forget the brilliant Elizabeth Crowther We've loads more ahead and will add right up to the date. We've loads of stands and welcome more. Whoever comes along on Saturday 3rd to camp over is welcome to our reception evening and get together , an ice breaker and friendship maker.
In May we've got table top tack sales a fabulous 40th birthday party for one of our brilliant supporters. With other social events and things going on our great fundraising team are going to do their utmost to keep this charity going and able to survive the economic pressure we are under right now.

WHAT I FEEL ABOUT ANIMAL CRUELTY AND THE UKRight now I'm so sickened by the constant reports of terrible torturous acts of cruelty neglect and abuse being done to animals right across the UK (and in other countries) What is wrong with people? what has happened to the human race to have allowed such a shift in decency, morals and compassion that such awful things are not even worthy of our daily news, instead it is filled with self indulgence and materialistic trash fuelled by personal and corporate greed.
How wrong we have become, how appalling and how saddening that we cannot face such atrocity without cowardly hiding away, pretending it isn't happening, shielding the human young from the realities of animal slaughter that feeds them and allows them to become bloated obese and lazy.
Allowing such atrocities to animals to go by with no mention and pathetic lack of penalty is, without a doubt, the first step to allowing human children to become either animal abusers themselves or be victims of abuse and violence themselves by the same adult humans who commit such horror. If we cared as a society we would surely be horrified by such evil and would condemn it with a harsh system nipping it in the bud and making those who commit atrocities pay with everything they have, by marking them so all society can see what they are and by not excusing them, for there are no excuses ever for evil.

Where our resources are being stretched again

2011-03-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

Evening hay for some of our EMW -UK resident ponies

We are back in auctions again and its now that we realise how much more we could do with a few more changes to facilities. Easy things to change, extra fencing units to create blocks of restricted areas that are intersected with tracks. We're working on it. We've some extra fencing tape and another fencing energiser unit coming in today courtesy of kind supporter Julie who has send a lot of donated tack and goods our way. Thanks also go to Fiona Parsons for kindly collecting the goods from Julie-ann Morrish in North Yorkshire and transporting it for collecting in Worcester by Pete who in turn is relaying back to the sanctuary. What a great chain. Huge thanks to all.
OTHER NEWS
We can't wait to get the new stable/isolation box up which should be in the next couple of weeks ahead. With auctions bring forth ponies desperat for help this box won't be empty for long.
WAYS WITH HORSES SEPT 3rd/4th
With all the plans of a the new weekend fundraiser open days on September 3rd and 4th coming along well our WAYS WITH HORSES event is going to be a great way to end our summer events we hope will prove to be a good start for winter funds.
We have many and varied excellent horsemen and women who have offered to give their time for free and who will be showing their experise and skills in demonstrations going on throughout the 2 day event.
We still have spaces for more who wish to share their knowledge and also for trade stands. This is WAYS WITH HORSES so we want plenty of diversity on show, if you do stuff with horses we want to know.
We will coming round with our collection bucket during the two days and asking for donations to this charity as we are running the event on free entry. Whatever you give will be appreciated and go directly into caring for our residents and those in need of future care.
We will also be running a weekend raffle with some pretty amazing prizes to be bagged so please give generously. Watch out for news of the raffle coming a little later in the summer.
We will be hosting an evening reception for campers and trade stand folk on the evening of Saturday 3rd September where we hope to enjoy your company before a full day of demo's on Sunday 4th. There will be catering on site all day on Sunday 4th.
Please consider how much it costs this charity each year to care for our resident equines as well as help and support those in trouble across the UK

Where we say goodbye to EMW Baz

2011-03-15T05:31:00.000-07:00

What a lovely day it was on Sunday, after early rain, perfect for little EMW Baz trip to his new home with Penny and John and fellow EMW horse, Gwen. Little Baz loaded and travelled very well indeed. He was quite vocal about his arrival letting everyone know " I'm here!" Gwen wasn't impressed and her companion pony was intrigued by such a short fellow as Baz! We left him getting to know his surroundings and settling in. Penny kindly sent photo's on Monday and news that he had already been out for his walk in-hand, he'd also excercised his teeth a couple of times too..I did warn he could nip!

EMW-UK CHARITY NEWS: Where it's just me

2011-03-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

EMW-UK CHARITY NEWS: Where it's just me: "Barry ( left) Luya (centre) and Larry (right) What a hard morning. No volunteers in today. Once again it makes me appreciate how much easi..."

Where it's just me

2011-03-10T06:47:00.000-08:00

Barry ( left) Luya (centre) and Larry (right)

What a hard morning. No volunteers in today. Once again it makes me appreciate how much easier everything is with extra hands and shovels about. Great to get that little newly gelded Shetland Barry mixed in with the mares at last. Not much trouble to do either. I think Luya is the ideal little mare for introducing naughty little ex-colts to girlie stuff. She was so funny guarding her old mother from the little Shetlands.. really squaring up to them both while old Garnlas enjoyed the grazing oblivious to it all. I spend ages this morning picking feet and treating for dreaded thrush. We're using a couple of products, the excellent NAF Hoof and Sole which is brilliant for maintenance and also the Well Pet products, Well Horse and Thrush Off, to add our armoury! The wind is high today and drying out the mud fast, blustery and with a bit of a chill to it but the sun grows warmer everyday. We're just about ready to order our American barn style isolation box and rubber matting, exciting times, and a bit of respite thanks to the wonderful supporters at Saddle -Up, for this charity that has scraped by and done without for so very very long.

Where I'm still learning.. good, when I stop thats when I get out of welfare

2011-03-07T04:58:00.000-08:00

EMW 'Baz' now gelded at last!

Its now March, its been pretty much freezing cold since early November, and still no end really in sight. With another dollop of snow and ice ahead this winter is really taking its toll on hooves and oldies. We've got two with ongoing hoof issues. Old Jimmy with his pretty rubbish TB feet is still abscessing and to add to his monstrous crack horizontal along the wall of his hoof he now has another b*gger erupting at the coronet band. We're currently keeping him pain free on Danilon and treating it with Well Horse while keeping it clean with hoof soap. I can't poultice him anymore as his heel skin began to break down, Savlon helped out there. I got some hoof putting and 'filled' the cracks. I got some Thrush Off and treated frogs all round. I should have shares in Hydrogen Peroxide and vet wrap!
Chadd is Cushing's lame. he's got torn laminae that are the cause of much of his lameness issues but we're winning by keeping those toes real short and watching his eating. You can tell when he's happier, it takes longer to corner him than to do the trimming job, yep, he's well when he aims to clear off!
I've found excellent informative trimming videos on YouTube so adding a link here. Take a look, there are 25 in the series so get a look at them all, you might learn stuff...I did. these videos just top up on our brilliant foot care team work. Hoping I can do more and give those guys an easier visit in future.

Butting up to this was the great Vet Talk we held on February 24th In Bromyard. What a great and informative evening we had. Our own vet Dominic Alexander, from the Belmont practice, gave an excellent overview of the laminitis problem we are all pretty much facing. We're killing by kindness in the UK. Kate Jones from N.A.F. was very informative about what helps to support laminitic horses and ponies and we're proud to say that EMW-UK and EMW pony Chadd are now mentioned on the great N.A.F. Laminaze product label. It's sure as heck helping these guys here and we can highly recommend you give it a go now before laminitis gets a seasonal hold. Leonie from Dengie had us all laughing with her 'portable horse gut' by the time she got it out of the bag it went round the big room almost twice! It wasn't real for the squeamish, but a full size mock up, amazing that lot can fit inside a horse! it was a great tool to show how fibre works best. It was a great night and huge thanks to Sylvia and all at THE FALCON HOTEL Bromyard for their kindness and good food
Whats ahead for this charity? well huge thanks got to the Saddle Up awards team for a brilliant fundraising result in February and also to Nationwide Building society for a grant of £800 which is paying for the new isolation box and rubber matting at EMW HEREFORDSHIRE. We also intend to bring in another round pen to enable us to restrict fat ponies easier and use for training etc. Right now though its work work work as the recession continues to hit hard at equines. the markets are depressed and values on the floor. With 2011 foals just weeks away god help them all. We will do our very best for those we can help. "We will NOT look away"

Where a genie would be useful

2011-02-09T06:27:00.000-08:00

A quick entry today. Wishing for things probably isn't pro-active enough but nonetheless when the chips are down whats left but wishful thinking. Here goes with our 3 wishes of the day then...
Number 1 financial security for this charity- every day we hear of yet another Charity going under from lack of support/funding or other reasons linked to support/economy. It's terrifying thinking how long will it before this one becomes yet another casualty. We've always walked a knife edge financially right now that blade is close to cutting the skin.
Number 2 - staff staff and more staff..selfishly so our down trodden tired everyday sloggers can get a break, how lovely to have a team who can be employed on a rota basis, who could be entrusted to care for these precious animal friends in the way we would wish every animal to be cared for. Of course that would come if number 1 was granted but it's a wish nonetheless. Lastly comes ..
Number 3 A bigger yard where we have containment, concrete, multi surface areas and a purpose built schooling area but in as beautiful, peaceful and therapeutic setting as our beloved Lodore Farm is in...of course number 3 would come along with number 2 if number 1 was granted... enough said ... and if wishes were horses we've already been well blessed.

Where we look at horse agility plus other stuff

2011-02-08T04:54:00.000-08:00

So in line with the last entry here we need to get these resident ponies -and horses - moving moving moving and doing stuff. I'm a bit long in the tooth now for daily work under saddle but am well fit for walking and ground work...along with the ponies I've got fat over winter, hunkered down for the dark days and long nights...well hello? spring has almost sprung and we're all coming awake again and time to get up and move move move!

Vanessa Bee's great concept of Horse Agility Club GB appeals to my ancient bones and so we are about to set up the course and start some simple training work using cones/jumps/tarps/hoops/ and all manner of weird and vaguely scary obstacles for our residents to work with.

EMW LUYA in fat camp!

Vanessa has set up some simple walkthroughs of courses HERE is the first basic one to give people the idea..so watch this space for more news on our lot and how were are doing with agility.

Pathetic foal at Henley in Arden auction

EMW Luya is now at 'fat camp' coming in during the days and out at night, her diet is oak straw and old hay mix, a tiny handful of The Pure Feed company product 'Easy' and a liberal sprinkle of cinnamon. She now has a waist and her crest, always her biggest issue, is beginning to diminish though this will be a long hard road for her. Had it not been blowing a force 6 gale over the weekend, and with Lodore Farm being on a high altitude, she would have been going out, instead I did a 10 minute walk and trot on lunge lines with her to help her start to use her muscles. I notice that she is almost incapable of bending, her short neck and broad chest are the problems so we will be doing some carrot stretches to improve her mobility too.
One of our colleagues attended Henley in Arden auction on Saturday 5th of February. I was due to go but with veterinary issues with resident horses it proved impossible to get away this time. Nothing is changing and for this foal it couldn't be worse.
All we hope is that he/she went to a better place than where it came from. Our colleague stated that there were no welfare present (RSPCA ) nor veterinary presence. Shame on you Henley in Arden auction.
Also shame on LLanybydder auction for allowing these to be put forward.
This auction was attended by a colleague of this charity who was appalled at the state of these ponies.

Once again auctioneers out to make a scant few pounds profit out of the misery inflicted upon horses and ponies by their 'clients'! The sooner the laws relating to welfare issues and auctions the better. Please support EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK and help us to help those with no one to care. without your DONATIONS we are unable to attend auctions and stand up for those with no one to care.

Where we aim to go back to basics

2011-01-24T05:34:00.000-08:00

In this last week I've taken a good look at our residents and in the case of the ponies I don't much like what I'm seeing.
Despite bitter cold lasting weeks and weeks and only hay to eat for the majority they are decidedly porky! I can't think how or why that's happened... and then I began to think about the long gone days of my youth and pony keeping then and it got me questioning that perhaps there are a lot of things 'wrong' with the way we pamper and overfeed these hardly beasts in this media mad world. Advertising is very clever, making owners out to be 'uninformed' or actually just plain ignorant if they don't feed this or that wonderful mix or 'balance' It seems we have forgotten how to think for ourselves or trust our own instincts.
And are we, for instance, humanising these animals too much? We human horse keepers go out and think "Brrrr it's so cold !" so we slap on extra rugs on our horses, imagining them shivering and covered in icicles or frozen to death unless we clad them out in humongous tog rated duvet like head to toe rip stop nylon creations...
We forget horses have layers of fat, greasy skin, insulating hair growth and the ability to keep warm by movement ( if allowed) and by steady intake of fibre (natures own central heating) aka rough hay. Nature intends for all it's beings to eat while there is glut and use those body fat reserves when food supply is poor.
Being human in today's world means for many never going hungry, ever, in fact we too have become so detached from our real and natural way of food intake that our own digestion is at peril too. Few of us ever have to draw on reserves for real need only doing so when our body weight becomes a real health issue.
Humanising our horses again we feed them in winter in similar ways to our own meal times. Knowing we are going home to a hot meal we then start heating up their feed too, cooking this and that which is great for adding weight on real anyskinnies but is not necessary for those with good body condition and for an animal who's natural food source is at current air temps we are giving totally unnatural heat to the gut. Our fat nation is getting ever fatter

In my long gone days of youth ( 1960/70's) you fed a bit of hay IF the ground was covered ( frost/snow) never daily, never ever twice a day and most certainly not like we do in todays world of feeding if there happens to be a 'Y' in weekday or the air temp drops by a couple of degrees!
The thing is we don't allow for these pampered 'pets' to use up their reserves anymore, to get lean during the winter months.
Out we go laden down with overflowing barrows of hay cursing as we struggle through wind and rain and mud and whatever we do we MUST MUST MUST keep those horses chomping despite Dobbin having a neck like a crested newt and pads of fat that a sumo would be proud of...and no sign of any frostbite anywhere!
Back in my day laminitis was unknown pretty much, that's a long time ago but not THAT long ago... so overfeeding is causing problems for sure, but what else? we know that land is over fertilized these days and more so back in the 70's 80's and 90's....back then however ponies were mostly kept off that grazing, it was reserved for fattening cattle, sheep and pigs ...ponies and even hunters were contained in scrub orchards, rough grazing paddocks and hill sides where the meat animals couldn't be kept so no expensive fertilizers were put on that ground. Back then ponies didn't get any hard feed at all. Nothing was pre mixed, if you fed horses, and only in the harshest of winter did that happen or if they were working hard hunting /racing or pulling working carts etc, you fed oats, flaked maize, bran and chaff. Nothing sweet added other than molasses the day after hunting to encourage the consumption of bran mash ( that was fed warm with a handful of epsom salts added)
Now we have moved horses on to much of the over fertilized land of yesteryear while the reserves of those chemicals must lay in the soil for many many years...have we produced a grass that is toxic? I believe so. Cushings disease appearing in younger and younger horses and ponies and other metabolic ailments are now far more common place, there has to be a link to some wrong doing somewhere.

All of the above I'm ranting about I now openly and freely admit to and am holding up my hand and admitting I've been brain washed with the rest of the horse keepers across the UK, knowing all the time that the old way, coupled with common sense and using the best natural options from today's market, is really the only way forward if we are to lose our podgy equine friends and find the fit active and fun ponies hiding in that fatty exterior

So going back to today...here I go.. we're going to take a trip back in time, nothing detrimental, nothing untoward, just strip those ponies right back to basics and lets see what happens. My guess is we'll see health improve very quickly indeed. Watch this space!

Where we think thanks are overdue

2011-01-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

EMW BRACKEN

We've started off 2011 on a good note with massive generosity on the part of THE PURE FEED COMPANY and our long term supportive company N.A.F. both sending the charity goods to enable us to feed and care for our resident horses and ponies through this harsh cold winter, you can read about this HERE. While we are thanking I'm not going to forget our volunteers and patrons for their support and practical help too. We decided to give verbal NEW YEARS HONOUR awards and you can read that HERE
While I'm here shouting the praises a big thank you goes today to EMW-UK Patron LIZ JONES for stepping in and helping out with EMW Bracken who is returning from loan. Liz has kindly given Bracken a place at her farm for the time being lifting the pressure of another mouth to feed off the sanctuary.
On a less than happy note the number of appalling cruelty cases coming to light and neglect, abuse and sheer horror being inflicted on animals is clearly on the rise. sickening images of dogs with eyes shot out, dogs with every bone visible, puppies hung from bridges, puppies and kittens abandoned in terrible -10C conditions, drowned and burned animals...what is wrong with our society that we have gone backwards with animal welfare and compassion no longer exists? Are we not teaching our children to be gentle and kind anymore? When my daughters were young and wanted to ride a pony with a stick in hand they first learned how that stick inflicted a pain that was the same on human skin as on animal skin - child abuse? maybe in today's terms but my daughters are loving kind and humane girls who would never dream of inflicting pain upon animals in their care...we need to teach by example and we need penalties that reflect the horror inflicted...bring back the birch and bring back the stocks and let the people decide the punishments for our society is failing in every way possible.

Where the world is white and frozen

2010-12-07T05:22:00.000-08:00

It gone on for weeks now. Freezing night and day, snow, ice, hoar frost , more ice, more snow...last night it was -12C at the sanctuary. Our ponies never cease to amaze me. Wrapped in their wonderful natural winter coats, fully insulated by summer fat and pulling off their reserves they are covered in frost early mornings, faces and backs and whiskers all encased in white rime frost. They seem to be very happy and not bothered by the intensity of the cold right now.
The roads are trecherous but thankfully we are now mobile once again with a Landrover Discovery coming to our rescue. Huge and grateful thanks go to Janet George and Saddle Up, Liz Jones and also to family members as well as our wonderful trustees for their huge support and help during this very difficult time. Everyone is pulling their weight and helping out.
Our volunteers are a hardy bunch. Turning up whatever the weather and getting out on the ground, cleaning the snow encrusted fields of hard to find dollops of horse poo regardless. We are still on top of things and hope to remain so.

