kathantoinette
Well-Known Member
Absolutely this.
Dangerous charity
- Thread starter 140947
- Start date
Trouper
Well-Known Member
I don't think it will end well for the pony or you if you send him back. He will be passed on, the "charity" will make even more money out of him and you will be out of pocket on transport costs and never have any peace of mind as to what is happening to him. For both of you I would spend that money on having him put to sleep. I also would not even bother telling them.
Jayzee
Well-Known Member
Jasminps - Really sorry to hear this. I horse I was riding for a bit was sent to this place and sadly was also 'sold' on and while he very sweet he was lame. A real shame as I hope this information was disclosed but I think unlikely. Good luck in finding about your mare.
OP sorry I can't help but really feel for you
OP sorry I can't help but really feel for you
TheresaW
Well-Known Member
Whilst I agree with this, there are some of us that can/will take on one of these as a companion.
Griffin
Well-Known Member
I think if the passport and microchip are in your name, I would also be tempted to loan him as a companion. Particularly if he is fine as long as he is not ridden.
I would also have a vet work up on him. If he is unable to be ridden due to injury and you have him insured, perhaps you could claim loss of use?
I would also have a vet work up on him. If he is unable to be ridden due to injury and you have him insured, perhaps you could claim loss of use?
Valentino1999
New User
I know this ‘charity’, I would call it a charity in the loosest possible terms! Unfortunately the OP isn’t the first person to have been placed in this position by her and I doubt will be the last!
The horses in her care are kept in the most basic conditions with minimal care! She unfortunately sees herself as the next Kelly Marks! She doesn’t employ any staff and is reliant on a very small group volunteers to carry out the care.
She has in the past SOLD horses that have been placed in the charity’s care. For anyone whose circumstance change and are considering a rescue for their horse, I would strongly advise against here
The horses in her care are kept in the most basic conditions with minimal care! She unfortunately sees herself as the next Kelly Marks! She doesn’t employ any staff and is reliant on a very small group volunteers to carry out the care.
She has in the past SOLD horses that have been placed in the charity’s care. For anyone whose circumstance change and are considering a rescue for their horse, I would strongly advise against here
Valentino1999
New User
It’s not a company, it’s a charity! Although they’ve not submitted accounts yet again, they are still registered with the charity commission! I wish anyone luck trying to get money out of her!
Horsielady
New User
This charity is under Scrutiny at the moment. If you go to Facebook and join neglected horses of Ashford you will see a large section on there about the care and state of the horses how she Exploits people to paid way over the odds and wants to build a sand school instead of feeding or rugging the horses. As a charity your horse is to be passported. Microchipped. Carstarted. Before it even leaves the charities holding premises. Also if she brought the pony to you without a passport then she has broke the law on moving horses without a valid passport. The horses are being Traumatised at the centre from which you are buying these horses. If you want to keep your pony as a companion and get another horse you are not Legally breaking the so called contract as you are still keeping the pony. You can take her to court for selling a very dangerous pony and ask for your money back as well to buy a horse that is ok for yourself. Whatever you need to do you will have to do it quick before it gets shut down I wish you all the luck in the world
Yeomans
Well-Known Member
It has kicked off a bit on Kent Equestrian Grapevine about this "charity", have a look
greenfield
New User
It's probably best to contact Free Rein about the horse in question. Free Rein will more than likely take the horse back. At the moment there is an online campaign directed against Free Rein. It's important to understand the reasons behind this:
Setting the Record Straight about Free Rein Horse Rescue
Setting the Record Straight about Free Rein Horse Rescue
maisie06
Well-Known Member
I would have it PTS too, just tell the so called charity it broke it's leg in the filed and had to be done on humane grounds - threaten to bill her for the cost and you'll hear nothing more about it.
[131452]
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This is what I would do:
If the pony was fine as a companion, I would loan him to someone I know as a companion and wouldn't say anything to this charity if they're that bad. I doubt they would do anything about it. If he was unsafe and unhappy as a companion , I would PTS. If the charity is that bad, I would just keep them out of the picture.
Animal welfare comes before everything else.
I'd let them come after me - or should I say , let them try, knowing full well that if they're dodgy , they will do nothing. And even if they tried, they could maybe sue me for the financial losses , which would be about £0.
If the pony was fine as a companion, I would loan him to someone I know as a companion and wouldn't say anything to this charity if they're that bad. I doubt they would do anything about it. If he was unsafe and unhappy as a companion , I would PTS. If the charity is that bad, I would just keep them out of the picture.
