The Horse Trust
Encyclopedia
The Horse Trust is a UK equine charity based at Speen, Buckinghamshire
33 miles (53.1 km) west north west of London. It was founded in 1886 to help the working horses in London
making it the oldest horse charity in the world. Upon the decline of the working horse in the 1960s it widened its remit to include education and research, becoming the largest provider of equine welfare grants in the United Kingdom.
The Horse Trust's Home of Rest for Horses operates at its Westcroft Stables in the Chiltern Hills
between High Wycombe
and Aylesbury
, in Buckinghamshire
. As of 2010 it provides lifetime sanctuary for more than 100 horses, donkeys and ponies.
The Horse Trust has four main programmes of activities - providing lifetime sanctuary for retired horses, ponies and donkeys, promoting horse welfare, funding research into horse health and welfare, and educating people about horse health and ownership.
Residents at the sanctuary come from varied backgrounds including the mounted police force, the mounted Army regiments, the Royal Mews and Riding for the Disabled.
Over the years, the Home of Rest has housed a number of famous horses, including Sefton (horse)
, a horse injured by the IRA's Hyde Park bombing on 20 July and Monarch, who led the team of horses that pulled the Queen's coach during the 2002 Golden Jubilee celebrations.
to help rehome abandoned or neglected horses, ponies and donkeys. In January 2008, it took in a number of severely neglected horses from Spindles Farm
, which The Independent
described as "one of the worst cases of animal cruelty in recent history".
, sweet itch
, colic
, grass sickness
and cardiology
. It also funds clinical training scholarships in various areas including surgery
and anaesthesia.
In 2008, the charity funded research into Fell pony syndrome, laminitis
and small redworms.
The charity also offers information on its website on horse health and ownership and publishes leaflets promoting horse education.
was terrible. On 10 May 1886 Ann Lindo, who was inspired by the novel about a horse Black Beauty
was determined to help the lives of horses in London and she set up a rest home for horse
s, mule
s, and donkey
s at a farm at Sudbury
, near Harrow
. The first resident at the farm was an overworked London cab horse.
Among the supporters of the new Society was HRH Prince Albert and before long the Duke of Portland
, Master of the Royal Household, agreed to become the charity President.
The Home was based at various locations in its early years. In Sudbury from 1886–89, then it was based in Acton
, west London
in (1889–1908), before taking over Westcroft Farm in Cricklewood
, which had 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) of open pasture just four miles (6 km) from Marble Arch
.
In 1933, the Home moved to Borehamwood
, Hertfordshire
where it remained until the 1975. The sale of the land from the Borehamwood site allowed the charity to build a new stable complex at Speen Farm in Princes Risborough, where it remains to date.
The charity's initial focus was providing sanctuary for London cab horses and tradesmen's horses. By the mid-1960s, the number of working horses depending on it had declined so the charity's committee decided to extend its activities. As well as continuing to run the sanctuary, the charity started running educational programmes and funding research to improve the health and welfare of horses.
In 2006, HRH The Princess Royal
, the patron of the charity, announced that The Home of Rest for Horses had been renamed The Horse Trust to reflect its wider remit.
Speen, Buckinghamshire
Speen is a village in the parish of Princes Risborough, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about three miles south east of the main town.The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'wood chips'...
33 miles (53.1 km) west north west of London. It was founded in 1886 to help the working horses in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
making it the oldest horse charity in the world. Upon the decline of the working horse in the 1960s it widened its remit to include education and research, becoming the largest provider of equine welfare grants in the United Kingdom.
The Horse Trust's Home of Rest for Horses operates at its Westcroft Stables in the Chiltern Hills
Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills form a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...
between High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
and Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. As of 2010 it provides lifetime sanctuary for more than 100 horses, donkeys and ponies.
Activities
The Horse Trust has four main programmes of activities - providing lifetime sanctuary for retired horses, ponies and donkeys, promoting horse welfare, funding research into horse health and welfare, and educating people about horse health and ownership.
Sanctuary
The Horse Trust provides lifetime sanctuary for around 100 retired horses, ponies and donkeys at its Home of Rest for Horses in Speen, Buckinghamshire.Residents at the sanctuary come from varied backgrounds including the mounted police force, the mounted Army regiments, the Royal Mews and Riding for the Disabled.
Over the years, the Home of Rest has housed a number of famous horses, including Sefton (horse)
Sefton (Horse)
Sefton was a horse who served with the British Army for 17 years from 1967 to 1984, coming to prominence when he was critically injured in the Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings which killed seven other horses, and four soldiers. He recovered sufficiently to return to active service and was...
, a horse injured by the IRA's Hyde Park bombing on 20 July and Monarch, who led the team of horses that pulled the Queen's coach during the 2002 Golden Jubilee celebrations.
Welfare
The Horse Trust funds research into equine welfare and works with the RSPCARoyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...
to help rehome abandoned or neglected horses, ponies and donkeys. In January 2008, it took in a number of severely neglected horses from Spindles Farm
Spindles Farm
Spindles Farm was a farm in Hyde Heath, near Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England, run by horse dealer James Gray . It was the location of a significant animal cruelty case in 2008 where dozens of horses were neglected, some being left to starve to death...
