Merrivale Pony Drift

Our Welfare Staff monitored the annual Merrivale pony drift, Our Welfare Officer watched as the ponies were drifted off the moor and our Welfare Assistant watched as the ponies were sorted and moved.

Our Welfare Officer did speak to a few people in regards to driving their quads to close to young foals, we noticed at least three foals under the age of 4 months.

Our Welfare Assistant watched the ponies being sorted into owners groups and moved on, two groups were drifted back to the owners farms. One group was herded by horseback riders, quads and motor cross bikes. The other group by men on quads, one man fell from his quad trying to stop a mare and foal who had broken away from the group, this same man then threw his stick at the mare and foal!! We assume in an attempt to move them along, this behaviour is totally unacceptable and this man should have known better.

After the second group of ponies were moved on everyone left leaving 32 ponies in the pound with no access to water. Our Welfare Assistant spoke to the landlord of the local pub to see if he knew when the ponies would be picked up, he assured her that it would be later on that evening. She waited to see if this did indeed happen, whilst waiting she checked the ponies over and could see the majority of the belonged to a very responsible owner. Within the hour the owner arrived and their ponies were drifted back onto the moor. The remaining eight were very quietly and calmly loaded onto a lorry and taken away.

Collection of Four Abandoned Ponies From Cornwall

Tuesday 26th September was a very busy day for The Welfare Team, as well as collecting the frightened little foal from Bolventor we also collected four privately owned ponies who had been abandoned in a field in Cornwall. We had managed to track the owner down who signed them over to our care. They are now safe at the rehabilitation yard where they will be cared for and worked on until they are ready to be re homed.

Abandonded Foal Roaming The A30 Near Bolventor

This little foal found itself roaming an extremely busy stretch of the A30 near Bolventor in Cornwall. The police had been called two nights in a row as the foal had caused a number of near miss accidents, one such involved an articulated lorry that jack knifed.

The foal was eventually caught and moved to a near by livery yard and we were contacted by Devon and Cornwall police, who asked us if we could take the foal in. We agreed and collected her the following morning, when we arrived she was very frightened but unharmed. Our Welfare Team calmly loaded her onto the horsebox and took her back to the rehabilitation yard.

She is around two months old and although she is able to eat solids she still needs regular feeds of milk. She has been named Verity and she will now receive all the care, love and attention she needs and deserves.

We have received information that a meat dealer may be responsible for dumping the foal after buying her mother at a near by market the previous weekend. If this is true this person endangered the lives of road users and this foal, if anyone has any information regarding how this young filly came to find herself on this busy stretch of road please do not hesitate to call our welfare Team on 01822 854823/ 07717311251/ 07990823864 or contact the police on 101 quoting log number 631250913.

Peek Hill Pony Drift

Our Welfare Team attended the final stage of the Peek Hill pony drift, the ponies had been drifted into a holding, where a public footpath runs, adjacent to a local farm. Most of the ponies were owned by the land owner who was keen for them to be separated calmly and quietly. The land owners are fantastic pony owners who castrate their colts and run them as geldings on the moor along with the mares.

Two trailer loads of ponies were loaded and removed from the area, our Welfare Team witnessed a handler hitting a pony repeatedly on the head with a stick in a effort to get it off the trailer!! This is unacceptable behaviour, sticks should only be used as an arm extension; they must not be used to strike a pony.

Our Welfare Team spoke to the land owners and it was decided we would depart. We will continue to monitor the drifts.

Hallworthy Market Moorland Pony Sale

Our Welfare Officer attended the first moorland pony sale of the year which was held at Hallworthy Market in Cornwall. Hallworthy Market has good facilities for unloading and loading animals and the pens are a good size, most of which have a constant supply of water and had straw bedding down. Most the ponies were penned accordingly, however a mare and foal were penned next to and opposite three stallions. Our Welfare Officer asked for the mare and foal to be moved away from the stallions, this was done.

The main problem with the Market was that there was not enough staff on duty to drove and move the ponies between the pens and sales ring. Members of the public were doing this, some using unnecessary force to move ponies around. Ponies were hit and poked with sticks, one person rugby tackled a foal to the ground. Our Welfare Officer spoke to the people carrying out these actions asking them to stop, most apologised and claimed that the ponies are used to being handled in such a manner!!

217 ponies went through the sales ring, some were sold to good homes, however over half of the ponies were bought by a Welsh meat dealer. This same dealer bought many of the unsold ponies for minimal amounts after the sale, we are further investigating this individual.

Our Welfare Team will be attending all the moorland pony sales this year, as usual.

Dead Foal on Davidstow Common

We received a call from a lady who had come across a dead foal on Davidstow common, she then forwarded our welfare officer a photo of the body. By the time our welfare officer arrived on the scene the body had been removed.

Pony with Colic on Whitchurch Down

Our welfare staff were out looking for a lame pony near Tavistock golf course when they came across a young pony who was clearly colicing. She was lying on her back with her legs in the air on the slope by the Pimple, a few people were walking towards her as they all thought she was dead. Thankfully our welfare staff got her up and moving, every time she tried to lie down she was ushered up and walked on. The ponies potential owner was called and he came out as soon as he could to assess.

