What a difference a day makes....
When I originally spoke to our volunteer writers about content for this newsletter, I told them things were going along very well and that we were almost, sort of, drifting. That the weather had cleared, the shops were picking up, and we were paying our bills on time.
Then within a day everything changed. Suddenly we were asked to take in seven, yes SEVEN, new rescues.
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Watch as Sue introduces you to our seven new rescues.
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Essentially, the owner of this herd couldn't afford to keep them anymore. If we didn't take the rescues they would be killed for meat. So we now have seven new residents: four horses and three minis.
This is the second biggest rescue in our centre's history (after the 14 horses we rescued from hell in 2014), and we are now once again asking for donations to cover the inevitable veterinary expenses required to rehabilitate the animals, and their ongoing feed and maintenance costs.
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While on the topic of fundraising, Rod and I both wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who donated to our campaign to replace our broken our mini-digger.
After eight long months of fundraising, we were astounded to receive a surprise €2,000 donation from Germany’s Epona Foundation for Horse and Environment this month, enough to finally hit our overall €12,000 target.
This is the most important piece of machinery at our rescue centre and Rod's life in particular has been so much harder and back-breaking without it. We've now ordered a second hand mini-digger and it should arrive within a month!
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Upcoming events:
Sunday, May 6: Free open day from 1pm to 4pm
Tour the rescue centre, meet our animals and hear their incredible survival stories, then stop for a snack or drink in our cafe afterwards.
Don't forget to use the hashtag #easyhorsecarerescuecentre on social media so we can see all of your beautiful photos! We'd also really appreciate you taking the time to leave a review on Trip Advisor afterwards.
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Another new rescue: Beauty
In early March the San Javier Police contacted us to take in a severely injured old mare, who had been beaten by thugs in southern Spain.
We believe the old girl is about 23 to 25 years of age, and we have decided to call her Beauty because she's surely never been told she's beautiful, and deserves to hear it until the end of her days.
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Beauty has horrendous spinal scars caused by an ill-fitting saddle, her spine is deformed because she was ridden very hard from a young age. Her suspensory ligaments have lost elasticity and are collapsing down.
You can read more about Beauty's rescue here and choose to sponsor her here.
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Available for adoption: Paloma and Pablo
This adorable pair of best friends are looking for a loving forever home together.
Pablo is now quite an old man and has some special needs, as he suffers from sweet itch. Yet he is a lovely, friendly piebald pony. Paloma, meanwhile, was once a well-trained dressage horse, but lost his eye after a riding accident. Now advancing in age, he's a gentle companion horse.
Interested in adopting? Head to our website for full details.
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Current volunteering opportunities:
We're always in need of some extra pairs of hands to help us out with all things Easy Horse Care related. Here are some of our latest volunteer positions that need fulfilling:
Volunteer field clearer
Enjoy being outdoors and around inquisitive and friendly horses, ponies and donkeys? We're seeking volunteer stable labourers to help clean and muck out our fields. While we do have a small team of wonderful full-time employees who work very hard to keep our fields clean, we often need an extra hand when they fall sick, take a day off or during bank holidays. Sometimes just Sue and Rod are left to muck out for more than 100 equines – an enormous job!
Volunteer videographer
We're seeking a videographer to create beautiful videos of our rescued horses, ponies and donkeys. We want to celebrate their incredible survival stories with high-quality and compelling short videos, which will be shared with our network of generous supporters across our website and social media, especially YouTube. Some videos will also be used in press releases for media.
For more information about these positions, including how to apply, please click here.
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You can now fundraise for us through Facebook!
Our Facebook page now has a donate function, which we are really delighted and excited by. One of it's greatest capabilities is for you to share it. For example, if you were having a birthday or celebration and didn't want any gifts, you could ask your friends to donate to us instead by sharing a donation link on your own Facebook page. The money will be with us within two weeks of your fundraiser finishing!
We're amazed by the number of people already creating Facebook fundraising campaigns for us, and we want to thank you all. If you're interested in using the function, you can read full instructions here.
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Getting to know Taffeta
Each newsletter we like to share a little information about one of our beautiful equine residents...
Taffeta was our first ever pony rescue, almost 10 years ago now. This poor mini was so thin that her hip bones had literally cut through her skin.
An English woman had apparently brought dozens of miniature ponies and Arabian horses to her property in Spain. But, after falling ill, the woman was no longer taking care of her animals. Horrifically, each one was starving. Several had already died.
We've finally honoured Taffeta on our website with her full story and plenty of adorable photos. Click here to read her heart-warming tale, or sponsor her continued care here.
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As always, thank you.
To all our wonderful supporters here in Spain and across the world, thank you. With your help and support, we are making huge steps forward for animal welfare in Spain.
With best wishes,
Sue and Rod Weeding,
Easy Horse Care Rescue Centre co-founders
(This newsletter was kindly compiled by volunteers Nicole Lutze and Koren Helbig.)
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