As spring turns to summer, and many of the foals are maturing, the season for horse fairs begins...writes Beth Cooper, in this month's Welfare Corner.
There are a number of large, famous horse fairs which pop up from May to September, as well as smaller regional fairs.
The ‘Best at Appleby’ welfare awards – organised by Redwings and supported by several National Equine Welfare Council members to celebrate examples of equine health, happiness, and horsemanship – are back at this year’s Appleby Horse Fair.
This month’s welfare corner by Beth Cooper is focussed on the pregnant mares and mares with foals at foot who come into Redwings, and why they’re so special.
Horse care goes hand in hand with a lot of jargon – language which can either be traditional terms, or more scientific.
Here’s a glossary to break it down:
Mare – a female horse, pony, donkey, mule or hinny usually over the age of four years old (female donkeys are sometimes called Jenny or Jennet)
Foal – a baby horse, pony, donkey, mule or hinny
A pony who had an untreated eye injury is recovering in Redwings’ care in Norfolk after having the eye removed.
Pickle, as she has been named, had surgery in our Equine Reception Centre within 24 hours of being signed over to us, and whilst still under quarantine conditions.
The piebald Cob filly is just four or five months old.
The collaboration* behind Strangles Awareness Week (SAW) which began yesterday (2nd – 8th May) is at Badminton this week – the biggest five-star eventing competition in the world.
Current champion Piggy March – who is supporting the campaign to raise awareness of strangles and help prevent an outbreak – is coming back to defend her title with bay mare Vanir Kamira.
Exciting new data shows why monitoring horses’ temperatures is such a valuable habit to get into, especially when it comes to staying a step ahead of an infectious disease like strangles.
Tests from 109 young horses with strangles showed that 108 of them developed fever before abscesses in the lymph nodes burst.
A pregnant mare who was involved in a road traffic accident in Essex has given birth in Redwings’ care.
Bay mare Majesty – named in honour of the Queen’s Jubilee year – came into us two months ago on 25th February after suffering a broken nose and chest injuries in the crash.
Happily, she has successfully given birth to a not-so-little boy who has been named Monarch.
One of Britain’s leading event riders Piggy March has given her support to this year’s Strangles Awareness Week (SAW) and is encouraging all owners to take part in the ‘Temperature Check Challenge’ in a new video.
Here at Redwings, keeping our horses happy and healthy is at the top of our priorities, and with around 1500 equines in our care across all our farms, we really have our work cut out!
If you read last month’s blog, you’ll know that as horse owners and carers we should be aiming to make life good for our animals – not just providing what they need to stay alive. We should aim to make their lives fulfilling and worth living, and one of the best ways to do that is to provide companionship for our horses.
When Redwings first met Budgie, he looked like any other bright, healthy young cob, but we knew that he was, in fact, suffering from the effects of a nasty infection and needed complex treatment to help clear him of disease.