, which The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
described as "one of the worst cases of animal cruelty in recent history".
Research
The Horse Trust funds non-invasive research into equine diseases, such as stranglesStrangles
Strangles is a contagious upper respiratory tract infection of horses and other equines caused by a bacterium, Streptococcus equi var equi...
, sweet itch
Sweet itch
Also known as Queensland Itch, Summer Itch or more technically, Culicoides Hypersensitivity.Sweet Itch is a medical condition in equines caused by an allergic response to the bites of Culicoides midges. It may be found in any horses and ponies, especially in the warmer regions. It may also occur,...
, colic
Colic
Colic is a form of pain which starts and stops abruptly. Types include:*Baby colic, a condition, usually in infants, characterized by incessant crying*Renal colic, a pain in the flank, characteristic of kidney stones...
, grass sickness
Grass sickness
Equine Grass Sickness is a rare but predominantly fatal illness in horses. Grass sickness may affect all types of horse, pony and donkey, and has affected some well known horses including the thoroughbred stallion Dubai Millennium.-Clinical signs:Grass sickness is a polyneuropathy affecting the...
and cardiology
Cardiology
Cardiology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the heart . The field includes diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology...
. It also funds clinical training scholarships in various areas including surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
and anaesthesia.
In 2008, the charity funded research into Fell pony syndrome, laminitis
Laminitis
Laminitis is a disease that affects the feet of ungulates. It is best known in horses and cattle. Symptoms include lameness, and increased temperature in the hooves...
and small redworms.
Education
The Horse Trust runs an education programme to promote responsible horse ownership. Horse owners can call up The Horse Trust to get advice on caring for their horse.The charity also offers information on its website on horse health and ownership and publishes leaflets promoting horse education.
History
In the 19th century, life for many working horses in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
was terrible. On 10 May 1886 Ann Lindo, who was inspired by the novel about a horse Black Beauty
Black Beauty
Black Beauty is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. The novel became an immediate bestseller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, long enough to see her first and only...
was determined to help the lives of horses in London and she set up a rest home for horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s, mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
s, and donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
s at a farm at Sudbury
Sudbury, London
Sudbury is a suburb in the London Boroughs of Brent and Harrow, located in northwest London, UK.Sudbury is an historical area having once extended from the 'South Manor- Sudbury' to the area that is now known as Wembley Central...
, near Harrow
Harrow, London
Harrow is an area in the London Borough of Harrow, northwest London, United Kingdom. It is a suburban area and is situated 12.2 miles northwest of Charing Cross...
. The first resident at the farm was an overworked London cab horse.
Among the supporters of the new Society was HRH Prince Albert and before long the Duke of Portland
Earl of Portland
Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, first in 1633 and again in 1689.-First creation :The title of Earl of Portland was first created for the politician Richard Weston, 1st Baron Weston, in 1633...
, Master of the Royal Household, agreed to become the charity President.
The Home was based at various locations in its early years. In Sudbury from 1886–89, then it was based in Acton
Acton, London
Acton is a district of west London, England, located in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross.At the time of the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people...
, west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in (1889–1908), before taking over Westcroft Farm in Cricklewood
Cricklewood
Cricklewood is a district of North London, England whose northeastern part is in the London Borough of Barnet, western part is the London Borough of Brent and southeastern part is in London Borough of Camden.-History:...
, which had 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) of open pasture just four miles (6 km) from Marble Arch
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...
.
In 1933, the Home moved to Borehamwood
Borehamwood
-Film industry:Since the 1920s, the town has been home to several film studios and many shots of its streets are included in final cuts of 20th century British films. This earned it the nickname of the "British Hollywood"...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
where it remained until the 1975. The sale of the land from the Borehamwood site allowed the charity to build a new stable complex at Speen Farm in Princes Risborough, where it remains to date.
The charity's initial focus was providing sanctuary for London cab horses and tradesmen's horses. By the mid-1960s, the number of working horses depending on it had declined so the charity's committee decided to extend its activities. As well as continuing to run the sanctuary, the charity started running educational programmes and funding research to improve the health and welfare of horses.
In 2006, HRH The Princess Royal
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
, the patron of the charity, announced that The Home of Rest for Horses had been renamed The Horse Trust to reflect its wider remit.
External links
- The Horse Trust
- Charity CommissionCharity CommissionThe Charity Commission for England and Wales is the non-ministerial government department that regulates registered charities in England and Wales....
- The Horse Trust
See also
- Old Friends EquineOld Friends EquineOld Friends is a nonprofit equine retirement facility in Georgetown, Kentucky. It is the only thoroughbred retirement facility in the United States that accepts stallions....
- Living Legends horse retirement home
- Thoroughbred Retirement FoundationThoroughbred Retirement FoundationThe Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation is an American organization founded in 1982, whose mission is stated to be: "To save Thoroughbred horses no longer able to compete on the racetrack from possible neglect, abuse and slaughter."...