Because of the weather conditions and the approaching holiday season we have decided to delay the presentation of our petition to welfare ministers until early 2011.Your support has been and still is overwhelming, keep signing it and keep verifying those signatures. We'll update you with whats happening early in 2011.
This terrible harsh weather is bringing a huge increase in calls for help to EMW-UK. We have helped out where we can and where we have funds to do so but our priority has remain with the care of the charity owned horses at the sanctuary and their well being. In an ideal world space and funding would not be an issue, it's far from an ideal world right now..actually in an ideal world there would be no need at all for this charity... we are far from that option too.

If you can offer a little help towards our winter running costs and allow us to say yes to horses and ponies in deep trouble please donate via this LINK

WISHING A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR WONDERFUL SUPPORTERS FRIENDS, VOLUNTEERS AND PATRONS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR ONE AND ALL XX

GIVE TO LIVE Christmas Appeal

2010-11-18T23:58:00.000-08:00

http://www.justgiving.com/emw2010appeal
Please consider a small donation to give a chance of life for a few little foals like these. Poor babies trying to suckle from each other for comfort and nutrition....while awaiting their awful fate happening in auctions across the UK right now.
EMW-UK "We will NOT look away" Will you this Christmas...?

Where we are sickened and disheartened

2010-11-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

With no apology for reiterating and duplicating what is already on our website front page. Please follow and read the terrible blog posting from our highly esteemed colleagues at EQUINE RESCUE FRANCE
If you've the stomach after you've read this report just a few questions.

Why in the name of all the many and varied gods would anyone want to do this to any animal let alone baby animals - baby mammals that actually aren't that far removed on the evolutionary chain to your own offspring/family/friends kids.
Would you pack a trailer full of toddlers send them on a hellish 3 week journey with bugger all to eat and barely enough to drink, would you crush them together in metal pens, bash them about with sticks and crush them back on board another trailer for yet another 3 days and nights before unloading them to kill them for their skin? would you?
How can this ever been seen in any way as right.

The buck stops here..right slap bang here in the UK with the idiotic over breeding of these valueless, unwanted foals. It stops here with the lax laws that let low life dealers buy these foals by the lorry load and transport them via the back door into Ireland then out to hell on the EU side.

It stops here in the UK with no real legislation nor teeth nor real penalties to stop this trade in blood. Most of these foals have been through not 1 nor 2 but 3,4 or even more auctions and transport changes before they are finally allowed to die in a terrible way in a terrible place.

EMW-UK saymake it illegal and reinforce it with big fines if any equine is sold through more than 1 auction in any 30 day period. Easily policed with a simple auctioneers stamp on the compulsory passport, after all it might as well have some use, it's bugger all use in any other welfare way!

Where we do auction after auction

2010-11-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

Latest auction reports in

Ponies waiting to be sold

Coloured with facial wounds

BRECON REPORT 6TH NOV 2010 – Report by EMW-AFJ
Saturday 6th November 2010 saw EMW once again covering Brecon Market's sale of Horses and Ponies.

This auction was packed with 405 lots entered prior to the sale as it was annual show day, and there were many more entered on the day. Three EMW trustees were in attendance. We arrived around 11am to find the sale room and car parks already heaving, but the sale in the ring was yet to commence.

At the start of the day when we collected our catalogue and buyers number (just in case!) we came across several welfare handouts that had been left on the adjoining sheep and cattle's forthcoming McCartney's sales table. These included a copy of a letter from the Hill Pony Improvement Society of Wales on the Animal Welfare Act and also a large booklet from the Welsh Assembly Government on The Code of Practice for the Welfare of Equines. Sadly these were not in a prominent place for buyers and attendees to see, but it was a big step forward for animal welfare codes of practice being made aware of at auctions! We were pleased that McCartneys of Brecon were putting these for public to pick up. We hoped that they might discreetly handed one out to all buyers too.

Before the sale got under way the auctioneer gave a brief announcement on the same Code of Practice for Welfare of Equines as well as stating that the auctioneers could not be held liable for any injury or damage. Also that all equines are sold as seen, It was also stated that it was no better time to buy an equine, that the purchase would benefit the buyer in the future, by being an investment! Given the abyssmal state of the equine world right now that statement is debateable.

This sale, Annual Fair Day, also had classes that were judged on the day for Best Section A Colt, Filly and best Cob Foal. This saw the start of the start of the sale having some quality young stock in the ring. All were nicely turned out and showing off their rosettes. Most of these were not sold due to not reaching there reserve, the first 5 lots went straight out the ring not sold. However the next 20 or so lots that did sell went for slightly higher prices than we had seen or a while at Brecon, building our hopes a little for the day ahead.
Sadly after these few lots, it all changed and the 'normal' prices began to fall off.
Some nice youngsters were up for auction. Dismally some young foals did not make much more than a hamster would cost in a pet shop - that's so wrong and so worrying!!
What the hell is the point of the sellers and auctioneers time, fuel and cost of ownership only to put them in the ring for a few pounds?
When will these die hard breeders learn that leaving a mare barren for a few years is the right answer, will drive up prices, give these foals a chance at really good homes. A couple of years of moving the Stallions off the hills would be no bad thing either. We already know that those breeders with any sense are already doing these measures, very like the New Forest control measures. Down there the changes are clearly having impact with better young stock coming through and making much higher prices as a consequence.

We once again found it hard concentrate on what equine was up for sale in the ring due to the sheer number of people also in the ring at the same time! Perhaps the auctioneers ought to start auctioning them off too !
At one point we counted 24 people standing in the ring. As well as the weigh bridge/holding area, this was packed, so not easy to count. This is a huge safety consideration and not safe or fair on any equine being sold or any human within the vicinity of an already crowded auction house. There were also several small children inside the sale ring. An announcement was made by the auctioneer as to the safety of the children and could they please leave. Sadly this was not adhered in anyway, they just totally ignored him.
At one point a young lad was attempting to ride into the ring from the holding area on a large cob, with the heavy iron bars above just centimetres from touching his head – no hat - as he ducked to avoid the overhead obstacles. What was the sense in this? Riding in a ring this small doesn’t prove anything about the horse at all, it should be banned.

Lot 38 saw a randomly spotted filly foal that ( in our opinon – though obviously wrongly as it turned out!) was not blessed with the best looks or confirmation. She was sold for 920 guineas!! Many in the sale ring seemed as shocked as we were on this huge amount being bid, a huge applause was given as she left the ring. We at EMW wondered quite what it was that we had missed with her!
Many of the little A-Typical mountain foals were lucky to fetch more than 5 guineas with several selling for just 1 or 2!It is so hard to see a little life valued so low.
As soon as piebald, skewbald or spotted were mentioned by the auctioneer the price would rise dramatically regardless of quality – what’s this about? Good breeding stock or just a good skin colour for an obvious and unpleasant end?

Lot 151 was a little colt that was seen to be suckling of his mother outside the ring; he was sold as a separate lot to his mother prior to her going through the ring after him. When in was put in to the holding area of ones sold previously he attempted to suckle off a larger colt. It was heartbreaking to hear the mare calling for her baby as he entered the ring all alone. He went for 10 guineas with his mother making 45 guineas. When she entered the ring she was extremely distressed as to where her foal was, at this point there was some rough handling from one of the many men in the ring! We think they were both sold to the same buyer but did not hold out much hope as to their future. The colt immediately suckled the mare as they were reunited outside the ring exit so at least got some comfort.
Lot 188 was a very hard call for us all. It was a little grey Mare, stated as 10 years old in the catalogue, but she looked older. She appeared to have such a sweet nature in the pen, desperate for some love and security. She was sold for 15 guineas. We all debated on bidding, but had no transport on the day and she was out of the ring in no time at all. She reminded us all of EMW 'Lizzie' and' Rainbow' both grey mares rescued from Brecon over the last few years at the same time of year. On our journey home we reflected that we only wished we had bid on her, she was still tugging at our heart strings.

We later witnessed a little 3 year old Shetland Mare, stated in foal and already breed 1 foal!! She was broken to ride and was sporting a huge old fashioned GP saddle, more suitable for a large pony or small horse, on her back as she came into the ring. It was then announced that the saddle came with her to the buyer, how lucky they would be and unlucky the little mare if they intended to ride her with such ill fitting tack and with her also carrying yet another foal... How sad for such a young little mare. She was sold for 95 guineas and we can only hope she has gone to a decent home who chucked that bit of rubbish tack away! Shetlands on the day fetched good prices in comparison to the pens of section A ponies.

One of the last lots that was saw go through he ring before we left at 2pm (there were still approximately 250 lots to be sold!) was a tiny section A foal who was very distressed by the auction ordeal. Poor filly only wanted to get back to the comfort of the little herd she had been penned with, instead one of the large men walked over to her and hit her in the face!!!! Why? Does it prove macho-ism? Does nothing for us I’m afraid. Maybe the auctioneer could hand out similar punishment on all the people crowding inside the auction ring on these days!
That might work.

Prior to leaving we went to look around the pens which were a tough call for us all to witness. Once again young stock all packed in pens, no bedding, water or feed, herded from one pen to the next and with a long day ahead of them still. There were no welfare cases of emaciated equines, a few needed a bit more feed and a few had some pretty bad feet but nothing dire, overly distressed or dying. We spotted a tri-coloured cob with some pretty nasty sore patches under an old rope halter that was beneath its bridle, it didn’t look like it had been given much treatment for these wounds.

We all left feeling disheartened (often the usual mood after auctions) and helpless by what we witnessed with the foals selling for pitifully low amounts. It was yet another day when as far as we could tell we were the only equine welfare organisation in attendance other than Welsh Assembly Trading Standards as previously mentioned

Report by EMW-EL-S
6^th November, Melton Mowbray – Leics.

"We arrived to find the car park pretty empty and thought that there was not going to be much going on. Boy, was I wrong!

Around 125 horses were for sale, each stall was full. Only about a tenth of the horses in the main holding pens had water and hay and these seemed to be the poor souls whose owners were truly reluctant to part with them and for whom recession has taken its toll. If vendors had not brought anything with the horses, they didn’t get anything. There is a smaller holding yard where about ten horses had full stone water troughs, but nothing else.

The rest of the horses had NOTHING. No water, no hay, nor a scrap of bedding.

There was no obvious RSPCA or T/S presence at all, not unusual for Melton.

I am happy to say that they have improved the sales ring as this used to be like a skating rink with horses slipping and falling all the time, but no-one fell today. There was one poor youngster who was reluctant to enter the ring and was slapped, thumped and hit by the spectators in order to get it in. I found this pretty hard to watch. When it refused to leave the ring, (which was not surprising, given its treatment on its way in) the same onslaught occurred and not a word was said by sales staff.

After all the latest talk about the Welsh and Dartmoor foals, I expected that there would be loads filtered through from the welsh border sales, but in fact there were only about 5 foals in the sale at all. These were a couple of good quality welsh sec A fillies which fetched on average about 150 - 180 guineas and some mini Shetland tots that went for 150 guineas each, so not bad prices. They seemed to be picked up by private family buyers.

I think the saddest thing was that the majority of the horses at the sale were 16.2hh and over, super horses who were just not financially viable for their owners. A couple reached 1000 guineas and went to private buyers, many were picked up by the dealers/meat man as they reached an average of only 350 guineas.

There was only one older horse and a kind family took pity on her and paid 200 guineas. I was glad to see that, as she would have come home with me otherwise!

Most were in good condition if a bit light. Many sales were blamed on loss of grazing, which explained why many were in good condition but were a touch light for my preference.

All in all, the condition of the horses on sale was good, the conditions of the stalls, lack of forage, water was dreadful. Many of the horses had been standing there since 9am and the sale finished at 3pm with buyers taking til 4.30pm to collect them. This is not acceptable. I brought two horses back to my sanctuary and both got on the trailer quick smart in return for a mouthful of hay, they were so famished, and thirsty, too.

The next sale is the last of the year, so it will be interesting to see what happens then."

Brecon Auction November 6th

REPORT PENDING.

Where another market report comes in

2010-10-30T05:34:00.000-07:00

York Sales Friday 22^nd October 2010 Report by EMW-SHP

There were 113 lots entered in the catalogue, and approximately another 15 late entered on the day.

Again most of the pens did not have any water apart from lots 3, 4 & 5 who had provided water for their ponies.

Many horses went home as unsold and what did sell, the majority made poor prices.

Lot number 75 was a ribby TB gelding 9 years old who had hunted, XC and Team Chased and was said to be a good quiet horse, the bidding started at only 200guineas and he was unsold as bids only reached 220.

A gorgeous 8 year old Chestnut mare lot no 130 late entry, had been a show jumper and she went home unsold as bids reached only 400 guineas

A bonny welsh sec A riding pony, has hunted and looked a well behaved quiet pony fetched 200 guineas.

A little bay filly who was approx 6 months old sold for only 40 guineas.

An 18 month old welsh sec A started bids at 30 guineas and sold at 90 guineas.

There were several ex-racehorses at the sale, some Wetherbys registered. These started bids very low and reached only 200 guineas-400 guineas, with one 16hh sold without warranty at 360 guineas.

The coloured cob colt foals were fetching between 80 guineas-150 guineas. One, lot no 6 however only started bids at 50 guineas and went unsold at 60 guineas.

A trio of young foals who were clearly unhandled and terrified were let out of their enclosure and herded through the crowds with rope halters trailing loose from their heads.

There were a few quality horses who fetched their proper value too so it was not all bad.

One horse lot number 64, a 14 year old chestnut 16.2hh old mare was extremely stressed, pacing her box frantically and dripping with sweat and foam, she was terrified.

A few older horses were present- lot number 78 was a 12.2hh 14 year old gelding who has been working on the beach in Filey but as the vendor was retiring the pony is surplus to requirements, the pony looked old and tired, he failed to sell reaching 140 guineas.

Late entry number 132 was a lovely coloured cob, who had warts all over his muzzle and was very quiet.

Where it's auctions and more auctions

2010-10-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

Llanybydder Horse and Pony (Hunters and Riding Ponies) Sale October 26th 2010 Report and photos from EMW-KCB

“The market (this month) had bedding. Last month we didn't see ANY stall with straw, today there were a few and nearly all had a bucket with water.

Last month we only found one stall with a bucket. I'm not sure if it was because it was a hunter and foal show.

There was a lot of Shetland foals all so sweet but very crowded into pens, is there a law regarding the number of horses/ponies to a stall? The Shetland and small ponies all crammed in a total of 49 foals

I watched them in the ring and foal was sticking to her mum like glue and was extremely agitated and upset whenever the handlers tried to get in between them. I took some photos there were of course no signs of animal welfare people or RSPCA.
There were some nice horses there today. I saw a coloured section D gelding ridden went for 1250 guineas and another for 1000guineas, the appaloosa mare in foal went for 850guineas and her filly foal went for 550guineas. Good prices considering the economy.

I rang Carmarthen council and spoke to the local animal welfare officer who said she was there today, she did take the details of my report.
These (right) were a part a lot of 17 entered by one vendor. At one point they became so agitated and frightened that one slipped and its leg became stuck through the bottom rung of the pen fencing!
This little one (below left) kept trying to suckle off the other little pony who kept kicking out at it to get it to stop! poor things.

Where it's not a case of buying but a case of keeping

2010-10-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

October 23rd Brecon derogation pony foal sale.

Did we buy, No...Why not? Because knowing how hard it is to find homes and how expensive it is to geld colts, knowing we have 2 shetlands coming in (one in a poor state) and one that will have to be gelded.

Knowing that the next two auctions will be really bad as winter and the economy tighten their grip..We made a trustee decision and said no.

It was hard it was difficult and it was probably heartless in some ways, looking at those babies and knowing for more than 30 it was the last few days of their short valueless lives,you can't just do that and not think about them, about their sad little faces.

So here's the reasoning- The spaces held are going to be taken without a doubt by whatever comes in from the next two deep winter auctions, not to mention ponies from abandonment and neglect. This charity are back in Brecon at auction on November 6th.

Today at the auction were WHW/RSPCA/T/S-LAHO's from the Welsh Assembley/EMW_UK and SWAR it did seem almost that the welfare organisation representation outnumbered buyers!

We do wonder if we'll continue to see that presence at the monthly sales....we'll wait and see!

Oh there were also plenty of press with big fancy cameras too.

Just to re-iterate, this charity did not buy today. It's hard enough placing adult ponies let alone young foals, trying to rehome these ponies will prove to be pretty hard and colts of course will need gelding. Extra hungry mouths to feed and extra workload on winter ground with not much chance of moving them on is what stopped us today.

Bidding and buy was an easy thing to do, many foals going through the ring for just £2.10 each but then add on that the £30 for passporting/chipping and actually you've got a foal of average price anyway...So really they were at usual value.

But then take into account having to feed and care for them, feed and care when funding is already and issue and public doantions are low, why bring them in when we know we'll be crying out for help, already many charities and rescues are failing because of lack of funding. We think it prudent to hold on, take in what we can next month and december and stay within our funding limitations.

We hope our supporters agree this is prudentand that we did make a hard but right choice today.

The next sale will prove interesting. At this one entries will be already passported(and chipped if required) they will be a far truer indication of the economy and equine prices.

We just hope that the breeders take head and keep the wombs empty - even one of the main dealers said as much today - we all agreed that to let the mares go barren for 2, 3 or even 4 years would be no bad thing...then watch prices soar and give back real value to these traditional Mountian ponies.

