21st August 2008 - 95th Reconnaissance Squadron
We received a request from one of the US Squadrons based at RAF Mildenhall to sponsor a donkey as it was their mascot.

Today some of the guys came to visit us and have their picture taken with Hamish so that they could uphold their mission of "kickin' ass" in the skies.

We look forward to a long friendship with the squadron and other horse and pony lovers on the base.
 

Wendy and John

22nd March 2008 - New Goat House
After a couple of months of hard work by one of our volunteers (John), Wendy was proud to cut the ribbon to open the new goat house.

We had an interesting half hour moving the goats from their old home, not helped by them having to go through the feed shed, and flurries of snow.

15th March 2008 - Easter Gymkhana
Organised by our livery owners, for children of all ages, we had a fun packed afternoon of a variety of races, and of course an Easter egg hunt.

29th February 2008 - Farewell Millie
Millie passed away after being brought into a stable as she was not looking well.

Although only having one eye she will be remembered as loving to hack out with other horses up until a couple of years ago.

October 2007 - Farewell Coco
Coco has been one of our longest guests and used to be enjoy going out on hacks (despite being very hard to catch).
After many happy years of retirement out in the fields she sadly passed away due to old age.

September 2007 - Bingo the duckling
Rescued from Ely station by one of our helpers, Bingo was being hand reared at home, but unfortunately died after two weeks of tender loving care due to a problem with his digestive system.

June 2007 - Welcome to Marti
A new member of our family (unwanted by its owners), a 12 week old Kune Kune, has been adopted by one of our helpers who takes him out for a walk and has taught him to sit and roll over like a dog.

Spring 2007 - Help from the Young Offenders
The Young Offenders scheme have been supporting us since Spring 2007; renovating an old farm yard to provide additional stables, weeding fields and maintaining hedges, and helping with mucking out and routine maintenance. Thanks to them all and their supervisors.

June 2006 - New Home for Sunny
A lady in the village recently lost one of her horses and asked if we could provide a new companion.
We were glad to be able to help her by loaning her Sunny who was an ex riding school pony and came to us because his front legs were weak and he could not be ridden.

April 2006 - Missie Abandoned
When a new born pygmy goat was abandoned by her mother one of our volunteers stepped in and hand reared her at home, much the fascination of the families two dogs and cat!

March 2006 - Goodbye Mollie
Despite looking like a rug on legs, Mollie still enjoyed wandering round the paddock with her friend Molly, but old age (she was 45) finally caught up with her and she passed away quietly in her sleep.

February 2006 - Goodbye Bluey
Bluey came to us after being rescued by a lady in Melton Mowbray in 1992. Apart from having very fast growing hooves, which needed trimming every two weeks, he was a quiet lad.

26th October 2005 - Goodbye Beauty
We had brought Beauty in from the fields a couple of weeks ago as her eyesight was getting worse (she was virtually blind when she came to us), and despite plenty of TLC old age finally caught up with her and we had to have her put to sleep when she could no longer stand up.

September 2005 - Pork Chop Gets A Visitor
Whilst we are not generally open to the public we were able to one of our sponsors on a guided tour of the rescue centre and introduce her to her sponsored animal, Pork Chop.

August 2005 - A Good Summers Work
Thanks to the hard work from our handful of volunteers (and some of our livery owners) we have been able to renew and creosote many of our fences, repair stables and clean up our ménage during the summer months.

July 2005 - Pony Camp
Our stables came to the rescue of one of the riders of the Soham & District Pony Club by providing a home for her horse during the week of Pony Camp; her first horse went lame and her reserve could not be stabled or boxed.

June 2005 - Growing Well
Katie (see April 2002) has grown up into a beautiful young lady and we are hoping to break her in this Summer.

Also growing well is the grass in our fields and paddocks thanks to the ideal weather conditions.

23rd May 2005 - Farewell Calypso
Having survived through the winter and fighting against Cushings Disease, Calypso (picture taken only a month ago) gave up the fight last night and passed away.

