Equine Bloodbank experiences/contact details, South west

A

Amicus

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 February 2011
Messages
368
Visit site
Hi there,

I am very sadly looking into options for a very solid 14.2 gelding, lovely nature and 100% field sound but unless anything miraculous happens (having a last meeting with the vet) will never be suitable for his rider as would only be suitable for very light consistent work with a light weight rider.
I've read previous threads about horses going to the blood bank and it seems to offer a nice home for the right horse without the fear of them being passed on.

Does anyone have any contact details or experiences of any in the south west/west midlands/wales? I've done a forum search and found that there's one in Oxfordshire but nothing about how they're kept there. The Stirling one sounds like a nice life but are there nice closer ones.

I've also read that horses have to be over 15.2? Do you think this is set in stone or would type be taken into account?

We are also looking into loaning as a companion but we don't want to risk him being passed on and him ending up suffering, so would rather do the right thing by him and have him PTS at home.

Thanks for reading any information very much appreciated.
 
I had a look into it for mine (14.2 in a similar position to yours) but was told she'd need to be 15.2, I think they are quite strict about it from what I was told. The only one I know of is Edinburgh. Sorry I can't be of any more help.
 
Amicus said:
Hi there,

I am very sadly looking into options for a very solid 14.2 gelding, lovely nature and 100% field sound but unless anything miraculous happens (having a last meeting with the vet) will never be suitable for his rider as would only be suitable for very light consistent work with a light weight rider.
I've read previous threads about horses going to the blood bank and it seems to offer a nice home for the right horse without the fear of them being passed on.

Does anyone have any contact details or experiences of any in the south west/west midlands/wales? I've done a forum search and found that there's one in Oxfordshire but nothing about how they're kept there. The Stirling one sounds like a nice life but are there nice closer ones.

I've also read that horses have to be over 15.2? Do you think this is set in stone or would type be taken into account?

We are also looking into loaning as a companion but we don't want to risk him being passed on and him ending up suffering, so would rather do the right thing by him and have him PTS at home.

Thanks for reading any information very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

HI

I know of three that have gone to the blood bank, one was my best friends horse. Sadly she received a dreadful amount of slack on this forum due to saying that she was sending her horse there, and never returned to the forum after.

Yes she said when she sent her horse to the one in Milton Keynes it was a lovely place. The horses are kept in big barns from Oct - April where they live in big herds with ad lib hay. Then in April - Oct they live out in the fields in their same herds. They live as natural life as possible. The horses are happy to come in to give blood which takes about 20mins. They get a small token feed in return!

The horse has to be a certain weight/type i.e middle weight cobby type 15.2hh as the blood volume will be greater than a 14.2hh TB for example. I think your horse woudl be too small by far.

The horse needs to be roughed off ,i.e. shoes removed, rugs removed, hard feed stopped. This must be done over a period of months to aclimitise the horse as necessary. The horse must be a good temperment for handling purposes and able to live pain free without drugs.

The chap is called David and the place is Milton Keynes (or in that area Buckinghamshire). You should speak to him to see if the height is set in stone. The only thing that put me off was that I was told that the horse was sent to slaughter if it was unable to give blood anymore, ie due to accident or illness (presumably). I am not sure if this is correct or not. I personsally would not want this for my horse but maybe having an extra ten years or whatever of a lovely retirement is worth a couple of seconds of anguish in a slaughter house. I think I would offer to give them £100 if they ring me to tell me they don't want my horse anymore so I could arrange for it to be pts by a vet.

To be honest its more of an option for people that have young horses that have the rest of their lives ahead of them and would therefore be a shocking waste to be pts so young although I am sure that older horses go there too.

I will PM you his number.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Don't they also go to slaughter when they reach 15 years ? It's difficult to get information but I haven't heard anything that would make it an option for one of mine.

I do hope you find a solution for your gelding though.
 
Thanks for the replies any information is good to know, he a very drafty sort of 14.2 about 500kg fit weight so may still inquire.

Will also find out about them being sent to slaughter and whether you can agree to pay for them to be PTS instead or returned.


applecart14 said:
HI

I know of three that have gone to the blood bank, one was my best friends horse. Sadly she received a dreadful amount of slack on this forum due to saying that she was sending her horse there, and never returned to the forum after.

Yes she said when she sent her horse to the one in Milton Keynes it was a lovely place. The horses are kept in big barns from Oct - April where they live in big herds with ad lib hay. Then in April - Oct they live out in the fields in their same herds. They live as natural life as possible. The horses are happy to come in to give blood which takes about 20mins. They get a small token feed in return!

The horse has to be a certain weight/type i.e middle weight cobby type 15.2hh as the blood volume will be greater than a 14.2hh TB for example. I think your horse woudl be too small by far.