Where the routine is another weekend another auction

2010-10-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

As if life isn't complicated or a treadmill enough with a sanctuary to run, one old horse showing some signs of decline, admin to do and life in general happy to batter us about willy-nilly, it's now auction season.
The round up and Drift auctions in full swing.
Reports are coming in thick and fast. some good ( see Here) some not great and we're expecting some to be downright awful before we're done in late December.
Not that the auctions end then, it just gets a bit quieter for a few weeks while the bad weather puts buyers off travelling far.
We covered Brecon auction on Saturday (9th) a decent enough day weather-wise as auction venues aren't the warmest of places to be.
Not as many horses/ponies were there as we expected so we got away fairly early.
Three EMW trustees went, three came back, no one wanted to buy us!
It was a kind of bittersweet day. Some nice youngsters were up for auction, some young foals not making much more than a hamster would cost in a pet shop - that's so wrong and so worrying.
Do kids look younger than the legal age (16) to buy animals these days? The kid stood in the ring buying ponies looked about 12.
We didn't clock anyone question his age.
Another thing we picked up on, and this in line with our want for changes to the 1990 Stat Instrument (that piece of crocheting that passes for welfare law) Welfare of Horses (et al) in Markets and other places of sale.
It's alright selling foals away if they are deemed old enough (and the afore mentioned garbage only gives scant guidelines on that bit of welfare!) but when the auction catalogue doesn't print the DOB of the foal being sold then how the hell do we know it's age?
The passport gives it but is in the auction office you don't get that till the end of the sale if you buy the foal, so why isn't it Stat. that when foals are auctioned that the catalogue must display age as well? food for thought and more ummph to get that minimum age to be sold away clarified.

Anyway, one wily old vendor thought he was on to flog his very young foal away from it's mother, but ah!!! aha! he didn't bank on it's age getting questioned in the ring, good for McCartneys, Mr Wily Vendor states 4 months, Mr Auctioneer said No Go! and that was that! but it just goes to show there is bugger all thought for young foals like this one, hatcheted away from their mothers in one nasty action! would these wily Old Vendors do that to their own young?
So we watched the majority go through the ring, foals fetching rubbish money, remember these foals ( unlike the poor buggers at the next sale who's fate for most is a meat hook) have been chipped and passported so cost a good £40 minimum to have that done (if done legally!) then add on fuel to get to auction then add on auction costs...when you've paid that lot out is it really really worth filling the mares bellies again for next year when your selling price is 5 guineas ( for the young amongst you readers that comes in at 5 pounds and 25p) a bit of a loss eh what! and a bigger loss to more than a few of these foals who may well end up worse than dead. We've all read the horror stories and this charity has seen more than our fair share of 'after' cases, as in after they have gone through hell of being towed round auctiona fter auction to raise a few more quid (guineas) or stuck in some filthy barn/shed on nothing proper to eat. We've ended up having to mend a few of these along the way.

We almost came home with a little 17 year old mare with a full belly of foal, such a sweet mare. She bid up to 20 quid in the ring, how sad is that.
Vendor man didn't sell her through the ring but she did get sold outside. We can only hope she drew a long straw. A nice older riding pony mare of about 14hh went for a sad sum of £85 ( you can't buy a bloody rocking horse for that money!)
As for the bloke with the little tiny Shetland pony that didnt' go through the ring but was being offered in the loading bay.. no thanks mate, seeing a grown man sit on a tiny scared pony doesn't actually sell that pony to me. Can't think what he was trying to prove, though we did wonder if it was a 'size' thing him being a big man and all!
I see the gap is still there alongside the weighbridge leading to the exit doors. I pulled the pallet across to stop little foals trying to get out of the holding pen that way, we've seen them try before, it's not a nice sight nor is some bloke dragging them backward by the tail or leg.
Shame there were so many people in the sale ring. It'll soon be a case of hunt the pony it's getting that difficult to find whats on sale among that lot stood in there..
Maybe we could respectfully suggest they get sold instead! I'll pay a fiver each for them.
Why the hell they all stand in the ring I don't know, what point in that? there's space enough outside the ring.
Good to see a lot of pens with shavings but sad to hear that it was the vendors that had put that down.
All in all it was alright, nothing was skeletal, nothing was distressed and all done by about 2-30pm.

If we didn't have a poorly old horse today I'd have been back to Wales today to a 'dispersal sale' where ponies and everything furred and feathered will be on sale but priorities are here not there today.
15/15/17 is Builth Wells cob sale - Brightwells auction. Wonder how prices will compare.

where we are splashing the creosote about and...

2010-10-07T06:05:00.000-07:00

We're enjoying this bit of mellow autumn that has arrived by chance at EMW-UK Herefordshire. The leaves on our wonderful old trees are still green but it won't be long before they turn fabulous jewel colours. The horses and ponies are all plump and ready for winter without too much worry and when it's like this then life is good.
You know it's going to be a great autumn day when it dawns with fog that melts into duck egg blues and warm sunshine.I've been busy splashing that wonderful stuff, creosote, about. We're getting the old barn ready for cladding it with warm thick kick boarding. cosying it up before winter for our old guys who spend a bit of time indoors when it's chilly. I don't mid these jobs, they are kind of satisfying but brushing off the old wooden beams ready to coat them wasn't much fun, bird poo and mouse droppings a-plenty not to mention those monster spiders hiding in the nooks and crannies..... good job it was me and not Maria or Amy doing the job..they'd have a run a mile!

It's that time of the month when we do a quick tally of what NAF supplements we are using, for what and for who. all listed are great N.A.F. products.
Right now we're giving Linseed oil to Beau - since his extensive dental work he's picking up on condition fast but we'll keep him on this as it's a great way of adding condition without adding bulk. Of course Pink Powder goes without saying but is always wonderful and keeps all on it in tip-top condition.

Jimmy is having Pro-Feet liquid to help his typical TB feet. Although he has always been barefoot and is fine his hoof wall is a bit thin in places and he does get a bit 'footy' when the ground is really hard.

Willow, Chadd and Luya are all on Laminaze, prevention being better than cure. right now with the grass flushing again and full of sugars all these three are under some restriction once more. Old hay is great for bulk and even better soaked or steamed ( Note: EMW-UK would love a hay steamer but do not have the funds to purchase one) Now that the air quality is improved Willow is no longer on Respirator Boost but my goodness what a product, it put his breathing right within just 2 days, we cannot thank NAF enough for their support and assistance with EMW-UK horses and ponies and their needs.

We are also using NAF Midge-off and D-itch for Luna our resident sweet-itcher, she also is having equine Brewers Yeast, and has still got mane and tail hair despite it being a strong midge year.
We also love NAF teatree oil shampoo for our itchy lot and Seaweed supplement is absolutely brilliant as a boost. Watch this space next month for more news on our sanctuary horses and NAF products.

While poo picking this morning I came upon a fairy village...how beautiful this is

Where we do the wet and dry dance amongst other things

2010-10-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

October has landed with a splash. Right now we're playing on/off with the rugs like some kind of equine party game, even the horses don't know whats what anymore. Thankfully it only involves two players, EMW oldies Jimmy and Beau. If we had a yard full of the rugged kind I'd be carted off to some institution pretty fast.
To be honest I don't know why I'm playing this game yet. It's not even gone below freezing and they are both looking well covered, especially when you remember that they are ancient old lads. today it's chucked it down since early morning right up until just before 3-o-clock so we took pity and put on lightweight rain macs.
Now the sun is beaming down from a pale blue sky!
Time to go peel those rugs off but not before a quick mention of our newest most welcome volunteer Justine. I hope she comes back, she took our contact number so that's hopeful...only poor Justine came to help out on the last pouring down with rain wet day, Friday, so she got decidedly mucky and damp and saw us at our worse!

Here is Justine (left), with long term volunteer Astrid who introduced her to EMW Herefordshire, as they negotiate our super mud!

Yesterday we got loads done while the sun was still shining and it was dry.

one job that has needed doing for a while was adding guttering to the small meadow field shelter. It was a great day for doing it and we got lots of help from various four legged residents!
Pete and I got the job done by about 11am.
We've a lot of small but important jobs ahead at EMW Herefordshire including cladding the big barn and putting kick boards around the interior of the round pen.

where Elaine says VLM....bllcks

2010-09-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

No use being glum about it, chin up and think ahead, there'll be another chance, oh well.... but actually I'm GUTTED! I didn't get a ballot place in 2011 Virgin London Marathon, it was going to be my swan song...I was going to go out on a huge high...now I'm crashing down on a big carb loaed comfort food low ( and that'll take a nice hefty double figured run to burn off too - like I'm not depressed enough!)
Well here's plan B ... keep up the training and pleasure (?) running on through autumn and early winter then gear up for a few 10km runs early spring, sit and watch and wail over VLM when it's splashed all over the telly then gird me loins and get on with upping to decent half marathons in late Spring culminating in a (hopeful) place in The Great Northern Run 2011.
You can't keep this old bird down, I'm not ready for a perch quite yet!
EMW-UK have still got one hope alive for VLM- young trustee Sam has yet to hear - everything crossed including lips to stop me adding anymore sinful carbs to the damage already inflicted!

Where there's not much to tell

2010-09-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

Or so it seems. Yet if thats the case why is it there's not enough hours in the day, minutes in the hours! How is time leaking away?

For instance an average day of mine reads thus: Rise with the lark - or in my case that dratted woodpecker who has taken it upon his spotty feathered self to become my early morning call with his constant rat-a-tat-tat - doesn't that hurt his head, all that beak banging? it hurts mine!

So rudely awakened by Woody I'm up , teeth brushed, face and 'bits' Camay clean ( no point the B.O. buster till later, it's not industrial strength!) and hauling an overflowing washing basket - stuffed with various unmentionable grim items of family clothing down stairs with me to the tune of 3 manic barking dogs marking each step - one morning when I trip, distracted by this torrential canine chorus, and I come flying down head first, they will, I hope, be satisfied with their result as well as herald my demise!
I've no time to load washing machine, instead I climb into waiting wellies and as I fight through wriggling doggy bodies get to the back door, grab leads, and off we jolly well go up the lane, too late to realise it's actually raining quite hard and I'm in gilet top and bugger all else! Now follows 20 minutes of assorted dog doings while we ascend turn around and descend the hill on the lane by now soaking wet through.
Ah bliss, back home tea is waiting, unfortunately tea has been waiting for 20 minutes so is beyond tepid. grabbing a damp towel out of the dirty washing I sop up some of the moisture I've attracted from outside.

Now is the race to load the washing machine, empty the tumble drier, wash up and clear sink, riddle and refuel a reluctant and ashy rayburn, dash and crank up the computer, feed and turf out the chickens, cats, rabbit and guinea pig before getting to grips with usual e-mail sift through and status myself on a well known social networking website!

By now it's time to go. Sanctuary time is nigh.

Feeding the five thousand, poo picking, mopping fevered brows ( horses) administering to special needs ( horses) admiring newly acquired mud coatings ( volunteeers) sweeping and tidying and getting as much done as possible so evening is easier.
Next comes walking out/working the fat/unfit/reluctant/miserable/bored ( horses not volunteers.....although...ha! only kidding!)
Time to leave is determined by rumbling stomachs demanding breakfast-cum-brunch-cum-lunch but first that daily supermarket sweep...clearing the till queues by means of horse scented pungent aromas permeating from the murky, cobwebby, fleece jacket and grime encrusted boots!

It works everytime....and holding out the hand for change is cringe-worthy to say the least - split and broken nails are by no means the worse thing, try gnarled joints, crocodile crepey skin and unmentionable stains that may be mud but probably are horse poo because I forgot to wash them before leaving the yard! funny how there is no direct skin to skin contact when change is handed over! At the horse feed merchant they are far more tolerant and even admire my hairdo complete with wisps of hay sticking out of it!

So I'm back home and it's time for human food - yes! the hands did get washed! So onward and upward with a few domestic chores then it's back into office space for website update/e-mails in and out/ trustee stuff/ fundraising stuff/ accounts ( argh!) interupted by yet another plod up and down the lane with pre mentioned hounds from hell. Postman arrives to a joyous doggy aria and yay it's a big parcel from N.A.F. - excellent and well held as I negoiate the mass of hairy beasts hell bent on killing me by tripping...Willow's people have sent a nice letter too..lovely... replies are in order.
Phone calls and especially visitors are light relief and very very welcome most days - though squeezing them into the shoe box office before THE MOVE was always quite interesting and now and again a little intimate!
And at 5-o-clock or thereabouts we go back to the yard and do the same things all over again and another working day is almost done and before long, after tea and another doggy walk, it's a shower and then bedtime. So you see, there isn't much space is there...but ...Tomorrow I'm going to do it different
Tomorrow I'll find a few extra hours and fill it with creative things like bottling fruit or planting up bulbs in the winter pots, deep cleaning the kitchen, re-filling the loo roll holder, polishing windows.... but wait! tomorrow there'll be even less time to spare, the nights are drawing in fast now...it looks like it'll have to wait till spring...

If anyone knows who to stretch time tell me...I need at least another 3 hours of daylight each day please!

Where we do The Office- EMW-UK style

2010-09-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

In a word - ARGH!!! Moving office must come somewhere in the top 5 of all time stressful happenings in a normally organised persons life. The time had definitely come to do this and as the opportunity to move into a slightly bigger porta-cabin-y thingy came up it was grasped in both hands. The day dawned, after the usual sanctuary work was done and brekkie duly eaten, and so the office move began. First of all the 'prep' of the shed on wheels was necessary, amazing to discover the floor was indeed blue not mud brown and how much pleasanter the aroma of lemon bleach than sweaty armpit and gallons of spilled tea!
I'm a great believer in less is more but to get less in meant adding more by way of a folding table to hold the incidental dross from old office before it could be stashed in new office. folding table outside is not immense, inside new office it became as huge as suitable for a banquet of 20! maneuvering the file chest, desk, table chairs filing cabinet and various odd desk tops involved some pretty nifty footwork. The old office, now mostly defunct of it's purpose, glaringly showed just how many spiders and other various wild creatures had been sharing with me, not a pleasant thought! Much dusting and de-cobwebbing has taken place of incoming furniture and fittings to rid new office of lodgers!
Connecting up the I.T system and gubbins went reasonable easy although opening the file chest may prove interesting - even electrocuting if done wrong! One slight irritation is once everything was inside and in place we discovered a small gradient to the right which means I'm sitting compensating for the 'lean' by bracing one leg against the drift! I also have no blind or curtains and facing out into the darkness could be a tad scary should I be burning the midnight oil - Note to self, remedy this asap!

I think I know where most things are now and I am thrilled to be able to stretch out and work on uncluttered surfaces as well as have a small table and chairs for visitors and meetings, I no longer have chickens roaming in and out, passing traffic from outdoors to kitchen/downstairs loo, dont' have all the dogs asleep in lines ready to trip me on my way out, but best of all I now go out to work away from home- be that only about 10 feet from the back door, it's still out!

where things can easily go wrong

2010-09-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

It's never easy doing this job. Here's our dilemma list:-
Intaking horses/ponies - you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Being offered horses on a daily basis you know you have to say "No" or you'd soon be stacking them 5 deep! no one can care for very long if numbers become un-managable. Define that number? Can only say our own 'quota' is no more than 15 maximum. That is on scupulously clean ground of almost 17 acres, with yard and barns/stabling and with a daily volunteer squad of no less than 3 people. Having said that I try hard not to exceed 12, we like to give quality care.
Caring for horses/ponies - you need to know the horse to mend the inside that takes time, hence our slow 'turnaround' By the way- mending the outside is the easy bit!
Loaning out - well, those homes on offer are usually 100% but every now and again you know you wouldn't put a rocking horse in 'that' yard let alone a real one (There are sleepless nights thinking maybe someone else did place a real one there though) that's why we ask you a zillion questions and come look at your home on offer. That's also why we don't ask you to pay a 'loaning' fee - or whatever is current fashion for a sum of money that changes hands when animals move from sanctuary to loan home. Our aim is the right and best home for the charity owned horse we are placing the rest is incidental.
Final day- here's the hard one. Choosing the day -if the horse doesn't do it for you ( and you hope to God he doesn't because you'll have left it that one day too late maybe) there is no right day. I know that, you know that. We all just do our best. Horses are living longer these days, better care, less physical work. Ages ranging upwards of 25 to 30 are common nowadays but no matter what age you'll know your oldie is heading towards the end when that certain expression of joy leaves his lovely old face, when he looks weary and things start to get hard for him, when the others in his herd (big or small) start to shun him you know the time is almost there.Not easy is it ....
So that's a few of the things us sanctuary lot face daily/weekly/seasonally in the course of doing the job.
When we get it right we must only intake numbers of horses and ponies that we know we can comfortably cope with, adequately care for and financially support.
When we get it right we get recovering horses/ponies fit and well that can then go on and do their 'jobs' in good loan homes outside of the sanctuary or rescue yard.
And that tricky final day? We hope to get that right most of the time because if we know our horses, really know them, haven't overstocked ourselves, have time to love and spend time with each of them, then we'll know that we chose one day too soon than that one day too late.

Doing the best you can isn't about awards or patting ourselves on the back or silly Brownie point scoring against other organisations, it's about the welfare of these vulnerable animals who depend upon us sanctuaries for their well being.
EMW-UK do our very best to step up to the mark but if you think we need nudging along please nudge us.
You can help to support this UK Equine Welfare charity today by following our Blog or by donating in many ways www.emwuk.org.uk

Where we take stock, look ahead and dig deep

2010-09-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Well Summer is about done with then. Mind you we've had a few decent days and some nice heat/sunshine. All the horses and ponies are getting that 'plumped up pillow' look as heavier coats grow in fast - they all look like fat sleek seals!
They'll all be travelling with us through the winter, all have been passed OK to do so, Beau is going to have some extra dentistry done - there must a few teeth in his mouth somewhere - as he's noticably a bit 'odd' about eating in the last few days - loose tooth maybe? and we are close to the worm sample testing date again before we go ahead and EQUIMAX our residents

The haylage is done/baled/stacked/paid for and we've got our top up supplies on stand by from our brilliant suppliers - stored in their barns for our convenience until we need it delivered.
So now we look ahead and wonder how we'll be doing come the dark and hard slog days of December nad January. We know that right now, even before Winter closes in, lots of small charities are struggling to find funds and horses are in trouble. We don't wnat to see EMW-UK go that way so we are digging deep and stepping up our fundraisers to bring in extra.
We know we may get called upon to help out with horses who are in need of safety and care so have kept back a few spaces and funds to turn their lives around.
We've got a full programme of fundraisers ahead but the desperate need for replacement transport is the major issue for us. One again we have to plead for help.To replace our box we need circa £2000 This is money we just don't have to spare. All our funds right now have to be allocated for winter feed and care. If you have a lorry or trailer you could donate to this charity or ar eprepared to fund our replacement vehicle please please contact us emw@emwuk.org.uk or 07870860825 We appreciate your support but horses lives depend upon it..Here's how we intend to raise extra money for this charity - from a table top tack sale to a Halloween quiz evening to Trustee Elaine running various sponsored distances for the charity ( look out for her lurking around the lanes of Bromyard and district in training!) to a Pudding Party, to a Carol singing marathon and even an offering to do a ladies only lorry sponsored lorry pull!! and on May 28th 2011 we have a fantastic triple marathon you can sponosr Brian Seddon in his attempt to ride/cycle and run 3 marathon distances in just one day!!! Our fundraisers will move mountains in fact suggest it and we'll get on it! emw@emwuk.org.uk Come back soon and see more details

Where Good Things Happen Too

2010-08-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

There's some serious THANKS to give out right now. What a difference a few days makes. I'm not going to do an order or anything because all this help and stuff is great no matter where I've put it on here but I'm going to say why it's great as well
OK...here they come.

