Equine rescue charity, HorseWorld opened the gates to the public on Saturday 23^rd June so that supporters could see behind the scenes and meet the rescued horses. The stable yard was bustling as people came to look around HorseWorld’s rehabilitation and training facilities in Whitchurch, Bristol.

“The farm is not open to the public on a day-to-day basis as the horses that arrive here are often poorly or need a lot of specialist care.” said HorseWorld’s Equine Yard Manager,Sarah Hollister. “Many of them display defensive and sometimes dangerous behaviour when they have recently been rescued. You never know what they have been through and many don’t trust humans at all so on a normal day, the yard would not be accessible to the public. However, on an Open Day, we bring the horses that will cope with the hustle and bustle closer to the yard and we move the horses that wouldn’t cope to the far side of the farm. It’s a lot of work to prepare but worth it to be able to show people the work we do as a rescue charity and helps to raise donations towards our rescue work. Some of the horses are at a stage in their rehabilitation which means they are now ready to be rehomed on our loan scheme so it’s great to be able to show them to people who may be looking for a horse to rehome.

“It was lovely to have the opportunity to show people the core rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming work which takes place on this farm. Many people were surprised to see how big the farm is and fascinated by the specialist equipment we need to rehabilitate horses that have come from a traumatic background. Entry to the farm on an Open Day is free but people gave generously in the donation buckets once they had seen the charity’s work for themselves. This rescue and rehabilitation work is funded entirely by donations.

“We displayed pictures of recent rescues and brought the rescued horses into the stables and nearby paddocks for people to see now that they have been nursed back to health. This also included the 3 Shire Horses rescued last November as part of a big rescue involving 19 Shire horses and 6 welfare charities. You may have seen them in the news.

“The horses all live out in the fields on this 180 acre farm in as natural environment as possible. On a normal day we only use the stables if a horse is poorly or to bring horses in for the vet, farrier, dentist or to prepare them for training. It is only on Open Days like this that we bring so many into the yard. We hope to welcome just as many, if not more people to our next Open Days on Saturday 11^th August and Saturday 20^th October.”

For more details about HorseWorld’s Open Days, please visit www.horseworld.org.uk/events