New Home for Disney
Disney is the first of the Spindles Farm horses living at The Horse Trust to be found a new home. In May 2010, the Gray family lost their appeal case, which means the charity can finally start looking for a permanent home for some of the horses in its care. When Disney was rescued from Spindles Farm, he was severely underweight and suffering from a salmonella infection. The Horse Trust nurtured Disney back to health and within a year he weighed nearly double his original weight. As Disney has never been ridden before, The Horse Trust needed to find a new owner who would be able to train him from scratch.
Liane Crowther, Welfare and Education Officer at The Horse Trust, said the Horse Rangers Association, a charity which helps young people to learn how to ride and care for horses, is the ideal home for Disney as he is a calm, sociable horse who is good with children.
"We are thrilled that the Horse Rangers Association has been able to offer Disney a new home. I'm sure he will love being pampered by the Rangers!" said Liane. "Disney will be missed by all the staff, volunteers and visitors to the sanctuary - he was a firm favourite amongst visitors because of his cheeky and inquisitive personality."
Theresa Barrett, Stable Manager at the Horse Rangers Association, picked up Disney from The Horse Trust on Friday and said he has settled in well.
"Disney travelled like a dream - given his background I thought he might be nervous about getting on a trailer again, but he was absolutely fine," said Theresa. "We have moved Disney into a paddock with two of our other horses, Sam and Marmalade, and he has made friends with them already."
Horse Ranger Layla Thompson, 14, said she is pleased that the Horse Rangers Association has been able to take in Disney. “After everything Disney has been through, he really deserves to be properly looked after and Horse Rangers will be the perfect home for him," said Layla. "I hope that interacting with all the Rangers will help him to forget about the past and build up trust again.”
Mae Thompson, Layla’s twin sister, added: “I’m really excited that Disney has come to Horse Rangers. He will fit in really well as he’s a good size between our smaller and larger horses. He should have another 20 years ahead of him and will get lots of love and attention here. It’s a second chance for him to have a happy life and he will be able to bring happiness to lots of Rangers too.”
Disney's journey from The Horse Trust to the Horse Rangers Association was filmed by True North Productions for BBC One's Animal 24:7 programme. Disney's story is likely to feature in the series later this year.
About the Horse Rangers Association
The Horse Rangers Association was founded in 1954 and provides young people with an opportunity to achieve personal development and independence in an extraordinary way. The Horse Rangers Association (Hampton Court) Ltd is a registered charity (1098257) that enables its members, both able-bodied and those with special needs, to become involved in horsemanship. As well as developing the skills needed to ride and look after horses, its members learn the importance of teamwork, integrity, loyalty, honour and trust.
In total, the Horse Rangers Association has over 400 members aged eight and above. It receives no government support and it costs over £400,000 a year to run the organisation and care for all its horses and children. All of its officers and instructors are unpaid volunteers. They are CRB checked and trained in health and safety issues and qualified in first aid.
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