19th April 2005 - 'To Buy or Not to Buy'
We were approached by the BBC to ask if we could provide a donkey to appear in this daytime TV programme which was being recorded in Isleham.

Hamish volunteered his services and spent an hour wandering round a garden being made a fuss of by a family.

To see Hamish in his starring role, click on your connection Broadband / DialUp.
 

February 2005 - Horse Passports
We held on until the very last minute to apply for Horse Passports for our equines as we did not know if we were going to lose any of our guests during the Winter (luckily we did not).

January 2005 - Sickbay is Full
So much for a quiet December as January finds most of our stables full of patients requiring treatment.

This is Tripod, a goat who had to have a rear leg amputated but has quickly adapted and loves grapes.

December 2004 - Peaceful Christmas
With the relatively mild weather we had a fairly quite Christmas with not too many animals stabled.
Our yard cats also had a peaceful time; this is 'No Ears' who finds the most peculiar places to sit.

September 2004 - R&R
After a busy summer it was nice for our volunteers to relax a bit in the autumn sunshine and spend a few hours on the back of a horse.
Pictured in the manage are Kelly on Dillon and Kirstee on Judge.

11th August 2004 - Wormers
Thanks to our new fundraiser Kelly we have received the generous support of Virbac, who have donated Eraquell & Equimax and Intervet who have donated Panacur Equine Guard.
In addition, Virbac helped us to assess all our animals and draw up a controlled worming program.
 

7th August 2004 - Another New Home For Charlie
Ten months after leaving us we are asked if we could find a new home for Charlie and luckily we knew of someone who was looking to re-home a donkey.
Two of our volunteers took on the epic journey to collect him from Northamptonshire and deliver him to his new home in Hertfordshire, where he has quickly settled in with his new neighbours of two goats.
 

11th July 2004 - Dental Checks
Our Equine Dentist and two of her colleagues spent a full day with us and carried out checks/dental work on 22 of our equines.
It was a long hard day, not helped by constant drizzle during the afternoon, but it was a job well done.


At the beginning of July we were contacted by Kelly (pictured in the pink top) who volunteered her services particularly for fundraising.
Thanks to Kelly we have received some very generous support, and her husband Neil has helped out with repairs around the centre and providing some TLC for our guests.


8th July 2004 - Goodbye to Murray
After many happy years out in the field we noticed that Murray was very lethargic and was not eating properly.
We brought her in to be checked by our vet but old age had taken its toll and we had to have her put to sleep.
 

7th June 2004 - Farewell Bonny
Bonny had been stabled for the past two months due to laminitis (unusual in a large horse) and despite extensive vetinerary treatment we had to have her put to sleep as she would never be able to stand or walk again.
 

27th May 2004 - Farewell Jessie
The sad day came when we had to say goodbye to our old lady. After years of waddling around due to a disintegrating pedal bone (caused by neglect before she came to us) she could not get up, and despite our attempts to find a remedy we had to let her go. She will be missed by us all.

April 2004 - Spring Has Sprung
At last Spring is here and the grass is recovering from a long hard winter.
On Easter Sunday Charlotte gave birth to a little baby boy, who after having a shaky start is now doing well.

March 2004 - Farewell Lucky
We had to say goodbye to another one of our old friends as Lucky passed away this month.
Another busy month as a number of our friends had to be stabled due to abscesses on their feet.

February 2004 - A Month of Accidents
Two casualties this month - Jessie fell off the bridge into a ditch full of icy water (Colin leapt in to keep her head above water) but we managed to get her out safely and dry her out in her stable.
Frisbee (one of our young cats who follows us around the fields when we do the feeds) got kicked by one of the horses but after a night at the vets he fully recovered.

January 2004 - New Year Snow
After a peaceful Christmas the first month of the new year ended with a couple of days of snow and sub-zero temperatures and whilst conditions were not easy for our volunteers all our animals seemed to enjoy themselves.

