Fun Dog Show and Family Day at the Sanctuary
Remus Horse Sanctuary will be opening its gates on Sunday 7 July to welcome members of the public for its fun Dog Show and Family Day from 1pm to 5pm. The Dog Show will commence at 1.30pm with bookings being taken from 1pm.
The Sanctuary at Little Farm, Buttsbury, near Ingatestone, offers free parking on-site with disabled access. Admission will be charged at just £4 per adult and £2 for children. Entry to the Dog Show is £1.50 per class.
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The Remus novelty Dog Show includes fun classes such as: Bad Hair Day and Best Sausage Catcher, along with the more meaningful – Dogs with a Disability (blind, deaf or a life-changing illness) and of course, the ever-popular Best in Show. The 1st – 6th winner receives a rosette and best Rescue Dog and Best in Show receive a trophy to keep.
The events at the Sanctuary are always fun and interesting for the whole family, with bouncy castles, a children’s entertainer, live music from Midnite Blu, delicious refreshments – including gluten-free sandwiches and homemade cakes – and lots of stalls including a tombola and raffle.
The Sanctuary provides rehabilitation and care for around 200 animals, including horses, ponies, donkeys, one cow – born at the Sanctuary – goats, sheep and cats, and has been doing so since it was founded in 1983.
Every year the Sanctuary faces the risk of closure due to lack of funds. The Open Days are a vital source of fundraising for the charity which, due to its location on greenbelt land, can only open to the public for a limited number of days each year.
The Sanctuary also host Afternoon Teas, Children’s Pony Days and complementary therapy workshops such as Reiki for Animals – the details for which can be found here.
Sue says, “Our fun dog shows offer a new dimension to our open days and we always look forward to inviting the public to come and visit the Sanctuary and learn more about what we do.
“Young and old always have such a great time and it means we’re able to show off our facilities and our amazing animals and give people an insight into the valuable work that we do in a fun way.”
For anyone wishing to sponsor a dog class at the event, especially local businesses, please email: info@remussanctuary.org. For information about the Sanctuary, visit www.remussanctuary.org or contact Sue Burton on tel: 01277 356191.
Warnings Over Equine Obesity
Our horses’ weights are often at the forefront of our minds this time of year – especially when we’re getting more rain than sunshine, and can see the grass getting its second wind!
While, here at Remus, much of our concern is keeping weight on some of the older horses – and indeed taking in horses who have not been given access to suitable food and forage – we’re very aware of the dangers of equine obesity, in terms of laminitis and injuries to tendons and ligaments due to the extra pressure.
There have been a number of stories in the equestrian media on obesity, with warnings from vets who have had to put horses down and who believe owners’ attitudes to excess weight need to change.
Thankfully it seems that awareness is growing. There’s a horse show up north that recently had a vet award horses of the healthiest weight in its in-hand showing classes. It was the brainchild of Tamzin Furtado, who has recently completed a PhD on equine obesity and says owners can find it quite hard to recognise appropriate body shape.
You can read the whole story here.
If you would like to come and meet our animals and learn more about the work we do at Remus Horse Sanctuary, our next Open Day with fun dog show will be taking place on Sunday 7 July. You can find more details on that here.
Raise FREE funds for us this Father’s Day
Did you know that you can raise free funds for Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary when you shop for Father’s Day gifts via Give as you Live?
This Father’s Day, whether you’re picking a thrilling experience day, a new DIY set, or that pair of socks every Dad is sure to get, please shop via Give as you Live and raise money for us, at no extra cost to you.
Treat your Dad this Father’s Day!
Family Fun Day at the Sanctuary
Remus Horse Sanctuary will be opening its gates for only the second time this year on Sunday 2 June and visitors, members and supporters are welcome to come and meet the 200+ animals and learn about the Sanctuary’s horse welfare programme from 1pm to 5pm.
Parking is available on-site, with disabled access, and dogs are very welcome on a lead. Admission will be charged at just £4 per adult and £2 for children.
The summer Open Days at the Sanctuary are fun and interesting for the whole family, with bouncy castles, a children’s entertainer, live music from Midnite Blu, delicious refreshments – including gluten-free sandwiches and homemade cakes – and lots of stalls including a tombola and raffle.
The Sanctuary provides rehabilitation and care for around 200 animals, including horses, ponies, donkeys, one cow – born at the Sanctuary – goats, sheep and cats, and has been doing so since it was founded in 1983.
The Open Days are a vital source of fundraising for us as, due to our location on greenbelt land, we can only open to the public for a limited number of days each year.
The Sanctuary also host Afternoon Teas, Children’s Pony Days and an adults’ familiarisation day – the details for which can be found here.
Sue says, “We always look forward to our Open Days and enjoy inviting the public to come and visit the Sanctuary and learn more about what we do. Everyone always has such a great time and it means we’re able to show off our facilities and our amazing animals and give people an insight into the valuable work that we do in a fun way.”
For further information, visit www.remussanctuary.org or contact Sue Burton on tel: 01277 356191.
Ragwort: Be alert!
Spring has sprung and everywhere is looking very green – and yellow! The oilseed rape makes for some stunning scenery this time of year, but there is another, more sinister yellow plant about to make its annual appearance, ragwort.
