Cranbourne Farm Dressage

26/10/2024

😱 The dreaded… “Restricted turnout” 😱

🤔 I get it, I do. Honestly…

I get the mud…
I get the damage…
I get the cost of repair…

💪🏻 But there has to be a better way? For our horses sake….

😇 Ive been working with and developing a particular horse all summer. She’s come on leaps and bounds and has really taken to her training like a duck to water. She had become the most attentive, sweet, calm young horse…

😳 BUT, today, she was distracted, tense, reactive, spooky, tight and ABSOLUTELY wired!

❓So what changed?

🤦🏻‍♀️ Well, her turnout has been restricted to Approx 3/4hours per day!

😩 That’s 20+hours a day spent locked in solitary confinement, sorry I mean her warm, comfy stable.

🤔 Now, let’s put it another way…

😔 In this day and age, if people went to a zoo and saw row upon row of caged animals and were told that those animals were only allowed access to their outdoor spaces for 3/4 hours per day there would be uproar!

❓So why is this such normal practise in the horse world?

❓Why, in this day and age and with our love of horses, aren’t we doing things differently.

🥰 There are better alternatives but they are unfortunately few and far between. Our job as horse advocates and consumers is to push for changes. And if possible, to avoid or demand better from these yards who excessively restrict turnout and drive our horses mad.

🤪 Apologies for the Wednesday rant! Hx

(Photo from google images)

17/10/2024

A SAD DAY IN CONSERVATION!!

Very sad news from Kenya today. Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua passed away this morning. It’s truly a heartbreaking day for the animals he provided water to during the dry seasons, using his iconic blue truck.

He was a leader in his community, always helping and educating people on how to care for animals.

Rest in peace, Patrick. You will be missed.

06/10/2024

Need another groom to join the team at Cranbourne .. live in or out ..

22/09/2024

22/09/2024

Today Alopex wants to take a moment, to honor the foxes who cannot be saved. While we have helped hundreds of fur farm foxes find their way to freedom, and will continue to help more, we cannot save them all. Millions of other foxes and mink are still faced with the horrors of life on a fur farm. As long as there are people buying fur, this suffering will persist.

Did you know there are at least 150 active furfarms in the United States, yet many people don’t even know furfarms still exist?

Mink and foxes are two of the most common species raised and killed on fur farms. There is estimated to be around 100 mink farms, and 25-50 fox farms still confirmed active in the USA.

The North American Fur Auction, which is the largest auction house in North America, “currently sells over ten million ranch-raised mink pelts annually.” The fur pelts come from North American and European fur farms.

The U.S. is the fifth largest mink farming country in the world. Of all the fur farms in the U.S., most of them are mink farms and they can be found in at least 23 states. Between three to four million minks are killed in the U.S. each year, with Wisconsin being the top “producing” state followed by Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Minnesota. Compared to mink, the U.S. has a smaller number of farms raising foxes, but even one is to many.

We have shut down one of the largest fur farms in the United States, but the fight isn’t over. 200 of those foxes are still sitting in furfarm cages, safe from death, but still desperate for their freedom.

We are begging everyone to contribute today, so we can continue our mission of freedom, so that these 200 foxes can come home.

🔆 SaveAFox is a 501(c)(3) non-profit domestic fox sanctuary. All donations are tax deductible. EIN 82-3454531

🔅shop our website or donate:
https://www.saveafox.org/donate

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https://www.saveafox.org/fox-sponsor-agreement

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https://gofund.me/372cbb6d

🔆 We are completely dependent on the public for donations to do what we do here! If you cannot donate, please interact! Leave comments, like, and share our posts!

22/09/2024

08/09/2024

Need to buy a field shelter..anyone selling one..?

24/07/2024

Dear Charlotte,

While the rest of the world is condemning you, I am going to stand with you. I have to, because if the horse gods were judging us, you and I have both been charged with crimes.

The difference between you and me is that I was the only one to witness and be horrified by what I did to horses, whilst you have the world condemning you.

Also, I was a “no-one” and you are a “someone”.

I made a horse’s mouth bleed trying to do flying changes. The foam around his mouth turned bright orange. It took me a moment to work out what had happened and then it hit me like a tidal wave. I did not see anything I did up until that point as being abusive or cruel to a horse and I needed to see blood to recognise it.

Overt signs of abuse are all I could detect back then. I would have recognised your actions in the video as abuse too. You see, damaged bleeding mouths and purposeless hitting a horse with whips are easy actions to recognise as terrible things to do to a horse. So you and I are both guilty of perpetrating terrible things to horses and many people will be able to stand there knowing they are innocent.