On Monday 10th, Harvey set off with his new home near Kings Lynn.

On Saturday 15th, Peggy Sue and Heidi departed to their new family home near Diss.

3rd October 2003 - New Home for Charlie
Today we said farewell to Charlie who is now on long term loan to Cathy Tindall (on the left in the picture, who as well as being an Equine Dentist is also a Horse Behaviourist.

1st October 2003 - De-Pooing The Fields
Picking up the poo from the fields is a back-breaking and laborious task which has to be done, but this year we have been helped out by a professional poo remover, who on this occasion cleared half our fields in half a day.

13th Sept 2003 - New Home for Amber & Jade
After a sad start to the day we were pleased to see Amber and her daughter Jade leave us for a  lovely new home in Norfolk as part of our new Rehoming Programme.
For more details of our Rehoming Programme please click here.

13th Sept 2003 - Farewell Pride
Pride was a gracious old lady who enjoyed spending  this Summer out in the field with her friends and coming into her stable at night for extra TLC and feed.
This morning we found her down in her stable and the vet found her heart was failing so we had to let her go.

August 2003 - Never Look A Gift Horse ...
Despite our long hot Summer the work has to go on (ably assisted by ice cold drinks).
The barn has been filled with this years straw, we are slowly getting on with renewing fencing, and we have had a couple of exhausting visits by our Equine Dentist, Amy (pictured right).

Barbora holding Bluey

7th July 2003 - Welcome to Barbora
All our animals had two weeks of being thoroughly pampered by a student from the Royal Veterinary College in London.
Barbora had a busy time, not just in helping out with the daily chores, but in assisting on vets and farrier visits and testing her artistic skills in completing application forms for Horse Passports.
Luckily she has fallen in love with the place, and a horse called Micky, and has continued to visit us every Saturday.

6th July 2003 - Farewell Minty
Minty had been causing concern for a while so we had brought him into the paddock by the stables and were bringing him overnight to feed him up.
Just when we thought he was perking up he suffered liver failure, causing him to go blind, and the only kind option was to have him put to sleep.

21st June 2003 - Welcome to Toffee
Toffee's owners had moved away and had no land to keep her, but are contributing to her upkeep in her new home with us.
She is nearly blind and after a couple of quiet days after her arrival she is now 'one of the gang' and is happily wandering around her field.

May 2003 - Summer Is Here
As the weather improves the work continues:
More water feeds are provided to the fields, African Marigolds are potted outside the stables to keep flies at bay, and creosoting the stables (again!)

27th May 2003 - Farewell Benji
This morning Benji was not looking right in his field so he was brought into a stable and the vet called. Unfortunately he had what appeared to be a massive seizure before the vet arrived and passed away quickly.

April 2003 - Harvey Is Tamed
Harvey was too old to for castration to calm his ways when he came to us and has always been handled with extreme caution, but after providing his own pen and daily handling for a month he has now calmed down and is much less aggressive.

March 2003 - Timmy Recovers
Timmy (Peppermint) was stabled last November due to a problem with her front foot. After numerous visits from our vet, and plenty of TLC from one of our volunteers, she has finally returned to her field fully recovered.

February 2003 - Drugs Trial Success
During January 20 of our horses and ponies, including Gemma and Pea (pictured) took part in a controlled trial for a drugs company to test a new drug to improve mobility. Results of the trial showed a significant improvement and we hope to continue using the drug in the future.

January 2003 - Proper Snow At Last
On 30th January we had a couple of inches of snow which brought parts of the country to a standstill.
Our founder Wendy (who normally does all the morning feeds) was stranded overnight on the A14, but three of our volunteers braved the elements to get to the stables and make sure everyone had feed and water.
 

December 2002 - Christmas Cards
We made the most of the mild weather, and the good nature of some of our friends, to take some festive pictures to put on our Christmas cards which we send to our supporters and sponsors.

