An Appeal from our Founder
It’s been a tough 6 months at Remus. During the winter we dealt with the most appalling welfare cases and, at one point, I particularly remember standing in Dartford with a dead emaciated horse behind me, a mare stuck up to her belly in mud behind me and about 50 horses all in very poor condition all around me. We paid for lorry loads of hay to keep them alive and we saw fields that were effectively burial grounds, scattered in carcasses and bones. We worked tirelessly to help as many horses and ponies as possible.
We rescued Grace from Romford and Holly from Carmarthenshire – both were heavily pregnant, roaming loose on busy public roads for weeks and completely blind. Both of these beautiful horses have now gone on to have their foals. Sadly, Grace was not able to feed her foal, Jess, who was quite poorly in the first week of her life and of course required bottle-feeding every 2 hours. Holly can feed her foal, but she’s also been very poorly. Pippa had her second cataract operation and is now, thankfully, out in the fields enjoying her days. We took in 47 year old Orchid who had suffered the most horrendous cruelty and, when found had given up and was on the floor awaiting death! Already in the 3 months that Orchid has been with us, she has put on 70kgs. We also took in Tony who was rescued by the RSPCA and had the most awful injury to his mouth and nose. You can read all of their stories on our website.
All this has come at a high cost financially – in Hay bills and Vets bills and, at the moment, it has taken us 3 weeks to get in 10 cheques to bank which amounted to £700, yet our outgoings are thousands every week.
We know that everyone is in the same boat financially, but if there is any way, you’re able to make a donation to the Sanctuary at the moment or can organise some fundraising it would be a huge help. We are still working hard to save Holly’s foal and this has meant daily visits from the Vet, sometimes multiple visits a day, and both foals have needed special food – and Jess is on her fifth 10kg tub of milk powder. The older horses all need ongoing veterinary care and our monthly medication bill is in excess of £3,000 to help keep all the old ponies pain free and healthy.
Of course there is also all the red tape that costs us money too – every time we take in a horse it requires veterinary
treatment and care but also a passport and microchip.
Later on this month we have a meeting with Lord DeMauley, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), in London to discuss the equine crisis and towards the end of the summer we have a meeting with various other welfare groups. We all agree that we need to be in a stronger position to help deal with next winter’s impending welfare crisis, which just continues to escalate.
The situation is so bad that Travellers are just discarding their horses to take their chance on the roads, indeed some horses have roamed loose on roads and fields for up to three months. Recently two Shetland ponies were killed on the A127.
As the problem was so dire last winter what will happen this winter? All the Travellers’ mares have foaled and all will be heavily in foal again by the winter. This is a huge crisis and one that we have to be able to help with by dealing with both the underlying issues and by monitoring the horses in situ and getting food and water to them. Sometimes it’s just a case of getting lorry loads of hay into fields each week to keep these horses alive – this is not something we have needed to do on this scale before and it has set the Sanctuary back many thousands of pounds last winter. I hope that we can help keep them alive whilst we work in the background to get something done at Parliamentary level to help the overall problem.
We are still finding horses in poor condition and the dry weather has meant little grass growth, so we’ve not yet experienced the usual summertime lull.
We desperately want to keep up this vital help for these innocent and majestic creatures but can only do so with your support.
Please, if you can help in any way we would dearly love to hear from you. Please help us to save these beautiful creatures, keep the Sanctuary afloat and try to get other welfare organisations all working together to try to prevent the horrors that almost certainly await our innocent equine friends.
On behalf of all the animals at Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary…
Kind regards,
Sue Burton – Founder
www.remussanctuary.org
PS. Please sign-up here: http://eepurl.com/KG7Gz to receive our newsletter by email in future – it will save us postage costs, meaning we can spend more on the animals!
Holly and her New Baby
Holly’s baby was born at around 8.15pm on Friday 27 June 2014. She looks the spitting image of her Mum! And, unlike with Gracie and Jess, Holly is able to feed her foal and baby is suckling well.
Holly and Gracie arrived at similar times earlier this year and really helped each other, offering comfort in their new and strange environment. Even once Jess was born, the three were still a tight unit. Now the new baby makes four!
Holly is totally blind, and yet despite this, was still bred from and baby is the result!
