27 March 2020

#CoronaChronicles: Week One

It’s the end of the first working week since the Government imposed stricter measures to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, so we thought we would keep you updated with how our equine carers are coping.

With over 1,500 rescued horses, ponies, donkeys and mules living at our Sanctuary sites across the UK, our teams have been adapting the ways they work to ensure they remain safe and are still providing the specialist care our residents need.

We are quite glad our horses can’t watch the news, they have no idea how much the world has changed around them!

Some of the measures introduced include disinfecting vehicles and shared spaces (such as tea huts!), keeping farm vehicles well ventilated, avoiding sharing equipment such as radios and washing PPE such as hats and boots regularly, on top of frequent hand washing and adhering to social distancing.

Be aware, sometimes it’s not possible for staff to go about tasks or handle horses safely on their own or at the recommended social distance, so in these cases carers are being encouraged to work in pairs to cut down on the amount of interactions with others.

This short film gives you a glimpse of just some of the daily tasks undertaken by those working at our Horse Hospital in Norfolk to keep our patients happy and healthy.

Our vet nurses have also come up with an inventive way to ensure they practise social distancing – they’ve been using push bikes! Our Horse Hospital sits in a site 350 acres in size so our vets and nurses often clock up the miles travelling back and forth to see their patients. By cycling, they’re cutting down on car sharing and helping the environment at the same time!

While we have currently suspended our Guardianship Scheme, our Rehoming team is making sure training is continuing for those horses who were readying to find loving new homes. Neptune (top picture), in particular, has been enjoying some novel object training this week! This means that whenever restrictions are lifted, we’ll have a lovely collection of horses and ponies ready and raring to find homes, either to be ridden, as unbacked projects or as companions.

Sadly, with an unabating horse crisis in this country, incidents of equine neglect are continuing to occur and we will do our best in this challenging time to be there for those horses and donkeys who need our help. This week, 28 new arrivals have been welcomed into the Sanctuary, who are now resting and undergoing health assessments at our own specialist quarantine facility.

We can’t talk about many of these new arrivals yet as legal proceedings are ongoing in relation to the majority of them, but we’ll bring you updates when we can. Be assured, our veterinary and welfare teams are working very hard to ensure they receive the best care possible.

If you’d like to support our frontline teams in their vital work at this difficult time, please click here to find out how you can donate.

Thank you #RedwingsAngels