Ruby’s Herd
Ruby is a beautiful lady who we refer to as “posh”, she now knows who she is, what she likes and what she doesn’t. Sadly, this was not the case when we first rescued her. Ruby came from a competition yard where her life consisted of either being in a stable, being exercised on a horse-walker, travelling on a lorry to competitions or competing.
When she arrived at the sanctuary and we popped her in a field she was frightened of the horses in the field next door. She didn’t want to explore the field, run or play and she didn’t realise that she could eat the grass. We had not observed this behaviour in any of our rescued horses before. We knew we had to treat her very gently and teach her how to be a horse. Who better for the job than our elderly 30-year-old gentle pony called Cottie? We introduced Cottie to Ruby and magically Cottie took on the role of Ruby’s grandmother and started teaching her that the grass was for eating, the field was a safe place, the horses next door could be approached without fear and that us humans were kind.
Ruby also created a beautiful friendship with Illyanne the herd leader, and Ruby helped manage the herd with her best friend by her side
Cottie and Illyanne have now transitioned over Rainbow Bridge, though their teachings live on as Ruby is a very happy, confident lady who now manages a herd of 6 boys
CHARLIE
Charlie is a handsome gentle 15-year-old boy who found that his human Mom (who he has been with since a baby ) could no longer care for him due to her health issues so he needed a safe place to live his life.
We agreed to take him and give him a happy peaceful life with us where he won’t be ridden (as he can’t be).
We have welcomed him into our sanctuary and he fitted in beautifully AND as he is so gentle he is a natural therapy horse! And LOVES doing Healing with Horse sessions with people!
We have slowly integrated him with one of our herds and he is now a full member of Ruby’s herd! He is good friends with Louie and Dodger too. However, he is so very polite and respectful and always waits at the end of the queue for his breakfast.
Charlie would love some lovely people to sponsor him to help financially to care for him with things such as food, hay, carrots, supplements, farrier and dentist visits.
In exchange, Charlie will send you regular emails of what he has been up to and you are welcome to come visit him too.
Dodger
Dodger was the only boy of the group from France and we believe that he is delighted that in his new herd he has several other horse friends that he plays, confides and eats with. These include Louie, Michael and Max.
Dodger is a soft, gentle, sensitive boy and he can also be very kind and protective to those he loves, humans or horses.
A few years ago, Dodger had a nasty accident, cutting his face open and blood pouring everywhere. We supported him, spoke to him gently and gave him reiki healing until the vet arrived. Dodger was so brave during this experience and allowed us to care for him. His face healed perfectly, and he is still a very handsome boy.
That experience has made him even more loving towards us humans as he knows he can trust us to always take care of him. He really is an exceptional boy.
Max
We received a request to help a lady who sadly had terminal cancer. She had two beloved horses Max and Ringo who she loved dearly. It was her wish that they both could go to a loving sanctuary together where they could live their lives in peace and love. At the time this request came, financially it didn’t make sense to agree to take on two more horses, but our hearts knew we had to help this lovely lady and her family.
Max is a very large boy. However, he is such a sensitive soul and fits the description of gentle giant perfectly. He loves his horse brother Ringo and has grown in confidence since he had become part of Ruby’s herd. He regularly plays and has fun with Louie, Michael and Dodger. We are so happy to have helped as we have now developed a great friendship with the lady’s husband who visits Max and Ringo regularly and kindly supports us with what we do.
Ringo
We received a request to help a lady who sadly had terminal cancer. She had two beloved horses Max and Ringo who she loved dearly. It was her wish that they both could go to a loving sanctuary together where they could live their lives in peace and love. At the time this request came in financially it didn’t make sense to agree to take on two more horses, but our hearts knew we had to help this lovely lady and her family.
Ringo is a beautiful spotty pony with distinctive markings. He is gentle and stubborn at the same time. He has a strong will and likes to keep himself to himself a lot of the time and will choose when he interacts with the herd. He has recently had some health issues including challenges with his feet. We have popped him into a separate paddock next to his herd so his feet can be bandaged regularly and be kept of the mud and have his regular medicines, supplements and reiki healing. However hilariously he decided to break into our next-door neighbours’ field and strike up a friendship with her elderly horse. We are so happy to have helped as we have now developed a great friendship with the lady’s husband who visits Max and Ringo regularly and kindly supports us with what we do.
Michael
Michael is one the two horses we ever paid for to be part of the Sanctuary.
We had been asked to take on Faith who we discovered had been taken from Dartmoor and sold to a university and experimented on. She was fortunate enough to survive giving birth to Michael even though he was a very big baby.
Sadly, we learned that Michael had been taken onto a lorry and his mum followed. She was then barricaded in to be sold and he was separated from her.
They both screamed when this happened, and we were told he collapsed in the road due to the stress.
We wanted to heal this situation and to apologise to Michael and his mom for what humans had done to them, so we miraculously tracked down who he had been sold too.
Our founder Susie text everybody she knew to raise the £350 needed to buy him and reunite him with his mum.
When we collected him, he was only 3 months old, frightened and alone. We knew it would be too scary for him to make the 3-hour journey on his own, so Susie sat in the trailer with him chatting to him, stroking him and offering him healing, love and support.
When we reunited him with his mum as soon as he saw her, he squealed so loudly we all started to cry. He ran up the ramp of the horse lorry that had arrived at the horse Sanctuary with his mum on it and the disbelief and joy was overwhelming. Ever since they have been inseparable, and Faith has been a great Mum.
He has grown into a magnificent boy and even though he loves having adventures with his pony friends he would never far away and always on the alert to protect his mum. We renamed him Michael after the Archangel hoping that that energy would help him heal and always feel safe.
Faith has transitioned over rainbow bridge now, and with all the love and support from his family, our volunteers and our supporters, he is once again our strong and kind boy! Faith will always be with him and all of us at The Healing Horse Sanctuary.
Louie
Louie was an emergency rescue. A baby horse of just 12 months old who sadly had not been fed for months during one of the coldest winters. When we walked him off the lorry, he was a walking skeleton. We placed him a small private paddock next door to Ruby’s heard and he collapsed. The vet was called, and diagnosis was not good, and he gave Louie 24 hours to live. This sad little boy didn’t have a name, had never known love and was in a very sad state. Our founder Susie decided to text everyone she knew asking for help, love, prayers, distance healing and to hold the vision that Louie would stand up and get well. Within 24 hours 52 people from all around the world had responded in various ways including 11 people who arrived at the Sanctuary the following morning to help. Susie had lay with Louie on the grass under a duvet all night holding him telling him he was safe so when friends arrived it was a glorious moment. A winch was made from scaffolding pipes and a harness to go gently under Louie’s tummy. All the friends helped him to stand up and rather than eat his horse food he wanted Susie’s rich tea biscuits. Over the following days Louie would collapse and we would gently winch him back up with his harness. We noticed that “baby Michael” would watch Louie continually in our herd next door. So, we bought Michael in with him to encourage him to heal and get well. This worked perfectly alongside his veterinary medicines, natural supplements, Bach Flower remedies, homeopathy, biochemistry and daily Reiki healing. Louie has grown into a magnificent young man, confident, cheeky, happy. He is friends with everyone within Ruby’s herd and he and Michael have a particularly long and everlasting bond. We feel Louie teaches us what love can do.
