The Charity was registered in 1974 and the aim was to rescue horses, ponies & donkeys that were being abused. In April 2004 the Trust was taken over by new trustees whose aims are to Rescue, Rehabilitate and Re-home wherever possible.

Although some residents may be old and some not in the best of health, they are all cared for and loved and can spend their days in a safe environment away from the often harsh and brutal treatment of their former years.

As well as rescuing horses, Hope Pastures hopes to provide an environment where young people can learn directly about caring for horses in a natural setting, this interaction helps educate young people about animal welfare and social responsibility.  Whether by visiting our web site or directly meeting the animals at our sanctuary, we hope to foster an environment where learning and understanding can take place. It is our hope that in doing this, we will help nurture a generation that values the natural world around us and seeks to protect the environment and the animals we share this planet with.

Unfortunately, all the care costs us a great deal of money. We rely solely on public donations. Hope Pastures receives no grant or state aid and can only continue to rescue and care for horses and ponies with help from people like you.  From only £1 a month, you can help us feed and look after these animals by adopting one or more of them, safe in the knowledge that your money is not spent on admin, but goes towards the animals' care. Please take a look at details of our adoption scheme and for other ways you can help.

 Although it is still very much a struggle to make ends meet, the job has been made much easier by the great support we have had from all those people who, like us, want to give these beautiful animals a second chance in life. To all those of you who have been so generous so far we would like to say a big thank you on behalf of all of our residents.

 We have a huge task ahead of us, as we have plans not only to renovate the sanctuary but also expand so we can save more horses who, through no fault of their own, become neglected and abused. Please continue to give us your support in any way you can, and help us put the 'hope' back in Hope Pastures.

Good question!  We believe the answer is more like why not! Anybody who has spent any time with horses knows. These animals that come to us are not here because of anything they or their kind have done, it is because of what WE have done to them.

"With the decline of feudal conflict and with better farming techniques came the need for increased transportation throughout Europe. Stable central governments established a measure of law and order and organized the resources to build and maintain roads. And when the Great Horse was no longer needed to carry the knight in shining armor, demand for his strength came from the farmer and the merchant. The horse then truly filled every niche of the economy: pulling plows, stagecoaches, mail coaches, wagons, heavy carts and light carts and trotting horizontal treadmills that turned the grindstones that made flour from grain. Even the first trains were horse-drawn on their steel tracks.

For 2,500 years until the invention of the internal combustion engine, horses and horse-drawn vehicles were the only effective means to cover large distances, plow the soil, transport merchandise and wage war. The result, from conquest to exploration to moving goods and people, is self-evident. Perhaps humans would have explored and colonized the entire planet without horses to carry them or their provisions, but that seems doubtful. For just one species, the influence of the horse has been immeasurably profound."

The horse has got us where we are today. Isn't it time to take care of this humble animal and not cast it aside like we do with so many things we no longer need?

Help us to help them.

(Thanks to Melinda Maidens   http://mysite.verizon.net/mmaidens for the use of the "text")

Copyright © 2012 Philip Gawthorpe   The Phyllis Harvey Horse and Donkey Trust        Hosting by   http://www.kaleton.com