Animal welfare comes before everything else.
I'd let them come after me - or should I say , let them try, knowing full well that if they're dodgy , they will do nothing. And even if they tried, they could maybe sue me for the financial losses , which would be about £0.
paddi22
Well-Known Member
I'd take him to the hunt to get PTS and then say I found him dead of colic in field if they ever checked up.
ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
You've had a login since 2007 and this is your first post. Can you tell us what your connection to the organisation is that you have been so motivated to post after 13 years please?
.
greenfield
New User
And a warm welcome to you too! It might seem a bit odd to some people, but not all of us are that fussed about social media. I see people walking around with their noses in their smart phones – I don't own one! So it might seem a bit strange but I really don't have much to do with social media. But it has been brought to my attention that there has been a campaign directed at Free Rein. I live in the area and I'm very concerned about this. There are so many rumours flying about – that I thought I'd post a link to an article that seemed more level-headed than most of what I have read.
Why, what's your connection?
saalsk
Well-Known Member
I have no connection to pro or anti, but having seen pictures, read various posts, and seen many articles, I don't consider your link to be level headed or impartial.
I personally don't care about the politics and infighting, and the he said - she said, I worry about the various animals involved, and that they seem to have become pawns in a debate over who can care less for their animals. Perhaps people who live in the area, and are concerned, can direct their care, concern and interventions into helping the group to do a better job.
I personally don't care about the politics and infighting, and the he said - she said, I worry about the various animals involved, and that they seem to have become pawns in a debate over who can care less for their animals. Perhaps people who live in the area, and are concerned, can direct their care, concern and interventions into helping the group to do a better job.
ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
I don't have one.
This thread is the only information I have about the place, and I believe that the poster was sold a pony with no passport, and that in itself is sufficient for me to believe all the other negative stuff I have since read, because no reputable charity would sell an unpassported horse, it's illegal.
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[131452]
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No reputable charity would sell a horse at all.
Tiddlypom
Carries on creakily
The RSPCA do. The new adoptive home has to pass a strict home check, and then the horse is only loaned out for the first (IIRC) 6 months. After that, as long as both parties are happy to proceed, ownership will change hands.
The horse will have a passport and a worming, farriery and vet history from its time with the charity.
The Fuzzy Furry
Getting old disgracefully
I think you need to edit part of that page, some unwelcome untruths on there, particularly regarding the purchase of the 2 ponies that the 'RSPCA were not interested in' as they were purchased and quickly moved to prevent the RSPCA taking immediate action. FR are not keen on the RSPCA, why?
Nobody's smelling v good in this prolonged sorry saga
Kaylum
Well-Known Member
Yes we hand over ownership after a couple of years, most charities have started to do this. The owners still have full support after ownership has changed hands.
laura_nash
Well-Known Member
This link doesn't seem to address the serious allegations in this thread, namely rehoming equines as rideable projects without disclosing a known history of bolting or rearing and going over, and rehoming equines with no passport.
I have no knowledge of this charity and no idea if these allegations are true, just pointing out that the link is not that relevant to this thread - seems more aimed at repudiating totally different allegations apparently being made on facebook.
