Caring for your Horse this Winter

We’ve been seeing some gloriously sunny days with a bright blue sky, but it does mean that the ground is hard and the temperature extremely cold. As a result, we’ve put together a few tips to ensure you and your horse are as warm and as safe as possible.

Winter Prevention Measures

• If you haven’t already, lag your pipes to help prevent freezing.
• Remember to drain pipes and hosepipes at the end of each day.
• Put a ball or similar in the water troughs to prevent them freezing over.
• Buy in extra hay and feed in case you cannot get supplies due to heavy snowfall.
• Stock up on grit – always carry some in your car in case you need it – but ensure it’s in a sealed container as it is corrosive.
• Keep antifreeze and WD-40 in your car too.
• In case of snow carry a blanket, torch and shovel and ensure your mobile phone always has some charge on it.

Safety

• Be aware of ice – do grit where possible or put down used straw to make a safe path for you and you horse.
• Be aware of the risks of heaters and especially of putting clothing over them – whilst we are all trying to dry our gloves and socks and dry out our horse’s rugs we put ourselves at risk of fire. Its best not to dry or warm anything over an open flame and never leave clothing unattended on a heater.

Warmth

• In winter, keep your horse as warm as it needs to be using rugs, stable bandages and deep beds.
• If your horse is living out make sure there’s a deep bed in the shelter and plenty of hay for him or her to eat. Remember that a horse uses food to provide inner warmth.

Water

• Ensure you break the ice on your horses’ water supply, if you haven’t added a ball or something to the surface as we mention above, so that it can get to fresh water, and bring in hoses if necessary.
• Your horse is more prone to impaction colic in this weather, so you might like to consider adding some warm water to its feed to ensure it takes in enough water to optimise gut mobility.

Food in the Winter

• Try to warm food before feeding if you are feeding wet products (ie, soaked foods such as sugar beet or mashes) rather then feeding icy cold food. You can do this by just adding warm water – again see above.

Older Horses

• Remember that older horses that are more restricted during the colder wetter weather are also more prone to impaction colic. Because the water is cold they tend to drink less and this also increases the risk, so if you can’t keep the water above freezing then try putting water in their food to ensure that they are getting sufficient fluid intake.

Those less Fortunuate

• Please do keep an eye on any horses near you that aren’t getting the care they should, and either help out as needed or report to one of the welfare groups. We provide more information on Horse Welfare here.

There is no let up in the horse welfare crisis in the UK. Please continue with your support. We can only help these poor animals, if you help us.

Remus Events for You and Your Family

Here at Remus we have been busy planning our new events for 2017 and are pleased to announce a series of new dates to entertain and educate you and your families.

Kids’ Activity Days

Our kids’ activity days are planned around the school holiday terms and will entertain your children for a day whilst you’re at work or doing something else with your time. Boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 11 years are welcome and the day will include a tour of the Sanctuary meeting our furry residents, and many craft making activities such as card making, mug decorating, quizzes, scrap-booking and plenty more! Rest assured your child would be fully supervised and enjoy a fun day out in the countryside.

Our next activity day is Wednesday 15 February – click here to book.

Children’s Pony Days

Our pony days for your children are always great fun and everyone has a marvellous time!  Suitable for children aged 9 years and over, boys and girls, they are a way to introduce your children to animals and animal welfare in a safe and secure environment. If they are particularly interested in ponies, horses, would like to learn to ride and perhaps hope to have their own horse at some point in the future, then this will be a great introduction! Plus, they get to spend the day with like-minded enthusiasts. What’s not to love!

Our next pony day is Wednesday 12 April – click here to book.

Educational Workshops

We are proud to be one of the few Sanctuaries that embrace holistic care and therapies as part of our every-day ethos.  As such, we try to plan several educational workshops throughout the year on subjects such as elderly horse care, aromatherapy, shiatsu and reiki etc.

Our next workshop is Sunday 23 April – click here to book.