Carmarthenshire County Council impounded Holly in December 2013 when she kept falling out of her field, which was higher than the road, and then getting up and wandering down the road! It fills us with dread every time we remember.
The Animal Health Trust Ophthalmology Team have checked out Holly’s eyes and it’s hoped that now her foal has been born she’ll be able to undergo cataract surgery.
Do come and meet both proud mums and their babies at our Open Day on Sunday 6 July 2014.
Orchid’s Final Journey To Safety
“Ah! I am still a family member, because here they are at last! My dear human family. I thought they’d got lost! I wondered what all this was about, my rugs being packed, my old red grooming box (which belonged to my best friend Derrie Lad, we shared it before he went to heaven) and a bag of the softest grass for my old toothless mouth. First my beloveds led me into a big golden horsebox, that was alright, I met a fellow horse setting out on a different path, and the humans who were driving were kind to both of us, and kept checking we were alright. But then everyone was upset, and my family told me that someone called ‘Sue from Remus’ would keep her eyes on me right through the journey, because she could see me through a camera! And though I didn’t know exactly where I was going, I had been told it was somewhere ‘truly remarkable’. So why are you crying, beloved family?
“I was a little frightened at first, but I kept reminding myself to trust the promise made to me eight years ago when I was found dying from hunger. That I would never suffer again, that I would never again be cold or beaten or shouted at. My beloveds told me I was part of their family now, and they would always look after me, that I would never be alone in the world. That God was watching over me. And I was told I must hold on to that promise even though, these eight years later, they had run out of money and had to pray for help. They say they will never leave me, or stop loving me, and that where I am going to is a place of beauty called The Remus Memorial Sanctuary, and I will never move home again in this, my earthly life. I was told it is full of human angels, though you can’t see their wings! And they say these are ‘the gentle people’ from the place called Remus, and they want to be my family too! It is wonderful, so why are my beloveds crying? These ‘angels’ will be their family also.
“I have heard they are led by the lady called Sue, and every day they make this same lifetime promise to all the animals that live there. They keep animals safe, they protect them so nothing can ever hurt them again!
“And I’m glad of this because my body was hurt by ‘the bad people’ for such a long time. I was so frightened of their rough hands and loudness, and I’m nearly 50 years old and my body is weaker than it was when I was a young brood mare. And though I forgive ‘the bad people’, I don’t want to feel their fists on me again, and I don’t want to hear their hard voices. They pulled my head and sometimes kicked me, but I am nearly blind, and often I didn’t understand what they wanted, then they would bellow in my soft ears. I could not make sense of their angry ways, and I was left in a dark place on my own, and told that I was bad and useless. I called out in my loneliness, to anyone, even ‘the bad people’ when I heard them passing by, but they just banged on the tin wall and screamed that I should be silent, or they would make me be sorry. I was already sorry, that I had become so old, ill and blind. And I heard them talking, that I was good for nothing, that all I did these days was eat their food. I tried to show ‘the bad people’, I wasn’t eating their food, couldn’t they see my ribs? I had no teeth left to chew the wisp of hay I found on the dirt floor, if they would just listen they would hear my gums squeak with the effort of trying to make it soft enough to swallow. And there wasn’t anything to drink. I pushed my bucket over hoping they would see it, but no one ever seemed to. I wondered if I was going to be made pregnant again, at least the foal would be company even in my belly, but I heard them say, “she’s no good now, it’s past its use.” I think they are talking about me, and I am hurt, because I did my best. I am equine, and we feel with all of our hearts, such deep emotions. Feeling is like breathing for us.
“I did try to cooperate. I wanted to bring them great joy when I ran, and to show them the sanctity of life in my beauty and my foals. I willingly took them on my back in harmony. But this was before they did violence to my life and my body.
“Before they broke my spirit, I ran with God every day.
“I tried to share my heart with ‘the bad people’, but they could not sense the world around them, they could only see themselves, and not my living self. They could barely see that I was on the earth, that I filled a space with my sad breath and a few memories of a warm and gentle mother. They said I didn’t understand anything as they rode me to death in a saddle that scarred me for life, bred from me, or ignored me.
