Post by Lorraine L on Nov 9, 2009 21:35:22 GMT 1
Following the beautiful message from Bernadette asking for IH to consider their charity, we are pleased to announce that the IH Charity of the Year will be " Shy Lowen "
Bernadette was one of the first posters on the original IH DG many many years ago so its lovely to know that on the 10th Anniversary of starting the sanctuary, IH has made them their chosen charity.
Here are some details of their wonderful work.
The History
Shy Lowen Horse and Pony Sanctuary has been in operation since 9th November 1999 and became a registered charity on 20th February 2008.
Charity number is 1122891
The sanctuary address is: Buckley Hill Lane, Thornton, Liverpool L29 1YB
The correspondence address is: 18 Back Lane, Thornton, Liverpool L29 7WD
Firstly, why Shy Lowen? Shy Lowen means ‘Home of Happiness’ in Old English.
The sanctuary site is leased from Sefton Council and was a former illegal dump. We were granted a lease on condition that we cleared the 800 tons of builders rubble which had been dumped on the land. The land is 8.5 acres in size and is heavy clay. it is the first field on the edge of the greenbelt and is skirted on three sides by council housing estates where many of our young volunteers live. We've had difficult times recently and lost equipment including a new horse trailer to attacks made by a local 'gentleman' who was trying to claim our leased land as his own. After some excellent work from Merseyside Police this person is now in prison.
The sanctuary was started because there is very little support in the North West of England for horses who are in need due to abuse, neglect or being unwanted. We follow the kindest and most compassionate training and rehabilitation methods possible, many of which have been pioneered by Monty Roberts – an American Horse Whisperer. Monty has been involved with horses for over sixty years and taught himself horse language or ‘Equus’ through observation of wild and domestic horses. This language is not verbal and he successfully uses this body language to bond and communicate with horses. His motto is that:
"A good horseman can hear his horse speak;
A great horseman can hear his horse whisper.
Most horsemen can’t hear their horse scream."
The trustees and volunteers at the sanctuary are all familiar with these methods and endeavour to improve at them until we can 'hear' our horses whisper.
The sanctuary objectives as registered with Charity Commission
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC TO RELIEVE THE SUFFERING OF ANIMALS (IN PARTICULAR EQUINES) IN NEED OF CARE AND ATTENTION AND TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN RESCUE HOMES OR OTHER FACILITIES FOR THE RECEPTION, CARE AND TREATMENT OF SUCH ANIMALS.
TO PROMOTE HUMANE BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS ANIMALS BY PROVIDING APPROPRIATE CARE, PROTECTION, TREATMENT AND SECURITY FOR ANIMALS WHICH ARE IN NEED OF CARE AND ATTENTION BY REASON OF SICKNESS, MALTREATMENT, POOR CIRCUMSTANCES OR ILL USAGE
TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC IN MATTERS PERTAINING TO ANIMAL WELFARE IN GENERAL AND EQUINES IN PARTICULAR AND THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY AND SUFFERING AMONG ANIMALS.
The mission of Shy Lowen is to rescue, rehabilitate and re-home (where possible) any equine in need; and to provide a safe haven for all those that are not re-homeable. We operate sponsorship and adoption (loan) schemes.
Sponsorship is available for the permanent residents of the sanctuary, the horses that cannot be re-homed for health reasons or because of old age. The oldest resident currently is Mystic Moose aged 31, he is an ex racehorse who ran his last race as a 10 year old in February 1988.
Adoption is available for the healthy, rehabilitated horses who go out on loan to new keepers as pets, companions or riding/driving horses.
When we find a suitable home for a horse, he or she is adopted on a permanent loan basis, so the horse still belongs to Shy Lowen, but responsibility for the horse is transferred to the new keeper. We do this to ensure that the horse is never neglected or abused again, as we retain the right to reclaim the horse if necessary.
We have just completed a new Education Centre as part of a major site redevelopment to be used by visitors to the sanctuary. The content is all based on the Intelligent Horsemanship concepts and the library has all of Kelly Marks and Monty Roberts books as well as Monty Roberts dvd collection which can be watched on site.
