Pod

Pod is 17 years old and is part of the riding for the disabled team at Penniwells in Hertfordshire. We are crowdfunding for Pod as he has many allergies which mean that currently he is not getting to live as the dedicated team at Penniwells would like him to. We would like him to return to his balanced life of lessons and grazing, however the allergies are currently stopping this.

Pod's allergies are:

Dock leaves, Nettles, Timothy grass, Rye grass, Oak, Carrots, Soya meal, Molasses, Barley and a few other smaller ones. He also has sensitivities to shampoos including horse cleaning products such as Mane and Tail.

Pod allergies cause him certain problems;

To begin with he is currently not allowed into the fields due to the high risk of him eating weeds, nearby or overhanging tree. His saddle cloth must be washed and not used by any other horse. Therefore he is also not allowed to borrow tack used by other horses. His brush is also washed and sterilized.

Staff must wash their hands before touching him, due to the chance that they may have handled carrots or he may react to creams they have used. At present he is only being ridden or lunged by staff and is turned out in the outdoor school for exercise.

His treatments so far:

have included immunotherapy, which involved Pod receiving small doses of the allergens via injection or a prolonged period of time.

Our Goal for Pod:

is to build him his our turn out ring, in the form of a round pen which may possibly be laid with a safe grass turf to try and ensure that those plants and weeds that we are trying to avoid are kept out. This would mean Pod could be turned out onto grass for him to graze. By turning him out he will hopefully be brought back into work full time and return to lessons with the Penniwells teaching and competing team.

Costs

On the website Round Pens even the smallest 30ft pen costs just under £2000 with kick boards for that size at £370 which could be used to restrict grazing outside of the pen.

The area will then be turfed, adding extra costs. Other costs that Pod's allergies incur are his own specific deep cleansing shampoo at £70 per bottle. Plus his weekly tube of cream to soothe any sore spots, which works out to around £40 per tube.

Please helps us in funding Pod's Pen in order to further increase his quality of life and return him to the happy horse without any itching and scratching!