Rupert Returns Home

28 June 2022

After a short stay at Liphook Equine Hospital due to a case of serious colic, Rupert has recovered and is doing really well.

Two of our team, Nick and Sandy, went over to Liphook yesterday morning to go and collect Rupert. On their arrival they were very pleased to see Rupert looking so well and full of energy!

Rupert made the journey back to the gunwharf ferry terminal, slightly earlier than planned and was greeted by staff there eager to see his return. They were lucky enough to get onto an earlier boat back to the island, however, in what appears to now be Rupert's style, their return journey couldn't go completely smoothly! A medical emergency on the ferry that was currently in the Fishbourne terminal meant that they needed to wait on their boat before they could come into the port.

They eventually made it back onto the island and then back home to the sanctuary. Rupert was greeted at home by staff and volunteers that have been missing him, along with some of the people that played a massive part in getting him on to the ferry during our plea for help. The Mills family came along who work at Wightlink and made those incredibly important phone calls to help persuade them to find us a space straight away. We also had Sarah Jane Whitter follow the donkey bus back from the Fishbourne ferry to welcome him home. Sarah took it upon herself to get all of the traffic out of the way to make sure that we got Rupert on that ferry as soon as possible, even commandeering a lift in a George Jenkins truck to make it happen!

They were all as thrilled as we are to see him return home and look healthy, and this is such a lovely way to end this part of Rupert's story. We will never be able to fully express our gratitude to all of our supporters and the entire community in the way that everyone came together to get Rupert the help he needed. We will continue to monitor him, but are really hopeful that he has made a full recovery!

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Equine Treatment Centre

by abigail.fox • 7 November 2024

In late 2022, we started fundraising to establish an equine clinic at the sanctuary. Thanks to your generosity, we raised £125,000 from the initial campaign. This is ringfenced to spend on the Equine Treatment Centre. In the summer of 2023, we paused fundraising and undertook a separate feasibility study, using the generous free support of a civil engineer. We used this opportunity to make sure our build plans were making the very best use of your donations and the funds we had raised. We’ve tweaked the initial plan and have planning permission to undertake a project that will greatly support our high standards of equine welfare. We plan to: Repurpose an existing structure to house the Equine Treatment Centre thus reducing construction costs. Construct an equine rehabilitation barn on the site originally intended for the clinic. Create an isolation barn at the site’s perimeter. This will mean we can provide the very best care for equines needing isolation for medical treatment or observation. We will focus first on building the new barns, then move on to repurposing existing structures into our Equine Treatment Centre. The work cannot start until spring at the earliest, when we hope the ground will have dried out and the machinery will be able to move around the site. We need to make sure our precious paddocks are well looked after while the building work takes place.