Please help fundraise for ERF – here are some ideas..

ERF rely heavily on public support and fundraisers to enable them to continue to act whenever they are needed in welfare cases and taking in unwanted equines. We realise that organising an event for the first time can be a rather daunting prospect, so we hope that this info will give you a starting block to work from.

Thorough planning and research is the key to organising a successful fundraising event so start planning your event as early as possible. Topics you’ll need to think about are;

• What type of event you think you can organise?
• Do you need additional help to organise the event – maybe rope in friends and family?
• Plan where your event will be held
• Decide when to hold your event
• Choose where to market/advertise the event
• What target figure do you hope to raise?
• Decide before the event what % will be donated to ERF

The type of event you plan to hold needs careful consideration and will depend largely on facilities available and the area you live in. French law sometimes dictates that you have to get pre-approval from your Mairie for events such as Vide Greniers.

Here are some event suggestions to get you started;

Coffee Morning, Summer Fayre, Garden Party, Bring and Buy Sale, Auction of Promises, Quiz Night, Race Night, Bingo Night, Jumble Sale, Cake Sale, Barn Dance,  Art and Craft Fair, Summer Fete, Karaoke Night, Pyjama Party, Raffle, Tombola, Cheese and Wine Tasting, Garage Sale, Vide Grenier, Book Sale, Barbecue, Bazaar, Fun-Run, Tea Party, Sponsored ride

If this is your first attempt at organising an event, then the key is to keep it simple. Don’t get too over ambitious as event planning can sometimes be harder work than you first think. If you have friends and family that you can rope in then great, delegate specific roles to people so that you have everything covered but don’t feel over burdened!

If the venue isn’t going to be on your own property then you’ll need to ensure that the premises you choose has relevant insurance cover. Often venues such as bars and chateaux will offer a good deal for charity events – try and get some form of sponsorship/reduction from them in return for bringing your custom in.

The time of year you hold the event will be relative to the type of event you plan to hold. Bear in mind when people are usually away on holidays and when other local events are on so you don’t clash.

Obviously for an event to be successful, people need to know about it. We suggest that the event is posted on forums and websites, flyers put out (again check with the local Mairie), contact local newspapers/magazines and ask for a free mention, posters put up in local shops/businesses and of course word of mouth. We will be happy to design Posters with our logo on for the event.

Every centime raised is important to us and we appreciate that fundraising isn’t always an easy task. Have a realistic idea of what you hope to raise and how much the associated overheads are going to be beforehand so you don’t end up out of pocket.

We hope that the equines ERF help will be a big incentive to motivate volunteers to fundraise for us, but it also helps if the fundraiser earns a little bit from the event also. Even if this covers their time, consumables used, phone calls etc. Please tell us before the event what percentage of the takings will be going to ERF so that everything is crystal clear with everyone from the start.

If you think you could organise an event to raise much needed funds for ERF then please contact us for a chat.

Animal Medical Care Foundation -Thank you!

ERF were delighted to be contacted a few months ago by a fellow WSPA member society, AMCF (Animal Medical Care Foundation) who support more than 50 Animal welfare refuges and shelters worldwide.

AMCF are a  Netherlands registered charity operating from the Netherlands and France and run by volunteers who supply medicines, medical equipment and other care products to animal shelters.

We would like to say a big thank you to Sylvie & Betty at AMCF for the parcel we received today containing an array of extremely useful items including wormers for the ERF equines. Please take a look at their website and read about some of the excellent work they do.

Mimi checking out some of the AMCF donated gifts

 

Access all your equines details online

Les Haras Nationaux, who are the main body responsible for the registration of all horses within France, have made accessing your equines data even easier. It really is worth taking a few minutes to register on their site for free as there is then the ability to access and amend information on the equines you own in the click of a button. Here’s a step by step guide….