The horse needs to be roughed off ,i.e. shoes removed, rugs removed, hard feed stopped. This must be done over a period of months to aclimitise the horse as necessary. The horse must be a good temperment for handling purposes and able to live pain free without drugs.

The chap is called David and the place is Milton Keynes (or in that area Buckinghamshire). You should speak to him to see if the height is set in stone. The only thing that put me off was that I was told that the horse was sent to slaughter if it was unable to give blood anymore, ie due to accident or illness (presumably). I am not sure if this is correct or not. I personsally would not want this for my horse but maybe having an extra ten years or whatever of a lovely retirement is worth a couple of seconds of anguish in a slaughter house. I think I would offer to give them £100 if they ring me to tell me they don't want my horse anymore so I could arrange for it to be pts by a vet.

To be honest its more of an option for people that have young horses that have the rest of their lives ahead of them and would therefore be a shocking waste to be pts so young although I am sure that older horses go there too.

I will PM you his number.
Click to expand...

Thanks really useful to know what sort of life they have as he's only nine and unshod, unrugged etc and has had the works with the vet and being utterly sweet and trusting. So apart from his size I think he'd fit in quite well. He was bought as a five year old and we seem to have spent the following years trying to work out whats wrong with him, so although we've finally got a definite diagnosis it hasn't led to a positive outcome.

If you could send me his number that would be great then at least that avenue can be investigated even if it's to conclude that its not suitable for him.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Would he be suitable for the RDA if he is rock steady ?
Click to expand...

This was our first thought but his physio thinks that unless they were able to school him well to hold himself very correctly he'd only be able to carry about nine stone so I'm not sure they'd be interested, I'll contact them though so will see what they think. He also isn't 100% in traffic and might be a bit green generally but will see.
 
If he is a nice natured boy, would it be worth seeing if he could have a career as a therapy horse? AA's comment about the RDA brought this to mind - I used to ride at a place that offered RDA and also hippotherapy, which is non-riding. I haven't a clue about the ins and outs of it other than that though, I'm afraid.
 
FubsyMog said:
If he is a nice natured boy, would it be worth seeing if he could have a career as a therapy horse? AA's comment about the RDA brought this to mind - I used to ride at a place that offered RDA and also hippotherapy, which is non-riding. I haven't a clue about the ins and outs of it other than that though, I'm afraid.
Click to expand...

im really sorry but pmsl at HIPPOTHERAPY I have an amusing image of a hippo....
 
I know it was just the initial image that popped into my head of a hippo .... lol im not sure hippos would be so approachable as a horse. (sorry op I didn't meen to be offensive just my warped sence of humour.)
 
jhoward said:
I know it was just the initial image that popped into my head of a hippo .... lol im not sure hippos would be so approachable as a horse. (sorry op I didn't meen to be offensive just my warped sence of humour.)
Click to expand...

Just be thankful you don't suffer from Hippophobia ;)

Sorry to de-rail thread, couldn't resist - unfortunately no help on the bloodbank
 
I have direct experience of the blood bank in Buckinghamshire. I was really worried about sending my horse there but it is an amazing place, the horses live as naturally as possible when they're out of the winter barns.

A horse has to be 16hh or over and under 15 years old when they're taken in. They are NOT automatically destroyed at a certain age, they have 30 year olds on the site.

New horses must be introduced to the herd in spring/early summer so that they can find their natural companions before they go into barns for the winter.

Horses must be able to live unshod, Unrugged and without medication. It's a great environment, I had a horse with ridden behavioural problems that I didn't want to pass on to be anyone else's problem. A brilliant solution for me.
 
I looked into this for my tb, the Edinburgh one soundef like one of the best. The staff I spoke to were lovely there. But as others have said there was no negotiation on the height they had to be 15.2hh plus but ideally bigger. Most of them also have quite a long waiting list.
 
MerrySherryRider said:
That sounds good Slightly Foxed, but the question that bothers me is whether they are PTS on site or do they go to slaughter ?
Click to expand...

I definetely heard they go off for slaughter as it would worry me significantly enough not to send my horse there. It would certainly be cheaper for the business if this were the case. But I do not want to slate the bloodbank which is a very useful and worthwhile cause as without them there would be a lot of dead 6 year old horses whose owners would have had to have pts and would not have been able to afford to keep them in retirement and have another horse.