EMW Jim is pictured because he's been lame and we'd thought it was sorted but he came in hopping lame again on Monday morning so first BIG thanks go to ....
Roger from Belmont@Bromyard our brill vets for making the old ex-racer comfy again. Lots of cutting away of hoof and pressure release done and Jim is back on all 4 and one brown happy chappy.

Next big THANKS go to the wonderful company NAF-UK who support this charity through thick, fat and thin. They rallied to the call - without even being called! - and came up with a fabby box of their care products for all our residents needing their individual goodies...hugs for Kate and Elouise. NAF-UK supplements will support and mend our needy neddies thats for sure.

OK then next on my list is THANKS to this guy, Brian Seddon, for fast becoming a serious EMW-UK hero in our eyes. This guy is going to take on a whopping challenge on May 28th 2011. In just one day Brian will Run a Marathon, Cycle a Marathon and Ride a Marathonon a horse( possibly more than one) and all to raise funds for charity of which EMW-UK havve proudly been chosen as one. Fess up Press and give us a bit of advertising on this one!

GIANT Thanks go next to the fabby folk at GIVEACAR for sorting us out a brilliant press release which is beginning to bring in results as I write this blog. Released to several local and more distant newspapers they have opened doors for thsi charity. If you fancy adding your scrap to that already pledged, click the link above and talk to the guys there...your old horse power can be turned into a different kind of horse power here ..power for horses! the power that it gives us is financial which allows horses to LIVE!
No smaller THANKS go to Lucy G for donating the money she has made from selling the eggs from her hens. What a star.Thanks Lucy it's really appreciated.See how simple things like what Lucy has done can make a massive difference too. Talk to us about what you can do to help, just like lucy did.

Always HUGE thanks head the way of trustee Jane Jackson, tirelessy working her butt off for this hard pressed charity. Wish we had a gold star because Jane deserves one. Anyone know of any awards going where we can nominate her as a reward for her dedication and hard work?
Next and never out of the frame are our ongoing and sincere thanks to all our wonderful - wet ! - volunteers for placidly putting up with persistant down pours of p*ddling precipitation! You'll know them when you see them - most have developed flippers, webbed feet and gills! Not wanting to type that lot again in a rush either!
Another BIG FANK-OO go to our Hero's at BROMYARD TYRES for fixing the traitorous Trooper fast and without hesitation in all the horrid rain - it has a knack of being sickly when we need it most! Those guys have definately earned their tin of sweeties at Christmas this year already!

Lastly for today ( but by no means the only person worthy of mention, just the memory cells of the blogger beginning to fail!) I'll say a big big big CHEERS GUYS to you all who support, RT on Twitter, Share on FB, answer our pleads and begs on Saddle-Up forum and prop us up when we have a bad week like the one before last...IN FACT ALL YOU GUYS ROCK - SO TAKE A BOW!
Without you kind people, little guys like EMW Musky (left) - living in his forever home with Trustee Amy - would not have found a place of safety within this charity.

MUSKY says "ON BEHALF OF ALL EMW-UK HORSES AND PONIES A BIG THANK YOU TOO"

Where it's all OUCH and despondency

2010-08-16T04:55:00.000-07:00

Why did I push myself? why try for a stupid time over 5km? Well too late No point gnashing gums over the 'if only's' I did that 5km in just over 15mins and felt like an Olympian that evening.... only to pay a whopping penalty for such vanity the next day and ever since.
The right knee is seriously sore even with a patella band on it and backing right off the speed ( I could seriously walk fast than I'm running right now argh! )
Taking advice from them in the know I've now restricted my running exercise to zilch for a few days and bought some glucosamine chondroitin MSM
I could cry, I so want to be out there doing not sat inside getting lazy again...dog walking is okay but Pearl Fat Lab can't cope with bright sunshine and it does trigger her fits so we're confined to the gloom of early morning/evening which in turn restricts distance...Can you feel the first wave of despondency yet?

Here's the second wave...how much more slog does it take to get income in for charities? I'm running myself ragged, know that Jane is doing likewise if not more, appreciate that several other trustees have got health issues and troubles but for ****'s sake COME ON!!!
We can only survive for so long before going under, weighed down by outgoings we can't meet and a slide off of income it's like working on the side of an icy mountain right now.
Remember this EMW-UK the charity has NO waged staff, just insane volunteers who should be certified for working as hard as they do for nothing much in return except horses and ponies being brought back to good health from walking skeletons, horses and ponies who have regained their trust in humans once more after suffering terribly in evil hands, except seeing young foals grow into confident mature horses, except for knowing that there are super homes out there with kind people and that a placed horse will live his life out in that home but that, just incase, he still has this charity safety net underneath him.

Right now things are the toughest they have been - ever.
Listen up, I'm no fient hearted willowy thing, I'm tough and strong and I will carry this charity on my shoulders but there will come a time when I can't...so what then, do we shoot all residents? do we walk away?.....you tell me, answers on a postcard...but here's the crack, if you want equine welfare in places like auctions and want a charity that will speak to you direct, if you want a safety net under horses no matter how small then HELP in anywhichway you can...and do it today.

Okay nag over, who wants the EMW-UK need list top 10 again?....answer is All of you do! so here it is... running in order of need not fantasy - see 9 and 10 for lottery win dream land!

1) URGENT NEED - AS IN YESTERDAY - OF REPLACEMENT TRANSPORT FOR THE CHARITY TO USE - BE THAT LORRY OR TRAILER
Any help/donation of vehicle in full running order/donation of funds to purchase said vehicle. Business support welcome, we'll carry your logo and advertising on everything and it's brother. Tell us what, we'll do it.

2) Mobile field shelters/stables, we need 2 decent size ones - 20x10 - on skids. Again donations/company support all really appreciated. We got one last year and it's in full whack use which has shown us how much more 2 extra ones would enable us to do, how many more horses/ponies desperate for a sanctuary place we could take on board .
3) Anyone got a quad? we haven't but could get such huge use from one and if there was a trailer on it wow - you'd be our new best friends! Imagine that, easy poo picking twice a day every day of the year for our volunteers.
4) A strange one now, anyone run a porta loo business? we could use one on a kind of free to us contract in the yard but need you to be able to do the emptying etc...

5) We need another 20 stable mats, New or used, our horses aren't fussy Would make for easier mucking out and for those with COPD an absolute necessity.
6) Always happy to accept donations of hay but sadly, unless 1) is fulfilled can't collect it so any offered could delivery be included if possible? hugely appreciated
7) Feed companies - in particular BAILEYS - any chance of some free feed over the Winter months for our older resident horses? Just half our monthly usage would make a big difference to funding needs. That equates to 8 mix andhey! SPILLERS - how about helping us out with HAPPY HOOF? We'll happily accept 6 bags a month and love you for it!

8) Think we must have a gremlin in the tack store...it's the case of the vanishing pony size headcollars??? We are overjoyed to accept copious amounts of these..

9) Now we're getting silly but hey ho...who's got some land we can use close to Bromyard? We would love a redundant cattle yard with lots of lovely concrete for our fat ponies to use for summer slimming and nice warm barn for our old boys in the winter -cosy and easy to travel to and from for volunteers.

OKAY HERE IT COMES..THE ONE WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR..AND LOTTERY WINNERS/MILLIONAIRES VERY WELCOME!

NUMBER 10

This charity currently does not own any ground and that's fine but to ensure it's future and security for it's horses and ponies

All singing all dancing number 10 asks for a bequeath of stables and grazing in the name of EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK We will be pleased to discuss any conditions and proposals if our good luck fairy waves her sparkly magic wand and this dream comes true.

For all the above you can e-mail emw@emwuk.org.uk or talk to a real person on 07870860825

Where we need to beg for transport replacement

2010-08-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

He was an old blue B-reg Beford TK, he was good and strong and best of all he came as a donation, fully road legal, and he's been a star but, as with all aging things ( me included) there's only so much mileage left and no more and then you come to the end.

We've come to the end, there is no more.

So here's the bottom line - though it's not as there's more to come - this charity is cash strapped, our meagre reserves we need to hold tight to for Winter feeding.

Our Lorry/Box needs replacing asap to allow us to continue to use the transport for lots of things all the time as we always have.

As well as transporting horses and ponies to and from the sanctuary, near Bromyard, it is constantly in use for fetching hay and straw and other goods that are donated to the charity to help raise funds. Part of the process of rehabilitation of sanctuary horse, prior to them leaving the farm is teaching them to load onto a lorry without fear, a good step towards them being able to go on to new homes.
Getting poor needing horses in and sick ones to the vet, bringing in poorly foals, in-foal mares, those in trouble.

We need funds to replace the old lorry or perhaps another very kind donation of a road worthy lorry/trailer capable of carrying 2 or more ponies and horses up to height of 16hh. If you want to donate LORRY APPEAL marking your donation just that -LORRY APPEAL - as we need to set aside about £2000 for this.
RUNNING T-SHIRTS

YOUR MIGHT JUST SPOT ME I'LL BE WEARING ONE OF THESE JOBS! Super bright turquoise text on a navy background. I'm ever so willing to accept monetary donations as I run so don't be embarrassed about offering!

I'm doing ok apart from a bit of a patella prob but hoping the new support band will help. I'm getting about 5km a day with longer runs, cycling and strengtheing walks with the super fit dogs added on for good measure. It's getting ever closer to October when we find out if we've got a ballot place in the London virgin Marathon 2011 meanwhile I'm entered for first half marathon up near Keighley on Sept 12th. I'm hoping the knee won't let me down but if it does then I'm on my bike. If you fancy sponsoring me towards all our funding needs follow the same link but mark it EMWrunner.
Weather is grim. Nothing to look forward to either forecasters are all doom and gloom with no change from showery and longer spells of rain ahead right into autumn...oh for some hot sunshine and cheer.

combine harvesters, dusty air and a haircut

2010-08-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

August 2nd..what happened to the 1st? Since the last entry I've been running and cycling and of course working with the resident horses or more to the point weight watching the fatties. I'm pleased with Willow...his COPD apart he's the most slim he's been for years and full of his little rotund hippo-like self as a bonus! Maria took him out for a short ride and said he almost scurried up the lane and was pulling like a train.This is more like the Willow we know. So here's a huge thanks to all at NAF for their help and wonderful products, helping Willow through the annual laminitis season.
So what else? Well the combines are out and about which means we're not! bloody great gargantuan metal monsters grinding and crunching and rumbling from field to field so we can have our daily bread/ sack of horse nosh...okay thanks where it's due and I know the days of gentle idilic horse drawn threashing machines are long gone...but meet one the big modern machines when you are either riding, horse or cycle, or worse on foot and it's dive for the ditch mate! I know when I'm beaten and these monsters are my worse nightmare as a cowardly non-traffic proofed rider.

With the combines comes the air that is almost gritty. The ever present gloomy cloud holding all this dust low down to the ground. Poor old Willow - yes him again - and others with COPD including us longer in the tooth humans - all with raspy throats and voices a 20 -a-day man would be proud to own. Roll on the end of harvest but please can we have some decent warm summer first.

I spent 3 and half days up at the 3 counties showground from Wednesday last week. I was there as a spectator on my 'busmans holiday' dreaming and glorying in the National Arab Horse Show...
Such bliss to see these exquisite horses but it was so cold there! We had our little caravan on site so were considerably better off than many who were in tents. The wind was wickedly chill and the evenings and mornings gloomy. When the sun came out it was glorious but it didn't grace us with it's presence for long on any of the days. While there we rubbed shoulders with some very well known celebs including Rolf Harris, Susan George and Simon McCorkindale and Anthony Head - it's rapidly becoming a who's who of the show biz world! My own mundane life seems flat on return and I've come back with a cold to make things worse. So it's back to daily running and core exercises to keep fitness levels up for future fundraising events and back to poo picking at the sanctuary with the thought that autumn is only a few weeks away now.
I've had a bit of a make over - not before time as little kid were running to hide behind their mothers on sight of me lumbering towards them! The once almost white barnet is now multi coloured and I think I look like I'm wearing a small skunk on my head, a tad Cruella DeVille-ish - come to think of it small children may still run and hide !
My footnote is the usual plea for funds. HELP The situation as I write is that we are almost broke. I'm all out of ideas how to get funds behind this charity and all out of energy. If you can donate follow the website link http://www.emwuk.org.uk and then go the donate.

About what EMW-UK needs most

2010-07-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

About now, 7 months into the year, EMW-UK ( or more so me) start bothering about the onset of Autumn ( just around the corner) followed by Winter and all that brings with it. Now we are down to just one sanctuary - unless a miracle occurs and another base pops up out of nowhere or we win the lottery - I know we are going to be hard pressed to intake any horses/ponies at all. I also know and dread any returns so here's the big ASK list for 2010
To get us through the winter Liz Jones ( patron) has offered 200 bales of smashing meadow hay - here's the but...but how do we fetch it? no lorry anymore, no funds to buy/rent one and no funds for fueling one if offered. Now that's a proper catch 22 situation if ever there was one. We need the hay, it'll save shed loads of money in the long run but we haven't got the fund to do that so will end up paying high for extra hay which in turn will leave us even lower on funds than ever...work it out for yourself... it's a no win situation. So we need either a) kind person with lorry to load and deliver those hay bales covering the cost of the whole thing for the charity or b) various kind and generous people to split the 'event' into chunks they can offer and cover or c) a kind and generous person to cover costs of hiring and fuel and we'll fetch it ourselves.

So that's the first whopping great big ASK

So what's next then? Well, just the usual stuff. We need, always need mobile stabling with skids, the Trooper is not going to last forever and if that goes so does the towing ability so it's either a replacement towing vehicle or a lorry. We always need temporary/foster spaces but this year more than ever so if you've got space, could intake for 3/4/6 months however long it takes then let us know...of course here's the biggest ASK of them all....Top of the tree is a new base, dedicated to the charity with land and stabling and ability to be staffed on site. We know this comes into the realms of bequeath so here we are asking the biggest ASK. Please consider this charity if you are Will making and want to help horses after you are gone...if you want to meet us and talk that's fine, if you want to know more then follow our links and that's fine too. If you still want this charity to be able to stand by it's motto of "We will NOT look away" then include EMW-UK as one of your beneficiaries and help us help those with no one to care.

Busy times

2010-07-12T06:50:00.000-07:00

So it's rained and the grass has perked up a bit. Not great is the constant threat to the fatties who only have to look a blade or grass, head of clover, leaf of dandelion to gain kg's. I know that only too well, not that I graze on a day to day basis but show me a bar of chocolate, cake, packet of biscuits and I'll show you Lardy Laine within days! For ponies of course it's serious stuff, the threat of laminitis is never far off and it's a cruel to be kind regime along with great support from NAF and our brill foot trimmers who keep us on the ball. Talking trimming I'm doing my level best now to keep on top of hoof growth between visits. I've invested in one of these jobs RIDERS RASP Now Sara, one of our foot care team says, Yep, this is good, I'm still getting to grips with it, literally, it feels odd after using a traditional flat rasp.
Take a look at this article here to help sort out problems with flares ( not the jeans type ones but maybe the Genes type!)
A different day ahead tomorrow. I'm off representing the charity on a complimentary place to the next Animal Welfare meeting in London. We can't thank the organisers enough for this opportunity to attend this series of symposiums and keep up with what is happening and what this charity needs to be aware of in our day to day business.
Huge thanks to all who are standing firm behind us, placing a financial safety net underneath us and generally holding this charity above water through these difficult times. Without you all we would not be able to continue to say "We will NOT look away"

July news and ups and downs

2010-07-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

Okay so now we've gone from freezing winter and Spring to dry and humid hot Summer..who's complaining? not me..although I reckon the horses probably prefer the cooler weather with no flies. For us human volunteers it's a bit of "summer time and the the livin' is easy"

Hey! we did the 10km run walk. It actually clocked at closer to 12km but we did it. All 4 of us TEAM-EMW making it back in a decent enough time. The journey up was hard going, screwed up on the google map and with no Sat Nav..what should have been a 4 hr cruise was a getting on for 8 hour marathon. Camp site was alright and the village lovely. We did the walk/run for the FSI challenge then walked again in the evening, addicted or what. We stayed over on the Saturday night and that was alright but it rained and getting off in the morning with soaking tents was no joke. Tired but exuberant we got back home.

The end of June brought WHOLE HORSE WEEKEND. wow it was a blast. Numbers well up on 2009 and with glorious weather - rapidly becoming the trade mark of this event - it was a great weekend of fantastic demos, horses, people and socialising all in the picturesque setting of Rowanoak Training Crug Farm Brecon and courtesy of Nick and Pam Sanders and family.

