Rescued horses ready for new homes six months after strangles outbreak

World Horse Welfare’s Norfolk centre has restarted its rehoming scheme after a strangles outbreak resulted in a six-month pause.

A horse rescued from being smuggled out of the country tested positive for the disease on arrival at World Horse Welfare’s Hall Farm Rescue and Rehoming Centre in February. Despite the charity’s strict protocols, it spread to others on the farm.

The outbreak has been controlled and the centre is seeking to rehome a number of horses and ponies, as it is at “maximum capacity”. The farm remains closed to visitors at the moment.

“Due to the nature of our work, unfortunately we do sometimes see horses coming into our care with strangles,” said Hall Farm centre manager Sue Hodgkins.

The initial case was one of the “trafficked 20” – a group of horses found on an unsuitable lorry that was intercepted in Dover at the end of last year.

“We took swift and robust action to manage the situation and have worked with our vets every step of the way,” said Ms Hodgkins.

“With the outbreak well and truly under control, we’re delighted to be able to start finding new homes for our horses again.

“Hall Farm is currently at maximum capacity, so we can’t take in any more equines in need of our expert care until we make space by finding some of our horses and ponies loving homes of their own. I’d urge anyone looking for a horse to consider rehoming – by doing so, you’re not only offering that horse or pony a second chance in life but also making space for another one in need to come into our care.”

She added: “It’s been a really tough time for the team but our supporters have been amazing – we’d like to say a huge thank you for their support and understanding about not being able to visit during the outbreak.

“All being well, we’re hoping to be open to visitors again for the school summer holidays – anyone wanting an update can keep an eye on our news pages or our social media.”

World Horse Welfare’s director of UK Malcolm Morley said: “Taking in horses that need rehabilitating and rehoming those that are ready are such key aspects of our work that it’s had a huge impact not being able to do either of those things during the strangles outbreak.

“With our horses being very carefully managed, and separate teams caring for horses with different infection statuses, our paddocks have been designated as red, amber or green zones. As more and more of our horses have reached green zone status, meaning they’ve tested clear of strangles and been vaccinated, we’ve been able to restart our rehoming scheme.

“Every horse and pony now available for rehoming at Hall Farm has been screened using the gold standard test (guttural pouch lavage), completed a two-dose strangles booster vaccination course and spent a quarantine period in a green-zone paddock.”

Hall Farm’s rehoming coordinator Gemma Hamshaw said the centre has eight equines currently on the rehoming scheme; including six non-ridden companions and two ponies who may be able to be worked in future.

“Crumble and Petal, both aged two, have the potential to make brilliant children’s ponies when old enough,” she said. “The others range in age from five-year-old Captain Tom to 22-year-old Dolly, who will make a wonderful companion to another pony who needs to watch their waistline. We’d love to hear from anyone who thinks they could offer one of our horses and ponies the perfect home.”

For more information on the horses and ponies on the rehoming programme, visit: https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/rehome/

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