A message from our Chairman!

A local RSPCA Officer called on EHPPS for help on in middle of last week to take in a small, underweight pony who had been left tethered in the deep snow with no hay or feed.   The pony was very underweight and obviously had a heavy worm burden given the size of his pot belly.  The snow reached up to his stomach and he was visibly shaking with the cold.  No-one in the locality knew who the pony belonged to, so he was brought into EHPPS for some immediate first aid.  He is obviously not been well cared for – through total ignorance or cruelty we don’t know – although very often the two go hand in hand.  He is terrified of people so, again, we don’t know if this is because he has not been properly handled or whether this is as a direct result of abuse.  The little mite couldn’t believe his eyes when he was given a straw bed AND hay to eat – he didn’t know where to go first for comfort!  During the week he’s been with us, the youngster has settled down well, although he remains wary of humans being around him.  

This pony is the 70^th resident we have in at EHPPS’s Pitsea based Sanctuary at the moment.  Our winter stocking levels are 38 maximum.   Because of the huge increase in numbers, our complete winter hay supply is down to 100 bales – this will last us just under a week.  Hay prices have risen dramatically this year  – EHPPS pays £3.50 per bale as we buy straight off the field which keeps the cost down.  We are now having to source hay wherever we can get it from – this is costing us between £5 and £6.50 per bale depending on the supplier.  We estimate that we need in excess of £6,500 to buy enough hay to get us through this winter.

Christmas is a time of giving …. and what better gift to give than the gift of caring for others less fortunate than yourselves.   Make a donation on someone’s behalf or buy someone a EHPPS Membership Gift.  All details are on our website at www.ehpps.org.uk.

PLEASE PLEASE help the EHPPS horses and ponies – we are absolutely desperate for funds, more so than ever before. 

These 70 resident horses we have at the Sanctuary have nowhere else to go and no one else to look after them.  We have no option but to carry on with our work, but we don’t know how we can continue with insufficient funds - which is why we are appealing for help from all you animal lovers..    We need £10,000 per month to keep the Sanctuary running properly – that figure does not include the ever necessary veterinary care we have to provide.

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all those people who support our work and to those people who have responded so favourably to our recent appeals through the Echo.  On behalf of us all at EHPPS – two legged and four-legged, I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Peaceful New Year.  Bless you all.

(Donation cheques should be made payable to “EHPPS” and sent to EHPPS, Pitsea Hall Lane, Basildon, Essex SS16 4UH.  Payments are accepted through our website too – www.ehpps.org.uk).

Sue Allery
Chairman
Essex Horse and Pony Protection Society
Charity Registration No: 297893

Today we picked up a poor little young pony, who was completely terrified, from the road with the RSPCA. The poor little thing had been tethered all over the weekend without any food or water in the cold. The RSPCA went out today to investigate and found the pony had broken his tether (probably through the desperation) and was running loose on the road! The police had to shut the road whilst EHPPS and the RSPCA caught the pony, which was no easy task, as he was so scared that he was kicking out and bucking at his rescuers.

He is now safe and sound at the sanctuary - he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw he had a straw bed and hay! No animal should have to forgo basic needs such as these. He's very unkempt, has terribly overgrown hooves and is slightly underweight and wormy. If an owner comes forward, they face prosecution. Hopefully he'll settle in tonight and be nice and warm.

Meet Bertie!

Bertie - 3 year old Colt

Bertie is just 3 years old. He was found running loose on the road with badly overgrown feet and he was covered in burrs. Someone retrieved Bertie and put him in a field full of Arab brood mares. Needless to say, he caused havoc being a young hot blooded male!

The Police were called to deal with the situation and he was left tied to a telegraph pole. We later found out that Bertie had been left tied to the telegraph pole from 1pm until 10am the following morning. Needless to say, as soon as we became aware of the situation, we went to pick Bertie up. It was lucky that he didn't strangle himself.

No one ever laid claim to Bertie so we went on to have him castrated. Bertie has got such a lovely personality and loves a kiss and a cuddle! We are very lucky that a wonderful home came up for Bertie recently and he will be joining his new foster family at the end of November. It is hugely satisfying when there is a happy ending!

Meet Poppy and Cherokee!