All our brilliant Demo-ers had a ball, Adam Sheriston ever charismatic drew big crowds in, Vanessa and Phillip from Horse Agility brought in the new concept of fun with your horses and got loads of kids interested and working ponies through all manner of obstacles and track. The dog show was really well supported and as ever the Saddle Chariot held the attention of everyone on site. The camping was amazing, views made in heaven, great food and lovely atmosphere. Nick will be announcing dates for 2011 very soon so watch this space.
Huge and grateful thanks to all who gave their time and expertise and of course money making this event a big fundraiser for EMW-UK The charity hopes to be in attendance next year.

CHANGES TO EMW-UK We are sad to announce the closure of the EMW Wales yard as Siobhan, for personal reasons, feels no longer able to run her yard this way. Our most grateful thanks go to Siobhan and family for all the hard work and dedication given over the last 12 or so years. running a sanctuary is no mean feat. Siobhan will continue as Trustee and support the fund raising efforts of the charity.
Unfortunately the end of EMW-Wales means the charity is now reduced to one yard and as such is under pressure to intake any more horses/ponies at this time. We hope that other options may come available and welcome help and support or offers of premises for charity use to enable this charity to continue to offer care and support for horses in trouble. If you can help at all please do contact Elaine on 07870860825 or e-mail emw@emwuk.org.uk

JULY SUPPORT THANKS goes out to all our friends who help to keep this charity working and also to N.A.F. for their continued assistance with all things supplement. We would also like to thank hardworking Trustee Jane who is constantly beavering away finding new and inventive ways of bringing in much needed funding. Thanks go of course to our Patrons who also work hard to help the charity. I can't finish without adding a huge thanks to all who have EMW-UK horses/ponies on loan, in the last month Dewi has left us for pastures new with Jenny, Dylan has moved from long term EMW loan home with Mel ( still an EMW loaner and always a port in a storm for this charity for which we are hugely grateful) to start his ridden career with Sophie who will be getting to grips with him once the holidays are here. EMW Only and Jackson have also moved to new homes along with EMW Sunshine who will off to her new home very soon.

We are still hoping to help the young pony Silver find a companion place and also have a couple of bigger horses still in need of new homes but all are not ridden prospects. Please contact us if you can offer any space or grazing options. emw@emwuk.org.uk

FSI CHARITY CHALLENGE

2010-05-26T05:18:00.000-07:00

LONDON, 25 May 2010
EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK Runners get set for the 2010 FSI Challenge
The training is about to pay off for four committed runners when the starting gun is fired at the 2010 FSI Challenge on June 5th.
Held at Thornbridge, the Derbyshire home of entrepreneur and philanthropist Emma Harrison, the Challenge offers free places to small charitiesEQUINIE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK has four runners taking part, raising vital funds to support our work.
Harrison, who is Chairman of the FSI, said, “We are delighted to be opening the gates of Thornbridge to all participating small charities so they can raise funds and enjoy a great day out.”
She added, “The FSI was set up to support small charities in building sustainable best practice in all their fundraising and operations; much of this comes from learning and development opportunities, but it is great to have days like this that focus on the fun aspects of our work. The Challenge is in its third year and will see more charities than ever taking part. It is free for the charities to take part and we encourage them all to be inventive in their activities on the day.”
Elaine Tasker, spokesperson for EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK, explained how fundraising initiatives like these are essential, “Without these fundraising initiatives being made available to smaller charities we would be struggling even more than we already are, and especially in this kind of economic climate. Animal charities are always at the bottom of the list for donations and horse charities are at the bottom of the bottom! This charity is hoping our sponsorship goes a long way to covering our winter hay and haylage costs of over £3000. If anyone would like to sponsor our four runners, Siobhan Lord, Alice Lord, Henrietta Daly and myself, please go to our JustGiving page http://www.justgiving.com/EMWFSIchallenge”.
This year’s Challenge has 4km and 10km routes through some of the loveliest parts of the Peak District, with an emphasis on enjoyment and participation. The small field of runners offers each small charity a greater opportunity to have a visible profile and raise funds to support their work.
The FSI Challenge is delivered free-of-charge by the FSI as part of a programme of national fundraising events aimed at delivering additional income for small charities.

Putting them out on loan and things

2010-05-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

It's always a sad day when the babies we've taken in and nurtured, taught and grown fond of leave us for pastures new, going into loan homes where they will become useful in whatever job they are asked to do. These two are no exception. Dylan went into a loan home first and has been gone a ffew years now. Dylan was always the braver of the pair of half brothers that we brought home from an auction on a cold winter afternoon in 2006 where buyers were few and many, no matter how nicely bred, went on one way trips. Taking them from an uncertain future and giving them time to become mature is always pleasing work. These two were no exception.Our volunteers, Maria, Laura, Astrid and Sophia have all played a part in their education. When Dylan left (and then subsequently moved on) Dewi had to become more outgoing. Through his babyhood we gently taught him to lead, have his feet trimmed, be caught by all of us, groomed, be wormed, load and just recently long reined and finally bitted nad backed. He learned many and other varied things that are important in a young ponies' life and has ended up a really nice sensible pony.

I watched him leave for his loan home today, he's was 4 years old on May 22nd. It was like sending a family member off, a bit sad but knowing it was in his best interests. He did us proud and loaded like he's always done it. He's gone to be compaion for now but we hope he will in time become much more but that is insignificant because the most important thing is that he's a really 'nice person' GOOD LUCK DEWI .

The horror story of the James Gray cruelty case

2010-05-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/judgments_guidance/gray-others-rspca-judgment-05052010.pdf

You can read it for yourself -if you can stomach it follow the link above - but it isn't for the feint-hearted. I thought I was tough, thought I'd seen it as bad as it can get, and yes, we've seen horses near to death and dead but this...this is beyong all comprehension. How could these people go to their beds at night knowing those horses had nothing, some of them not even the luxury of being able to lie down albeit in filth? How could a youth of 15 drive his foot into a recumbant dying horse? and worse of all how could a qualified veterinary surgeon dismiss the clear evidence in front of him as alright?

Please please sign the EMW-UK Welfare petition where we pledge to you we will fight to get the changes needed so that cases like this will never ever happen again. We are calling for many changes, most in line with the excellent N.E.W.C. Code of Practice but as well we want to see ALL horse dealers licensed and accountable by way of monthly statutory yard inspections. We also want a cap put on the amount of equines that anyone private person can purchase from anyone auction at any one time. If you deal in horses you get licensed and inspected, statutory, if you are a private buyer you can only take two horses at a time and a cap should be set on any private owners of no more than four horses at one time before some form of licensing comes into play. It's pointless chipping and passporting horses when the owners have no culpability.
This is what EMW-UK is aiming towards.

SIGN TODAY AND LET US MAKE THESE CHANGES FOR THE BETTER

http://www.petitiononline.co.uk/petition/support-of-campaign-to-tighten-the-1990-statutory-order-no2627/109/

EMW-UK 2010 WELFARE CAMPAIGN Sign our petition today

2010-05-05T07:52:00.000-07:00

Please support our online petition asking for tightening of the 1990 Statutory Instrument no.2627 Welfare of Horses at Market and other places of sale.
SIGN HERE

APRIL MARKETS

2010-04-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

HENLEY APRIL 4th
" The poor mare was very tucked up, with a huge swollen udder so guessing she must have had her foal taken from her very recently.
There was a tiny yearling colt with deformed legs I hope that you can see from the picture, his hind legs were very long from the stifle to the hock and his front ones were sort of knock kneed, much more noticeable when he walked
The bay, looked dejected and lean, a few weeks of good care would have seen him ok. The bay horse was thinner than he looked on the photo, so sad looking too although none of them had neglected feet.
The mare, in particular, needed urgent veterinary treatment in my opinion.

Ponies tied near each other were fighting and other lean, sad, but not so bad ones. I could easily have bought the mare and her companion, but had nowhere to isolate her from my own. The RSPCA and vet were in attendance. Why do they not confiscate the sick ones? The mare should never have been allowed to go into the auction, the owners should be held to account for the condition that she was in.
the photos I will also be sending them to the RSPCA

I don't think any of the photos show how sick the mare looked. The black pony, being ridden by the youth, was covered in bare patches and sores, the weight factor of the rider will probably not be an issue!

The sale was very busy and in my opinion was the worst one –re welfare - for a long time

The next one is on May.1st and I will be there. I haven't yet had a reply back yet from the RSPCA.

Report by PW.

BRECON 17th April- The same roan mare was on sale at Brecon today.
Her nose was clean but the swelling still very much visible on her head and she is very thin but her bag had gone down a bit, she was sold as a 12 year old brood mare for 160 guineas.
We were unable to discover where she had come from due to there being no catalogues at todays auction.
It seemed to be a bring and sell/pay out on the day although that wasn't confirmed.
We were told that there was no vet nor LAHO but the 'market welfare' girl was there and would look any in need of inspection including possibly thesame shetland from Henley.
This one was also lame with an odd action on his off side back fetlock but he still went through,
The auction today was a mix of very nice horses/ponies but also some in poor condition re feet and skin and wounds. One very poor dark bay TB didnt go through the ring, had she, we would have brought her home and two donkey foals in matted really dirty condition looked very sad indeed. They did well through the ring and found a really nice home.
The whole market scenario during this recession appears to be getting worse. This is not aimed at any market in particular but at markets in general. We need to get the 1990 stat instrument changed to encorporate at least some of the NEWC guidelines and it needs to happen fast .
As soon as this election is over EMW intend to instigate a meeting with relevant ministers to ask that the clarity of legislation is addressed asap.
No doubt in the coming we will be looking at another 10 years before anything really changes
We hate the apathy and 'right way' of doing things because nothing ever gets done to help animals right here and right now.

Our view of Public Policy Exchange symposium March 17th London

2010-03-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

SUMMARY OF LONDON MEETING 1 WHITEHALL PLACE LONDON RE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT 2006 – 3 YEARS ON.
Public Policy Exchange symposium
Assess the progress made since the introduction of the Animal Welfare Act 2007
Identify and discuss new challenges faced by local authorities and their partners
Consider solutions to tackling the root causes of animal cruelty through better education and stronger enforcement
Pioneer new innovative and sustainable strategies to improve animal welfare
Discuss how to make best use of funding and increase partnership working

Siobhan and Elaine attended this meeting, travelling to London on 16^th for the all day meeting on the 17^th. The event was marred for us by the theft of Elaine’s bag containing her purse with cards, driving license and all the bits and bobs, cash and mobile phone. Sadly the thief got away within seconds, this kind of crime is constant in London and nothing will ever come back of it. We still managed to get to the meeting on time and stayed for the whole day itinerary.

The morning session we found very interesting, relevant to EMW and informative with good connections being made between other attendees although we were disappointed that there was no representation from DEFRA on the day.

There was much talk about Dangerous dogs and the need to deal with these increasing problems within the legislation of the 2006 act.

Although licensing was briefly mentioned it is clearly not going to happen in the near future although the representative from The Dogs Trust confirmed their campaign to micro-chip all dogs. On a lighter note one good suggestion was that the owners should be micro-chipped not the animals! We have to say it was made rather tongue in cheek before supporters of human rights start to shout about it.

During the interaction part of the morning Siobhan mentioned our work in auctions and the numbers of dogs etc we see at unlicensed and unregulated horse fairs, we also mentioned how often we see animals sold by minors to minors, something many people there were not aware of. Caging was also mentioned and very briefly the licensing of livery yards which I know is a matter this charity is very concerned about.

After lunch during the second panel session of the day we heard how various councils are dealing with anti social behaviour/dangerous dogs and other aspects of Animal Health officers work. It was also relevant tot the way EMW works as one of our first contacts when animals are in trouble outside of our areas is LAHO.

Education was mooted but again we pointed out how hard it is to try to impress upon those who commit abuse and use animals as weapons that what they are doing is not the right way to care for animals they own. We were shown PowerPoint presentations of fighting dogs, appalling injuries inflicted by people who have no regard for animals at all and only interested in the financial gain they can get from either fighting the dogs or by breeding litter after litter of puppies to earn income with no regard to the welfare of those pups.

Shelters are at bursting point, we all know that and it was confirmed by those representatives from dog shelters, with the percentages of bull breeds being held huge to that of other breeds, and fact that few people want status type dogs let alone family type breeds.

At the end of the meeting we were encouraged to complete feedback forms asking for suggestions for other topics, we both suggested more discussion on equine welfare with an emphasis on livery yard licensing and control.

Just today I have received a report about a badly run livery yard but unfortunately, as it stands, they are meeting minimum care standards and until more legislation, high standards of care and tightly controlled licensing comes in there is precious little we can do to end the misery of horses kept this way. The definition of Livery yard needs to be ascertained but generally if you have horses belonging to more two or more persons on your yard and you accept payment for those facilities used you may be classed as a livery yard. You are however liable for the duty of care for those horses and answerable to the relevant areas of the 2006 Welfare Act.

We will most certainly be attending future meetings that are relevant to changes in equine welfare.

Walking our way to fitness

2010-03-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

So it's March 4th and that means tomorrow it's just 13 weeks to the CHARITY CHALLENGE 10 k walk/run.

The fitness plan is really coming along for Siobhan and for me and for the dogs and for everybody else I can coerce into coming along too! The dogs and me are stepping it out now and getting a good 5 k daily with extra walking morning and evening doing the usual poo picking at the sanctuary over a good 10 acres or so every day, twice a day.

On Monday and then again on Wednesday we did the Wall Hills walk.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/113497

A huge upward climb from home but with fabulous views across the valley. You can understand why it was used as a fortress in Iron age times. Below the hamlet of Thornbury nestles along the little stream in the valley.

There are some pretty impressive trees along the lower ridge of the old fort. Great ones with twisted trunks smoothed by the soil that must blast off the wall above in winter storms.
It's great to be out there and the Derby fundraiser is really having a huge impact healthwise on me and the whole family. Now we just need loads of sponsorship for the charity to help us keep going and maybe taking on new challenges to complete aas we get ever stronger. Even the fat lab is losing her tummy!

things that make us go ahhhh

2010-03-01T11:48:00.000-08:00

Turning the horses out today with no rugs was such a pleasure. Seeing their sleek well covered bodies again in sunlight and much warmer than for ages brought it home that this job isn't always so bad. Remind me of that when the rain comes back and I'm wading, possibly with one foot only in a sock, in ankle deep boot sucking sludge! Look at that view and you can almost breath in the pure air of this first day of March in Herefordshire. The never ending muck shifting never seems so bad when the sun shines, the carting of haylage and placing it in neat piles on the drying ground is almost an art form, the gathering of the old spoilt haylage with our little rakes and adapted snow shovels seems easy-peasy, almost pleasurable as we see the bright shoots of grass appear into the daylight above. Funny how the beginning of March has the effect of turning a page in the book of seasons. I'm almost in my summer mode now and thoughts of shorts and ankle boots and cleaning off the rugs and putting away the haynets all spring to mind on a day like today. It's just good to see all our young and old horses and it's just good to be alive.

EXCELLENT ADVICE REGARDING WORMING HORSES & MORE

2010-02-24T03:14:00.000-08:00

This is what I've been saying for years and years about worming and what nature intends.

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=15854

Read and learn then contact

Westgate Laboratories Postal Worm Egg Count Service. Answering your questions about organising and using worm counts to help you care for your horse.
www.westgatelabs.co.uk/

While on the subject of how nature takes care and 'intends' think about the fly thing in summer. We coat our horses and fat ponies in chemical laden sprays and potions then wonder why they get so fat... it's because they don't have to move about as much to escape the flies. In nature horses would find natural fly free places...where the breeze kept the flies at bay, or they would stand together using what nature intended them to use - long tails and long manes - to whisk the flies away from each other. Most of the day during summer months would have been spent moving around, not eating.

Clear the droppings from your meadows and add temporary shade if needs be with tarps but let nature take care of her own and keep those horses moving around.

support this charity and walk/run/crawl 10k with us

2010-02-23T04:50:00.000-08:00

EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries

Reg.Charity 1114700

HORN COTTAGE

THORNBURY

BROMYARD

HR7 4NH

Saturday 5th June 2010

Thornbridge Hall, Derbyshire

This June, the gates of Thornbridge Hall in Derbyshire swing open as small charities come together for the FSI Challenge, a day that mixes fundraising and family fun to benefit small charities that support communities right across the UK. Equine Market Watch Sanctuaries UK are using this opportunity to ask supporters to enter to raise money for us.

The Challenge is a fun run/walk with 4 and 10 km courses that are suitable to all ages with a reasonable level of fitness. The route takes you through some of the most scenic parts of the Peak District, after which you can relax in the grounds of Thornbridge Hall, the country home of Emma Harrison (Chair of the FSI).

If you don’t live close to Derbyshire, why not make a weekend of it? Thornbridge Hall is just 15 miles from Chatsworth House and some stunning walks/views in the Peak District.

Get in touch with us at: emw@equinemarketwatch.org.uk or TEXT to 07870860825 or POST to

EMW Sanctuaries UK

HORN COTTAGE

THORNBURY

BROMYARD

HR7 4NH

07870860825

and we will send you a registration form and runner’s pack.

With thanks to the FSI there is no registration fee so all funds you raise for us go straight to our cause

Find out more about the FSI here: www.thefsi.org (Registered Charity Number: 1123384)

TROUBLED TIMES - AN EMPTY WOMB

2010-02-20T06:02:00.000-08:00

This charity received on average 5 calls a week during 08/09 from members of the public either reporting neglect concerns or asking for help placing equines in sanctuary. During late 09 up until now that number has rocketed with averages being 20 to 30 calls each week.

Many calls are of fields full of scraggy wormy mares with foals at foot and disturbingly clearly in foal yet again.