Can I just remind people on this thread that although its okay to have a laugh at what someone has written by accident, the topic is a very serious one. The decision to send a horse to the blood bank is a better alternative to being pts, but the owner will never see the horse again (you are not allowed to visit) and therefore this is a highly emotional and very difficult decision and the topic should be given some serious thought. I don't mean to be boring, but please bear in mind that the OP and others that are thinking this is likely to be the option for their horse must be very distraught.
 
applecart14 said:
Can I just remind people on this thread that although its okay to have a laugh at what someone has written by accident, the topic is a very serious one. The decision to send a horse to the blood bank is a better alternative to being pts, but the owner will never see the horse again (you are not allowed to visit) and therefore this is a highly emotional and very difficult decision and the topic should be given some serious thought. I don't mean to be boring, but please bear in mind that the OP and others that are thinking this is likely to be the option for their horse must be very distraught.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with this. The banter around this thread was getting very irritating given the subject matter.

I had my boy down to go to the blood bank last year, but chickened out at the last minute and removed him from their list. At the time he was coping very well here and so I decided to retire him here myself. He was 10 at the time. However, on going into this winter he stopped doing all his usual acrobatics when being turned out and I knew something was wrong. He found it painful to move. I had him on two bute a day and still no improvement. So on the advice of the vet I turned him out 24/7 and the change in him was almost immediate. He came off the bute and returned to his usual playful self. Sadly this weather has meant I have had to close the fields and only use the sand turnout. He comes in during the day but is out in the sand turnout for 17 - 18 hours a day and overnight. However, just standing in for that 7 hours during the day has returned him to a cripple. I am therefore debating whether to send him to the BB after all, because they are turned out 24/7 in huge fields during the summer, and in big barns during the winter, so he will be able to keep moving about rather than being confined to a 12 x 12 stable. It's a really difficult decision. The blood bank or PTS? I just don't know what to do. I know the BB would really suit the type of horse he is. Vets love him as he is so good with needles, but I would be banking on their winter arrangements making him more comfortable than he is here in the winter. He has such a love of life and is only 11 so could have an enjoyable long life there. But I do not want him sending to slaughter so if he goes I will have to see if they will let me know if he is ever to be disposed of and I will come and get him.
 
Can I just say that being sent for slaughter is not the terrible outcome you all seem to think it is. I would want to know where they go, but if it's Potters and they send a lorry load at a time, it would not concern me. The procedures there are top notch, the horses are treated with respect and dignity and the whole process from unloading through is quick and stress free (and i am there frequently as part of my job so know this first hand)
 
TheMule said:
Can I just say that being sent for slaughter is not the terrible outcome you all seem to think it is. I would want to know where they go, but if it's Potters and they send a lorry load at a time, it would not concern me. The procedures there are top notch, the horses are treated with respect and dignity and the whole process from unloading through is quick and stress free (and i am there frequently as part of my job so know this first hand)
Click to expand...

One of the reasons I don't eat meat is because I think that animals going to the abattoir have a long journey and then are filed in and disposed of when they can smell the blood and fear in the air, and many are not stunned properly before being slung up on a hook and having their throats cut. Are you telling me Potters is different to the abattoirs that deal with other meat animals?
 
Wagtail said:
One of the reasons I don't eat meat is because I think that animals going to the abattoir have a long journey and then are filed in and disposed of when they can smell the blood and fear in the air, and many are not stunned properly before being slung up on a hook and having their throats cut. Are you telling me Potters is different to the abattoirs that deal with other meat animals?
Click to expand...

I have to agree with Wagtail. It frightens me. From what I've seen on abbatoirs and the methods on the TV programme, Cook It, Kill It, Eat It, it all seems very stress free, but I wouldn't be certain that all abbatoirs are like this. We have seen some terrible posts and video footage on this website of horses that have been treated horrendously only last year and I would die if my horse was sent to such a place.

For me the question is (with a young horse say aged five or six) would two or three seconds of fear (if that is all it is at an abbatoir) be so bad for twenty plus years of retirement. I can honestly say now that my horse would only go if I were able to have an agreement (in return for say £100) for them to ring me at the end of the horses life and tell me so I could make arrangements to meet the vet and carry out the deed on their premises. Nothing else would pacify me I'm afraid.

My horse doesn't meet the criteria anymore as he is 16 so is clearly too old.
 
Thanks for all the replies, we're still looking into it and other options for him but really appreciate all the informative answers and suggestions.


Slightly Foxed said:
I have direct experience of the blood bank in Buckinghamshire. I was really worried about sending my horse there but it is an amazing place, the horses live as naturally as possible when they're out of the winter barns.

A horse has to be 16hh or over and under 15 years old when they're taken in. They are NOT automatically destroyed at a certain age, they have 30 year olds on the site.

New horses must be introduced to the herd in spring/early summer so that they can find their natural companions before they go into barns for the winter.

Horses must be able to live unshod, Unrugged and without medication. It's a great environment, I had a horse with ridden behavioural problems that I didn't want to pass on to be anyone else's problem. A brilliant solution for me.
Click to expand...