Family Open Days

Our Open Days at the Sanctuary are the highlight of the calendar year and an opportunity for us to show case what we do to the public.  Taking place on the first Sunday of the month during May to October, our Open Days are a fun day out for the whole family, including your 4-legged furry-tailed friends!

Our first Open Day of the season will be Sunday 7 May – click here to find out more and pop the date in your diary!

Keep an eye out on our website and Facebook page for further events launching soon!

Raise Free Funds for Us this Winter

Did you know that you can raise FREE funds for Remus Horse Sanctuary when you book your winter getaway?

This year, whether you’re booking a family skiing break on the slopes, a mini-break for two, or the adventure of a lifetime, please book your flights, accommodation and insurance online via Give as you Live and raise money for us, at no extra cost to you.

Even if its just for a week! Raise FREE funds for us when you’re booking your holiday and travel plans online.

Spread a little sunshine with winter!

Find your perfect getaway>

Simply visit the above link and raise FREE funds for us every time you shop online via Give as you Live.

Once you’ve registered, why not help spread the word and get others raising free donations for Remus when they shop online through Give as you Live. Use Twitter and Facebook to tell all your friends today!

Please Donate Your Unwanted Presents to a Good Cause

Sue Burton, Founder of Remus Horse Sanctuary, is urging people to donate their unwanted Christmas presents to the charity. Drop-offs can be made to the Sanctuary near Ingatestone between 10am and 2pm, any day of the week, throughout January.

An unwanted Christmas present will be a delight to someone else, and Remus Horse Sanctuary can make good use of the unwanted gifts at their sales, fundraising events, raffles and tombolas throughout the year. Additionally, any other items in a good saleable condition can also be dropped off at the Sanctuary during January.

Unwanted gift cards can be exchanged with ‘Give a Gift’ introduced in 2016. Give a Gift help turn £1 billion of wasted gift cards into donations for charities, such as Remus Horse Sanctuary. An unwanted gift card can be exchanged for one you really want and do some good at the same time, by donating a percentage of the unused gift card to Remus and swapping the rest for a new gift card of your choice. Find out more via the Remus website here: https://www.remussanctuary.org/how-to-make-best-use-of-gift-cards/.

A pre-Christmas poll by a leading children’s charity revealed that almost 250,000 people across five London boroughs were likely to “dismiss unsuitable gifts this year and would throw them away”. Whilst a YouGov survey identified that the least desirable presents were ‘selfie sticks’, musical socks, bathroom scales and animal slippers!  Many people will face issues trying to return items at full price with little chance of a similar exchange with mixed stock available, not to mention the lengthy queues! Furthermore, Royal Mail were predicting that on what it calls Take-back Tuesday there would be a rise of more than 50% in returns against December’s daily average. Remus Horse Sanctuary offers a viable alternative.

Remus’ Founder Sue Burton says, “We all receive the odd gift that we don’t like or wouldn’t buy for ourselves. But rather than throwing these presents away or sticking them in a drawer, you can help Remus to rescue and rehabilitate more horses and other animals across Southern England”.

For confirmation of the address and directions, click here or contact Sue Burton on tel: 01277 356191.

 

Remus Winter Feed Appeal

This winter we are aiming to raise £2,500 with our winter feed appeal, to help feed not only our veterans and permanent residents at Remus Horse Sanctuary, but also those neglected unloved, abandoned animals that are either tethered with no access to food or left wandering and unwanted with no food and no shelter, such as those pictured alongside.

You can contribute to our appeal here and help save lives!

The Importance of Winter Feed

With 40+ veterans at Remus alone, we decided early in November to step up and start a winter campaign to help with their feeding bill. Every single donation no matter how large or small will be of huge benefit not only to them but to the starving animals that no-one cares for.  Keeping these animals safe, warm, well fed and with the special dietary care they need is at a considerable cost. Keeping an animal fed over winter will give it a chance to thrive into Spring.  Forage also helps a horse keep warm. Without your help, many animals will die a slow, painful and unnecessary death.

