What's been going on lately
We do so many events and activities we like to post our news below for all to see.
December 2011
We had two new arrivals a couple of weeks before Christmas. Our vet was called to examine two mares who had been found wandering on playing fields. The council left several notices for the owners to remove them, but to no avail. They were confiscated and moved by the council. On examination, the vet found that they were both pregnant. In this economic climate, there are not many people wanting in foal mares, but the vet suggested that we might take them. I went to see them and was told that I could have them if I reimbursed the vet fees for the examination, passports and microchips.
Liliy (the black one) is about ten years old and Rose is six and it is thought that they may be mother and daughter. They may well not have been ridden, so it will be a fairly long term project! the staff are quite excited about it all and are looking forward to the arrival of the foals sometime in the spring!
August 2011
Blue went to an Indian wedding at Epsom Grandstand. We tried the dressings on him and made sure that he wasn't too bothered by the drums before getting the groom on board! He behaved impeccably, despite the noise of the drums and the singing and dancing.!
He also met 'Generous' the statue of the 1991 Epsom Derby winner. He didin't know what to make of him at all!
July 2011
Barrister went up to Epsom Grandstand for the Black Beauty Stage Show. The producers wanted a black horse for the children to ' meet and greet' and attend a little workshop prior to the show. He walked around the parade ring and grew a bit taller which made him look very impressive!
It was an interesting talk about horses through the ages and during the life of Anna Sewell, who wrote Black Beauty which was published in 1877. She sadly did not live to see the impact that her book made, as she died a year later . She was crippled as a child in a fall and always in pain, which increased her awareness to the plight of horses.
It helped to bring attention to the welfare of horses in general and abolish the cruel use of a bearing rein in driving horses to keep their heads held high.
I have an old edition of the book which belonged to my grandmother which talks about horse drawn lorries becoming threatened by the use of petrol and the motor car. It sataes that apparently at Anna's funeral the horses drawing the hearse were wearing the dreaded bearing rein. Distraught, her mother requested that they be released, so that Anna was driven to her final restying place with her beloved horses running free.
The biggest owner of horses back thaen was the Co-operative Society, who provided horses for funerals.
Okavango Gallery