What point these worthless babies being born? In many auctions, even with the passport and microchip legislation foals are still barely scraping above transportation and auction entry costs. Surely it would be better for the native breeds and mixed cobs in general if mares were not used as breeding machines churning out worthless unwanted offspring like clockwork? Surely on the grounds of welfare it would be better for the animals not to be bred from in harsh conditions when incomes of owners are uncertain? This charity has always been against the indiscriminate breeding of valueless foals but now we ask all considering breeding to think long and hard. Can you keep the foal? Can you afford to keep the mare well and can you assure both mare and foal security away from the slaughterhouse floor? Empty womb. It’s no bad thing.
HELP US TO CONTINUE TO CAMPAIGN AND SUPPORT OUR WORK BY DONATING HERE

Latest News from our EMW Wales Sanctuary

2010-02-18T06:01:00.000-08:00

Here in wintery Wales, we are very relieved to be nearing the end of a verycold winter, although it is snowing heavily outside as I type. We have been joined this winter by, new resident, Ross. A wonderful 20
old cob type, who has taken it upon himself to play daddy to youngsters,Flyn and Beamer. He is not always very patient with them but they bothadore him so he must be doing something right!
Our other new boy, Eddie (EMW Wizard) has wintered well. Eddie has had a very traumatic past and due to very rough handling, he will not allow us near his head. With the help of heavy sedatives, Eddie was castrated last November. We managed to get a head collar on him after two days and believe that with the correct handling Eddie will respond well and have a happy and useful life ahead of him.

Bramble, the sweet little Shetland mare, came back from loan as her companion was joining the RDA. She is available for loan as a companion, ridden or driving pony.
Bramble has been used for the Saddle Chariot in the past. Check the web site for more details.
For all those who remember Atom,

he is doing well, has no sign of his
past medical problems recurring and back in work and is on loan locally!
Well done to all those who gave to his appeal, it really was worth it.

Enrique, the mule was backed last week. It was very interesting as mules are so different to other equines and need to be made to think it was all there idea in the first place. Hopefully we made it all into a game and it all went very well.Enrique is such a bright boy and needs to have his energy channeled into something good!
With spring round the corner we are once again on the campaign trail,with a visit to Westminster next month, then attendance at UK markets we have not managed to cover in person recently .
It's all small steps, however last year,after much complaining, we were instrumental in the end to several horse fairs. This, for this charity ,makes it all worth while.

We will NOT look away- but will you?

2010-02-13T04:51:00.000-08:00

How many times and in how many ways can we tell you how bad things are?
This blog is here for day to day stuff but right now the lack of funds and regular income for this charity is having a huge impact on moral for everyone of us who volunteers and works -unwaged and buying their own uniforms - within this charity. Right now we are at a huge crossroads.
Do we keep on doing our very best to help ponies like little Fin (left) sold in auction for £2.00 at just 3 months old, weak and frightened, and only saved from the meat lorries by the kind donation of those few pounds, a few pounds that this charity desperately scrapes up each month to keep our financial heads above water. If it wasn't for the subsidisation that comes from our own private income then EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK would have gone under a long time ago and the little ponies that this charity has helped, like Fin, would have faced the horror of journey on meat lorries and abattoir end.

Our accounts last year put us firmly in the red and 09/10 accounts are depressingly showing once again that the previous year of deficit will widen this year. With monthly feed costs alone at well over £500 and monthly income, on average, at less than £200 it doesn't take genius to realise how things are.
Our sanctuaries 4x4's are clapped out and we have no funds to replace them nor can we take out lease contracts, our income just isn't there, yet the workload at both yards relies heavily upon these vehicles. when they are gone I don't know what will do. I have already this year had to walk 5 miles in severe weather carrying a full 5 gallon bucket of feed when EMW Herefordshire4x4 failed. I don't know how much longer I will be capable of such dickensian work and do the usual jobs at the yard out in subzero temps morning and evening.
Senior Trustees are working day in day out trying to keep this charity high profile using all the latest media tools, Twitter, Facebook, Google etc but instead of moving forward we seem to be losing ground.
As a double whammy Fundraising events we organise seem to fall flat - NIGHT OF 1000 STARS is now in serious peril of not running with only 20 tickets sold.
Make no mistake we cannot find ourselves in a postion where fundraising events actually cost this charity by losing money.
We simply do not have the funds to give it away in such a fashion and cannot afford mistakes
EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK is not in competition with other equine charties as we have never taken in huge numbers of horses, believing that stock-piling rescues is not the way we wanted to go. Our work is in the markets/auctions/fairs but to do that work we do need financial support. Without financial support not only can our representatives not do the job of monitoring equine welfare but our sanctuary yards even with our restricted numbers will also be under huge threat of closure.
We need to generate greater funds and attract support from sponsors who are willing to cover our feed/veterinary/transport costs.
We also need to ask our public supporters to remember EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK in their Will and Legacy planning.
In short after a long diatribe SUPPORT US OR LOSE US.
DONATIONS

Our mascot E.M.W. Mule

2010-02-10T05:37:00.000-08:00

Here he is Enrique Montague Wales - our amazingly clever charity mascot. He knows exactly where he wants to go and he's going! sing a little song with him " ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough.." too flippin' right! He's as smart as ne paint and twice as tricky but he's spot on for learning new things. This year Enrique will be taking part in Horse Agility as well as learning to be driven in the EMW Wales Saddle Cahriot. coem and meet him at our WHOLE HORSE WEEKEND Rowanoak, Brecon Powys 25th to 27th June. He'll wow you just like he wow'd us! wouldn't it have been a shame for him to have ended up for slaughter - that was his fate before EMW Sanctuaries stepped in. You can donate towards Enriques keep as well as all our other resident horses/ponies at both our sanctuaries by following the link HERE

More snow and sub zero temps coming

2010-02-09T05:59:00.000-08:00

Winter winter go away and don't come back.We've had one smashing day last week when the rugs came off and the mud was rolled on! These two are both late twenties and both are looking so good this year. At least geting one day out of rugs is a plus. For us volunteer staff it's heavy going with mud replacing snow right now. The ponies are all beginning to show signs of moulting out winter coats and are itchy so using everything they can to scratch. The old damson tree in the back yard, poor thing, has only got half a dozen branches left right high up and it's poor bend trunk is rubbed almost smooth from constant use.

The mud is an evil substance it has super glue power and yesterday had my wellies in it's grip. Unable to move my lower body the upper part kept going and down I went -SPLAT! knees, hands and glasses all coated in a cold brown sludge. I didn't realise how many four letter words I knew until then. To add insult to injury EMW Fred decided to gain entry to the haylage stack.Clearly the fencing battery had lost it's ummph. Shifting him out I carefully bandaged the assaulted bales with repair patches and changed battery and for good measure added another lower strand of fencing tape. That'll stop him!
This morning guess where Fred was. We are actioning Plan B this afternoon watch this space!

Today office work includes booking Trustee space on Animal Welfare Meeting Westminster 17th March as well as travel and accomodation for same. Also bringing accounts up to date from day book to month balance sheets and last but far from least the dreaded filing.
Preparation for the WHOLE HORSE WEEKEND is next in line as bookings are beginning to come in for trade space and demonstrators. Loads of space to fill so contact us emw@emwuk.org.uk if you want to come along with either trade stand or want to demo your skill/products AND we also want folk music on the evening of the 26th so if you play music and can sing we want you too June 25th 26th & 27th held at Rowanoak Training Brecon Powys.
Sadly the NIGHT OF 1000 STARS isn't going anywhere by the lack of interest. It's the last time we'll try to run this kind of function. such a shame as we've worked our butts off trying to get it off the ground.
Funds as always are an issue so if you fancy helping this charity out a little follow this link HERE

Irish horse welfare is huge cause for concern

2010-02-06T03:13:00.000-08:00

Please follow the link from Jenny Lupton

"Our latest blog on the Irish problem"
http://bit.ly/9qb4YG

WHOLE HORSE WEEKEND JUNE 25th to 27th FABULOUS!!

2010-02-04T03:42:00.000-08:00

At EMW Sanctuaries UK WHOLE HORSE WEEKEND 2010 you can meet our mascot Mule'Enrique Montague Wales' he will be taking part in both the demo and Horse Agility competition

being held over the weekend along with other EMW ponies http://www.horseagilitygb.com/index.html We are expecting a huge turnout for this event. Vanessa of HorseAgilityGB will also be running some comtetitions so bring your horse/pony and give it go, nice prizes for class winners (we have limited paddocked grazing available so book your place for the Agility now)

Come and Camp over.

The line up will also include demo's by the fabulous Adam Sheriston and we are lucky to be also able to include Jennie Nellist with many more equine/canine/human demo's and therapists to be announced.

Held from June 25th to the 27th at Rowanoak Training Brecon Powys.

right now we are booking free trade spaces for general goods as well as equine related we have lots of space available & we welcome lots more demonstrators.

On the evening of 26th June we are hosting a barbeque and Folk evening so lots of musicians are also welcome to book slots. If you play an instrument bring it along and jam! this event is child friendly with overnight camping and catering on site.

we are hoping that this will become a really enjoyable and exciting annual event, it is now in it's 2nd year and grwoing..so come along and meet old friends and new.

Just £5.00 to come in and kids are free. Dogs welcome but must be on leads for safety sake.

TO BOOK TRADE/DEMO SLOTS OR TO BOOK PADDOCK FOR YOUR HORSE/PONY CONTACT ELAINE

emw@equinemarketwatch.org.uk

evolving to go forward

2010-01-25T04:20:00.000-08:00

LOTS OF WAYS TO HELP THIS CHARITY HERE

Just getting over raging flu along with other family members and volunteers. Every single step and movement involved in the caring of the sanctuary horses and ponies this last week has been torturous. Coughing and aching we've struggled on regardless, still picking up horse droppings despite snow and thick mud of thaw and rain. Coping with night and morning head on it's happened and at one point even without certain volunteers we had come to rely on. It's been as grim as it gets. Trying to even get to the sanctuary in Herefordshire has been problematic. Ice and snow causing downright dangerous driving conditions and with the old 4x4 beginning to seriously fail the thought of the next lot on the way fills me with dread. We can't afford to buy in to replace the truck, we can't afford lease a decent one, we have to manage and hope a miracle turns up.

At one point the 4x4 simply packed up leaving me walking and carrying a fully laden 5 gallon bucket of barley and hot water 2 miles to the sanctuary. At times like this I begin to question how much longer I can actually physically carry on. How much I actually want to carry on coping. My position is hauntingly similar to that of Hannah Hauxwell HERE maybe not as extreme but still pretty grim.
Okay so I'll put what here we need. A decent 4x4 with a good strong engine and running gear. It doesn't need to be pretty nor does it need to be new but it does need to be reliable. And what do we expect this kind of vehicle to cost? Well the price for the charity is irrelevant as we'll never have enough come in that isn't ear marked for other more urgent needs.

I guess I'll be walking a whole lot more.

One of the downfalls of small charities

2010-01-18T04:23:00.000-08:00

One of the downfalls of small charities is having no one much to rely on if you are ill or an emergency comes up. I often lie in bed at night worrying over this amongst all the other worries running a sanctuary brings.

Of course there are pluses too. The bonds that build up with the resident horses, the knowing them inside out, being able to spot immediately when things are not quite right, knowing who likes to live with who, knowing who doesn't!
I woke up this morning feeling like death warmed up, aching from top to toe and with a throat that felt like I'd eaten several small razor blades for breakfast.
It was alright though because today we've got Astrid in at the Herefordshire sanctuary as well as two daughters both, luckily, with no lectures today but it's on days like today that it brings it home these animals are depending on mostly me.Hearing everyone go off to feed and do the morning stint, and left alone with only breakfast TV, I gave up the self-pitying lie-in, soothed the throat with strepsils, cut the aches with flu relief pills and took the dogs out for a walk...reminding me of a few years back when I had a severe pulmonary infection and was almost crawling round the ground picking the poo..feeling like death warmed up and tired to the bone. Siobhan too has had times when she's been out there with severe asthma hardly able to draw a breath and fighting the urge to send the horses packing..we both talk quite a lot about how wonderfully easy our lives would be if we were 'ordinary' The winters are always hard and getting harder as nothing much changes for this small charity. one day we may just call time....meanwhile I'll be back out there this afternoon, after all it's just a little cold...no time for full blown flu !

UK HORSE WELFARE CHARITY APPEALS FOR 4X4 DONATION

2010-01-14T23:45:00.000-08:00

APPEAL FOR HELP/SOLUTION
EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK has got 4x4 trouble.
Our 4x4 vehicle is failing.
We have no funds to be able to replace this vital work tool for the charity
If anyone can offer a solution in the form of a one off donation, a loan to purchase a replacement vehicle - we are not asking for bright shiny new just tough and reliable or if there is any other way through this problem that will put us back in a postion of being mobile very quickly then please contact
emw@equinemarketwatch.org.uk

feral horses and those abandoned

2010-01-13T05:32:00.000-08:00

EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK are calling for changes in the current legislation and penalties regarding equine welfare and especially the abandonment of horses are concerned.

Right now in the middle of the harshest weather for decades the number of horse sin trouble has soared. this charity alone is taking more than 30 calls every day from horse owners and concerned members of the public regarding equines in trouble across the UK. In Ireland the number of abandoned horses and ponies runs into 1000's with many starving and dying as the cold weather bites deeper.

Already the next crop of foals are waiting to be born with the majority coming into a world that has no place of safety or care for them.

It's high time the owners of these huge herds, of what amounts to, semi-feral animals were taken to task and hit hard with increased laws and penalities to protect vulnerable animals. It's time that the days of any old joe being able to go buy such a large and dependant animal as the horse, many bought on a whim, were over.

Calls to help feed the feral mountain and moorland ponies are now being made but this could lead to serious trouble as callous owners dump unwanted animals in the hope that they will get fed too . Lets hope that doesn't happen but fear already that is happening across the UK following the problems in Ireland.

Severe Weather impact Appealing for donations

2010-01-12T04:20:00.000-08:00

SEVERE WEATHER IMPACT
UPDATE - FUNDRAISERS

WE WOULD LIKE TO SAY A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE RESPONDED TO OUR URGENT APPEAL AND TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS, FRIENDS, LOANERS, TRUSTEES AND OUR BRILLIANT AND SUPPORTIVE PATRONS.
WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ADD A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR WONDFERFUL AND RELIABLE BAND OF VOLUNTEER HELPERS AT BOTH SANCTUARIES WHO TURN OUT REGARDLESS OF WEATHER AND ROAD CONDITIONS TO ENSURE ALL OUR HORSES AND PONIES ARE WELL AND FED.LASTLY BUT FAR FROM LEAST A HUGE THANK YOU TO TRUSTEES ANN AND BRYAN AT LODORE FOR TIRELESSLY KEEPING ICE BROKEN AND WATER TROUGHS AND TAPS RUNNING EARLY MORNINGS AND LATE EVENINGS.
Mid -January - SEVERE WEATHER CONTINUES TO COVER THE UK
At our sanctuaries we are facing ever bigger outgoings as this harsh winter continues to inflict sub-zero temps and snowfall. the meadows are white and iced and it will be a while before grazing is usuable as a food source again.
We are facing hard times head on and our meagre funding reserves are taking a battering.
Please consider one of the ways below to support this charity through this crisis period.
If you are a UK income tax payer a cash donation via JUST GIVING can bring in extra money for this charity as we claim back the tax you would have otherwise paid.
£2 buys a bag of carrots £10 buys a bag of feed £30 buys 8 bales of hay £100 covers worming costs for 4 months

This charity EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK works in auctions, markets and horse fairs across the UK. It is staffed by unwaged volunteers with all donations going to the upkeep of the resident horses and ponies, donkeys and a Mule! in the two sanctuary bases, in Herefordshire and Powys.
Both Sanctuaries have a maximum numbers policy so we can give our residents a good quality of life and all our resident equines are with us because they have problems that won't allow this charity to be placed in pre-checked loan homes like our other 70 horses and ponies.
The charity currently has 70 horses and ponies out in excellent homes across the UK
During 2009 we noted month on month a decline in donations/income which has resulted in a hole in our funding needs for the Winter 09/10 period. At the same time demands on the charity and requests for help have quadrupled with over 30 calls each day for help.
We need public support to allow this charity to continue its work and to be able to offer places of sanctuary to horses and ponies in peril. There are many ways to support this small but important UK charity.
We have various up coming fundraising events including NIGHT OF 1000 STARS - an evening of glittering entertainment and super prize auction.
This event is now open for booking tables and individual tickets So don't delay book your places. £25 pp or a table of 8 for £180
NIGHT OF 1000 STARS will be held in Worcester on March 27th, starting at 7.00pm more details of this and other fundraisers can be found on the website HERE

LOSE A SMALL PONY IN WEIGHT
Elaine is started the diet on January 2nd, aiming to shed the weight of a small Shetland pony (approx 50 kilo's - and YES!she does need to lose this!)
Fundraiser Paul also joined her, as did one of our younger trustees, Sam.
If you would like to join them and lose with them while being sponsored by your friends and family please do so, just e-mail us to let us know and we'll add your success to our Blog and news, or if you would like to sponsor our dieters weight loss at just 25p per kilo that would be a great big incentive for them to keep going.
They will report her weight loss each Friday starting from 8th January. STARTING WEIGHT IS (cringe) 13 stones 4lb
JANUARY 8TH total weight loss of our 3 dieters is 9lbs
SPONSORSHIP

100 CLUB
Please consider joining our 100 Club.For just £5.00 a month subscription you could win a prize of £45 (this prize level rises the more players are involved)
Details are of the 100 club also on the website

SPONSOR A RESIDENT HORSE/ PONY Lastly our resident horses and ponies are open for sponsorship at just £20 for a year each. This makes a nice gift for many celebrations (Birthdays/Valentines Day/Anniversaries/Christmas) as it comes with an appropriate gift card, small gift, and quarterly news letter with news about the chosen horse/pony as well as all the general news within the charity. Sponsorships are tailored to fit the age of the person receiving the package.