We believe that ‘old horse’ should not equal ‘thin horse’ and all of our horses are weighed weekly on a weighbridge to ensure that we can monitor their weight. They have high fibre and high caloric food if we require them to gain weight, and those with poor dentition have this in a sloppy porridge consistency.  Old age is not an illness and horses can cope very well with being old. However, its important to recognise that it does take a lot of work to keep on top of the needs of the older horse and as they live longer, naturally the problems increase.

We’ve said it before, the Sanctuary is full and we literally cannot take any more animals in right now and, as we are entirely self-funded, without your support here is just no way that we can continue. Everything costs money and the onset of the cold weather makes it even more tough as feed and heating bills increase. Please donate to our Winter Feed Appeal here.

Any donations, large or small, are welcomed and all will impact on our fundraising total and help feed animals in need.

We believe, that with your help, we can make a difference.

DONATE HERE with Just Giving.

You can also donate up to £10 by text. Just text FEED36 £10 to 70070 to donate to Remus with JustTextGiving. Please note that text donations can only be for £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10. However a donor can donate up to three times per day. £10 is the maximum donation amount for all mobile operators. 

Support Us When Christmas Shopping

Merry Christmas everyone! If you’re leaving your Christmas shopping until the very last minute to catch the very best deals, then please grant our simple wish of free donations at the same time, by shopping at all your favourite retailers like Next, House of Fraser, Debenhams, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer and plenty more for those last minute gifts via Give as you Live.

Whilst you’re treating your friends and family this Christmas, you can treat us to a free donation too!

Did you know that you can raise money for us when buying gifts, food and decorations this Christmas without it costing you a penny extra? In fact, whatever the reason you are shopping online, can you raise free funds for Remus…

…just by shopping online via Give as you Live.

So, this Christmas, whether you’re buying gifts for the dining table, kids, parents, friends or even an extra one for yourself, please shop through Give as you Live and raise money for Remus Horse Sanctuary, at no extra cost.

Its really simple, free and easy to register an account.

Get the best Christmas deals from over 4000+ stores online!

SHOP NOW

Road Safety And Animals

As the bad weather of winter approaches, we wanted to share some stats with you to highlight the need for road safety. Tragically each year many horses and riders lose their lives on roads around the country. In 2012, 183 road traffic incidents were reported to the British Horse Society and included:

• 2 rider fatalities
• 12 severe rider injuries
• 14 horse fatalities
• 3 severe horse injuries

If you come across a horse and rider on the road, or a horse and cart, please slow down and pass as slowly and as wide as possible when passing. Equally, please do not rev up your engine or use your horn and turn your radio down!

Similarly in the New Forest, ponies are still killed regularly by inconsiderate drivers.  Animals are unpredictable, easily spooked and will often panic at the sight and sound of a vehicle. They may wander onto and cross a road without any thought for the traffic. If there are warning signs, please obey them, slow down and be alert. If you do see an animal on the road, please proceed with caution, approach slowly and be prepared to stop suddenly. Dark and inclement weather makes this even more important.

Statistics of animal deaths on the road for last year in the New Forest were:

• 54 ponies
• 17 cows
• 1 sheep

So if you are going to the New Forest for a holiday or otherwise, please be animal aware.  The animals do have access to the roads and will be wandering around and on them. Sadly, the rate of fatalities goes up considerably in July during peak holiday season.

If you would like to find out more, you can find rules about animals on the road in the Highway Code here.

 

Giving Tuesday

GivingTuesday, a global giving movement built by individuals and communities in the UK and in countries around the world, is 29 November 2016. Millions of people come together every year to support and champion the causes they believe in and the communities in which they live.

#GivingTuesday is the day to do good stuff, and there are lots of things you could do to support Remus Horse Sanctuary.

Here are just some of the things that you could get up to on #GivingTuesday, click on the website link here to watch videos for each of the following and pick up some great ideas! The Lemon Cup Cake recipe is a must!

• Shop good stuff
• Bake good stuff
• Film good stuff
• Run good stuff
• Bake more good stuff!
• Make good stuff

To shop with Remus, visit our online gift shop here, treat an animal with food, or visit our charity shop at Maylandsea, Essex.

