PayPal match-funding for Giving Tuesday 2019

PayPal have once again stepped in to make your Giving Tuesday 2019 bigger and better than ever.

Make a donation using PayPal on the PayPal UK’s fundraising page, or the PayPal App to PayPal Giving Fund between 06:00 on Tuesday 3 December 2019 and until such time as the cap of £150,000 has been reached, and PayPal Giving Fund UK will grant an additional 10% of the donation to benefit Remus Horse Sanctuary.

This means 100% of the donation, plus the 10% match, will come to us, in accordance with PayPal Giving Fund Donation Delivery Policy.

For further information and to read the Terms and Conditions, please visit this page.

Remus Reminds People to Donate Two Coffees to Help Rescue Horses on Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday is just around the corner and this year Remus Horse Sanctuary is asking their members and supporters to donate the cost of a couple of cups of coffee to help rescue more abandoned horses this year.

Giving Tuesday is a day when people and organisations from all over the world come together to support the causes and communities that mean so much to us all. Remus are asking you to help us reach ourr goal on Tuesday 3 December and really make a difference for the animals we rescue and care for by donating just £5 a month – the equivalent of just two cups of coffee!

Remus Horse Sanctuary provides rescue and rehabilitation to abandoned horses, ponies and donkeys that are victims of physical and mental abuse, be it as a result of ignorance or malicious intent. The work at the Sanctuary is often very similar to a hospice situation, giving these animals, most of which are survivors of the most horrendous cruelty at the hands of mankind, the very best of care, allowing the younger ones to develop into happy adults, or for the older ones to rest and recuperate.

Sue Burton, Founder of Remus Horse Sanctuary says: “The aim of #givingtuesday is to get people thinking about others this Christmas and doing little things that can make a big difference.

“It could be donating money or volunteering but, if we all do something small this #givingtuesday, it will make a real difference not only to the hundreds of abandoned horses in this area but for Remus too.

“We’re asking people to use the hashtag #givingtuesdaypledgeRemus to help promote our cause and to donate the equivalent cost of a couple of cups of coffee.”

To find out how to set up a monthly donation, visit www.remussanctuary.org/donate or call Sue Burton directly on tel: 01277 356191.

Coping with fireworks

For any horse owner, Fireworks Night is a worry. However, celebrations now tend to go on for two or even three weeks and are certainly not restricted to the one night. Here at Remus, our residents are kept as calm as possible during any nearby displays. They’re no doubt helped by the holistic care and therapies we provide all year round, but of course nothing can really prepare any animal for the noise or flashing lights.

Thankfully, following more than 307,000 people signing one petition, change is happening and a report by the Petitions Committee was released on 5th November. This report comes after an inquiry into the impact of fireworks on humans and animals, and calls on the government to limit the number of displays through a system of permits, review noise levels and promote the responsible use of fireworks.

Meanwhile, an owner’s video of a firework display over her stable yard went viral online last week with what she described as sounding like a “war zone”, and there have been other stories in the press of shocking injuries to distressed horses and ponies.

Hopefully for our horses, ponies and all other animals who are affected, change will come. In the meantime, try to keep your horses’ routines as familiar as you can to reduce stress and make sure their stable and field environments are safe. If you know fireworks are going to be set off, you should stay with your horse, but always be aware of your own safety.

You can read more about the Petitions Committee report at: https://www.yourhorse.co.uk/news/articles/bang-out-of-order-rspca-welcomes-new-fireworks-report

Remus Urges People to Donate the Cost of Two Coffees to Rescue Horses

Remus Horse Sanctuary joins #GivingTuesday 2019, the global day of generosity on 3rd December.

Remus Horse Sanctuary is thrilled to announce that we’re one of the thousands of organisations taking part in this year’s #GivingTuesday campaign, to be held on Tuesday 3 December – and all we’re asking is for people to donate the equivalent cost of a couple of coffees each month.

The campaign began in America in 2012, as a way to give back after the well-known shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It was brought to the UK in 2014 by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) with the key aim of encouraging people to think of others in the run-up to Christmas. There are numerous ways to get involved through donating to charity, volunteering or simply helping a friend, neighbour or family member.

Remus Horse Sanctuary provides rescue and rehabilitation to abandoned horses, ponies and donkeys that are victims of physical and mental abuse, be it as a result of ignorance or malicious intent. Our work at the Sanctuary is often very similar to a hospice situation, giving these animals, most of which are survivors of the most horrendous cruelty at the hands of mankind, the very best of care, allowing the younger ones to develop into happy adults, or for the older ones to rest and recuperate.

#GivingTuesday was the top trending item on UK Twitter last year, with the hashtag reaching people more than 600 million times. In the UK, more than £7.8 million was raised in online donations alone on the day itself.

Sue Burton, Founder of Remus Horse Sanctuary says: “The aim of #givingtuesday is to get people thinking about others this Christmas and doing little things that can make a big difference. It could be donating money or volunteering but, if we all do something small this #givingtuesday, it would make a real difference not only to the hundreds of abandoned horses in this area but Remus too.

