Remus Horse Sanctuary Celebrates 40th Anniversary

2023 sees Remus Horse Sanctuary in Essex celebrate its 40th anniversary. Sue Burton, founder of the charity in 1983, recounts how it all started and those first ten years...

“Coming from London I had never met a horse, so was amazed when having moved to Essex and on a trip to see a friend, I noticed a field full of horses and remember thinking how many there were. I knew nothing about them and therefore was oblivious to the fact that these horses were in desperate need of help until I saw the photograph on the front page of the Romford Recorder in February 1983 about the horses at Rainham Marshes, and this is what got me started.

“I could not believe that in this day and age we allowed animals to die and did nothing. This gave me the impetus to go back over and try to help and contact other animal welfare people in the areafriendships and acquaintances that have lasted to this day.

“After being involved with the Rainham Marsh horses, my friend Pat and I soon heard of the awful plight of Remus. Again, I could not believe that another horse had died, another entity wiped out, and yet so few people seemed to care.

“Before long, I was involved in an animal rights group and because Pat had equine knowledge, she and I went out to see a horse that was meant to be in a bad way, and in particular her foal was becoming a nuisance - apparently attacking people on the footpath. We went out to Hornchurch and found Misty, tethered with the most enormous swollen face and her foal - cheeky chappie Pickles running amok in the area!

“We were able to take them both and took them to a yard in Aveley where sadly the vet diagnosed Misty as having a fractured skull, which had happened some months before when she was one of those horses left on Rainham Marshes. We had no option but to end her suffering and let her go, but poor Pickles was distraught. It took many months for him to start interacting and playing again. He remained a cheeky chappie all his life and loved getting up to mischief when he was able to.

“Once we had Pickles, we had to find somewhere to keep him, so we took on a few stables and fields in Havering-atte-Bower. Then followed Jenna the donkey with severely overgrown hooves; Butch a 5-day old calf who had been left to die, and then Caesar who had been illegally castrated and left in a stable on 5ft of dung. Instead of mucking him out the owner just had a square of the roof cut out for his head to stick out, the entire length of his spine was cut where it had rubbed against the roof. It was pitiful to see him, and it took many visits before we were able to convince the owner to let us take him.

“In these situations, it’s always important to achieve what you need - to get the animal out of the awful situation - and you don’t want to upset the owner. We have always said a large part of our work is social work before we can help the animal. This was a perfect example - as I remember only too clearly her dog constantly chewing on my wrist - which I put up with as I so wanted to get Caesar out of there! When we did get him out, the first year was fraught with him needing an operation, dragging us almost daily face down across the muck heap and nearly giving Pat an unplanned mastectomy. Funny now but not then!

“We went on to take in many animals, and I always recall getting a call in 1987 to some horses in Essex. We stumbled late at night over fields that were 3-4ft deep in snow. I gave up trying to count how many times we fell over in the snow in the pitch darkness. When we entered the barn we stopped dead in our tracks. We found emaciated, lice-infested animals without food, water or bedding. Their urine frozen to the ground.

The youngsters had never been let out and did not know how to walk and, when we could take the horses out the next day. we had to move each leg for the youngsters as they did not appear to be able to walk.

The bigger one, Benjamin, had had a stake rammed through his stifle (the area where the tibia meets the femur) which went on to cause him problems throughout his life. We took five horses out and all had such awful problems. Getting them well became all-consuming and we worked so hard to give them the best we could to allow them to go on to lead healthy lives and to forget about all they had experienced at such a young age.

“The cases came in thick and fast - horses kept in houses, the awful plight of the Rush Green Horses... suffering seemed to be everywhere, and we did what we could for those that we could. For Ben who had been left with a fractured pelvis and we couldn’t save, despite a scaffold company, the Fire Brigade and vets involved in trying to assist him.

“Little Heidi came to us in 1987 at just 5 days old. Her mum had been tethered and had died on the chain and Heidi was left with a headcollar that had cut into her face. She needed years of care including operations to get her well, but went on to live a lovely life, except when she got us into trouble having decided it was fun to pick people up by their clothing and push them into the ditch!

“The most rewarding part of the job is to get the animals beyond what they have suffered. To get the weight on, to ease their mental suffering, to help them get over what they have suffered, and it never fails to amaze me that whatever they suffer at the hands of humanity, they always begin to trust again!

“It’s just an amazing feeling to be able to win their trust after all that they have endured.”

The story obviously continues and hopefully will for many years to come but, in conclusion, Sue says: “I am so proud of what Remus has achieved in its 40 years. I am proud of where we are now and how much we have improved. I am proud of everyone who is involved now and has been involved over those years in whatever way to help develop us to do the work we now achieve.”

Look out for further information on the website and Facebook page, as the charity celebrates throughout the year.

Remus Horse Sanctuary is fundraising for winter food. Learn more here: www.remussanctuary.org/appeal.

For further information, visit www.remussanctuary.org or contact Sue Burton on 01277 356 191.

New research, involving an online survey of over 2,000 adults, led by the UK’s largest weight-loss organisation Slimming World, has revealed over half (57%) of slimmer’s have dieted ‘in secret’ - many because of fears of being judged or failing.

Emily Arber, aged 38 from Witham, agrees. She says “When I joined my local Slimming World group, it took a lot to walk through the doors because I thought I would be judged, but everyone was friendly and welcoming. It was wonderful! It kept me on track because I knew that if I went to group every week it would keep me on my toes! It really helped knowing that others knew how I felt - my weight was confidential and I chose my own target weight.

