I am excited to share with you some details of our incredible trip to London on Tuesday,18th April in support of World Horse Welfare as it started its #StopHorseSmugglingAppeal, which aims to ensure that no horse from Britain is transported live for slaughter.
We are incredibly grateful to the owners of the WVS horses who took part for allowing them to participate: Rachel (Bertie), Terry (Merlin), Deborah (Onyx), Sheena (Rocky), Mandy (Honey), Marian (Havana), Cathy (Harley), Miles (Duke), Claire (Bamboo) and Team Birdie (Birdie), as well as to the whole WVS team for ensuring they were all so immaculately turned out.
Watch the video of the day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0esZ8zSqZ9A
Let me tell you a bit about the day. A huge 10 horse lorry arrived at 9am at the stables – it was quite a sight watching it carefully reverse into our narrow entrance. The horses all loaded perfectly and we drove to the South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park by the Barracks where we unloaded. In order to acclimatise them, they were first ridden in the arena by the WVS team (Tash, Kyle S, Nadia, Claire, Caroline and me as well as Lucy, one of our long standing Members) and some of the owners (Rachel, Terry and Deborah). Afterwards, the World Horse Welfare patrons mounted up and we set off from Hyde Park via Constitution Hill, Green Park, The Mall, Horse Guards Road and Birdcage Walk to Parliament Square. The squad comprised:
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Roly Owers, World Horse Welfare CEO on Merlin
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Jane Holderness-Roddam, WHW Rehomer, Olympian on Bertie
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Esme Higgs, WHW Rehomer & Influencer on Havana
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Sara Cox, WHW Patron & BBC Radio DJ on Onyx
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Fran Plume, WHW Senior Relationship Officer on Bamboo
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Tanya Puk, WHW Rehomer & Digital Fundraising Officer on Rocky
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Emma Cook, WHW Senior Marketing Officer on Harley
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Clemence deCrecy, Sponsor on Honey.
None of the horses put a foot wrong all day; in fact, the only horses to misbehave were police horses on escort duty, one pair in front and another behind. One particularly lively participant was the beautiful black police horse at the rear who had been given to the Queen by the Canadian Mounties. It was lovely that some of our Members were able to turn up to support us although unfortunately we were prevented from giving out details much in advance as there was an embargo on the release of news of the ride until 1am on Tuesday morning.
It really felt surreal riding around London and seeing all the preparations already underway for the Coronation. Our horses were fantastic and didn’t flinch at the crashing and banging around Buckingham Palace and Horseguards where seating areas were being erected. There were so many people taking photos and videos that we almost felt like celebrities – someone overhead a person in the crowd saying “they must be practising for the coronation”!
I was so incredibly proud of all our amazing horses – please do watch this fantastic video which captures the day so perfectly.
The aim was to press for progress on the Kept Animals Bill, which was introduced to parliament in June 2021 but has still not become law despite cross-party support. The bill seeks to ban live export of animals for slaughter or fattening. Chairman of WHW, Roly Owers, is pleading for support: “As the country prepares for a general election, probably next year, the bill will be put aside unless it is adopted soon. Without doubt, our aim here today is to raise awareness in the minds of the MPs in the building behind me and make sure that this opportunity is not lost. Donations to our appeal will help ensure we can continue to tirelessly chase an end to live export to slaughter.”
Please, please write to your MP and to the Prime Minister and also donate to World Horse Welfare to help support this very important campaign. You can find the wording for a standard email that could serve as a useful starting point (you are encouraged to personalise it) on the WHW website by following this link: https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/what-we-do/our-campaigns/ban-live-exports-to-slaughter