• First go to the Haras Nationaux website
• Click on Espace Privé in the top right hand corner
• Click Créer un compte
• Create a username and password for yourself, add your email address then click création du compte
• Tick the box to confirm that you are the proprietor of equine/s and agree to the conditions of registration
• Now enter the Sire No. and date registered for one of your equines, it doesn’t matter which one
• Confirm that your address is correct

You have now created your account and will see a screen like this which shows your details and the number of horses you own. From here you can do things such as register the birth of a foal and register horses bought. By clicking in the Equarisseur box you can declare the death of an equine you own and arrange for the body to be collected by the Equarisseurs.

In the ‘Vos Chevaux’ box, click ‘Consulter-Gérer vos chevaux’ to see a list of all of your horses….

You can now click on each of your equines to see their full details, and if you purchase credits online you’ll be able to see available breeding and competition history for any equine registered with the HN.

 

Please….not for Christmas!

We found the following irresponsible ads on the internet recently advertising small ponies as ‘ideal Christmas presents’ for children. No animal, especially ponies, should be given as  Christmas presents. Ponies, even miniatures, require the same level of care as any other equine, including the bills that go with it! Just because someone has moved into a property  “with room for a pony” does not necessarily mean that they have the knowledge and funds to care for such a high maintenance animal.

For the child who is begging for a pony, why not find a local Centre Equestre and book some lessons, some of the  more responsible ones will include lessons on how to care for a pony too.  They can learn just how much work is really involved! This will also allow the family involved to find out just what they are getting into, and if their interest and finances are up to it.

There are of course good alternatives to living pets these days, why not visit our Amazon store and take a look at Butterscotch, the life-like pony!

 

Huge thank you to one of our members for fundraising..

We would like to say a huge thank you to Janie Feakes, who on October 25th, completed the Great South Run raising over £315  for ERF.

Proudly wearing her ERF T-shirt, Janie completed Britains biggest 10 mile road race in a fantastic time of 2 hours 37 mins and 28 seconds! This annual race held in Portmouth each year raises millions of pounds for various charities.

Janie has a link with French rescue horses as she is adopter of Normandy cob mare Maddie  (previously called Sunrise), initially rescued by ERF President Kathryn and Jon Dobson prior to ERF forming. Janie and Maddie have a great relationship together and have been doing tremendously well with their Parelli work gaining very good marks from the Parelli HQ recently.

Thank you from all of us at ERF!

Finally, something has been done!

For the past year or so we have been pushing the authorities to act in a case of neglect to 4 Shetland ponies feet in the Charente. Their feet had been grossly neglected for years making it extremely difficult for them to walk about.

Strangely though, they were otherwise reasonably cared for with ample hay and shelter provided. We are very pleased to report that the ponies feet have now been attended to and we hope that they see a farrier on a regular basis now and not allowed to get into that state again. Hoof neglect is a large problem in France that  regularly gets reported to us – a neglect that the authorities still do not rate highly enough on their list of concerns. We constantly have battles with the authorities to get help to those equines most vunerable in France. It is a difficult job we have to get someone to listen to our concerns, and we ask that people  please be patient whilst we try and get help to them. We try to do our best on the limited resources we have and our small but dedicated team of volunteers at ERF.

Daisy & Dora venture off to their new home…

Long term donkey friends Daisy & Dora moved down to the Haute Vienne today, to live with their new adopters Shirley and Gordon. These two were probably the most well-behaved donkeys we have come across this year to load and travel. Luckily we got them delivered and settled in before the  before the heavens opened….

 

Daisy carefully steps off the trailer....

The girls head off to investigate their new surroundings!

"I think we'll like it here Dora!"

"ooh look Dora, our house"

 

Thanks go to their new adopters for offering them such a lovely home, and to their old owners for entrusting this special pair into our care to find their forever home.

 

Amazing ponies that guide the blind

Whilst doing some research today I stumbled across an article where a miniature pony was being used as a guide for a blind lady.

Maurs Horse Fair

Yesterday was a long and difficult day for us at ERF. We travelled down into Cantal, to Maurs, to monitor their autumn horse fair. It is one of the biggest horse markets in France, with the majority of the equines sold going into the meat chain.