“And so I was dying, and the meaning of my life was lost. I was the nameless horse, with no home or guardian, with no one to care that I was ever here. Just another old horse, who is said to be without thought or feelings in my long life of service.
“And so many of us are never found by ‘the gentle people’, they who know to look and listen for our hoof beats which resonate like the harp. Why do only some hear the music in our feet?
“But I was born into the tragedy of ignorance, and I wasn’t given a chance to live the noble dreams behind my sightless eyes. And really I was so tired from being pregnant, it hurt to stand, or go to the toilet, and my belly was always so heavy, and I dragged my arthritic legs in my own mess. I wanted to be free of misery, I wanted to go to heaven to be with God, where I would be loved, as I had been briefly by my mother, and my foals.
“I gave up, and would not raise my head, I willed death to release me from the agony. I couldn’t bear to look at the world for one more day.
“I was at the end of my long unhappy life. I had never known a kind hand upon my coat, or a human friend. ‘The bad people’ knew I was dying, but they didn’t care. I had no one to fight for me, I was alone.
“I had been afraid for all of my life, and I tried to be invisible, even in death. I had tried to make my foals invisible too, but ‘they’ could see them and they took them away, and I was never with my babies again. And every baby I carried in my womb, I knew was lost to me even before they were born, I could not protect them, and I do not know where they are in this cruel world, or if they are safe. I have spent my whole life crying, and in grief.
“And this is the story of the horse, wishing that I had never been born.
“But one day as I stood on the patch of concrete where I had been tethered, so my dying was not in the way, two determined ladies came with a lorry. They stood between me and ‘the bad people’, they had a big dog with big teeth, and they waved telephones and pieces of white paper and they scared them away! ‘The bad people’ stood back grumbling and using mean words, and I was afraid, but the two ladies disregarded them, and the big dog with big teeth said to me “It’s alright old dear, the bad times are over.” And they were. This was my family, come to rescue me, and God had sent them.
“So I must not be afraid now, because I know in my old, wise heart I can trust ‘the gentle people’. My family says so.
“And in this new place I was travelling to, many of them had been praying for me, and sending me strength and Reiki healing!
“They were waiting for me! And their hearts were full of love. And they were eager for me to join them! An old horse like me, to be loved and wanted, not only by my family, but by ‘the gentle people’ of Remus!
“I could feel it because I am sensitive, I am telepathic like all horses, and it is our feeling natures which gives us our tenderness and courage. Our ability to love humans for their empathy, and to forgive them if we must. I could feel the quiet affection they were sending me the day before I was moved, and right through the long journey I was supported with heart love. And it was so comforting to my old bones, and to my mind. My soul could feel their devoted promise, and how they waited to welcome me.
“The golden truck stopped, and I heard voices, I was straining to hear my beloveds, but the one voice I could make out was that of a lady, and she came to untie me and lead me gently out of the box. She talked to me quietly all the time, and I liked the sound of her voice, and the feel of her sure hands on my back and sides. She kept telling me everything was alright, and somehow I knew I could believe her. The other ‘gentle people’ called her Sue. She is the leader of this herd, the one my family told me about.
“My legs were shaky from the long journey, all the smells were different, and I was tired and hungry. But Sue kept talking to me, telling me she understood and that I was safe. She led me into a big stall, and I could feel the thick straw bed under my hooves, and now I could smell the mash that was waiting for me. I guessed this had to be my forever home, Remus, the one filled with human angels!
“I’ve just moved home, I now live at Remus, and I am making a whole bunch of new friends. Especially James, who obviously likes me so much, he brings me food EVERY HOUR. James and I are simpatico! Then there’s that nice lady who brings me bowls of herbs to taste, and she puts something in my water bucket which helps me to feel really comfy. I think it’s called a remedy. Her name is Lorraine, and I’m glad she is spending the day with me, she is calm, and she talks to me nicely, and when she strokes my neck it feels like butterfly wings, she is so sweet-tempered.
“Now my family have arrived, the two determined ladies, I can hear them talking to Lorraine, and I call to them “I’m in here, I’m in here!” I’m so glad to be near them, and they say they are glad to see my dear old face. They are smiling, and I am smiling.