Ragwort contains toxic compounds which, if eaten, can cause irreversible liver damage to horses. This can happen if it’s eaten fresh, but also dry in hay or haylage, so it’s important to check fields before making hay.
It’s usually found growing on roadside verges and wasteland but is spreading more and more to grazing land. Although it has a bitter taste, horses will eat it if there is nothing else available – and when it’s dry in hay, it’s very hard for horses to tell it’s toxic.
Ragwort starts flowering from May through to October, so do keep your eyes peeled for signs of the plant in your own fields and out and about. Horses left in fields of ragwort, due to cruelty or just ignorance, are at risk, so report any situations you’re concerned about.
There was a story in Horse & Hound about a pony who was rescued after being dumped. About four months into enjoying his new home, he had to be put down due to liver disease, presumably from exposure to ragwort in his earlier life. The owners are now trying to raise awareness of this ‘silent assassin’.
So take action today and let’s stop ragwort from taking any more innocent lives. If you’d like more information, visit the British Horse Society website.
Generate FREE donations with your weekly grocery shop
Did you know you can raise free funds for us when you shop for your groceries in-store at a range of popular supermarkets?
Whether you’re popping to the shops for a pint of milk or hitting the aisles for your weekly grocery shop, our in-store cards are the convenient way to shop and raise money for us, at no extra cost to you.
Choose to shop at Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and ASDA, keep it topped up via our website, and use it again and again to keep raising free funds.
Win a Free Holiday
What if we told you you could WIN a holiday AND raise FREE cash for us?
Give as you Live have teamed up with HomeAway to give you the chance to win holiday accommodation worth £1,200!
All you have to do is sign up to Give as you Live by entering the competition and complete a shop of any value to raise a donation for us by Friday 31st May.
If you’re already an avid Giving Hero, you can still enter! You just need to click the link, log in and complete a shop before the closing date.
More Shops = More Entries!
Even better, the more shops you complete, the more entries you receive! Give as you Live will give an extra entry for every shop completed by the closing date, and you’ll raise even more in FREE funds for us!
Simply enter and shop by 31st May to be in with a chance of winning this incredible prize.
First Open Day for 2019 on Early May Bank Holiday Weekend
The humans at Remus Horse Sanctuary are looking forward to welcoming visitors to the Sanctuary to meet the 200+ animals, for the first time this year on Sunday 5 May from 1pm to 5pm.
Parking is available on-site, with disabled access and dogs are very welcome on a lead. Admission will be charged at just £4 per adult and £2 for children.
Further Sundays during the Summer when visitors will be able to visit the Sanctuary are:
- Sunday 2 June
- Sunday 7 July including a fun dog show
- Sunday 4 August
- Sunday 1 September including a fun dog show
- Sunday 6 October
The Open Days at the Sanctuary are fun for the whole family, with bouncy castles, live performances from children’s entertainer Magic Rich, live music from Midnite Blu, delicious refreshments including gluten-free sandwiches and homemade cakes, and lots of stalls including a tombola and raffle.
The Sanctuary also hosts Afternoon Teas and Children’s Pony Days, the details for which can be found here.
The Sanctuary provides rehabilitation and care for around 200 animals, including horses, ponies, donkeys, cows, goats, sheep and cats. The Open Days are a vital source of fundraising for us as, due to our location on greenbelt land, we can only open to the public for a limited number of days each year.
Sue says, “We look forward to this time of year immensely and love inviting the public to come and visit the Sanctuary and learn more about what we do. We always have such a great time showing off our facilities and our amazing animals and giving people an insight into the valuable work that we do.
“On May 5th we’re also expecting the local fire brigade to attend and put on a display, which will be exciting to see!”
For further information, visit www.remussanctuary.org or contact Sue Burton on tel: 01277 356191.
Keep fit to reduce laminitis risk
An Australian study has shown that light exercise can help to reduce the risk of laminitis for horses and ponies. It’s a worry we all have at this time of year, but, while we can become obsessed with restricting grazing and getting out the weight tape every week, are we overlooking the need for simple exercise?
Busy holiday schedules and hotter summers can see our horses and ponies left out in the field and not ridden as often as we’d like. This study by the University of Melbourne has shown that even gentle exercise can make a real difference.
They studied two groups of horses; a diet-only group and an exercised-only group. High levels of insulin have been linked to laminitis and the diet-only group showed both lower insulin levels and weight loss at the end of the trial. The exercised-only group didn’t lose weight but had improved insulin sensitivity, which means they needed to produce less insulin to control blood sugar, therefore reducing their laminitis risk.
So keep an eye on your horse’s weight and get out for those evening hacks where you can. If your horse is retired or not ridden, like our residents here at Remus, then some walking in hand could be beneficial.
You can read more about the trial in this Horse & Hound article.
If you’re interested, you can also read our previous blog on the subject here: Laminitis Alert for Horse Owners and/or download this article from Horse Magazine which featured our research work.
Happy hacking!
Raise FREE Funds for us this Easter!
Did you know that you can raise free funds for Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary when you shop for Easter goodies via Give as you Live?
This Easter, whether you’re buying goodies for the kids, food for the perfect Easter Sunday lunch, or a gift for someone eggstra special, you can shop at over 4,200 stores via Give as you Live and raise money for us, at no extra cost to you.
Treat the ones you love this Easter!
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