H.A.C.K.  NEWSLETTER - CHRISTMAS 2004

Hello There,

Well, Christmas is upon us again and only a few more weeks until we all start another new year. 2004 has been a sad and stressful year for many at the sanctuary with both personal and private problems. It has been a struggle for us financially especially with such a wet and miserable summer that has greatly interfered with our fund-raising activities that in it's turn has affected other areas of trying to continually run and support the sanctuary.

 Once again I thank all of you who have continually supported and helped the sanctuary in its aims and objectives towards the welfare of the horse and for believing in us, as you all know, HACK. is run entirely on a volunteers basis so all the money raised and donated goes directly to where it is needed and without your help we could not continue to do the work we do. So Thank You all so very much

Christmas is the time of year that should bring peace and good will and everyone here at H.A.C.K. wishes you, our much valued friends, A Very Happy and Peaceful Christmas and may the New Year bring us all a little sunshine of one sort or another. 

This year over the Christmas period we shall be lighting a candle for each and every horse, pony and donkey that H.A.C.K has sadly lost. These will be placed around Buster's grave and will give us a quiet moment with our memories.   

With Thanks                   

I would like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work in not only looking after the horses but for their fund-raising activities too. Most of the people who come to H.A.C.K. who care about the plight of the horse give their most valued time to keep the sanctuary running, they have full time jobs and families to contend with but still manage to donate towards the welfare of the horse. It is extremely hard work and it is because of them that we are able to continue with our never ending aims and object of our charity towards the welfare of the horse.    

Dr Derek Knottenbelt

It is good to know that if we ever need help or advice that Dr Knottenbelt of the Liverpool University Large Animal Hospital at Leahurst, is available at the other end of the phone (from. He has give the Sanctuary his valued advice over the years, and I have been able to talk to him on numerous occasions concerning the plights, illness and concerns of many of the rescued animals. His support has been greatly appreciated and has brought comfort to us on the events of such a dear loss.

D Lawrence - 4 x 4 Centre, Padeswood

Many thanks to Daryl who has kept my vehicle on the road for  me over this last few years his kindness and support has been of great help and I really appreciate it. Without my vehicle I could not do the work I do for H.A.C.K. so you can see how important this is towards the welfare of the horse.

Money Money Money 

Well Done and thank you very much to Felicity Smith and friends who has organised two show Jumping afternoons at the Welsh College of Horticulture in  Northop and raised much needed funds for the sanctuary which of course is greatly appreciated.

Donations

 The Sanctuary is always most grateful for any donations. All cheques should be made payable to H.A.C.K. and sent to the Office, if a receipt is required please request this as we try to keep costs on postage as low as possible. Many thanks to those of you who continually support H.A.C.K. it is greatly appreciated.

Frogs!!!!! 

Early in the spring it had rained quite hard and a pool had developed by the muck heap. When I entered the yard early one afternoon Janie ran towards me shouting, "Oooer Pammie, come over here and look at this", as I went through the archway by the stables I could hear the croaking serenade of hundreds of frogs, just like the Budwieser advert and there was masses of frog spawn. "Oh Lord, this pool will disappear within a few days" I sighed, "what shall we do"? Enter William - "I'll dig out a new pond for them" he said "In the bog garden" (we have a natural spring and an area of land that is always wet). So off he went with his spade and set to work. 

The next day we went around several garden centres looking for a deal on pond liners, 'Oh dear there goes this weeks housekeeping money again'  A few days later we were able to transfer over the frog spawn that had been put into buckets as the pool depleted and then into the new pond. 

Over the next few week we spend many an hour looking at the development of these little frogs, the pond also attracted a lot of other pond life and we even had dragon flies. 

William has spent the summer and autumn (apart from putting up fencing around the riding arena with Dave) developing his wildlife garden.   He has planted bog loving plants and others to attract the butterflies and bees and all out of an area of ground that was unsuitable for the horses.

We are all looking forward to the spring when once again the frogs will return and the process will start again.

Ti'n Seren – Buzz

 Is a Sec B Welsh Pony that was taken off his mum too young and who has struggled to make any progress. He is black with a white star, has a lovely nature and hopefully one day will become a show pony.

Finding a diet to suit this little chap has been a problem, but through some trial and error we have finally come up with a menu that seems to be doing him good. His daily intake of Alfa A (Legume from the pea family) is full of calcium, this is mixed with foal mix and to this we add milk pellets, garlic, carrots and water to dampen. 

His droppings have become more solid and there is now a bloom to his coat, he seems a lot brighter and happier now that he is settling in. It can take up to two years for a horse or pony to settle into a new place so introduce a regular daily routine to help them with this. His routine will increase as his training develops and hopefully he will turn out to be a well mannered young man. 

Unfortunately the milk pellets that is added to his diet costs £65 for a 15 kg tub, which is rather expensive, but with such a youngster that was losing ground there was no other option that suited him.

Robin

Robin is a Sec A Welsh pony aged 2 years. and a new recruit to H.A.C.K. Little ponies like Robin end up at the sales on a regular basis, many going back with the meat man. Robin’s good looks are hampered by his white face giving him a ghostly look, although he has a neat little head, perhaps not suitable for the show ring as he was intended. Sad isn't it? He is of great character, being cheeky and has a huge personality, the kids already love him and he will when old enough be a riding pony. He does have a slight edge to him that makes me think that until recently he was kept in a herd and only brought in to be handled before going to Auction. He has not been established in the world around him.

I am hoping that we can use him for pony rides in a couple of years time, but he is suitable for teaching "how to look after a pony"

Berric

Berric, the big grey horse that was on his way to the slaughter house before H.A.C.K. stepped in, has come on in leaps and bounds but sadly at the moment he has become lame, and has developed a bulge in his hoof, which doesn't bode good.  We are awaiting the expert advice of our farrier. This may mean a trip to hospital, and x-rays which of course will mean considerable expense - if this is the case then we will again be starting a campaign to raise the funds to help this lovely horse who is such a gentleman and appreciates all we do for him.

The calls are still coming in for horses needing help, but recently it is not just individual horses but owners of several horses and ponies that no longer want/can afford to keep them. We have had one call from the Wirral who have four ponies that they can no longer cope with. Sadly the situation is getting worse and sanctuaries such as ours are pushed to their limits.

Sand

We are on the last hurdle of the riding arena, all we need is the equestrian sand - about 140 tonnes will do and then the horses and volunteers will have a safe area for all their training

 Arnie 

Arnie, the grass sickness horse is still making good progress, he has settled down into his routine and no longer worries about you entering his box. 

Whilst not the prettiest horse on the planet it seems he has a solid personality and character and we feel he will be a horse that you can trust unlike one particular chestnut mare that we have to contend with! 

Come the spring Arnie will be brought back into work and we shall be able to see his true colours then.