“I have so much to tell them, and to show them! They love my new home, my new friends, my thick bed, and my buckets of soft grass and mash. I am especially proud to show them my heat lamp, it’s on the wall, and I can put my old back right underneath it! It feels like the sun is shining on all my creaky bits, and it makes me the colour of pink roses.
“Lorraine is telling my family about all the wonderful holistic therapies I will be getting, like aromatherapy and shiatsu, I don’t know what they are, but I think James brings them in a bucket.
“So many of ‘the gentle people’ have been to see me, they tell me I am beautiful, that I’m not grey at all, and that they will care about me always. I will love them too. Now they are here hugging and kissing my family, and everyone is crying again, but this time there is no sorrow, I think because Carol keeps popping in and out and telling funny stories! She makes laughter, because she laughs so much!
“I think there is a lot to be happy about at Remus. I can smell the armfuls of fresh herbs she carries to my two blind neighbours, they arrived here recently too. They are only youngsters but they are having babies, I can help them with that, I know all about babies.
“My family will be back to see me, and my new family is always around to chat to me, or groom me, and they tell me Remus stories while I fall asleep. And soon I will stand in the garden with the summer foals, and they will never be taken away. I will be known as Orchid, the useful old mare.
“And then there is Sue, who is always watching out for us, who is always on guard, because she leads this big herd. Sue knows what she’s doing, she can be trusted.”
The End
Well we don’t know about you but Orchid’s story has brought a tear to everyone here at the Sanctuary and of course its not ’The End’ for Orchid; she’s getting on really well. She’s put on approx 40kg since she has been with us and enjoys going out with her friends Apollo and Guinness.
Why not come and meet her at our next Open Day!
Gracie and Her Foal Jess
Gracie’s foal – Jess – was born at the Sanctuary on Wednesday 21 May 2014 at about 2.30pm in the afternoon.
The name was pulled out of a hat out of the many names given to us over our Open Day weekend and also those generated by Dengi Horse Food. We liked it because it is the name of Claire’s daughter who works in the Remus Office, and is presently undergoing serious hospital tests and coincidently who’s middle name is Grace!
Unfortunately, Mum wasn’t generating any milk so the staff and volunteers at the Sanctuary have been bottle-feeding Jess every 2 hours around the clock! Despite this she still suckles from her mum. Although she doesn’t get any milk she gets the emotional comfort and Grace feels she is playing a natural part of bringing her up, all part of the bonding experience.
A mother’s milk contains something called Colostrum, which is really beneficial to Jess’ fit and healthy growth. Our local vets were able to get some from another mare and via a tube inserted it straight into the Jess’ tummy. Unfortunately, when the vet tested her blood two days later, it showed that the Colostrum had not given her the protection she needed, so we then needed to drip feed some special plasma as well. Poor thing, she went through a lot in her first few days but she’s now much healthier and stronger as you’ll have seen from the photos on our Facebook page.
The foal surprised us all when she was born she’s actually a mule which means her mum is a pony but her dad was a donkey! They say mules have more attitude!
Mum Grace arrived at the Sanctuary at the beginning of this year. She had been left to roam wild in a muddy field with a big pond in the middle. Grace is blind in both eyes so it was lucky that the Sanctuary went to her rescue, as she could have easily fallen into the pond and drowned! Worse still there was no fencing in the field and she had often been seen walking down the busy road. She could so easily have been killed and our brave new little foal may never have seen the world.
Grace was wild and terrified and it took 12 Sanctuary Staff and about 4 hours to catch her. And to avoid risk losing her foal we needed to try and keep her stress levels down. Thankfully, though we managed to catch her and bring her to the Sanctuary and, bit by bit, she has learnt where everything is and started to trust the staff. She’s stopped jumping now when we touch her so she’s learnt that we are helping her and not harming her.
Two weeks on and Jess is now getting stronger (and hungrier!) by the day and loves running around!
New Horse Passport Legislation Doomed To Fail?
Roly Owers, Chief Executive of World Horse Welfare has said, “The updated law being considered by the European Union, whilst making significant progress in some areas, simply fails to learn from the problems of the past. The draft as it stands will actually create even more implementation and enforcement problems – and could actually pose a serious risk to horse welfare”.