We appreciate all our supporters very much indeed and to say thank you we have a wonderful summer event planned for you.
THE WHOLE HORSE WEEKEND held near Brecon Powys on June 26th and 27th 2010 where you can camp over in fabulous surroundings and enjoy a great social and educational two days as well as a folk evening and craft stalls to browse.
Look out for more details of THE WHOLE HORSE WEEKEND coming in late January.

APRIL/MAY
In late Spring 2010 we will be holding open days at our Herefordshire sanctuary but our resident horse/pony sponsors are always welcome to visit whatever the season of year within our opening times schedule. In winter we advise wellies and very warm clothing!
FINAL APPEAL
Please help...we can only continue to be there and stand by our motto of "WE will NOT look away" with the support of the public, fundraisers and donations. Thanks for reading this.

huge thanks for the donated MEERKAT!!

2010-01-03T05:04:00.001-08:00

E-BAY AUCTION

A Superb LIMITED EDITION
Aleksandr Orlov Meerkat - Simples!
Click here...

LETS GET SLIMMER AND HEALTHIER TOGETHER

2010-01-03T04:33:00.000-08:00

EMW Herefordshire Elaine
& EMW fundraiser NorthWalesPaul
started the diet on January 2nd
aiming to shed the weight of a small Shetland pony ( approx 50 kilo's - and YES! they both do need to lose this!) If you would like to join them and lose with them and get sponsored you are very welcome indeed or if you would like to sponsor their weight loss at just 25p per kilo shed that would also be a big incentive for them to keep going. They will report their respective weight losses each Friday starting from 8th January. STARTING WEIGHT IS FOR ELAINE is (cringe) 13 stones 4lb PAUL prefers to just report his losses for now.

SPONSORSHIP HERE

I'm doing the same as I did last year, it worked well for me. I don't know if anyone else might fancy it...but here it is.

WHAT IS ON THE YES LIST

OAT BASED CEREALS

SOYA MILK

QUORN MEAT SUBSTITUTES

ALL VEGETABLES

ALL SALADS

ALL FRUITS INCLUDING DRIED FRUITS & TINNED FRUITS

2 POTATOES A WEEK - LARGE AND BAKED

OILY FISH OF ANY KIND THE MORE VARIED THE BETTER FRESH OR TINNED

OLIVE OIL

SEASONINGS/GARLIC OILS/CHILLI OILS

FRUIT JUICE

TEA

WATER

SOYA YOGURT

FETA CHEESE ( NO OTHER CHEESE AT ALL)

RICE CAKES/OAT CAKES

TINNED VEGETABLE SOUPS

EVERYTHING ELSE IS NO GO! PORTIONS BULKED OUT BY AS MUCH SALAD /VEGGIES AS YOU CAN EAT

LOADS TO DRINK.

NO ALCOHOL EXCEPT SMALL GLASS RED WINE X 2 WEEKLY

Exercise and FUN FUN FUN are also hugely important. choose loads of diferent ways to exercise. I'm doing usual daily work at EMW Herefordshire sanctuary but also some walking with the dogs, a bit of Wii fit, some swimming and stretching too. As the lighter evenings come back I cna do more outdoors. Fresh air is very important for not only toning bodies but also well-being.

Together we hope to raise a lot of money for this charity. Please consider sponsoring us or joining us today

SHETLANDS STOLEN DETAILS

2009-12-30T04:34:00.001-08:00

STOLEN 29TH/30TH DECEMBER 2009 FROM MANOR FARM STABLES, CHARLTON VILLAGE,
MIDDLESEX

BAILEY:SKEWBALD TOBIANO, 8 MONTH OLD FILLY, 4 WHITE SOCKS, NO FACE MARKINGS, WHITE "SPLOGE" ON HER WITHERS-WITH ABOUT 2-3" OF WHITE MANE. APPROX 29-30" HIGH, WAS CLIPPED AT THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER-SO HER COAT IS STARTING TO GROW THROUGH.

TINKERBELL: FEW SPOT APPALOOSA, 2 YEAR OLD FILLY, PINK SPOTTED NOSE,
APPALOOSA MARKING AROUND HER EYES, TEATS AND BOTTOM, 4 BLACKS ON HER OFFSIDE HINDQUARTERS, APPROX 31-33" HIGH, HAS BEEN CLIPPED MID
DECEMBER-EVERYWHERE WAS CLIPPED APART FROM 3 LEGS (HER FRONT NEARSIDE ONE IS PARTIALLY CLIPPED) AND HALF HER FACE, STRIPED HOOVES.

BOTH WERE STOLEN BETWEEN 7PM AND 7AM ON 29TH/30TH DECEMBER FROM THEIR
STABLES. THE BOTH HAD MATCHING NAVY BLUE COMBO RUGS ON MADE BY DINKY RUGS.
BAILEY HAD A NAVY FLEECE ON MADE BY DINKY RUGS AND TINKERBELL HAD A RUG
FLEECE WITH GOLD BINDING

MICROCHIP INFORMATION HELD ON THESE PONIES.

Crime reference number is SL0910444

BRING A PHONE TO WORK DAY

2009-12-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hello again Supporters,

Another Bulletin, another fundraising site you can join to support Equine Market Watch Sanctuaries (UK), this one is National Bring a Phone to Work Day 2010 http://media.causes.com/ribbon/689729?m=df0cadb8 you can register to support us and recycle any unwanted mobiles anytime but the focus of this week is to encourage people to form recycling groups at their workplace.

Please support us this recycling can raise quite a lot of money over the year but need your help - - spread the word, forma group, pass the link onto all your friends etc et.

Thank you for reading, wishing you all a Very Happy New Year,

Jane

How could anyone carry on knowing

2009-12-20T06:28:00.000-08:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/8422278.stm

What an appalling story this is! How could anyone go home to a warm house, eat their fill, drink and then sleep knowing that they had left these animals with nothing! The kind of scum who does this cruelty should be prepared to face a similar fate themselves.

We've a lot to answer for, humans, we pamper and cosset our offspring, keep horror away from their eyes, fill them with such huge self importance that any other form life is only there for their entertainment.

It's time to wake up and change our spoilt and meaningless society today.

With abuse and neglect such as that reported above how can we ever hope to get morals and respect back into our society with basic ground rules in childhood.

30 pony foals in peril update

2009-12-16T03:45:00.003-08:00

10 days ago EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK were contacted with regard to a shipment of pony foals with nowhere to go after being unsold at an auction in North Wales. Shylowen had been approached by the person temporarily caring for these ponies and asked if they could help, that started a ball rolling of small charities and rescues stepping up to the mark to help out in many and varied ways.
As of 16th December it has resulted in all the ponies now being 'safe'
Initially EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK were prepared to intake some of these foals but our situation is far from secure and we really did not need an added burden of foals who not only would need gelding but may not be re-homeable for some time to come. Thankfully, due to many kind homes on offer, that is now not the case.
We would like to say a huge thanks to all who taken these ponies on. Could you now direct any interest and questions via e-mail HERE
We hope that the same sad situation for other semi-feral ponies does not reoccur as a result of future auctions during this harsh and difficult winter ahead.
We have already seen a trend of valueless foals having nowhere to go but abattoirs but when not even meat dealers want them then surely it should be sending a clear message to those with herds to stop this mindless over production now.

2009-12-11T06:32:00.000-08:00

http://www.justgiving.com/Jane-Jackson/

Our URGENT APPEAL is still running and is at 53% of the target total. Now it's Winter, with the forecast of colder to come we are facing sub zero temps and hard frosts. To keep them all eating and to keep our outgoings in the black please consider donating http://www.justgiving.com/Jane-Jackson/ this Christmas. We have cleared some space ready for any Mid winter foals to come in now so watch this space. The ones who need us most also need the most care. We stand by our motto "We will NOT look away" Please help us to keep our sanctuaries open and there for horses and ponies when they need us most. We have 12 horses and ponies in at EMW Herefordshire and 14 in at EMW Wales right now. To provide the quality care it is ahuge commitment made by the unwaged voluntary charity staff.

Sell out

2009-12-08T06:48:00.000-08:00

A quick entry bewteen getting wet and....getting wet again!!
Great news! EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK 2010 Calendar is sold out!! huge thanks go to all who sponsored it , all who helped produce it, administration (Paul and Jane) and of course to all who have bought and will enjoy it throughout 2010. This support is vital to our ever laboured funding. thank you all so much.

If you missed out there are other ways to help boost our funds.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING? OR JUST SHOPPING http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/

RECYCLING OLD PHONES ETC http://www.recycle4charity.co.uk/

STRAIGHT DONATIONS http://www.justgiving.com/sanctuariesuk

OUR URGENT APPEAL TOTAL TODAY STANDS AT £1060 which is fanatstic and over half way to our target of £2000 If you can help us reach that target please donate http://www.justgiving.com/Jane-Jackson/
Our target ensures we can carry on helping ponies like Garnlas ( behind) and her foal Luya (born at EMW Herefordshire sanctuary) Garnlas, then 22 years old, was in the meat pens when a kind supporter saved her and her unborn foal. Garnlas is now 25 years old and fit and healthy and her daughter is almost 3 years old. Our motto is " We will NOT look away" your support allows us to continue to do just that

December 5th auction reports

2009-12-06T04:26:00.000-08:00

Huge thanks to our EMW Teams for being at Henley in Arden and Brecon auctions on the 5th December.

The first report in from'BT' who attended Henley in Arden says
"A couple of things that really stood out for me were: Lot number 16 - A mare heavily in foal that was due before xmas (only 2.5 weeks away) Lot number 37 & 38 - A little 12hh ish mare with a apaloosa foal at foot, they had seperate lot numbers and were bid for seperately however the same gentleman bought both and I believe they were going to a better place. They (auctioneers) seemed to have every intention of them being sold seperately"

Both of these are issues that EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK are asking our Animal Welfare ministers to address and redress as a matter of welfare urgency. The 1990 legislation is muddy, needs loopholes closing and the law given clearly so no welfare mistakes can occur. After all these are real lives that are being toyed with.

Our second report from L. and D. at Henley-in-Arden

".In one case a youngster was getting upset outside the ring (after the auction had finished) & rearing. The auctioneer came over and told the people with him that he (auctioneer) had told them once already to fetch the box to the horse. They then left him and when they tried again he seemed much calmer and he was fine to be boxed.

The only other time I saw anything was when someone was trying to load a loose youngster into a box without moving the others tied up close by and one of the others broke it's head collar. This was really a lack of common sense in not moving the others first but they were not handled roughly.

Are they supposed to tied straight up to the fence or should it be breakable bailing string or something like it? E.M.W. says unfortunately the legislation (Section11(e) states a horse must be 'secured by the head' it does not qualify that tying procedure, another point regarding clarification/improvement
The only thing I would add was at the end there seemed to be a lot of moving of the last 5 or so horses from box to box. Not sure if this is the usual case as been a long time since I went to the auctions" E.M.W. says this is quite normal as it's when many dealers tend to sell to each other.

The Brecon auction report
We arrived early and had a good look round. Ponies/horses were being unloaded and penned with the usual noise and business of auction. We spotted a pen with some sorry looking section D youngsters and mares in it. They were all very thin and with poor feet. We body scored the worse one as a 1 -http://www.newc.co.uk/advice/documents/BodyConditionScoringofHorses-NEWC2005.pdf?PHPSESSID=79396169d24fdcef97751a36983206c5 the others may have scraped a 2.

although distressing we felt this pen of horses had reason to be poor as they were being sold as a result of a death, always a hard time and maybe the horses had suffered as a result of severe and final illness taking it's toll. They would recover quickly with a worming and good feeding without doubt. A few others in auction were thin but nothing that caused great concern. Prices were up but still not really reflecting the cost of microchipping and passporting all foals now. The economic climate is also taking it's toll but some sold very well indeed. We were very pleased that the auctioneer questioned the selling of a mare with a foal, as it turned out she wasn't the dam of the foal. The exit was most clear and the entrance to the ring via the weighbridge has now got some good solid doors beind it, it seemed to make the horses/ponies coming through much calmer and must have been easier for the drovers to get each pen into the selling area too.

Our next auctions are now after Christmas, January 23rd, as we gear up to the festive season.Lets hope 2010 is a kind year for our equine friends.

Rallying round

2009-12-04T03:53:00.000-08:00

Foggy and chilly mornings and chances to take a few nice pics although frozen fingers don't help! All our sanctuaries horses and ponies are well but we are going through a lot of feed and hayalge/hay now and are outgoings will run at maximum from now until late March. A huge thank you to all who have already donated to our URGENT APPEAL
A message to those who are thinking about it please please help, we need to raise the full £2000 to ensure we are safe and that we see the winter out without worry of closure. To donate follow the link below today. Each £10 donated takes us much closer to the target and a step further away from the horrors and constant worry of closure DONATE HERE TODAY .http://www.justgiving.com/Jane-Jackson/

It's not just the resident horses and ponies at risk but those we have yet to offer safety warmth and care to. horses like Jimmy, left to his own devices in the middle of a freezing winter, horses like Wizard, only seconds away from certain death via a meat lorry, ponies like Garnlas, in foal but put through auction because she was old. Without your help we would not have been able to help any of these above or the others both out on loan in good homes and the remaining sanctuary residents.
We are in auction tomorrow, 5th December, where pony foals will be fetching pocket money prices. Less than the amount you would spend on wrapping paper to be thrown away, these foals are no more than throw away lives. Most will not see the end of the coming week as they go to slaughter on Monday or Thursday, babies of less than 6 months old. Please help us to campaign against the indiscrimnate breeding of these pathetic valueless foals. Please support our the work carried out by this charity staffed by unwaged volunteers working 7 days a week for the welfare of all equines. please help us today
http://www.justgiving.com/Jane-Jackson/

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL...

2009-11-29T03:22:00.000-08:00

This charity EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK reg 1114700 works in auctions, markets and horse fairs across the UK. It is staffed by unwaged volunteers with all donations going to the upkeep of the horses resident in the two sanctuary bases, in Herefordshire and Powys. Both Sanctuaries have a maximum numbers policy so we can give our residents a good quality of life and all resident horses are with us because they have problems that won't allow the charity to place them in pre-checked loan homes. The charity currently has 70 horses and ponies out in excellent homes across the UK. During the last year we have noted month on month a decline in donations/income which has resulted in a £2000 hole in our necessary funding. We need support to allow this charity to continue it's work and to be able to offer places and sanctuary to horses and ponies in peril. There are many ways to support this small but important UK charity. We have various up coming fundraising events including an evening of glittering entertainment and super prize auction.This event is booking tables and individual tickets right now. It will be held in Worcester on March 27th, starting at 7.00pm More details of this and other fundraisers can be found on the website http://www.equinemarketwatch.org.uk Please consider joining our 100 Club too. For just £5.00 a month subscription you could win a prize of £45 (this prize level rises the more players are involved) Details are of the 100 club also on the website. This year we have 2010 calendars on sale. Costing just £5.00 incl of P&P they make a great present for horse loving friends and family. Lastly our resident horses are open for sponsorship at just £20 for a year, this makes a nice present too as it comes with gift card, small gift, and quarterly news about the chosen horse/pony as well as all the news within the charity. Sponsorships are tailored to fit the age of the person receiving the package. Last date for Christmas Sponsorship gifts is December 8th. We appreciate all our supporters very much indeed and to say thank you have a wonderful summer event THE WHOLE HORSE WEEKEND held near Brecon Powys where you can camp over in fabulous surroundings and enjoy a great social and educational two days as well as a folk evening and craft stalls to browse. Look out ofr more details in Early January. In Spring 2010 we will be holding open days at our Herefordshire sanctuary but our sponsors are always welcome to visit whatever the season of year within our opening times schedule, in winter we advise wellies and warm clothing! Please help..we can only continue to be there and stand by our motto of "WE will NOT look away" with the support of the public, fundraisers and donations. Thanks for reading this.

