I have always had a love of horses. They are in my blood. I have spent my life working hard to keep my horses well fed and in good health, and as I earned more money, I took in rescue horses & ponies too. I train horses to ride and drive, and those I could rehabilitate, I trained, so they then had a job and a secure future.

However, after 30 years of non stop commitment, illness and injury have now prevented me from working. I have had unsuccessful surgery and I am living on Morphine and other prescription medication to try and ease the pain. Savings have been exhausted over the last year and I am now struggling to fund the feed my herd of 21 needs.We have looked into becoming a charity, but after weighing up the pro's and con's, we decided that there was too much red tape and that we were better off funding the ponies directly. That way, 100% of our money went to them.

They range from a tiny 30"Falabella to a 17+hh Shire cross.I do not want to entertain selling them as I cannot guarantee where they will end up as horses are being abandoned all the time. Rescue centres and charities are full and I know I can give them a fantastic life. I have the knowledge, the premises and all the love in the world, I just now need some extra funds.

SJ the Falabella pictured in his rug

I am a veterinary pharmacist and I have an Equine science degree so I am very competent at keeping horses fit and well. 100% of the money raised will go to feeding the rescue horses and ponies. Purchasing hay is our biggest outlay.If we exceed our target, the extra money will be used for hay too, but a small proportion will be used to pay for wormers, farrier visits and to pay a groom to assist me with the day to day tasks, as I am limited due to my disability.The mind and heart are willing but my body is weak.

Any money raised will be a great help. We use a big bale of hay a day. That's 10-12 small conventional bales daily, so we go through a lot! At between £3 to £5 a small bale, it costs us quite a bit. This is something I have been happy to do. I don't have children as these ARE my babies.My love of them means I am happy to work to provide for them.It is my physical disability that is preventing me from carrying on earning at present. My partner works and he covers the cost of our own horses, but I need to do my bit to ensure we have enough hay for the rescues too.

Hopefully my situation will improve, both medically and financially, however, for now, thank you for reading and thank you on behalf of all my equine beauties.xx