The conditions and treatment of some of the horses was very shocking and disturbing to witness, with no apparent welfare regulations in place for the horses. We will publish our report on the blog once we have collated all our photographic and video evidence. We are more determined than ever to push for improvements to be made at the Horse Fairs such as these. For this, we will need to call on public support, so please watch this space, the misery these animals endure is unacceptable.

A horse yesterday awaiting it's fate...

Use Amazon and help equines at the same time!

It’s only 66 days til Christmas, time to start thinking about presents for our family and friends…

ERF has it’s very own Amazon Store where we have chosen lots of great gifts that we think you may like. Sit back from the comfort of your living room and do all your Christmas shopping in one go…..it’s so easy! And better still, with each direct purchase you make from the shop, ERF will earn commission, so in turn you’ll be helping the horses whilst you shop. If what you are looking for isn’t in the shop you can click on the Amazon logo on there and still earn ERF commission (or tell us and we’ll add the item to the shop to earn a better level of commission).

Long gone are the days when Amazon just sold books…you can now also buy:

Dvd’s/Videos/music – electrical items – toys – clothing/shoes – DIY – beauty  items – computer items – jewellery – home & garden- horse wormers and equestrian equipment

Amazon have an excellent reputation as an online store, shipping items all over the world. New items are being added to the ERF shop all the time so keeping checking in.

Thank you Professor Knottenbelt….

We just wanted to say a big thank-you to Professor Derek Knottenbelt , for taking the time to offer his advice to us recently with a difficult welfare case we are dealing with.

Prof. Knottenbelt is a highly respected leading expert in equine oncology and dermatology and we appreciate him taking time out of his very busy schedule to offer such rapid email assistance to ERF.

The newly married couple…Brandy & co.

We couldn’t resist posting some photos of Brandy (formerly Gucci) and her new pal enjoying the sun this week.

(P.S Brandy is the one with the bigger ears!)

"errr...what are we supposed to be looking at?"

Home needed asap for Cairanne

The beautiful Cairanne has been on our website looking for an adopter for a few months now. Although she is 22 yrs old, she is in good health and could be lightly ridden by a competent person. Being good with other horses means she would also make a very good companion for a lonely horse or as a nanny to youngsters as she has been a broodmare herself in the past.

She is papered, microchipped and vaccinated and ready to be rehomed now.

Please contact us if you are interested in adopting Cairanne.

A visit to see the girls….

After delivering Brandy (Gucci) yesterday I called in to visit Maddy, Ellie and Poppy -  the 3 donkeys that were adopted by Tracie and Dave back in April. These 3 donkeys are just the funniest threesome and follow each other around everywhere. They are an absolute credit to Tracie & Dave and look fantastic with their very shiny coats!

Poppy, Maddie and Ellie...treble trouble!

The beautiful matriarch, Maddie

Gucci the donkey…new name and new home!

Yesterday we moved Gucci the yearling donkey to her new adoptive family near Bellac, where she is to be companion to another lonely donkey, Phebus. We were thrilled that she found a home so quickly after coming into our care as she had been yearning for a donkey friend for some time with her previous owner. Not only did she get a new home yesterday,  Gucci also got a new name and is now called Brandy (after the Cognac region where she lived).

Phebus heard her braying from the trailer and could hardly wait to see what was going to come off…

"Could it be ........a donkey for me??"

Meet our latest four legged friends…….

Today we were out on the road collecting 2 equines thats have come into ERF’s care. Princesse is a little grey pony who suffers from arthritis so is not able to be used as a riding pony any more. Her owners contacted ERF after hearing about us from a friend of theirs, who happened to be  Ossie’s old owner. As chance had it, Ossie’s new adopter was looking for a companion for Ossie and so agreed to adopt Princesse from us as well. Both Ossie and Princesse have the most wonderful temperaments and are so good around the children. I think we now have a love affair going between these two ponies and next week they’ll be moved to their new home, a stones throw from the field where they currently are at Trinas.

