Equine Bloodbank experiences/contact details, South west

Amicus said:
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.
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Yes, it has been a very useful thread. It's a shame about your boy being too small. I have decided to put my lad on the list now after clearing up the doubts and rumours. Good luck finding something for your boy.
 
A bit too late to reply - I have visited the blood bank in Buckinghamshire, with a friend thinking of sending her horse there. Yes I remember they were all big horses about 15.3hh or above - but plenty of old ones too! I don't think we asked about what happens to them at the end - but it's crossed my mind now, if they have passports and they have the page filled in "not for slaughter" by previous owner before going there - how would the blood bank be able to send them to Potters for slaughter?
 
AMP said:
A bit too late to reply - I have visited the blood bank in Buckinghamshire, with a friend thinking of sending her horse there. Yes I remember they were all big horses about 15.3hh or above - but plenty of old ones too! I don't think we asked about what happens to them at the end - but it's crossed my mind now, if they have passports and they have the page filled in "not for slaughter" by previous owner before going there - how would the blood bank be able to send them to Potters for slaughter?
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They don't. They are PTS on the premises.

However, filling in that page does not mean they cannot be sent to Potters, only that they cannot be sent anywhere for HUMAN consumption.
 
My previous horse is at the Bucks BB. I drive over in the summer and have a nosy with binoculars to see if I can see him. He was near the road once and I called him and whistled (he used to come to a wolf whistle) He looked up, stared at me for a few moments then walked off as if to say you ain't riding me !
You can phone up and enquire about them at any point. I rang up about 6 months after he's gone and when I said his name she straight away said oh yes the grey with Navicular. He's been there 8 years now and in the several times I've driven up and watched them in the field I've never seen a leg raised or ears back and we're talking well over a 100 horses.
 
Carefreegirl said:
My previous horse is at the Bucks BB. I drive over in the summer and have a nosy with binoculars to see if I can see him. He was near the road once and I called him and whistled (he used to come to a wolf whistle) He looked up, stared at me for a few moments then walked off as if to say you ain't riding me !
You can phone up and enquire about them at any point. I rang up about 6 months after he's gone and when I said his name she straight away said oh yes the grey with Navicular. He's been there 8 years now and in the several times I've driven up and watched them in the field I've never seen a leg raised or ears back and we're talking well over a 100 horses.
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What a wonderful story. My friend said when she arrived with her horse she could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet and all you could see were horses in the field.
 
Could someone please PM me the contact details of any / all blood banks please - preferably Midlands / South East ones. Sadly I have a youngster who is now unrideable and as he seems to fit the criteria I think this may be an option for him.

Thanks
 
Brownmare said:
Could someone please PM me the contact details of any / all blood banks please - preferably Midlands / South East ones. Sadly I have a youngster who is now unrideable and as he seems to fit the criteria I think this may be an option for him.

Thanks
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Pm'd you the number for Bucks. Now's a good time to enquire as they like new horses to be able to have as long as possible to establish groups during the summer.
 
My control freakery would never allow me to send one to the BB .
If they where comfortable and sound without medication I would be keeping them not passing them on.
OP I don't think the RDA would interested as the clients often sit very heavily and I think the concern about the weight would rule him out ( it certainly would have done when I was involved ).
 
Laafet said:
I was quite surprised that the BB don't come up on a google surgery easily. Found the MK one in the end and they do guinea pigs too, no info on there about sending your horse there.
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I suspect its deliberate - I used to work for some big veterinary pharma companies, and they deliberately keep the location of their research facilities very quiet. Blood bank is slightly different, but you can bet that some balaclava-wearing militant would jump at the opportunity to hang out by the gates and throw petrol bombs at the nasty scientists!
 
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?
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Yes they are different, I think they have a much slower 'line' than what is achieved for most other meat animals- horses slaughtered individually, with gun etc not stunned and bled out like most animals.

And yes - agree with auslander plenty of companies along similar lines don't always want to advertise their whereabouts - at the end of the day these places are involved in using animals for commercial products for bacteriology etc so they could be a target.
 
ester said:
Yes they are different, I think they have a much slower 'line' than what is achieved for most other meat animals- horses slaughtered individually, with gun etc not stunned and bled out like most animals.
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Well thankfully the blood bank has the horses PTS on the premises rather than shipping them off to Potters. I think that it is actually a very good option for suitable horses. You are guaranteed that they will never be sold on and no one will ever try to ride them. Even when you sell a sound horse you do not have that amount of reassurance. You do not know what will happen to them as not everyone you sell to will be that careful who they pass the horse on to. Obviously the BEST way is if you can retire the horse at home yourself, but sometimes people are not able to do that either due to finances or lack of suitable facilities to keep the horse comfortable.
 
