A few years ago, a lady decided to go to Siberia with a view to bringing back some horses from which she would breed "Endurance" horses from.
She travelled there & literally selected the wild horses from the hillside which her Cossak guides then caught & "broke" ready for her & party to RIDE back to England - Yes Siberia to Endland !!!
The story was followed by the Express newspaper, and to cut a long story short her party ran into difficulties in Poland & her Husband back in the UK had to raise a substantial sum to send a rescue party of "SAS" types to get them home - which they did.
Unfortunately this nearly bankrupted him & when his wife got home she divorced him taking the one stallion she had brought & leaving him with the mares & foals. One of the mares was "in foal" too.
Not being in a position to keep these Russian horses & not really wanting them to be used as breeding machines the husband set about trying to find someone who would look after them all, keeping them together as a family unit & who was not looking to profit from them through breeding etc
As there are too many Horses for one web page - the Horse you selected is featured on this 2nd Page !
Please click on him or her again below to go straight to the story & pictures
Masha was in foal during her journey to England and her baby Ashibka (russian for "Mistake") was born on arrival.
Before I had been contacted to see if I would be able to take them she was "in foal" again & baby Arabesque was born at the Sanctuary a few months after Masha arrived.
Masha
Arabesque in the background - Poppy & Gwilliam at the front - who aren't Russian - but have a few words !!
Ashibka enjoying some hay
Here is Kolyada or Kollywobblesada as she prefers to be known !
Flossie
Flossie was being kept at a yard where I was keeping a few of the horses before I moved to Tower Hill Stables. When I first saw her I was very upset as she was so thin & her ribs & hind quarters were really pronounced. After some negotiation with the owner I managed to acquire her & set about the task of building her up.
Flossie is a Shire cross & is now an absolute "tank" of a mare ! - She enjoys cantering about with her friends. I regret not having any photos of when I first saw her as they would have made excellent before & after pictures
Here she is in the School in July 2004. As you can see she's no lightweight now !
Peanut
Peanut's mother died soon after she was born & I was asked whether I would be interested in taking her as the owners didn't have the time or inclination to attempt to hand rear her.
I have hand reared Cows, Pigs & Doves before so was confident that I would be able to cope with Peanut. She is about 18 months old now & has done very well
Charity
Charity came to live at the Sanctuary a few years ago. She is about 28 years old and likes to spend her time with Dolly & Skipio, two of the other elderly residents.
Although she is fairly old, she is very headstrong & does what she wants to do, when she wants to do it !
Dream
Dream was another of the horses I encountered before I moved to Tower Hill Stables and she was being kept at a livery yard where I was keeping a few of my rescues at the time. Her mother had only recently given birth to her & was unbroken. The owners were in the process of breaking her in the hard way (tacked up & shoved in a stable with the doors & windows closed whilst she went mad trying to get the alien thing off her back) whilst little Dream went mad in the paddock. One of my geldings Max took a shine to the little foal & looked after her when her mother had been sold of as a "polo pony" (would you believe?).
Again after some negotiations I managed to acquire Dream and she has lived with Max now for about 9 years.
Bunny Babe
Bunny has been at the Sanctuary for about a year. He has a lameness problem with his hind legs which meant that he could not be used for hacking.
He has a very sweet nature & enjoys his food. Sometimes I wonder whether he really does have a lameness problem when he goes bombing about his paddock, but whenever I challenge him he produces the vets note that explains it all - mind you it is in crayon...
Pegasus
I was given Pegasus to look after back in 1997. He is a lovely horse but had been proving very difficult for his previous owners to handle. They wanted him to have a home where he would be happy and would not have to be ridden - well the're aren't many of those about !
Pegasus has settled down now with the others at the Sanctuary and although I suspect that he could be re-trained & used as a hack it is not something I (& I believe he) want to do as he is very content to be with his friends here & eat more than his share of food !