Princesse (right) with her new companion Ossie

Our other new arrival is yearling donkey Gucci, who was very lonely after her owners bought her as a pet from a local market and contacted ERF realising that she needed donkeys friends. We may have somebody coming to view her this week so fingers crossed she’ll get a nice new home soon with some donkey company that she’s so desperate for.

Beautiful little Gucci!

Update on reported case in dept. 82

Earlier this month we were told of a couple of horses in dept 82 in bad condition. The person who went out to the location reported that one horse had apparently vanished, and the other was indeed very skinny, tethered and being fed mouldy hay.

We immediately alerted the DDSV whilst the horse was kept horse under surveillance from a local volunteer. Thankfully the hay was soon swapped for better quality hay. Today we heard back from a DDSV inspector who had been out to visit the horse and spoken to the owners. His assesment was that the horse had access to water,  good hay and was tethered on a long line. Apparently the horse is extremely old, has no illness and does have a stable that they use to bring him in to.

At the moment all we can do is keep an eye on his condition, especially with winter approaching. Hopefully now the owners know that the authorities are aware of their horse they will start to be a bit more attentive

World Animal Day – October 4th 2009

Next Sunday (St Francis day) is World Animal Day or in French, Journée Mondiale des animaux, a day to celebrate animals and the relationships us humans have with them. Events are hosted throughout the world in recognition of animals, how they enrich our lives and most importantly what we can do to help them. Have a look on the WAD website to see if there is an event happening near you. It is also a day when villages and towns throughout the world hold ‘animal blessing’ services.

Interested in equestrian history?

Tomorrow, Saturday, 26^th September Caroline Anns-Baldock will be riding her bright chestnut racehorse down Whitehall at 11.15 to arrive at No 10 Downing Street at 11.30 in the guise of Lady Godiva, whose legendary naked ride through Coventry took place to champion the cause of the local downtrodden peasants. Caroline’s dramatic act is to publicise the need for an official Museum of the Horse for the UK.

Caroline will be accompanied by Mrs Christopher Boyd and Lucinda McAlpine and her committee, including Colin Henderson, ex Head Coachman of the Royal Mews.

Caroline is a unique phenomenon in the horse world. She was one of England’s first three professional female flat jockeys. She has worked in the horse world all her life. She was the antiquarian equestrian specialist at J.A Allens’s, The Horseman’s Bookshop and was literary assistant to Monty Roberts. Her quest is to set up a Museum of the Horse here in the UK. We are the only European country without one to honour the contribution of horses to our society, and yet we are known throughout the world as the home of horse-loving people.

Caroline’s determination to create a museum of the horse has a practical application – she has for many years been collecting fascinating equestrian artifacts from all over the world. She now intends to displayed them in the museum for all to learn from and enjoy. Some of the unique artifacts are from the racing industry and have already been displayed at Bourne Hall in Ewell, Surrey. Caroline has established a committee whose purpose is to fundraise and establish the museum.

Have a look at her website for the museum which is a fascinating mixture of fact, poetry, storytelling, research and travel writing. We wish Caroline all the very best in her quest and hope the weather is not too cold in London tomorrow!

In France we are very fortunate to have the Musée Vivant du Cheval at Chantilly, a museum which is one of the most visited equestrian places in the world.

Homes sought for our lovely equines

Please take a few minutes to look at our equines that are still waiting for their forever homes to come along.You can see their their photos on the right hand side of this page or go to our rehoming page for more info on each of them.

If you do not have the facilities or experience to take on an equine yourself, maybe you would consider donating something towards their costs whilst in our care? Mimi has now been with us 8 months awaiting for an adopter to come forward. Leon is still receiving treatment on his leg injury that he came to us with and so will not be able to be rehomed for some time. Our aim is always to rehome equines into permanent homes as soon as we can, but in cases like the above it sometimes isn’t possible. With the onset of winter just around the corner, and potentially more equines than ever needing our help this winter, please help us so that we can continue to help them.