You can read the full article here:
http://www.horseandcountry.tv/news/2014/05/13/new-passport-laws-will-put-horses-risk
Our thoughts are these:
- It is important that whatever system put forward is workable and enforceable.
- Local authorities presently are unable to put the resources into enforcing passport legislation – therefore its no good putting forward a system that is doomed before it starts!
- We must find a workable solution and it must also encompass the traveller horse issue, which existing legislation fails to address.
Too often, when there is an issue, the Government claim they have passed legislation but, due to financial constraints, the local authorities are unable to carry out or not enforcing the legislation. If the law is not enforceable or workable then it may as well have not been passed!
Have your say on our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/RemusHorseSanctuary
Experts Meet to Discuss Horse Welfare
Sue Burton, Founder of Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary, was delighted to learn of the first European Commission equine experts meeting last week and hopes it will help address the worsening welfare issue in this country. With 7,000+ horses at risk in the UK, Sue believes the welfare organisations already cannot cope and, when this year’s mares foal, the problem will quickly escalate.
The meeting held on 7 May 2014 in Brussels, gathered experts from across Europe to explore the current welfare situation of equines across Europe, the role of regulation and to commence a European research project on equine welfare by British based charity World Horse Welfare and Eurogroup for Animals.
Critically there is no specific EU legislation in place to safeguard the welfare of horses and donkeys, despite the contribution made by the equine industry to Europe’s economies, and therefore any initiatives that will help to improve welfare for horses will be welcomed.
Sue Burton echoes Reineke Hameleers, Director at Eurogroup for Animals, thoughts: “Equines are unique animals and need unique protection.” Sue also said, “At this time of such huge welfare crisis in the country it is important that issues are discussed and we welcome the initiatives proposed by the meeting.”
Such initiatives include improved identification and registration, better education on keeping and training, a ban on long distance transport to slaughter, the need for humane slaughtering and greater focus on effective law and enforcement. Concerning the fourth point, Sue was quick to point out that she vehemently disagrees with any proposal to allow horsemeat to enter the human food chain due to “fears over unscrupulous breeding and the risk of veterinary medicines to humans.” Sue added, “Enforcement has to be a priority as we are already aware that local authorities do not enforce the existing microchipping and passport legislation.”
For further information, contact Sue Burton on tel: 01277 356191.
You can learn more about the meeting and watch the video here.
Horse Passport Regulation
Last week we wrote commenting on the horse welfare crisis in this country and HRH Princess Anne’s reference to horsemeat, specifically the unlikelihood that anyone breeding horses for the meat trade would hold a Horse Passport. This comment has led to our latest blog.
Did you know that all horses are required to carry a passport, by law, or the owners risk a fine of £5,000? At Remus Horse Sanctuary, we along with many of the national animal welfare charities are now calling for passports to be enforced by local authorities. At present, many people do not have passports for their equines despite the law being quite clear on the requirements.
What is the legal requirement?
The Government website Gov.uk states:
All horses, ponies and donkeys must have a horse passport.
The passport helps:
· Make sure horses treated with certain medicines don’t end up as food for people.
· Prevent the sale of a stolen horse, pony or donkey, as the passport proves its identity.
The animal’s rider or keeper must have the passport with them at all times when they’re with the animal, unless it’s in a stable, grazing in a field, or being moved by foot. Owners can take their animals for short rides without one.
You (or the animal’s main keeper) may have to show the passport to a Trading Standards inspector or an animal health officer.
You can be fined up to £5,000 if you don’t have a valid horse passport.
Is the Passport required just for horses?
Good point, for the purpose of the Horse Passports Regulations 2009, the term ‘horse’ means “wild, exotic or domesticated solipeds from within the genus Equus of the family Equidae and their crosses” for example a horse, donkey, mule, hinny (jennet), zebra, Przewalski (or Dzungarian).
What’s the fuss?
Identification is critical! As the Gov.uk website mentions above, the issuing and use of a passport ensures health and safety for people, a particular consideration during the horsemeat scandal last year, and alongside microchipping will help reduce theft.
We see an awful lot of people who don’t have passports for their horses or donkeys – mainly due to ignorance – and many who don’t realise that when they buy a horse they should have the passport re-registered in their name.
