The Blue Cross is Great Britain’s horse welfare society, and now it has teamed up with the esteemed Pony Club to raise awareness of responsible equine ownership among the next generation of horse and pony owners. The Blue Cross has been caring for equines since its inception in 1897, and the charity re-homes up to 100 horses and ponies every year from its three equine rehabilitation centers in Oxfordshire, East Sussex and Staffordshire.
Kerstin Alford, director of equine welfare at The Blue Cross, announced that, “The Blue Cross is delighted to join forces with The Pony Club to work toward our mutual goal of educating young people about equine welfare. Ultimately, we hope that increasing education in this sector will go some way toward reducing the cases of neglected or misunderstood horses or ponies that sadly end up at our door. The Pony Club is an ideal partner because of its long tradition of teaching excellent horsemanship and its track record of consistently high standards of care.”
The collaboration between the two charities will include Blue Cross sponsorship of The Pony Club’s “Horse and Pony Care” competition, and a range of other initiatives to be rolled out over the next three years.
Judy Edwards, Chief Executive of The Pony Club, added, “This is an alliance which I know will be mutually beneficial to both The Pony Club and The Blue Cross. We have always been at the forefront of teaching youngsters the fundamental principles of good equine care from an early age, thereby ensuring that we produce generations of properly educated horsemen and women. We also very much hope that some of the equines rehabilitated by The Blue Cross will find their way into the care of Pony Club families.”