Our usually luscious green fields and tracks currently resemble a yellow carpet and what remnants of grass there are actually crackle when you walk on them - it’s that dry. The last useful rain we had was almost unbelievably on June 2nd and whilst there have been some promises of showers in the forecast more recently, they have so far managed to miss us completely. We do hope to have some rain soon, but the reality is that the ground is already so damaged that it will take a long time to recover, so our dreams of any grass grazing look set to remain as just that - dreams – for this year anyway.

The horses do love grass grazing more than anything else, so it’s been tough on them too. We have been forced to feed them hay throughout the whole of the summer months, and you can feel the look of disdain as we arrive with the next load! They are a bit fed up to say the least – during winter, they count the days to the Spring and Summer grass and this year, it just hasn’t been there for them – and soon it will be winter again….

It’s been a challenging couple of years – last year, the hay yield was really poor for the farmers and locally, the prices rocketed for the little hay that there was on the market. We decided to look further afield for our supply and managed to get hay brought up from Cornwall which worked out more economical than buying locally! Learning from this and knowing that the prices would continue to rise due to ongoing low supply, we allocated more money this year for our stocks, negotiated a good price and were pleased to have lots of bales heading our way – believing that we had planned well for the winter. Then the extreme weather turned everything upside down – again!

The lack of rain and grass growth has meant that we have had to start using our winter hay stocks months earlier than we would normally expect to – or could have foreseen. As the weeks went on, we realised that we would have to top our stocks again for the colder months but didn’t imagine that we would be in drought for as long as we have, that we would use so much and therefore need to find so much more……

We are therefore back to the beginning – talking to our supplier, negotiating prices, working out the feasibility of transportation as once again the yields have struggled in the weather resulting in increased prices…….it just goes on…..

So reluctantly, we are asking you for your help. We know that times are tough for everyone at the moment, but sadly, we really need to ask for any contribution to the additional cost of buying bales again this year. We would be immensely grateful for anything you can give towards our hay bill. Your generosity will literally be putting food directly in the mouths of our horses – your kindness will input into their care and keep them well.

Thank you.