POPPY and CHEROKEE (DOB: 29 June 2010)

Poppy was relinquished into our care by the RSPCA who were successful in bringing a prosecution against Poppy’s owner.  In foal at the ripe old age of 22 years when she came to us, Poppy had us all worried as to whether she would incur any complications foaling, given her appalling condition – courtesy of said ex-owner.  Thankfully, Cherokee was delivered safe and sound on 29 June 2010—and boy, was he HUGE!  We’ve never met such a forward and advanced foal as Cherokee at so tender an age.  He cut two top teeth at just two days old and two bottom teeth at three days old—and then bit our Sanctuary Manager (probably to test them and see if they worked properly.  They did—more than adequately).  At a week old, he double barrelled groom, Mike Pugh for no good reason.  At two weeks old Cherokee managed to break out of the paddock he was in with Poppy.  Laura found him running with the herd the next morning without a care in the world.  He had paired up with 16.3hh Vulkan and 14.2hh Zuli;  Laura said it was one of the funniest sights she had ever seen. 

Poppy, an excellent mum, was being run ragged by the little tyke.  Laura hit upon the idea of turning Poppy and Cherokee out into our large Sunday field with Moloco and Lawrence, who were not with the main herd at the time as Lawrence was receiving treatment for the sarcoid on his face.   Moloco very quickly took on the role of aunty to the foal, which gave Poppy some much needed relaxation time away from her wilful foal.  Poppy would happily graze and, close by, Mo would be keeping a sharp eye on the baby.  She would stand over him while he was sleeping.  Poppy was obviously comfortable letting this gentle Arab mare “babysit” her precious son.  Lawrence, not one to be left out of the action, also started to watch over Cherokee for Poppy.  It was one of the best examples of EHPPS “team work” ever.

While Cherokee’s antics have been amusing so far, we are well aware that he needs boundaries setting down before he gets too big to control.  Mike Pugh has been working with Cherokee simply to teach him how to lead properly and to lift his feet to be hoof picked every day.  So far, our youngest resident is being a good and willing pupil.

Meet Louis Springer!

LOUIS - Bay Trotter Gelding – DOB: 2008

Louis Springer is just two years old. He was found running loose and terrified on a road and, thanks to some caring horseowners in the vicinity, Louis was caught and safely held until one of our Field Officers turned up to collect him.

Louis was very underweight, had very long feet which were in dire need of farriery treatment, and he also had a chest injury which was badly infected. Given the scars on his body and legs, he had obviously been subjected to some form of abuse. We were not at all surprised when no-one came forward to claim ownership of this youngster - they would have been in serious trouble if they had. Since he has been with us, Louis has come on in leaps and bounds; he is a very loving young horse with his whole life ahead of him.

Back in mid-July, Louis went lame and our vets diagnosed a bog spavin. They also believed that Louis had OCD, which is cartilage floating in the joint. Louis was travelled up to our vet's on 13 August 2010 for a scan and further investigations. The news was not good. A scan of the hock confirmed that Louis was indeed suffering from OCD - Osteo-chrondrosis-dessicans, which is a developmental disease where the bone flakes off into the surrounding tissue, causing great discomfort, swelling and lameness. Surgery was required to remove the boney flakes and clean the joint. A scan of the fetlock shows Arthritic OCD – at that time the flakes of bone were still attached but jutted out erratically causing trauma to the internal tissue supporting the joint. Again, this causes pain, swelling and lameness. If left, the flakes would eventually break off and the condition would match that of Louis' hock. Surgery was therefore essential as soon as possible. However, due to the recent increase in our rent and the price of hay which has doubled this year, we simply didn’t have the £2,500 plus needed for the essential operation.

If Lou didn’t have the surgery, he would have been in considerable pain and we would have had no choice but to have him put to sleep. Unthinkable for a two year old who has a bright future ahead of him. In desperation, we contacted the Evening Echo who readily agreed to run Louis’ story in the daily paper and appeal for help. To say we were astounded at the response is an understatement. Cheques and letters of support poured into the Sanctuary over the next few days. Little else got done in the office other than logging all the cheques in and writing acknowledgement letters to Louis’ benefactors. Some of the messages brought tears to our eyes – one that really touched us was from a pensioner who wrote “Not a vast sum I know, but it is truly from the heart”. Louis had come from a life of hell before he found his way to EHPPS; we just wish he had an inkling of the kindness and love that poured from this people for him.

As soon as the monies came in, we booked Louis in for his operation at the specialist orthopaedic veterinary unit at Newmarket who were carrying out the procedure. Louis had his operation on 24 August and was back home with us a couple of days later. The procedure went well, although the specialist has told us that Louis has multiple orthopaedic problems and keyhole surgery may be necessary to his hocks in the future. At the moment, we are adopting a positive and practical approach to Louis’ future management and ensure that we take the very best of care of our special boy.

