MEET OUR HORSES

01/11/2021

Fantasma

10/06/2022

Devante

27/06/2023

Birdie

04/03/2024

Valentina

24/06/2024

Ed Sheeran Aka Sheerio

11/09/2024

Echeydes

11/09/2024

Liberty

06/01/2021

Bounty

09/10/2020

Bruno

16/02/2020

Nella

11/02/2020

Shanty

11/02/2020

Trufa Dax

10/02/2020

Galan

10/02/2020

Capri

10/02/2020

Geronimo

08/02/2020

Whiteboy

Horse Welfare in tenerife

The welfare of all our horses really matters to us. We want them to be as fit, happy and healthy as possible.
Especially after some of the hardships they endured before arriving at the Sanctuary.

Over the years we have all learned a lot about the care of our animals.
And in many cases just using common sense or horse sense.

We have found that It is very common for horses to be kept in all different
situations here on the island. Often inside a room/ stable/ space made of
metal bed frames for 24 hours a day only taken out to go riding. Of course
sometimes this comes with the mistreated cases, knee deep in their own
waste with no food or water. But sometimes this is also the case for the
« well » looked after horses, having food, water and general care but being
kept inside alone. Often the only horse on the property. Sadly, it can all be
due to ignorance and genuinely not knowing any better regarding the
welfare of horses.

This island is fairly small with limited access to land. And the land is generally rock and very uneven making it almost impossible for big open paddocks allowing free movement for horses. Here at our finca we keep all of our horses in mini herds of between 3 and 6 and they live out 100% of the time. We currently have 5 different paddocks of various sizes allowing as much movement as possible. But we would love to expand and buy neighbouring land for more and bigger paddocks. Although the size of our paddocks are very large compared to the norm here. They are still in our opinion too small to allow complete freedom for optimum health and well being. To keep all of our horses appropriately exercised and stimulated, we have volunteers who work with them daily. This includes a variety of different ways from in hand walking, free schooling to some riding.

THE FIVE FREEDOMS

  • Freedom from fear and distress abandoned animals. Those subject to dog
    attacks, low flying aircraft or similar or
    those suffering from any of the above.
  • Freedom to express (most)
    normal behaviour 
    the animal is tethered incorrectly
    and/or does not have sufficient
    space or proper facilities and living
    conditions. Further information on
    tethering can be found here.
  • Freedom from hunger
    or thirst
    the animal has little or no access to
    fresh water and/or food.
  • Freedom from pain, injury or disease the animal clearly shows disease, an
    untreated injury or perhaps severely
    overgrown hooves.
  • Freedom from discomfort the animal does not have somewhere to
    lie down or gain shelter. Or is exposed
    to extreme weather conditions.

Articles ABOUT HORSE WELFARE

01/11/2021

Fantasma

We named this one-eyed beauty rescue horse Fantasma (Spanish for ghost) due to her striking look and Halloween rescue. However, she is far from scary In […]
20/10/2021

How to volunteer with horses

This weeks blog is written by a current live in volunteer, Allana 24 from Edinburgh.  All about her experience on how to be a horse volunteer […]
05/07/2021

How to feed horses

This week’s “how to with Lola” is about how to feed a horse in the best way. The correct feeding of our horses is essential for […]

YOU CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE !