A herd of 15 thoroughbreds on the cusp of a serious welfare issue have been rescued by World Horse Welfare.
The horses had been left on a Devon farm following in eviction and had been losing weight as winter approached.
The landowner was able to use the Control of Horses Act, which allowed the horses to be signed over to the charity.
Despite many not being used to being handled, their round-up and removal to two World Horse Welfare Rescue and Rehoming Centres was relatively straightforward.
“I’ve been working with these horses for a number of months,” said World Horse Welfare Field Officer Jon Phipps.
“They were all on the cusp, they were all lean and we didn’t want them to drop any more weight. If we didn’t remove them before winter proper, we were going to have a serious welfare issue.”
Hall Farm, the charity’s Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Norfolk, received seven of the horses. After settling overnight following their journey, they all had their initial health checks, routine treatments and assessment by the team of experts at the farm.
Rehabilitation
Each horse will now be carefully looked after, assessed and rehabilitated by the charity for many months before, hopefully, being ready to rehome.
Today (7 December) is the final day of The Big Give #ChristmasChallenge21, when every donation to the charity will be doubled, making a difference to securing the future for these horses and others like them.
“The mares will be turned away in a field until after Christmas now, which will give them the opportunity to decompress and settle into their new environment,” said Sue Hodgkins, Hall Farm Centre Manager.
“During that time, we will be assessing their behaviour in the field with each other and the grooms.
“These thoroughbreds are the lucky ones; they will receive five-star treatment from the day they arrive to the day we can hopefully find them a new home.
“We rely on public donations to allow us to continually rescue, rehabilitate and rehome horses that come in to our four farms from across the country. Without public donations our work would not be possible.”