If you have a horse, you should also sign section IX to declare that you don’t want it to go into the food chain upon its death.
And, of course, it’s most unfair that those of us who do abide by the law, get hit with the cost of vet bills, microchips and passports whilst others openly flout it!
For more information on horse welfare, please visit our web page here.
We are happy to offer advice to anyone who is unsure what to do or how to proceed. You can also download our comprehensive guide here.
Equally, you can contact DEFRA for advice by email at: defra.helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk or by telephone: 08459 33 55 77.
Calling All NetMums
Are you a member of Netmums?
If so, you can vote for us in the ‘Netmums Favourites for 2014’.
Voted by parents for parents, the Netmums awards have attracted many thousands of votes from Netmums members around the UK with the sole aim of recognising the best places to go with your family.
Whether you want to know what’s favourite with mums where you live, or you’re going on holiday in the UK and want to check out the best places to go, the Netmums award winners will help.
Netmums awards take place every year and business owners display their certificates with pride on their premises. You can easily spot gold winners in Netmums listings due to their shiny gold star next to their listings.
Just click on the link to find out more and login to your account to vote – www.netmums.com/user/login. And remember, vote for Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary!
Horse Welfare Crisis Update
We were interested to read news online last week, that HRH The Princess Royal had raised the issue of whether creating a market for horsemeat was viable to help address the issues of horse welfare. The discussion took place at the World Horse Welfare’s centre in Lancashire, as reported by Stackyard.com.
“Should we be considering a real market for horse meat and would that reduce the number of welfare cases if there was a real value in the horse meat sector? I think it needs a debate.”
In the context of this discussion, The Princess was suggesting how some people, who pay scant regard to the welfare of their horses, or those who are struggling financially, might be encouraged to take better care of their horses if they considered their meat value.
In our opinion, this could only fuel the problem, as it would create a market for the sale and purchase of horsemeat. We suspect that we would have more meat than we could deal with, due to the sheer volume of horses and, not only that, but we would probably see unscrupulous dealers breeding specifically for the market, and many elderly horses who have spent their lives doing their best for their humans would find themselves butchered. Similarly those involved in breeding for the meat trade are invariably not holding or maintaining passports for these animals thus creating a risk to public health.
We accept there may well be a need for a cull of the horses we have in this country. At present, there are far in excess of 7,000 horses at risk and the welfare organisations just cannot cope with the amount. Any time now, all of the mares will foal, almost doubling the problem and next year the mares will foal yet again. Where will we be then? Surely it has to be better that these animals are put to sleep with dignity, rather than being left as they have been this year to starve and die alone in fields.
There needs to be a debate about what we are going to do about the horse welfare crisis and there needs to be a much more proactive response from the Government, who at present are just burying their heads in the sand.
At Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary, we would welcome further discussion on this subject.
Grand National 2014 – Sport or Barbarism?
We were relieved to see that there were no horse fatalities in this year’s Grand National held at Aintree on Saturday. However just 18 of the 39 who took part were able to complete the course – eight horses fell and seven were pulled up because they were either exhausted or injured. It’s fortunate that no horses were killed given the amount that fell.
The Grand National, despite being the most popular event of the horseracing calendar, attracting thousands of race goers from across the world, culminating in millions of pounds of wagers, continues to present a major hazard to the life and welfare of those horses compelled to run it.
In 2013, The Guardian reported, “The fences have been changed in an effort to improve safety for horses and jockeys, but still the course remains a huge challenge to its competitors.” In fact, The Grand National course has several uniquely and perversely difficult obstacles – of a total of 30 – and 2014 is the first in many years where a horse has not died over the course of the event.
According to the British Horseracing Authority, modern steeplechase races have an average of four+ equine fatalities for every 1,000 horses taking part. The Grand National, however, yielded seven fatalities out of 439 horses taking part between 2000 and 2010 (source BBC News).
Take a look at these photographs taken in 2013 of The Chair, following the so-called safety improvements – and we call this Sport?
Images courtesy of The Guardian in 2013 depicting Mourne Paddy ridden by BG Crawford (wearing sky blue) as he struggles to clear The Chair.
In future, we would urge people to donate to Horse Welfare Charities rather than betting on these horses’ lives. You can do so with Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary here.