“We’re asking people to use the hashtag #givingtuesdaypledgeRemus to help promote our cause.”

Gráinne Mathews, Giving Tuesday UK Campaign Lead, adds: “Giving Tuesday is a chance for us all, no matter where we live or what we do, to help out a cause close to our hearts. This year we’re also encouraging everyone to make a #GivingTuesdayPledge and think of ways to have an impact year-round, in addition to on the day itself.

“That could mean giving a small monthly donation to a charity, or setting aside a couple of hours each month for volunteering. Together, all of these pledges will combine to make a world of difference to so many lives.”

Ms Burton concluded: “We’re asking people to donate just £5 a month to Remus – that’s equivalent to the cost of just two cups of coffee, but it would make a huge difference to us and allow us to rescue more abandoned horses.”

To find out how to set up a monthly donation, visit the charity’s website at: www.remussanctuary.org/donate or call Sue Burton directly on tel: 01277 356191.

Remus Horse Sanctuary Celebrating the Christmas Season

Despite not being able to open our gates over the winter months, Remus Horse Sanctuary are organising and participating in a wealth of events over the festive season:

Christmas Sale Saturday 2 November at St Peters Church, Hutton
Winter Sale Saturday 9 November at Writtle Village Hall
Winter Sale Saturday 16 November at Billericay Reading Rooms
Antiques Fair Sunday 17 November at Stock Village Hall
Stall at the Christmas Market Saturday 1 December on Billericay High Street
Quiz Night Friday 6 December at Courage Hall, Brentwood

Full details for all of the above can be found on our website at www.remussanctuary.org/events.

Furthermore, our Christmas Gift Shop is now available online with some lovely gift items including stocking fillers, Christmas cards and of course our new wall calendar for 2020.

Sue Burton, Founder of Remus Horse Sanctuary said, “Our gift packs are very popular and great value at just £8.99 and our Plum Puddings always sell out really quickly – they come in three different sizes.”

The plum puddings are light and delicious, full of luxury fruits and nuts soaked in plenty of brandy and dry sherry. They range from £2.25 for the mini pud to £8.50 for the largest.

The online gift shop also features clotted cream shortbread, clotted cream fudge, notepads, pens and pencils and – new for 2019 – tins of shortbread buttons with a choice of picture on the lid, including puppies, kittens and of course horses! The shortbread tins cost just £3.50.

And last but not least, the beautiful 2020 Wall Calendar is packed full of pictures of your favourite Remus animals on every page. The calendar is A4, wirobound with a hanging clip and comes with an A4 envelope.

“As always,” concluded Sue, “we are deeply indebted for everyone’s support. Every year the charity faces the threat of closure due to spiralling costs and we couldn’t continue our rescue work without your help.”

For further information, visit www.remussanctuary.org or contact Sue Burton on tel: 01277 356191.

Keeping Your Horse’s Teeth Healthy

We’ve all heard the expression, ‘getting a little long in the tooth’. Of course, it’s an alternative way of saying someone’s getting old! Horses’ teeth grow for much of their life, and wear between 2mm and 3mm a year, as a result of them happily chewing and grinding their food. It’s important that food is broken down properly in the horse’s mouth, as it allows the gut to digest it fully and therefore avoid problems such as weight loss or colic.

Horses are natural trickle feeders, typically eating for up to 18 hours a day, but with modern day winter stabling, this isn’t always the case and we need to be aware of problems that may arise.

The team here at Remus dealt with a lovely pony called Prince, who died within days of us taking him in. We found him in a field rugged up and with food but emaciated and with a huge tooth abscess. His owner loved him but was not aware that, despite feeding him, he was quidding (dropping) most of it back out. She didn’t realise that as he got older his teeth needed more attention.

As well as dropping food, horses with problem teeth might show facial swellings, head shaking or potentially nothing obvious at all. This article from Your Horse magazine sets out the importance of maintaining healthy teeth and what you should be looking out for.

If you would like to receive more news from us, directly to your inbox, please sign up on our website here.

Will you help us?

There’re so many ways you can help us, all that we ask is you choose one!

Please consider making a donation towards our winter feed costs. Our work is very hard and costly – it takes time and effort to set up a rescue – and we see some awful cases that break our hearts. Most we can save, others sadly die, but at least at the end they were loved and cared for. The financial aspect doesn’t stop just by rescuing and bringing the animals into our care as then our costs really start to escalate as we try to rectify the mess previously made of these poor creatures.