I think this might be it

2009-11-28T03:14:00.000-08:00

How do you write a piece about funding - lack of it - without it sounding like a winge, without it sounding Uriah Heap-ish and without it being the same old same old?
I wish I knew.
All I can state are the nasty facts that causing sleepless nights and constant worry about how much longer this charity can hold on?
With no reserves and nothing to borrow or trade against we are right here and right now on the bottom line.
If you want us in auctions, if you want us to be there for these vulnerable horses and ponies, if you want us campaigning and providing sanctuary to those in need then donate HERE now today because the stark truth is time is fast running out and we are in the mire AND MAKE NO MISTAKE THIS CHARITY WILL CLOSE

2009-11-26T05:07:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in the cold and drafty 'dungeon' office and with twice as much work to do as is humanly possible by one soul and I'm asking why I'm am pondering the total unfairness of life in general?
It's like a series of cross roads, life, Nay! it's a dark maze!
Life...take the wrong turn and it sets a rotten pattern that's hard to change. I got to thinking about what if's...What if I had said no instead of yes or vice versa, what if I had worked harder or had different principles, stronger ones, or maybe less strong ones?
I play the time travel game in my head a lot lately. Mulling over where it would be best to return to in time and this start again and this time get it 'right' whatever that is.
Trouble is go too far back and it's Wham! no kids who by and large have been a joy and a source of comfort and friendshipt to me..and of course if I went that far back, by default, there would also be no grandchildren...no! that's no good then
So the pre-marriage, young and free me era would have to be ruled out then
Mmmm in that case it would have to be before the second marriage..but wait! that's no good either..that rules out a lot of very good friendships made in the last 18 years, not to mention O/H no.2 himself! Oh dear it's all too much to think about and what's this to do with Sanctuary news ? Well it's all about me I suppose and the dreaded Winter months ahead of struggling physically and financially and all the dratted self denial of basic things most other women take for granted as their right ( hairdressers/make up/ lie-ins et al )
I give up so much for these horses, for this charity...I must be getting old, I'm feeling it's almost time to turn the clock back...or forward

Horse Tax? pah...what a con

2009-11-19T02:12:00.000-08:00

I'm furious, no! more than that, I'm astonished, astounded and so angry I could burst at the total apathy that is seemingly the current 'trend' (and how I hate that 'trend' word ! ) in this sad country we all barely exist in.
Apathy is in so many areas of our lives these days it seems to be the norm, the shrug of shoulders, the ' whatever' factor, but when this apathy touches me directly I'm angry and I'm up on this old soap box of mine shouting and hopefully rallying the ranks, so here goes!
Okay so many town/city dwellers equate horse ownership to having bags of spare money and boundry-less lands huge properties and hand servants, but that's not so.
The majority of horse owners in the UK are everyday folk, living frugally and caring for their horses on meagre budgets, getting up in the dark, to do their stable/field work, before going to work a long day (that's if they are lucky enough to still be working in bursting Britain that is! ) and then running the whole routine again at the other dark end of the day. They do this willingly and mostly uncomplaining because they actually care deeply if not love those fourlegged hairy beasties.
These same people already pay out huge amounts for horse feed in fact huge amounts that carries the name 'horse' in it's description on the packet/bag/box (+ VAT) then there's farriery every 6 to 10 weeks (+VAT) and the drreaded but pretty much expected Veterinary needs (+VAT) and lastly the burden of the farcicle passporting system.
Most of these people travel to their horses as they don't lord it in palatial dwellings so pay more in fuel duty than most, once again propping up the greedy government coffers and most likely many, due to all the afore mentioned stress, drink the odd bottle of wine or beer to numb the effect of being so hard hit, that's another dip in the pocket for tax then.
You'd say by that lot that the horse owners of the UK have probably paid their extra contribution to the taxmans coffers but oh no! we are now facing a direct tax, a tax levied straight at us, a pay up or else tax...a tax per horse (there is terrifying talk of £100 per animal) which means sanctuaries like EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK with many horses/ponies to care for as unplaceable residents will have to find in excess of £3000 to be 'legal'
Our situation right now, in this greed of Banks induced recession, is that our charitable backs are right up slap bang up against the wall. No doubt many individual owners will also see this as the straw that breaks the tax burdened camels back. Many will have to give up their beloved horses. Many will be turning to charities such as our s for help. Most will be turned away meaning a huge number of horses/ponies will be destroyed simply because of a tax that is unfair and unjust.
We will not survive this economic downturn unless our charity funding increases and we will definately not be in a position to pay any tax or additional charge placed upon us in the near future nor the long term one as it stands. Our own sanctuary residents are now in a precarious position too.
Don't let apathy, and the idea that this tax won't happen, stop you from writing to your MP today demanding that this unfair and unnecessary burden is withdrawn because if it isn't then mark my words, horse ownership will, without doubt, become only the priveledge of the rich and sanctuaries such as EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK will disappear for good.

busy life but could do better

2009-11-18T04:37:00.000-08:00

We've done 3 auctions in 10 days not to mention those done by our many contacts across the UK. Each time we go it costs us in fuel and giving up weekends that most people use for catching up on sleep and spending time with their families and friends. So here I am having a moan about things and then I get to thinking about the forlorn and frightened faces of young foals pushed into sales ring and herded round with a tacky number stuck on their skinny little rumps, judged by their pedigree as to if they have 'value' or not...listen up! how many of us mongrelised humans would pass muster in an auction ring? not many, I'm a mongrel too so I know! You overhear conversations when standing in auctions "I don't like that one, look at it's markings" and "don't bid on that it's a colt" and "That's no good it's got white feet" and with a cruel twist of genetics the hammer falls on a pathetic 5 guinea bid and it's into the pens for the meat trucks.

We watched a ridiculous display what is best described as circus tricks in the auction ring at Beeston Castle on the 11th November. What in god's name a seller thinks that standing on the back of a 2 year old horse proves I cannot fathom, same thing for the TB, poor thing, such a degrading exhibition!
With more auctions to come and a bad venue on the 5th December which we will be attending it's
looking like a bleaker than ever Christmas and New Year ahead. DONATIONS anyone?

worth another mention

2009-11-10T05:29:00.000-08:00

CHARITY WISH LIST
Can you grant any....?

We are always grateful to receive donations to this charity as well as items from our wish list below
However you decide to support EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK you can be sure that your kindness will be put to good use with our resident horses and helping those in auctions, markets and other places of sale.

FOR CASH DONATIONS PLEASE FOLLOW JUST GIVING

WISH LIST 2009

1)Replacement of tired equine transport. Ideally we would bow down and worship the ground one ran on and a donator who bestowed - a 3.5 ton horse box dedicated to the charity - For a reasonable condition lorry this wish would be £4000.

1a) one year of running costs OF ABOVE met. Costed out athis wish would be £1000.

2)Field Shelters are always wanted. Mobile ones give us more options. We really wish for four, two for each sanctuary. Each shelter with delivery is £1000.

3) Rubber stable matting. Each sheet is £34.00. For both sanctuaries we would need 20 sheets.

4) Twin wheeled Wheelbarrows would make the daily hard physical slog a little easier on our voluntary staff. We would like four, two for each sanctuary.

5) Volunteers. Ideally we would like 2 more at each sanctuary. They are priceless.

Sometimes you wonder why you do this job

2009-11-08T04:16:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness for volunteers is all I can say. Without them the days spent in auction would be even longer. I got off to Brecon at dead on 8-45am and bar one quick stop for fuel, got there just after 10-00am. The place was heaving. I didn't even get a look round this time but could see pen after pen after pen full of little bodies.
This time we wer on a mission. A definate home waiting for two babies and we also had the funds to hand to do this job.
In they came, some in nice condition, some a bit skinny. First of the day, a little grey sectionA colt made 5 guineas (£5-25) not much for a life is it? They always look so pitiful, you wonder just how much they really do comprehend of their potential fate that is the fall of the auctioneers hammer.
By 2-00pm we'd got two on our ticket. A really dark 6 month old filly looking terrified and standing shaking with fear before being herded outside again and a well made coloured colt destined for EMW Wales. The last to come to us happened a few minutes later. Wild-eyed and scared in came a really brown/bay skinny 6 month old filly with a nasty nylon rope headcollar digging into her poor face and £45 (£47.25) guineas later she's safe too.
Loading is no fun. Chaos. Screaming foals and mares crying out for lost babies that may have gone in a different direction that day. We watch displays of macho-ism as headcollars go onto heads that haven't ever had human touch before, we watch some pretty bad loading. Then it's our turn and our three weary little lives plod resigned into the loading bay and ontot he trailer for home...and we face it all again in a few weeks time.
UPDATED 6.30pm Sunday November 8th. The foals are now in their new home in Cambridge. EQUINE MARKET WATCH Sanctuaries UK says a huge and grateful thank you to all concerned in their future.

NIGHT OF 1000 STARS IS NOW CANCELLED

2009-11-08T04:02:00.000-08:00

THIS EVENT IS NOW CANCELLED
THE DATE IS MARCH 27TH 2010
THE VENUE IS THE ELGAR SUITE, BOWL EXTREME, PERDISWELL PARK WORCESTER
AND THE COST, INCLUSIVE OF FULL BUFFET
CANCELLED

equinemarketwatch.myfreeforum.org :: Romany Kismet

2009-11-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

equinemarketwatch.myfreeforum.org :: Romany Kismet: "on stolen horse register with pic

Crime Ref: 0709/351/334

Breed MINIATURE SHETLAND
Gender Mare
Description / Comments Sex: Mare
Height: 32'
Colour: Piebald
Brred: Mini Shetland

This mare is in foal. Back legs are white to hocks. White on rump running down into tail.
Colour Piebald
and White
Height 32 HH
Age Unknown
Stolen from Mowcop, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffs.

Any info please call 0845 458 0000 Congleton police station. or Farmkey, info@farmkey.com or 0870 870 7107
Date of Theft 31-10-2009
Region Cheshire Horsewatch"

Stow Fair

2009-10-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

tiny puppies and the sad collie.

Off we went to Stow Fair after a mind blowing early start at the sanctuary. Great big clouds looomed over the hills and it rained, showery, most of the time. It wasn't as muddy this time. We've been when it's the tracks round the field have been ankle deep in sludge. Can't think why the girls dress in breakneck high heels and wearing Ibiza type clothing in late October in the middle of a bleak field! but whatever...just glad I stuck to wellies, jeans and a fleece jacket!

So the first thing we see is the usual huge Police presence and then discover the parking has shifted from just off the town centre to 1/2 mile down the main road out of the town. We followed the crowd up the road and in to the fair field. Plenty of horse boxes on the hill and the usual curve of 'trade' stands on the opposite side. Not many tethered horses, we counted three.
We met with Jo (trustee) and her Dad. They had already been round, noticed a few grim sights.
We saw a skinny bay trotter with three youths on board. Skinny bay was being driven round the fair pretty much most of the time we were there. Another one, chestnut, very young, very poor, was in dire need of a drink, was tethered short to a truck, desperately trying to reach some run off rain water.
Usual but in huge amounts were puppies. Some, like the lurcher bitch in a barrel with her litter, protected from the rain, some not. Some were good well grown pups some were pathetic little things with eyes only just opened. Some were clearly puppy farm produce...filthy dirty, flea ridden and weak. Jo wanted to take an adult collie with such dreadully thin body condition and sad face but couldn't cope with another dog.
There were cockerals leg tethered, ferrets in boxes being prodded by kids. We saw one little kid buy a puppy off one stand for £100, the kid was no more than 8 or 9 and definately not 16! ( legal age)
We met the RSPCA crew coming in as we headed out for a break and aked they take a look at the chestnut driving pony, they were brilliant as was the young Police Officer on the entrance.
When we went back down there we were told that the RSPCA had moved 2 horses off the field already but the chestnut was still there, he was still in harness, still tied up.
I come away from there each time totally depressed that people can just walk past these animals and not care?....Royal charter to hold the fair or whatever there is no need for animal abuse in any society.

FLIES!!! and views and pleases

2009-10-16T05:21:00.000-07:00

To coin a familiar phrase " I don't believe it!" It may be October but we have a plague of horrible house flies who seem very keen to share my office with me! nasty biting evil critters! I've had to treat the ancient pet sheep-oid, Violet, with the blue stuff again so she doesn't become a maggot host! all quite revolting
...add to that the little terrier vomitting due to pinching an addled egg from the hen house life in my world is not a pleasant place today.
Given the above is the 'darker' side of life the plus of living in a beautiful county such as Herefordshire is the views we take for granted each day.
Trying out the new camera (right) is a lovely long shot of two of our resident horses, Jim and Beau, both in their mid-twenties, looking north toward Clee Hill. On a clear day no matter what time of year we have a fabulous panorama to choose from.
We are busy right now trying to secure great charity auction prizes for the March 2010 SPRING BALL This is our bigges tfundraising event of the year so please please if you can offer a great prize contact us today here equineevents@live.co.uk
Next week is work experience student week....and for one week only the blog will be written by our students! I hope it's a postitive read!

EMW Sanctuaries SPIDER dies

2009-10-13T04:35:00.000-07:00

EMW SPIDER DIES
Equine Market Watch Sanctuaries UK condemn
the indiscriminate breeders

EMW Spider tragically died on 11th Ocotber , after suffering multiple organ failure due to internal deformities.
Spider came to EMW Talgarth last autumn from a local market with dreadfully
deformed legs and feet. Thanks to Mel Richards (our bare foot trimmer) his feet soon became much straighter and he was able to gallop around the fields with his little friend, Paddy.
Unfortunately from past experience, we know that animals who display
external deformities often suffer similar problems internally.
Not only do we feel great sorrow at the loss of Spider, we also feel such anger at the people who irresponsibly and indiscriminantly breed this type of pony. In their quest to breed smaller and smaller ponies, the likes of Spider are produced, born with joint abnormalities as well s other congenital faults, causing them misery from the moment they are conceived. Through no fault of his own, this pony did not meet
the breed standard and was discarded like a piece of rubbish. It was left to us to make sure this pony had a comfortable and happy, if very short life.
This charity condems, and campaigns against, in-line breeding and the in-breeding that produces such unnaturally small ponies.
In the mean time we will continue to pick up the dreadful mess that are congentitally deformed foals d ponies that irresponsible breeders leave behind.
Spider was just 18 months old. Rest in peace little man, you are in a better
place.

EMW Wales - Siobhan

Mist and then rain...

2009-10-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Not sure about the weather forecasters but the 'old boy lore' goes something like the redder the elder leaves the better the autumn Well they are a treat right now, ranging from deep salmon pink to near ruby on pretty much all bushes. The mornings are chill with mist over the stream and crops of fungi of all sorts appear overnight creating mini castle-like clumps. The holly is heavily berried
-another 'old boy lore' reckons the berry crop signifies the depth of winter to expect - well if it's true we'll all want some seriously heavy duty underwear in the months ahead! In Herefordshire we're still holding off on rugging the old horses at night but it won't be for much longer...

Argh!!!

2009-10-08T06:34:00.000-07:00

Challenge number 1 - How to (or not) headcollar fiesty mini-me filly ready for micro-chipping!
1st evade flailing front hooves of protective Mother. Retreat
2nd avoid, accurate to 1mm, rear hooves of Mother aimed specifically to kneecap handler. Retreat.
3rd approach filly with hidden headcollar. Avoid losing facial necessities to bared teeth of filly. Retreat.
4th Continue to avoid Mother while following determined filly round 4 acre field and while offering wonderful tasty incentives for one small head to go into one small headcollar.
5th avoid mother. Retreat
6th avoid filly imitating kicking accuracy of mother. Retreat.
7th get small breakthrough with headcollar on nose of filly while narrowly avoiding collision course with mother determined to inflict mortal injury upon you.
8th have one last attempt -fail. Retreat to regroup.
9th Decide to call in extra 'troops' for another tempt this afternoon!

Challenge number 2 - How to start 3 year old pony gelding long reining.
1st.Approach pony with headcollar.Place head collar on meekly acceptant pony. Attach long reins. Place saddle on back of pony and begin long reining in open space....simple!
The conclusion is that fillies are evil little monsters and geldings are angelic docile sweethearts!
Answers on a postcard or inviations from large burly men wearing full body armour most gratefully accepted.

NESSUN DORMA by 'Mr Mands'

2009-10-07T02:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQQXVp25QXA
Open another window and listen while you read...2 years on this is still as poignant as ever...created by long term supporter 'Mands' and sung by her amazing profesional tenor husband going under the title of 'Mr Mands@ for this performance this has raised over £2000 already but really is worthy of another go....nothing changes here, the bills come in , need to be paid, horses always needing help, donations falling as the economy folds inwards.
If you like what you hear and want to give us a helping hand use the JUST GIVING buttton on the blog page, left hand side. Our continual appreciation goes to Mands and her husband for this mastepiece.
WHAT'S TODAY LIKE? - In Herefordshire it's overcast and quite chilly at just gone midday. Looking like the lightweight rugs might make an appearance tonight for oldies, Jimmy
(picture left) and Beau. Already the days are shortening so fast. One more week and it'll be too late for working on the ponies after school hours. One plus is the fabulous autumn colours this year...like jewels the trees display their fading glory.

Castration day looms for EMW Wales ponies

2009-10-06T03:13:00.000-07:00

EMW WALES - This Thursday coming brings the vet when five of the ponies that came in during late 2007 and 2008 get gelded. It's always the colts we deliberate over the most. They cost pence to buy, and there lies a terrible story to be told at a later date, but gelding them is oh so costly and many times despite having physical space to intake a few and give them back their lives we can't cope with the cost of castrations. You know what, these ponies don't ask to be born, their conception is by human intervention, year after year after year, these are churned out of mares regardless of the chance of getting homes for them. Hauled to auction and put through the ring for a few measly quid, you bet by the time the costs have been added up
(transport/fuel, entry fee, passporting, commission) the vendor comes away owing! So why?
Ponies like the lucky one above are the tiny minority, most won't see the week after auction.
donations towards castration costs are always greatly appreciated. Please use the link on the left of the page.

Recession bites into our lives

2009-10-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

So on a perfect October day we have to make some pretty harsh choices. The finances simply don't stretch anymore and so we have to look to make cuts. No matter which way we twist and turn things it's looking like a move is neccessary for Chunky. I know he wasn't meant to stay for good with *** but it's a super home and he's happy and now we've got to uproot him because of find £40 extra pounds each month for his keep...( he's not loaned but fostered which is a whole new ball game, all costs are met by the charity)
So on our perfect day we get knocked back once again....suggestions on a large postcard please...

That Fiesty foal

2009-10-04T03:42:00.001-07:00

And she's bigger than this now....she'll be 3 months old on the 8th. Lot of breakthroughs today though. Up till now the headcollar thing has been a big fat "No thanks!" Today is diferent, she's turned that corner that all born into captivity creatures experience eventually, a resigned acceptance of all things human. Today the pretty little slip went over the nose, along the side and almost around the neck. I guess we're just a day or so away from the rite of passage that is a foal accepting a headcollar.
As for that other lot- picture right - well, they are confined to the back - bare - meadow right now...why? they are ballooning even now, October, too fat for green grass these lazy days of fading sun...

2009-10-03T03:24:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we are in the 21st Century, with our sophistication when you get faced with this
HERE I looked around at our resident horses this morning and it's plain that any of them could be on one of those lorries.
We see ponies like this one (left) all the time in auctions.
You watch them loading up knowing that's it, they won't see the next weekend come. Maybe, you might think, it's better than an unknown fate in the hands of those who don't have the experience, funds and/or facilities for horses and ponies...if it were a quick end then so be it but too many still end up on that hellish journey that ends in death. This charity says Send carcases not living dead.

Everyday life in a UK horse charity sanctuary

2009-10-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

The first day it's felt like autumn. We moved the two old horses from the hay meadow today, ahead of the forecast rain- which now probably won't come! Jimmy, above, is in his 'summer mode' of "Don't touch me!!" so we led Beau and he followed then galloped off like a 3 year old loon instead of a knackered old ex-racer of 26! Bless!