equine101
New User
I myself personally live in the area too. I have had a horrendous experience with Free Rein. I originally went and visited there to look at a horse they had up for full loan. When I arrived I immediately noticed about 30 horses all in one herd in a field. Ranging from 16 hand mares to tiny little ponys. The herd would run up and down the field and the little ponys would get stuck in the mud and not be able to keep up. There was round hay bails all put in one place in the field with all the plastic left on. The two horses i tried out were both very lame. Horses were being kicked and bullied in the herd and there was no bedding or hay in the stables for the horses stabled in. I had seen enough for one day and went up the following day to view two other horses which were getting transported to free rein that day. The horses arrived in the horse box and the transport lady asked where they were going. It was only myself and a young girl on the yard who left not long after myself turning up. The girl left and it was just myself and one of the mums there to sort out these two horses arriving. Claire was not on the yard and didn't turn up for 3 hours later. One of the two horses was very nervous and was squirting and squealing when she was scared. Claire was made fully aware of this by the lady who had the horses before. Claire turned up and did not even acknowledge the horses that had arrived. She grabbed some head collars and went to chuck them out in the herd with all the other horses. No strangles tests had been done and they were not isolated from the other horses. The nervous mare was very scared of Claire getting angry at her for squealing and squirting because she was scared and turned and said this horse is no use to us it is going back tomorrow. The horse had been there 3 hours was absolutely petrified and was not given a chance to settle in. The owner of the horses had my number from when they were dropped of and contacted me to say Claire is sending her back. The lady originally put her two horses into rescue as she had to move home to her country last minute and was advised not to sell the horses as due to covid there is a lot of buying and selling going on. So the owner contacted me to advise me of what Claire had messaged her saying her horse could not stay at free rein. Long Story short i bought the Horse of the lady and rehomed it the following day. The other horse was still at the rescue at this point and had been separated from its life long friend. Myself and the owner were sent lots of forums and reviews about free rein and really started to worry about her other horse that was still at the rescue. Nothing had been signed over at this point and Claire was NOT the owner of the horse. Myself and the owner took a visit to see how the other horse was at free rein. We were absolutely disgusted. It was stood in a stable with no water or bedding and dehydrated. It had a sopping wet rug on and we were then told by someone who was there that day that the horse had been in her stable for ages. This is a horse that hates to be stabled, another thing Claire was made aware of. The horse had been badly kicked in the herd and was very lame. We were mortified at how the horse had been treated just 3 days after arriving. We organised a trailer to pick up the horse and take it home to reunite it with its life long friend. We got the horse ready and made the people on the yard aware of what we were doing. One of the girls became aggressive and began to tell us its the owners horse and she was just leasing it. It was getting very heated and the owner was told she is not taking the horse. We had no time to wait for the trailer and walked the horse out of the rescue, onto the main road and up into some random person garden. I knocked on there door and they were very accommodating whilst we waited for the trailer. It took us 7 hours to load this horse. This is a horse that had no bad history being loaded. it was petrified of going back there. The lady who trailered the horse also told us that she had recently rescued another 2 horses from the poor conditions at free rein. If you look into free reins books it will tell you they make no money. now you work this out for me. She has over 100 horses at free rein. Okay not all the horses have a sharer but i have seen LOADS of different sharers up there in the space of 3 days. Sharers are charged 150 per month, plus farrier and vet fees. Alot of the horses also have more than 1 sharer so you please enlighten me to where the money is going and why they cant even afford basics for the horses like a hay holder to make sure the horses aren't eating the plastic. There was a foal there with clumps of mud still in its coat5 days after it arrived with no rug on stood in a stable with no rubber matting or bedding. If you know anything about foals you will know how dangerous this is. I could go on and on about the poor conditions of free rein. Yes there are bad reviews on Facebook about Claire's personal job lifestyle in the adult industry. I believe this is because she turns up to the yard with her daughter in all designer clothes splashing the cash whilst her horses she states to rescue are living in inhabitable conditions. I have personally spoke to people who volunteer at free rein who are also very confused as to where the money is that she earns from the sharers ect and states it is not in the charity account! There is alot more that goes on behind the scenes at free rein and it only when you are a insider that you notice this. We have photo evidence of how our horse was when we rescued it and would advise anyone else with evidence with bad experiences to come forward and bring together the evidence.
Tiddlypom
Carries on creakily
equine101.
Please can you re post the above but with paragraphs. Am not going to attempt to penetrate that lengthy bulk of text without.
Please can you re post the above but with paragraphs. Am not going to attempt to penetrate that lengthy bulk of text without.
equine101
New User
Dont reply then. X
laura_nash
Well-Known Member
Fixed it for you, if true it's a terrible story and would be a shame if no-one reads it due to layout (I certainly struggled).
equine101
New User
Thank you
Kaylum
Well-Known Member
Are they a member of http://www.newc.co.uk/ if so you can ask them to investigate matters further.
Pinkvboots
Well-Known Member
Surely this place needs to be shut down equine 101 I would contact WHW and tell them of your experience, and I would urge anyone else that has had dealings with this place to do the same.
Shysmum
Well-Known Member
Definitely a full vet check, it sounds like the pony is in pain being ridden. I went through a similar thing with a companion shetland I got from a "charity". The poor soul was mentally unstable, very dangerous, uncatchable, and nearly broke my arm trying to pull away from me. I got the charity to take him back, as from photos he seemed to have some quality of life there. It was touch and go whether to PTS but he belonged to this damned charity ? Looking back, I wish I had PTS and let them sue me ( I had the vet out twice). I think he had a brain injury.