You can also make instant donations via our website, our Facebook page or by texting FEED36 £10 to 70070 to donate to Remus with JustTextGiving. Please note that text donations can only be for £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10. However, a donor can donate up to three times per day. £10 is the maximum donation amount for all mobile operators.

Visit the GivingTuesday UK website for more inspiration on ways to help Remus: www.givingtuesday.org.uk.

Remus Horse Sanctuary relies totally on fundraising, events and legacy gifts – thank you for your ongoing support!

 

Support Remus when Shopping for Christmas

Support us when you’re shopping for Christmas this year!

Did you know that you can raise money for Remus Horse Sanctuary when buying gifts, food and decorations this Christmas without it costing you a penny extra?

Well you can, just by shopping online via Give as you Live.

So, this Christmas, whether you’re buying gifts for the kids, parents, friends or even an extra one for yourself, please shop through Give as you Live and raise money for Remus Horse Sanctuary, at no extra cost.

Get the best Christmas deals from over 4000+ stores! Including Amazon, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Not on the High Street, Argos, Ebay, Groupon, Waitrose and many, many more!

Plus, help spread the word and get others raising free donations when they shop online through Give as you Live. Use Twitter and Facebook to tell all your friends today and remember to tag @Remus Horse on Twitter and RemusHorseSanctuary on Twitter.

Winter Feed Appeal Will Save Lives

Remus Horse Sanctuary has launched a new appeal to help raise £2,500 to feed their veterans and permanent residents at the Sanctuary, and those neglected unloved, abandoned animals that are either tethered with no access to food or left wandering and unwanted with no food and no shelter.

Donations can be made via the JustGiving appeal page online at: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/rmhs/winterfeedappeal, via the Charity website at: https://www.remussanctuary.org/donate/ or by texting FEED36 £10 to 70070 to donate to Remus with JustTextGiving. Please note that text donations can only be for £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10. However, a donor can donate up to three times per day. £10 is the maximum donation amount for all mobile operators.

At present, there is well in excess of 7,000 horses at risk in the UK and the welfare crisis in this country continues to escalate – when the mares foal, the problem doubles and so on each year.  The news features victims of physical and mental abuse regularly, because of ignorance or malicious intent, and the Charity receives calls daily. Keeping an animal fed over winter will give it a chance to thrive into Spring.  Forage also helps a horse keep warm. Without the Sanctuary’s help, many animals will die a slow, painful and unnecessary death.

Sue Burton, Founder, says: “We need to get food and water out to abandoned horses quickly and, with over 40 veterans ourselves, we decided to step up and start a winter campaign early to help with the feeding bill. Every single donation no matter how large or small will be of huge benefit not only to them but to the starving animals that no-one cares for.”

The Sanctuary provides homes for over 200 animals and a veteran is an animal aged 20 years plus – like Malibu pictured. Remus Horse Sanctuary has been fortunate to home not one but two of the oldest horses in the world – Shane and Orchid. Sadly, these two gorgeous creatures eventually passed on, but Malibu is now its eldest veteran, now 39 years of age. “Malibu came to us from a riding school and very arthritic. She suffers from narcolepsy and has become good friends with Guinness our veteran shire of 28 years”, says Sue.

Keeping these animals safe, warm, well fed and with the special dietary care they need is at a considerable cost. Sue explains, “We believe that ‘old horse’ should not equal ‘thin horse’ and all of our horses are weighed on a weighbridge weekly to ensure that we can monitor their weight. They have high fibre and high caloric food, if we require them to gain weight and those with poor dentition have this in a sloppy porridge consistency.  Old age is not an illness and horses can cope very well with being old. It does take a lot of work to keep on top of the needs of the older horse and as they live longer the problems increase.”

Sue says the Sanctuary is full at present and cannot take in any more animals, “As we’re entirely self-funded, without the support of the public there is no way that we can continue. Everything costs money and the onset of the cold weather makes it even more tough as feed and heating bills increase.”

For further information, please browse the website or contact Sue Burton on tel: 01277 356191.