Caring for the rescue horses

 Baillie

All our horses are looked after by our knowledgeable staff & other
volunteers, we also have a great team of experts backing us up.
    
Bell Equine vets have been very supportive of our work over the years
and their advice and care has been amazing.  They have helped us bring
horses back to health from some dreadful states – sometimes even they
have been surprised at how well the horses have responded. As long as
the horse has the will to live and isn't suffering we do everything we can to help them.
    
Gavin Schofield (who works with the British Equestrian Team) visits us
regularly to check the horses backs. Many times when a horse is 'playing up'
they are merely letting us know that they are uncomfortable. He helps to
realign them and advises us on the type of work they are ready for.  
Gavin uses (amongst other things) cranial osteopathy. We call him the magician,
because he can make such a difference to a horses life – when he visits the
yard we follow him around, just to watch the horses reactions to his healing hands!
    
Master Saddler Colin Shilling, is also instrumental in caring for our horses
well being, an ill-fitting saddle can be the cause of so many 'vices' such as
rushing, bucking and rearing.  Horses in pain will often bite or kick when
they see the saddle coming their way, if it is pinching them. This is sometimes
mistaken for aggression. Colin is patient and thorough in his work and our
horses have benefit hugely from his input and advice.  
    
Registered Farrier Clifford Martin, works closely with us to ensure our animals
feet are kept in good condition.  Some of the ponies we have rescued have
had very overgrown hooves.  Clifford obviously trims them up but also advises
us on the correct shoes for horses such as Fella, who has a slight club foot –
or Thistle who is laminitic.
    
Registered Farrier – John Stern has recently been treating Lizzie May –
a foal who was born with very deformed limbs.  You can read about her
elsewhere on the web page.  His work has made a huge difference, not
only to her legs but to her future. John works in consultation with Julian
Samuelson at Bell Equine vets.  
    
We use homoeopathy and special feed stuffs (Simple Systems) to help some
of our more damaged horses.  All these horses now lead happy lives and that
is all thanks to our team, the experts supporting us and the clients in the shop
and riding school who help bring in the much needed revenue for our work.