Horseytalk.net Special Interview
Anne Howard
Rescue horses make it to Burghley thanks to dedicated rehomer
A team of World Horse Welfare rescue horses made it into the main ring at Burghley Horse Trials much to a dedicated rehomer's delight.
Anne Howard has been the rehomer of World Horse Welfare Lanesfield Lyrical (Lyric), on behalf of her 14-year-old daughter, Olivia Howard, for eight years and wanted to show others just how much potential rescue horses have.
She says: "My daughter loves Lyric to bits and wants to take him to the biggest shows on the planet and I want to spread the word about how wonderful rescue horses can be. My original idea was to put together a team of World Horse Welfare horses to enter a competition at the Royal Norfolk Show but when the catalogue came out for 2014 they had pulled the class we'd planned on entering. I couldn't think of anywhere else to take our boy whilst showing off the potential of World Horse Welfare's rehomed horses – Suffolk didn't seem to run a class like that, we were too late for Badminton, but then I realised we were drawing closer to Burghley Horse Trials.
"I wrote a begging letter to the Director of Landrover Burghley Horse Trials asking for five or ten minutes of ring time on the last day of the trials for the World Horse Welfare display team that I had got together and to my immense surprise, they said yes. In fact they loved the idea!"
The team in the ring consisted of two grooms from World Horse Welfare's Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Norfolk, Hall Farm, with their own rehomed horses: Amy Gedge with World Horse Welfare Sinbad and Briony Gilks with World Horse Welfare Norfolk Swing. Events Manager, Jan Willis, at Yarmouth Racecourse came with World Horse Welfare Wilma and Olivia Howard with World Horse Welfare Lanesfield Lyrical.
The horses entered the ring in pairs and trotted and cantered around the inside of the ring whilst the commentator gave an introduction to the World Horse Welfare team. Each individual horse then had its history relayed and some got the chance to give individual displays in one corner of the ring before returning to their partner. The riders then all came to a halt in the centre of the ring to end the display.
It's hard to imagine that these smart horses, who performed so well at this major event, once suffered abuse and neglect.
Sinbad was rescued with his mother in 2003 as a severely underweight yearling and covered in matted faeces – he had even collapsed with exhaustion and for the first 24 hours of his rescue, his life was in the balance. Norfolk Swing (known as Dippy) was taken in as part of a prosecution case against his owner who had breached a ban against keeping equines. His mother was very poorly and she, along with Dippy and some others from the large stud, were rescued. Wilma was rescued in 2008 and was one of 111 horses, ponies and donkeys who were removed alive from the infamous Amersham welfare case; 34 others were found dead. Wilma was emaciated, lice-infested and suffering from strangles and salmonella poisoning. Finally, Lyric was rescued as a very sick youngster and had to be put on a drip when he arrived at the charity's centre.
Now fighting fit after rehabilitation from the largest horse rescue and rehoming charity in Britain, World Horse Welfare, the four survivors made a big impact at Burghley.
Anne explains how the day went: "It went well without a hitch and I think the most popular quote from the day would have to be 'this is a once in a lifetime opportunity' – this was a sentiment that we all echoed. The girls were complimented frequently on their turnout and several people, including our steward, said it was really hard to believe that the four horses in that ring were rescue horses."
What the riders didn't know was that they were also in line to receive special Burghley Rosettes.
Anne says: "Several Committee members came into the ring to provide the team with rosettes. I had kept the rosettes as a total surprise for the team - they all thought they were just lining up in the middle of the ring in halt and then leaving the ring. The girls were hugely excited and it was an enormous privilege and the four horses who took part are four great horses that are all out competing and doing a lot. They all really earned the right to be there."
The horses then made their way up to the cross country course where they all entered for the Burghley Sponsored Ride – one of the benefiting charities being World Horse Welfare.
Anne ends with: "This event offered me the chance to really show off the variety of horses that you can rehome – shown in the real diversity of horses that we took from the charity to Burghley - a Thoroughbred, a hunter, a very smart cob and a Welsh Section B. They are all smart, eye catching and out doing a lot across all disciplines which quashes the perception that rescue horses are second rate."