Local mum Emily said: “I first tried to lose weight on my own because I felt ashamed and although I wanted to lose weight, I was embarrassed to go to anywhere for help because I was young! Silly now really. Trying to lose weight on my own didn’t go well. I didn’t feel like I was making much progress and wasn’t really motivated.”

The recent study shows that of all those who are trying to lose weight, 37% value the camaraderie of losing weight with a group and how you can motivate each other, and 34% feel the accountability that comes hand-in-hand with losing weight with others would keep them on track.

Emily said this was absolutely the case for her: “I went to the Springfield group in Chelmsford on a Wednesday morning and my consultant Emma Lodge and the other members were there every week with encouragement and ideas. I found Slimming World’s Food Optimising Eating Plan was flexible enough to fit around my life and the things I enjoyed eating, so I never felt hungry - and being part of the group made me feel that if they could do it, so could I!”

Having lost 2 stone, Emily has now been maintaining her target weight for over 3 years. She says: “Before losing weight I used to hate exercising and never did it, now I’m doing weight training. I never believed I would have done that before Slimming World! My advice for others would be - you can do it. Facing the scales and admitting you are overweight is not a nice experience, but that is one of the biggest and best steps you can do for yourself. I always wanted to lose weight, but lots of factors held me back, until I decided to lose weight for me Not to impress anyone, or show off my amazing new look, or to say how great I am now... but I did it for my own confidence, for my own peace of mind, and for my own happiness. So I could finally look in the mirror and see how far I have come, and others can do it too. Just take that litttle step onto the scales.”

If you’d like to join Emma’s or any other local group, see the advert on page 5 for details.

This month I’m going to focus on another foundational yoga pose, Bridge Pose, which is a backbend. In Sanskrit it’s called Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, pronounced ‘SET-too BUHN-dah Sahr-von-GAH-sahnah’

Bridge pose is an extremely versatile pose which I often use at the beginning of my practice as a gentle warm-up, or in the middle as a dynamic and strengthening pose, and at the end for its calming and restorative benefits.

Bridge pose is not just a backbend, it shares many of the same benefits of other inversions, such as shoulder stands and headstands but is a gentler alternative. Bridging improves your posture, counteracting the effects prolonged sitting. It strengthens your mid to upper back muscles, buttocks, core, thighs and ankles, and gently stretches your shoulders, chest, and abdomen.

Where to Start

I always take my time to establish a good foundation for bridge pose. Lie down on your back, legs extended, hands down by your sides and find Shavasana (Corpse pose). Then find your Dristi, directly above you, and introduce your three-part breath, breathing in and out slowly through your nose, filling your belly, mid-chest, and upper chest with a little pause at the top and the bottom of each breath, do this a few times, establishing a slow, even and steady breath.

Relax your shoulders and stretch your arms by your sides, palms facing down. Draw your feet in, as close towards your bottom as you can, heels hip-width apart (4 inches or 10cm between your ankles and knees). Feel the four corners of your feet - eg, big toe joints, your little toe joints and the inside and outside edges of your heels - ideally you want your ankles to be directly under your knees. Tuck your chin in towards your collarbones, then lower the base of your skull to the mat, before lifting your chin very slightly to re-find your Dristi. This will lengthen the back of your neck, avoiding any uncomfortable compression. Maintain slow steady breath. Try to make your movements last the entire length of each inhalation and exhalation.

On your next inhalation, press gently through the 4 corners of your feet. As you do this you’ll feel your pelvis tilt upwards, pressing your lower back into the floor, keep rolling up through your spine. You’ll feel front of your thighs tighten, your core engage. Try to maintain this through the pause and your next exhalation, pausing at the bottom of your breath. As you breathe in again, draw your belly button inwards to engage the core a bit more, and press through your hands, elbows and especially your shoulders. Ground more firmly through the 4 corners of your feet, and begin to roll upwards from your tail bone all the way up your spine, one vertebrae at a time. Try to keep the knees hip-width apart as you push them towards the front of the room, the hips to the ceiling and your sternum to the back of the room. Pause and hold the pose for your out breath. Then, lift the hips a little higher on your next inhalation, pausing, before rolling down one vertebrae at a time as you breathe out.

I tend to do this pose in sequence - three or five times - in a row, rolling up with each inhalation, and holding for the exhalation, then lifting higher on the next inhalation, before rolling back down in time with the outbreath. The little pause at the top and the bottom of the breath really focuses the mind on the breathing, as well as on the movement.

I hope that you enjoy this pose as much as I do. For those of you who would benefit from seeing the pose taught in action, you can find a video on our Hummingbird Pilates & Yoga Facebook page, either pinned to the top or as one of our reels. Alternatively, book now and join me at the studio using this free pass code HPYFREECLASS. My gift to you.

Street Support Chelmsford is a directory of help services aimed at those experiencing homelessness, the vulnerable, or any individual or family faced with being forced to choose between putting food on the table or paying the energy bill.

This is a crucial tool to aid people to access the help they need, as well as signposting members of the community or professionals on the front line to the appropriate support for the people they are assisting. It is a one-stop digital shop for all support groups, referral routes, and information on both voluntary and statutory services in Chelmsford. Both the website and app are free for individuals and professionals to access and download, and as both platforms are available 24/7, users can access help and information at the times they need it the most.

Cool to be Kind (www.c2bk.co.uk), who host and manage Street Support, work hard to ensure that Street Support Chelmsford continues to grow, and as a community we can come together to support those in need. If there are any organisations or community groups that wish to be added to the site, or any individuals or businesses wishing to help, please contact chelmsford@streetsupport.net.