A cob rescued from an oil-covered wasteland and a mare who was shot in the leg are among The Mare and Foal Sanctuary residents featured in a new podcast exploring the highs and lows of horse care. The Animal Friends team travelled to the Devon sanctuary to spend a day recording and filming, taking part in an ‘Equine Assisted Learning’ (EAL) session and meeting some of the charity’s sponsorship ponies, including miniature Shetland Sir Didymus, Geronimo the one-eyed ‘dancing’ pony, ‘Ludo’ who was rescued from wasteland and grey mare Vogue.
“A Walk in the Park podcast provides a relaxed space to share the incredibly important work done by specialist partners and charities in animal welfare and conservation,” said Animal Friends External Communications Manager and podcast manager Rachel Potts. “Through our conversations, we offer advice and guidance from trusted experts and talk about the challenges our pets and wildlife still face today.
“It was an honour to witness first-hand the unwavering care, dedication, and commitment shown to all equines, colleagues, and faithful supporters by The Mare and Foal Sanctuary.”
The Mare and Foal Sanctuary’s Equine Support Lead, Amy Dearlove monitors the horses and ponies that take part in the Sanctuary’s EAL sessions. She shared insights into equine behaviour and care with the podcasters.
“Everything we do here is focused on equine care and welfare,” she said. “They are equal partners in our team and part of my job is to monitor them closely and make sure they want to take part in each session. Because horses and ponies are herd animals, they generally enjoy social interaction, so we recognise the huge mental health benefits of encouraging humans and equines to spend time together.
“Education to improve the lives of equines and people is a cornerstone of our mission at The Mare and Foal Sanctuary so it was great to be able to show The Animal Friends Podcast team some of the work we do and give them, and their listeners, a sense of that incredible equine connection.
“It was lovely to see how relaxed our horses Vogue and Inula were with Rachel, Tamika and Ben. Inula came to us after being shot in the leg with an air rifle, so hasn’t had a positive experience with people, but she appeared to be extremely curious about Ben’s camera and spent a lot of time around him. Vogue was so comfortable in the session that at one point, she lay down and had roll in the sand!”
The Mare and Foal Sanctuary podcast episode features interviews with Amy Dearlove and Dawn Vincent, the Mare and Foal Sanctuary’s Director of Fundraising and Communications and an insight into equine assisted learning in a special session with Dawn Neil, the Sanctuary’s Head of Education & Equine Assisted Services.
It’s expected to be available in August when all of the episodes in the third series are released on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube and on their website.