9th/10th November 2002 - Natural Horsemanship
A group of us attended the Parelli Natural Horsemanship demonstration at the Solihull Riding Centre and have come away determined to become 'savvy' and use our new learnt skills to build better relationships with our horses.

1st October July 2002 - Let There Be Light!
Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors we have spent the last two weekends providing new lighting in most of the stable blocks and have also managed to replace our holey hoses with new hose reels.

This means we will be able to provide better care for our stabled animals during the dark winter evenings.
 

13th September 2002 - Red, Rest In Peace
Following worsening health during the past year Red has unfortunately died. We are relieved that her suffering of poor health has ended.

We all miss this 'old lady'.

August 2002 - New Straw Barn
This years harvest of straw has been stored in a new barn which has been built for us by Wendy's partner, Colin, out of second hand telegraph poles, timber and corrugated iron sheeting.

The new barn will better protect our straw which will result in less wastage.
 

16th July 2002 - Rosie, Rest In Peace
Today Rosie, who has lived quietly out in the paddocks for years, contracted colic and despite prompt attention from our vet she unfortunately died.

This saddened us all, particularly as we had just celebrated the first birthday of our website and had had another successful day raising funds by giving pony rides at Isleham Gala on 6th July.

June 2002 - Pallet Craft
This month we have been collecting pallets, from a number of local companies who have donated them free of charge, and have built a 'mini paddock' (pictured here) for turning out the smaller ponies, and provided new fencing and hay mangers as well.

3rd May 2002 - Cheeka, Rest In Peace
At the age of 38 Cheeka had had a hard winter and was stabled at night with extra feed to build her up.
This morning when she was put out in the field she lay down and did not want to get up. Treatment by our vet could not save her.
She was the first pony rescued by our founder; originally from a riding school, she was found emaciated, dull, and had given up on life.
 

April 2002 - Katie
Anna, a brood mare, together with her foal Katie were rescued last year as Anna was diagnosed with cancer.

This month we separated Katie from her mum and she is being given plenty of attention by our Treasurer.

March 2002 - Blondie
Despite the lack of rain the grass is growing well and we will soon be able to move the animals onto it for grazing.
Alas, Blondie (pictured last summer) has overindulged herself during the winter months and is now on a strict diet and stable rest.

February 2002 - Spring is in the air
Some days it does not seem very Spring like but the work goes on. We have spent this month preparing to rotate our animals around the fields so that we can fertilize those areas which were used for grazing during the winter.
 

January 2002 - Back to Work
With Christmas and New Year celebrations behind us its back to work; thanks to the help of some new volunteers we can now get all the stables mucked out by lunchtime, although the shortage of wheelbarrows and tools does slow us down.

We are also able to take more of the horses out for a hack, much to their, and our volunteers, enjoyment. Pictured here are Helen on Millie (who only has one eye) and Vicky on Timmy, setting off on a cold morning.
 

21st December 2001 - White Christmas?
As we were mucking out yesterday we had a few flakes of snow fall and I thought how nice it would be to have a white Christmas.
The snow continued through the evening and night so when we arrived at the stables today it had a very Christmassy look.

We have decorated the stables with tinsel and made up little Christmas bags (containing polos and apples) for all the stables.
With the temperature at -5 it takes a little longer to top up all the water buckets (as the water freezes in the hose) and the carrots in the trailer have to thawed before we feed the animals.

28th October 2001 - Autumn
We made the most of the warmest October on record to try and prepare for the onslaught of winter by stacking as much straw as possible under cover.
This picture shows some of the ponies enjoying the Autumn sunshine.
 

2nd August 2001 - Mouse
On our walk around the paddocks to check the horses we found Mouse hiding at the back of a shelter, surrounded by his friends.
On a closer look we found that he had a cut on his foot which was alive with maggots. We took him into a stable where the vet cleaned the wound and he is now back out in the paddock.