Thank you that's good to hear from someone with first hand experience it sounds like a really nice life for the right horse, especially knowing they won't ever be passed on again.

annabel2009 said:
I looked into this for my tb, the Edinburgh one soundef like one of the best. The staff I spoke to were lovely there. But as others have said there was no negotiation on the height they had to be 15.2hh plus but ideally bigger. Most of them also have quite a long waiting list.
Click to expand...

Thanks I suspect that our boy will be to small then but have inquired anyway and will see what he says about height one way or another.


Wagtail said:
I completely agree with this. The banter around this thread was getting very irritating given the subject matter.

I had my boy down to go to the blood bank last year, but chickened out at the last minute and removed him from their list. At the time he was coping very well here and so I decided to retire him here myself. He was 10 at the time. However, on going into this winter he stopped doing all his usual acrobatics when being turned out and I knew something was wrong. He found it painful to move. I had him on two bute a day and still no improvement. So on the advice of the vet I turned him out 24/7 and the change in him was almost immediate. He came off the bute and returned to his usual playful self. Sadly this weather has meant I have had to close the fields and only use the sand turnout. He comes in during the day but is out in the sand turnout for 17 - 18 hours a day and overnight. However, just standing in for that 7 hours during the day has returned him to a cripple. I am therefore debating whether to send him to the BB after all, because they are turned out 24/7 in huge fields during the summer, and in big barns during the winter, so he will be able to keep moving about rather than being confined to a 12 x 12 stable. It's a really difficult decision. The blood bank or PTS? I just don't know what to do. I know the BB would really suit the type of horse he is. Vets love him as he is so good with needles, but I would be banking on their winter arrangements making him more comfortable than he is here in the winter. He has such a love of life and is only 11 so could have an enjoyable long life there. But I do not want him sending to slaughter so if he goes I will have to see if they will let me know if he is ever to be disposed of and I will come and get him.
Click to expand...

That sounds a really difficult decision to make but it sounds like the BB might really suit him as I imagine if the barns are big enough they can mooch around all night which sounds like your boy needs. Living in a big herd with plenty of space sounds fairly idyllic though I'm not sure that makes the decision much easier it's very hard to know though what to do with them. PTS is the 100% they won't suffer anymore but seem very sad and wasteful when they could live for years quite happily.
Did you ask when you put him on the waiting list whether you could make end of life arrangements for him?


Wagtail said:
One of the reasons I don't eat meat is because I think that animals going to the abattoir have a long journey and then are filed in and disposed of when they can smell the blood and fear in the air, and many are not stunned properly before being slung up on a hook and having their throats cut. Are you telling me Potters is different to the abattoirs that deal with other meat animals?
Click to expand...

I'm not keen on the idea of any horse that doesn't have to ending its life at an abattoir but I went to Potter's a few months ago to help a friend collect research samples and it is very good. Very clean and quiet and staffed by people who seem very good with horses and they're happy for you to look round all the horses I saw there seemed very calm and it seemed a much less stressful situation than something like a sale. It's also always absolutely crawling with vets/researchers/students so as abattoirs go I think it's very good. Though obviously not as kind as having it done at home/where they're use to.
 
Amicus said:
That sounds a really difficult decision to make but it sounds like the BB might really suit him as I imagine if the barns are big enough they can mooch around all night which sounds like your boy needs. Living in a big herd with plenty of space sounds fairly idyllic though I'm not sure that makes the decision much easier it's very hard to know though what to do with them. PTS is the 100% they won't suffer anymore but seem very sad and wasteful when they could live for years quite happily.
Did you ask when you put him on the waiting list whether you could make end of life arrangements for him?
Click to expand...

No I didn't ask at the time as I had assumed they were PTS/shot on site. This thread is the first I heard about them going to Potters.

I'm not keen on the idea of any horse that doesn't have to ending its life at an abattoir but I went to Potter's a few months ago to help a friend collect research samples and it is very good. Very clean and quiet and staffed by people who seem very good with horses and they're happy for you to look round all the horses I saw there seemed very calm and it seemed a much less stressful situation than something like a sale. It's also always absolutely crawling with vets/researchers/students so as abattoirs go I think it's very good. Though obviously not as kind as having it done at home/where they're use to.
Click to expand...

Well it does seem from what TheMule and you have said that it isn't as bad as I thought it may be. Still not what I would want for my boy though.
 
Just spoken to the BB and the horses are put down on the premises. They are not shipped off to Potters. They keep them for as long as they are well. Most horses there stay until mid twenties even thirties.
 
Just spoken to the Bedforshire Blood bank and have confirmed that the minimal height they take is 16hh so have ruled it out for our boy.

Will continue to look for options for him, RDA/Therapy or maybe just moving yards, hopefully getting vet report soon so will help work out his future. I think I probably jumped to looking at BB a bit early anyway in a panic but hopefully this thread might be useful for others.
Thanks again for the replies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top