As the owner was outside the area it took a little longer than usual for him to arrive on the scene but our welfare team stayed with her and kept her moving. She passed a few faeces during this time and by the time the owner had arrived she was a lot more comfortable and moving much easier.

We agreed that we would monitor the filly over the next few days.

Exeter Horse Sale

Our welfare team attended Exeter Horse Sale at the livestock centre, 31 horses and ponies went through the ring with less than half selling. There was a good attendance but not many buyers.

Foal with Colic on Kit Hill

Our Welfare Officer received a call in regards to a colicing foal on Kit Hill in Cornwall. She went straight out to investigate and did find the youngster, she got it up and kept it moving. Whilst doing this she contacted the foals owner who assured her they would monitor the foal. Our Welfare Officer stayed with the foal, keeping it moving, until it passed some faeces and was less lethargic.

Our Welfare Officer went out to check on the youngster a few days later and it was fully recovered.

Table Top Sale ay SWEP HQ

SWEP will be holding a table top sale at their offices on Saturday 8th September from 10am until 2pm. We will have a variety of rugs, tack, grooming equipment, riding apparel and stable equipment, all of which has been donated to the charity over the years. We will also have books and bric-a-brac as well as cakes. We have a number of tables that have been hired by some of our supporters who will be selling a vast selection of items. Pet & Pony will be open as usual and will be providing tea and coffee.

Staff members from all departments will be on hand to answer any questions anyone may have about the charity and the work we do, we are really excited about this event and are looking forward to meeting some of our valued supporters.

Our office address is Unit B5, Yelverton Business Park, Crapstone, Devon. PL20 7PE. Our telephone number is 01822 854823, if you need directions please give us a call.

Respone to Devon & Cornwall Police's Conclussion into Death of Dartmoor Foal

South West Equine Protection would like to release a response to Devon and Cornwall Police’s press release on 21/08/2013 regarding to the mutilated foal found on Yennadon Down in July 2013.

SWEP stand by our belief that some of the injuries found on the foal’s body were not inflicted by wild animals, birds or invertebrates as has been concluded by Devon and Cornwall police. SWEP’s welfare team is made up of highly qualified individuals who have extensive knowledge and expertise in feral pony behaviour, moorland ecology, habitat management, taxonomy (mammal, plant and invertebrate), ethobotany, veterinary nursing, biological investigation and experimentation experience. They have dealt with many cases of dead ponies; these ponies have been of various ages and have died of many different causes. These bodies have been in different states of decomposition, some have been noticeably eaten by carrion eating predators.

After extensive evaluation of the scene and body our Welfare Assistant kept coming back to the conclusion that some things did not add up and it looked suspicious. After discussing the findings with her manager it was decided to report it to the police, we stand by this decision and if we are to ever be called out to a similar finding we will again report it to the relevant authorities.

The police came to their conclusion by looking at photographs provided by SWEP and not by any form of autopsy or examination of the foal’s body, no police officer saw the body until it had been moved into a nearby gorse two days after the initial report. We feel that they cannot come to a definitive conclusion by looking at photographs alone. One thing we can agree on is that we will never know how the foal died or whether the injuries occurred whilst the foal was dead or alive. We hope we are never called out to another case such. We would hope in future such matters and handled much more swiftly by the police than was the case in late July. We feel this would put the Police in a better position to come to a definitive answer as to whom or what may have caused the injuries to the foal.

Dunnabridge Newtake Drift and Pony Check

One of our volunteers was passing Dunnabridge and noticed the Newtake ponies had been drifted in and were being sorted. She let our Welfare Assistant know who went out to have a look.

All the ponies were very calm and in excellent condition, they were all checked for microchips and their passports checked. Any pony that did not have a microchip had one fitted, one of which was a young colt foal. The process was done quietly, calmly and professionally by a vet. The foal and his mum were not stressed or worried.

Once all the ponies were checked and everyone was happy they were released back into the Newtake, again quietly and calmly.

Injured Stallion On Minnions

We received an anonymous call informing us there was an injured stallion on Minnions, part of Bodmin moor in Cornwall. Our Welfare Officer went straight out to assess the extent of the stallions injury.

She soon found the stallion, who was around 15.2hh and in very good body condition. She could see the injury to his left knee immediately and had a good look. Our Welfare Officer has veterinary nursing experience and qualifications so she could assess how serious the wound was. She could see that the stallion was walking well and keeping up with his herd, he had many bite wounds down his sides. She could tell the wound on his leg was approximately a week old due to the amount of granulation tissue forming. The knee was swollen but it was not affecting his movement.

Whilst out on Minnions our Welfare Officer spoke to a few walkers who clarified that this stallion has been seen fighting with a chestnut stallion over the past couple of weeks, this would explain this stallions injuries. Our welfare officer spoke to the secretary of the commoners who had also received a call regarding this stallion and was in the process of tracking down the owner as she had been told the injury was serious.

Our Welfare Officer will continue to monitor this stallion and if his leg does not seem to be healing she will take further action.