We have a team of young volunteers aged from 11 years old who have their own committee - they call this Care Committee. Care Committee is involved in the running of and the future planning of the sanctuary.
Bernadette was one of the first posters on the original IH DG many many years ago so its lovely to know that on the 10th Anniversary of starting the sanctuary, IH has made them their chosen charity.
Here are some details of their wonderful work.
The History
Shy Lowen Horse and Pony Sanctuary has been in operation since 9th November 1999 and became a registered charity on 20th February 2008.
Charity number is 1122891
The sanctuary address is: Buckley Hill Lane, Thornton, Liverpool L29 1YB
The correspondence address is: 18 Back Lane, Thornton, Liverpool L29 7WD
Firstly, why Shy Lowen? Shy Lowen means ‘Home of Happiness’ in Old English.
The sanctuary site is leased from Sefton Council and was a former illegal dump. We were granted a lease on condition that we cleared the 800 tons of builders rubble which had been dumped on the land. The land is 8.5 acres in size and is heavy clay. it is the first field on the edge of the greenbelt and is skirted on three sides by council housing estates where many of our young volunteers live. We've had difficult times recently and lost equipment including a new horse trailer to attacks made by a local 'gentleman' who was trying to claim our leased land as his own. After some excellent work from Merseyside Police this person is now in prison.
The sanctuary was started because there is very little support in the North West of England for horses who are in need due to abuse, neglect or being unwanted. We follow the kindest and most compassionate training and rehabilitation methods possible, many of which have been pioneered by Monty Roberts – an American Horse Whisperer. Monty has been involved with horses for over sixty years and taught himself horse language or ‘Equus’ through observation of wild and domestic horses. This language is not verbal and he successfully uses this body language to bond and communicate with horses. His motto is that:
"A good horseman can hear his horse speak;
A great horseman can hear his horse whisper.
Most horsemen can’t hear their horse scream."
The trustees and volunteers at the sanctuary are all familiar with these methods and endeavour to improve at them until we can 'hear' our horses whisper.
The sanctuary objectives as registered with Charity Commission
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC TO RELIEVE THE SUFFERING OF ANIMALS (IN PARTICULAR EQUINES) IN NEED OF CARE AND ATTENTION AND TO PROVIDE AND MAINTAIN RESCUE HOMES OR OTHER FACILITIES FOR THE RECEPTION, CARE AND TREATMENT OF SUCH ANIMALS.
TO PROMOTE HUMANE BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS ANIMALS BY PROVIDING APPROPRIATE CARE, PROTECTION, TREATMENT AND SECURITY FOR ANIMALS WHICH ARE IN NEED OF CARE AND ATTENTION BY REASON OF SICKNESS, MALTREATMENT, POOR CIRCUMSTANCES OR ILL USAGE
TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC IN MATTERS PERTAINING TO ANIMAL WELFARE IN GENERAL AND EQUINES IN PARTICULAR AND THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY AND SUFFERING AMONG ANIMALS.
The mission of Shy Lowen is to rescue, rehabilitate and re-home (where possible) any equine in need; and to provide a safe haven for all those that are not re-homeable. We operate sponsorship and adoption (loan) schemes.
Sponsorship is available for the permanent residents of the sanctuary, the horses that cannot be re-homed for health reasons or because of old age. The oldest resident currently is Mystic Moose aged 31, he is an ex racehorse who ran his last race as a 10 year old in February 1988.
Adoption is available for the healthy, rehabilitated horses who go out on loan to new keepers as pets, companions or riding/driving horses.
When we find a suitable home for a horse, he or she is adopted on a permanent loan basis, so the horse still belongs to Shy Lowen, but responsibility for the horse is transferred to the new keeper. We do this to ensure that the horse is never neglected or abused again, as we retain the right to reclaim the horse if necessary.
We have just completed a new Education Centre as part of a major site redevelopment to be used by visitors to the sanctuary. The content is all based on the Intelligent Horsemanship concepts and the library has all of Kelly Marks and Monty Roberts books as well as Monty Roberts dvd collection which can be watched on site.
We have a team of young volunteers aged from 11 years old who have their own committee - they call this Care Committee. Care Committee is involved in the running of and the future planning of the sanctuary.