Wagtail said:
Well thankfully the blood bank has the horses PTS on the premises rather than shipping them off to Potters. I think that it is actually a very good option for suitable horses. You are guaranteed that they will never be sold on and no one will ever try to ride them. Even when you sell a sound horse you do not have that amount of reassurance. You do not know what will happen to them as not everyone you sell to will be that careful who they pass the horse on to. Obviously the BEST way is if you can retire the horse at home yourself, but sometimes people are not able to do that either due to finances or lack of suitable facilities to keep the horse comfortable.
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Totally agree with this. I sent one horse. He was still relatively young but napped furiously and was found to have sacroiliac damage. I was newly qualified, had lost my old boy, and wanted to move abroad, but my "eventer" was now unsellable. BB gave him the opportunity for a brilliant long retirement. Without it, I'd either have had to give up some pretty important life plans, or have him PTS. These days I have land and could in theory retire him (hypothetically, he is probably long gone by now bless him); but actually I think his life in the BB would have been better, in a proper herd rather than a makeshift arrangement playing second fiddle to my rideable one. Actually, I have a candidate now, but she's too small. She would love it, way more than she loves the set-up I have. If I could find a suitable commercial equivalent I'd probably pay for it.
 
Wagtail said:
Well thankfully the blood bank has the horses PTS on the premises rather than shipping them off to Potters. I think that it is actually a very good option for suitable horses. You are guaranteed that they will never be sold on and no one will ever try to ride them. Even when you sell a sound horse you do not have that amount of reassurance. You do not know what will happen to them as not everyone you sell to will be that careful who they pass the horse on to. Obviously the BEST way is if you can retire the horse at home yourself, but sometimes people are not able to do that either due to finances or lack of suitable facilities to keep the horse comfortable.
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I wasn't commenting on that, just highlighting the difference between that an practices for other animals on the basis that I would rather send a horse to potters than put them through the line at say a purely beef abattoir. In case it helped anyone for future reference :)
 
I know this is an ild thread but if someone could PM me contact details for uk blood banks it would be appreciated. I have the number for stirling, I didn't realise there was a seperate edinburgh one? I would consider ones in England too. Many thanks.
 
Amicus said:
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.
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From my experience, the RDA generally have a selection of horses for different weights. Temperament is most paramount. They have strict policies regarding horse to rider weight ratio. Lots of tinies way under 9 stone at RDA. A three stone tiny on a solid as a rock 14.2 is a wonderful sight to behold!😀
 
Hi there, I am also looking at blood banks as an option for my boy, would it be possible to have the contact details for the Buckinghamshire one please? I would really like to find out if he is suitable before worrying too much about if I will actually go down this road...
 
People have quite a romanticised view of equine blood banks for some reason. They're kept like cattle really so I guess you need to decide if your horse would cope.
 
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Pigeon said:
People have quite a romanticised view of equine blood banks for some reason. They're kept like cattle really so I guess you need to decide if your horse would cope.
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Well this is the reason for my enquiries as I've never had any experiences myself so I'm looking to gain as much advise and information as possible before making any decisions
 
They go out 24/7 in the spring, once the ground is dry enough and come in in the Autumn depending on weather / ground conditions. They are in massive barns. I've had the misfortune to had to of retired two horses (one was 9 and other was 11) and was very pleased to get them both in all be it 9 years apart. I know for a fact the first one I got in is still there now aged 20 :smile3:

The requirements are 16h plus and must be good in a herd. I don't know what the maximum age is they accept them but I've heard people say 14 - don't quote me on that. They didn't want any more TB's last year but that could of changed.

Your best bet is to get the contact details from your vet and phone asap to get your name on the list of your horse is suitable.
 
Thank you, nice to hear from someone who has experienced a similar situation. I will contact my vet tomorrow and see if they can give the contact details
 
Pigeon said:
People have quite a romanticised view of equine blood banks for some reason. They're kept like cattle really so I guess you need to decide if your horse would cope.
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I think some people are looking at things with rose tinted glasses, which in the case of blood banks is easy as visits are not allowed and you rarely get to know what happens to the horse. Still you can send your horse away, get a few hundred pounds and imagine he has a happy ever after life !
 
Can I ask have you had experience of blood banks yourself? I understand that there are often mixed opinions regarding these kinds of subjects and that really is the reason for my post as I want to fully research every option for my horse before making any decision and in my opinion personal experiences of fellow horse owners are the best way to gain an accurate perception of this option. So if you have I genuinely would like to hear what your experience has been?
 
Laurenjane21 said:
Can I ask have you had experience of blood banks yourself? I understand that there are often mixed opinions regarding these kinds of subjects and that really is the reason for my post as I want to fully research every option for my horse before making any decision and in my opinion personal experiences of fellow horse owners are the best way to gain an accurate perception of this option. So if you have I genuinely would like to hear what your experience has been?
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Yes, I have experience although it is from a few years ago and certainly then they paid for the horses and so owned them and you had no more say. They accepted any horse over a certain height when clearly they didn't need that many and so only kept the quiet ones that fitted in with the way of life. The rest went to Potters. The way they are kept is ok, the blood letting is not for the squeamish and for a few horses it's an alternative to being pts. If horses really all stayed until a fine old age then there wouldn't be much demand for any new ones. I also think a lot less blood is needed nowadays and owners should be careful that they are not just giving their horse away to a dealer !
 
Thank you, I can see your point particularly about dealers. Would be my worst nightmare to realise I had allowed my horse to go somewhere that's not what it seems. Hence me asking other people who have been in similar situations
 
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