But here's the thing. For me, the horror of seeing the blood was just the tip of the iceberg. That moment when my world was rocked and I came face to face with evidence of my own cruelty, I started to see and recognise what I had been blind to. Whilst I could see the crescendo of my ignorance - the blood from a mouth that had been pulled on too many times - I had been blind to the torture I had inflicted on the horse that had set the stage for the horror. Training and riding of a horse that was missing the horse’s understanding and confidence.

It is from recognising I was guilty of the worst thing my heart could ever imagine, that created who I am today. It is the fuel that drives me. From that moment, I have worked a lot of stuff out and helped many people who were doing the same things wrong that I was. Being cruel to horses without awareness.

I wonder what will happen to you now. I wonder if you too will have the opportunity to transform like me? I look at the scenario in that terrible video of you, and you were missing something in your understanding of what that horse in that footage needed to understand better, be more proficient at, prior to what you were trying to force it to do. What basic response needed refinement? What did that rider need more time creating and nurturing within that horse? What social pressure were you under to get that horse to perform? There is so much I hope you get the opportunity to work out and find the answers for.

I hope, like me, you get the opportunity to use this awful happening for good. I truly do. I hope you are allowed to do that. I hope you can make an impact on stopping this situation from occurring because you have worked out why it happened. I hope you understand it deeply and do all you can to speak up.

I also hope that every equestrian condemning you could see their own crimes they just can’t see or refuse to recognise. We are all doing them.

It is a reckoning for you but I hope it is for everyone.

Shelley

12/07/2024

I'll repeat this message until the day I die...

(With Shire horses, you are dealing with a one ton flight animal.)

26/06/2024

The H&H team sends best wishes to Princess Anne and wishes her a smooth recovery, following news from Buckingham Palace yesterday (Monday 24 June) that she sustained minor injuries and concussion in an incident at her country home on Sunday evening.

16/06/2024

🤣

12/06/2024

12/06/2024

Still availability for school hire this weekend ! One horse/rider is £20.00 per hour .. each additional horse £ £5.00 .. pm to book or text 07721519849

11/06/2024

A few Spare stables !!
Please come and have a look or pm me
🙂

09/06/2024

Ah yes .. I always do this .. 🤣

03/06/2024

So very very sad

I love you so, so much.

This is my favorite photo of my beautiful wife. It’s from our wedding day in 2021 and it was the best day ever. People will talk about G's smile, and it was incredible—it would make you feel like you were the center of the universe. But what I love about this photo is how it captures her strength. She was a strong, beautiful, phenomenal woman who just loved everything and everyone.

Working in the equestrian world is not an easy life; there are a lot of knocks and dark days. But G would navigate this by throwing so much joy and love at every situation. She would get as much joy from having a Greggs tea on the way home from the gallops as she would teaching a client in the pouring rain or jumping and galloping around biggest courses in the world. It was just incredible to be at your side and feel this energy.

I’m so proud to be your husband.

Rest in peace, my beautiful girl.

I don’t want this to sound like a thank you speech, but there are some people that I’d like to acknowledge and thank. The team at Bicton, who were beyond words in their care for Debbie, Diana, and me in the immediate aftermath; Tim, Jonelle, and their beautiful kids for getting me through the first 24 hours; and the Wolf Pack for being there ever since. There have been so many incredible messages of support, and I’m sorry for not getting back to more of you, but please know that they have been read and are so appreciated.

Seeing the purple and white ribbons has been amazing. But on an even more basic level, when you’re out competing this weekend, please just smile at each other, don’t feel awkward about laughing, and above all, try and love everything and everyone.

💜🤍🕊️

29/05/2024

We didn’t sleep much last night, and we suspect many others shared that experience. When we did sleep, we woke with heavy hearts, realising the immense loss we are all facing.

It feels too soon to write this. Everything is too soon, and losing Georgie is just too soon.

We didn't want to leave her as a statement. Georgie wasn’t a statement; she made a statement. Georgie was formidable, and not just in terms of her talent, which was evident to all.

As a person, she would light up a room with her smile. She was charismatic, charming, warm, and sincere. She made time for you and loved so many. Georgie soared to great heights and achieved so much in her life; she truly made her mark.

Eventing is a vast family. It's made up of athletes, partners, parents, supporters, grooms, officials, volunteers, media, veterinarians, medics, sponsors; it encompasses thousands of us. But it’s a close-knit, special family to belong to.

Georgie, we mourn your loss and grieve for your family and friends. We will smile when we think of you, celebrate your life, and cherish the memories you left us. You will never be forgotten, and your star will always shine brightly.

🤍💜

09/05/2024