What we’re asking for
We need to raise £35,000 in 2024 to buy a new 3.5t horsebox for transporting rescued equines.
Considering a donation today will give transport access to over 570 horses and ponies rescued and being given lifelong care by our charity, and many more who may need our help in the South West of England – they are the core beneficiaries of this funding request.
This is a vital vehicle for our sanctuary to have access to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We use it to:
- transport rescued equines between our four sanctuaries in Newton Abbot, Holsworthy, Totnes and Yelverton.
- transport equines for emergency and non-emergency treatment at our veterinary hospital in Newton Abbot or to specialist hospitals further afield.
- bring in new rescues from anywhere in the South West.
- attend and transport equines on multi-agency welfare lifts anywhere in the UK.
- assist with transport of equines in our rehoming scheme.
What we have now
We currently have a converted 3.5t horsebox with a payload of 1,050kg giving us the ability to transport two equines at a time. It’s becoming very costly to run and increasingly unreliable.
While the horsebox design is ideal for our equines, the vehicle itself is showing signs of significant wear and tear. It’s now 11 years old and has a mileage of over 111,000. We are now footing the bill for major and minor repairs on a regular basis and in the last 24 months have spent £6,389.60.
What we urgently need
We need to buy a 3.5t horsebox as soon as we can secure the funding.
£35,000 will provide a suitable budget to purchase this vital vehicle with the following aspirational specification:
- 3.5t
- Carries two equines
- Payload of 1000kg+
- Seating for three people in front cab
- Small Equipment storage area
- CCTV for equines
- Padded partitions
- Haynet tie rings
- Side ramp
Equines in need
The horses and ponies are the core beneficiaries of this funding request. Lola was starving when she was rescued alongside 17 equines from an unlicensed organisation known as Family Nest Therapy.
Our Welfare Outreach Manager, Rebecca, escalated the case to the RSPCA and took part in a multi-agency rescue over two days in summer 2022. This resulted in 13 horses and ponies in exceptionally poor condition coming into our care. Transport was a major aspect of this welfare lift, and we needed every form of equine transport we had available and that of other equine charities too.
We have 145 horses and ponies living at our peaceful sanctuaries today. At any time, we may need to transport them between our sanctuaries or transport them for emergency or non-emergency treatment at our veterinary hospital in Newton Abbot.
Last year, we had seven emergency admissions into sanctuary, assisted with five multi-agency welfare lifts involving 89 equines at risk and had an average of 13 welfare outreach cases every month.
How much this would mean to us
Our Head of Sanctuary Care Sally Burton expresses how much this funding would mean to her and the team: “The funding would enable us to buy a new 3.5t horsebox for transporting rescued equines. We have made do with what we have for many years and we’re now at a point where we really need to replace our current horsebox. There have been times where we’ve been setting off and the engine won’t start. We just can’t have such unreliability when there are animals involved. We’re hesitant to use our current horsebox for this reason, and the costs of repairs are now far too high. The new horsebox will make a huge difference – peace of mind when travelling to the furthest corners of the Southwest on rescues, to smooth transitions of rescued horses between our sanctuaries. Our staff will have greater confidence to use it too.”
The impact of not getting funding
We must raise the funds or else we can’t buy a new horsebox. We can continue using our current horsebox, but it comes with a huge amount of unreliability and increasing costs to our charity for repairs. There’s a high chance we’ll breakdown and therefore avoid using it if we can lean on other transport options.
Your donation will be used to purchase a 3.5t horsebox, its conversion and livery branding. If we raise over the total required to purchase this vehicle, the additional funds will be used for general running costs, such as feed, bedding and hay, to help us provide lifelong, loving care to equines in need.
If we don’t meet our target to proceed with the purchase we would have to divert funds from other Sanctuary priorities.