Donating the cost of just 2 coffees to us each month would have a huge impact…

Sadly we have hit a time where donations have gone down and have stayed down since the recession some years back, but our costs continue to rise. Can you help us to help these poor creatures – all innocent victims of man’s inhumanity? Thousands of horses are caught up in the horse welfare crisis and suffer daily. We want to be able to help these horses and give them a chance but we can only do this with your help:

Can you make a donation to help us to continue this critical work, rescuing and rehabilitating sick, abused and neglected animals?
Can you organise an event to help raise money for us?
Do you run a business which could help with a charity raffle or bake sale?
Are you part of a group or a club that could help raise awareness of our plight?
If all our friends on Facebook could set up a standing order for just £5 a month it would make a huge difference and it’s only the cost of two coffees!
Do you have good quality bric-a-brac or unwanted gifts or unwanted stock that we can sell to raise funds?

There are so many ways that you could help us and therefore help these beautiful noble creatures who suffer so badly at the hands of humanity.

Please get in touch via telephone, email or Facebook – we’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Tel: 01277 356191
Email: info@remussanctuary.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RemusHorseSanctuary

Sunday 6 October Important Read

We are very sorry to have to announce that our Open Day this Sunday been cancelled as the fields are just too wet for cars to park on, due to the recent rain that we’ve experienced.

For us, this is a great loss and, by cancelling, we will potentially lose as much as £5,000 that would have helped us to get through the winter months to feed the many horses, ponies and donkeys at the Sanctuary all rescued from terrible lives of neglect.

As you can imagine, therefore, we don’t take this decision lightly!

For you, we understand it will be an immense disappointment, especially if you planned to come to either shop or see your favourite animal or just spend the day in the beautiful Essex countryside.

The October Open Day is usually our busiest one and also gives us chance to sell our new winter and Christmas gift stock, such as the plum puddings, our annual calendar, and gift packs etc etc – so please do visit our website and take a look at our shop and if you fancy buying something for yourself or as a gift then please do place an order.

See you at Stock Village Hall from 11am to 3pm on Sunday 6 October

To help make up for the loss of the Sanctuary not being able to open on Sunday we will instead be having our stalls at the Stock Village Hall from 11am – 3pm, where you can buy our goods and many other items, meet our team and hear all about the work that we do. Refreshments will also be available and don’t forget, Stock Village Hall is dog friendly. The postcode for your satnavs is CM4 9LY.

Please also consider making a donation towards our winter feed costs – as the impact of losing this Open Day will be quite considerable financially. Our work is very hard and we see some awful cases that break our hearts. Most we can save, others sadly die, but at least at the end they were loved and cared for. The financial aspect doesn’t stop just by bringing the animals into our care as then our costs really start to escalate as we try to rectify the mess previously made of these poor creatures.

Donating the cost of just 2 coffees to us each month would have a huge impact

Can you make a donation to help us to continue this critical work, rescuing and rehabilitating sick, abused and neglected animals?
Can you organise an event to help raise money for us?
Do you run a business which could help?
Are you part of a group or a club that could help?
If all our friends on Facebook could set up a standing order for just £5 a month it would make a huge difference and it’s only the cost of two coffees!
Do you have good quality bric-a-brac or unwanted gifts or unwanted stock that we can sell to raise funds?

There are so many ways that you could help us and therefore help these beautiful noble creatures who suffer so badly at the hands of humanity.

Please get in touch via telephone, email or Facebook and we hope to see you on Sunday in Stock!

Tel: 01277 356191
Email: info@remussanctuary.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RemusHorseSanctuary

Final Family Fun Day at Essex Horse Charity

Remus Horse Sanctuary will be opening its gates for the last time this year on Sunday 6 October 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 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 that was born at the Sanctuary, along with goats, sheep and cats, and has been doing so since it was founded in 1983.

Every year the charity faces the threat of closure due to spiraling costs and the Open Days are a vital source of fundraising. Due to its location on greenbelt land, Remus 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, the details for which can be found on the website. The 2020 programme of events will be launched shortly.

Sue says, “We always look forward to our Open Days and the last one of the season is always bitter sweet! We 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.

The Importance of Winter Turnout

Hartpury College have recently released some research indicating that 20 minutes on a ‘horsewalker’ is equivalent exercise to one hour of turnout. The research showed that the horses travelled the same distance in both scenarios, but the heart rates of the turned-out horses were higher, due to periods of trot and canter.

With winter fast approaching, many horse owners’ thoughts will be turning to the inevitable turnout woes, and ways to get around them!

However, as the researchers were keen to point out, a ‘horsewalker’ is not a replacement for daily turnout. If you’re lucky enough to have one, it simply provides additional exercise during times of limited turnout or limited daylight for ridden exercise.

The psychological benefits of being out in the field, at least for part of the day, are huge. Here at Remus our horses enjoy daily turnout, as well as environmental enrichment to enhance their physical, social and mental environment. This is through various means including music, mirrors, toys and, of course, regular grooming. You can read more on our enrichment programme here.

Turnout is also important to allow horses to behave as naturally as possible in social groups. All of our residents love spending time with their pals out in the field – come rain or shine!

You can read more about the research in this recent Horse & Hound article.

Our last Open Day of the 2019 season will be taking place on Sunday 6 October. This is the last time that we will be open to visitors this year, so don’t miss out! You can find all the information you need on our website.