Winter Hay Appeal

During the winter months, our resident horses and ponies chomp their way through thousands of bales of hay. Due to the site of special scientific interest of the site on which the Sanctuary is situate, our grazing is severely restricted from October through to the beginning of April, which rapidly depletes our hay supplies. Although we buy our hay in straight off the field, which drastically reduces the cost, it is still a huge financial outlay for us to meet each year. A single bale of hay costs EHPPS £3.50.

Our horses eat in the region of 15 bales per day. That's 105 bales at £3.50 per bale = £367.50 per week.

We need more help than ever this year due to having so many horses and ponies. We would be grateful for any contributions towards our winter hay appeal.

If you would like to help, please send a cheque/postal order made payable to "EHPPS" and send to "Winter Hay Appeal" Essex Horse and Pony Protection Society, Pitsea Hall Lane, Basildon, Essex SS16 4UH

Any help would be appreciated.

Meet Murphy!

Welcome to our Horse of the week. Our first horse is Murphy.

MURPHY (aka “DANCER”)
Veteran Black Cob X – 15.2hh

 

Murphy was found running loose on the road on 27 August.  The Police were alerted and they, in turn, requested we collect the horse and bring him back to the safety of the Sanctuary until an owner turned up.  Our Head Groom, Laura Jardine, went out to collect Murphy and was horrified at the condition of his right foreleg.  She immediately called our Sanctuary Manager, Sue Allery, to ask that one of our vets be on standby for when she arrived back with the horse.  Murphy, a veteran black Cob, standing at 15.2hh, had, as Cobs do, thick feathers on his legs.  Through the feathers Laura could clearly see what looked like huge, weeping tumours of some sort.  As soon as Murphy arrived at the Sanctuary, Paton & Lee vet, Jonathan Lee, set about examining the gelding.  To properly investigate the leg, Jonathan painstakingly clipped all the feathers away from the growths.  Throughout the whole procedure, this lovely, gentle lad stood there patiently, accepting his treatment without a murmur.  As soon as Jonathan started to clean the growths the maggots started dropping out.  An anti-parasitic solution called SWITCH was then poured onto the area and the maggots started pouring of out of the growths in their hundreds.  Once the area was totally cleared of the infestation, an antibiotic injection was administered to prevent any deep routed infection setting in and Jonathan felt it was better to leave Murphy for the rest of the night to settle down now he had been made more comfortable.

When we checked Murphy over the following morning, we went to age him (ascertained by examining his teeth) and noticed that all his top teeth were badly broken – his lower teeth were overgrown probably as a result of them being unable to wear themselves down against the top set.  It was clearly evident that this horse had not had any dental care in years, which was more than likely the cause of him being slightly underweight for a horse of his type.  Our staff clipped out Murphy’s three remaining legs which also had small growths all over the fetlock areas.  To add to the poor soul’s irritation, he had a bad case of feather mites, which were causing untold itching on the growths.  As he was scratching them against anything he could find, the growths were opening up and bleeding profusely.

Over the next couple of days we kept the area scrupulously clean, hibi-scrubbing it twice a day and applying cream to help keep Murphy’s lower leg supple.  On Thursday, 2 September, Murphy was hospitalised overnight at our vet’s surgery in order that they could take a biopsy  -  from which we could then ascertain the best course of treatment for Murphy.  For that whole week we were all on tenterhooks as we awaited the results from the lab.  If the growths were benign, they could possibly be removed -  if they proved to be malignant, there was little that could be done.

In the meantime, Murphy had settled in well to life at the Sanctuary and soon made close friends with Hamish, a veteran Shetland pony and also Bam Bam, a two year old who had traveled with Murphy to our vets the week before in order that he could be castrated (OUCH!).  We found Murph to be one of the gentlest, loving and laid back horses we have ever come across.

On Wednesday, 8 September, our vet called with the results.  The good news was that the results confirmed that Murphy was suffering from Proliferative Pastern Dermititis.    We were assured that the pathology report confirmed there were no tumourous changes and that the condition could have been caused by a whole host of things – one suggestion being an infection setting in from a possible case of severe mud fever.  A blood test carried out on 10 September confirmed that Murphy had high liver enzymes, so he was prescribed a strong course of anti-biotics and various supplements to try to repair some of the damage.  Our vets were hesitant still to put him under anaesethetic as it would put further unnecessary strain on Murphy’s liver, so a plan was put into action to remove the excess flesh with Murphy heavily sedated and nerve blocked.  We shall kee you updated as to Murphy's progress. In the meantime, we shall post regular updates on our website’s Sanctuary Diary – http://www.ehpps.org.uk/.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Essex Horse and Pony Protection Society blog. You will be able to keep up to date with what's going on at the Sanctuary, as well as events that are coming up. Please come and visit us!