Hi we as volunteers at Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) Longstone Armagh in Northern Ireland are asking for help with unexpected upcoming veterinary fees and costs to repair and care for our beautiful horses.

(Pictured from L-R Lily, Rocky, Peggy and Hugo)

On Monday (2nd March) our horses where put out in their field after their days work taking children from local schools (special units) out for a enjoyment ride, at some point in the evening THIER field was trespassed, a fire was lit in their field and fencing wire was cut.

(This fence was cut and has since been temporarily patched in but the old wire remains as you can see - the post was also completely pulled out from the ground)

We can’t be sure what exactly happened in those hours but the horses then ran scared through the fence that was cut and up a bank that was not safe

Beyond that bank is the old railway line that they somehow crossed and we weren’t made aware of anything until Tuesday morning when a concerned passer-by located them in a building site behind a new housing development.

A team of volunteers then had the job of rounding the horses to safety and returning them back to the yard, and all rides were cancelled for the day.

At first check we noticed one of the horses was lame and he was put in the stable to rest and given pain medication then on Wednesday we started noticing a decline on the rest of the horses.

The Vet came out to assess all of the horses and

ALL horses have been given pain medication and tetanus shots and the horse with respiratory issues has been put on special medication and all on ongoing pain relief.

They all been put on box rest to recover from their ordeal and injuries as they were all very traumatised and nervous.

They will be closely monitored by volunteers and the vet.

Because of this incident we have had to cancel all planned activities for all the local special schools and adult community groups until further notice.

This has been a very difficult time and set back for our children that come visit their horses as they do not understand why they can’t come to their weekly sessions.

as you can imagine this is going to be an unnecessary financial burden to the center that is 100% funded by donations and all work is done voluntary.

Extra costs will include

This isn’t the first time this has happened with the fence being cut - it is an ongoing issue and we would like to put up up CCTV to monitor and keep these beautiful animals safe and deter trespassing and vandalism. - so if their is any funds left this is our aim.

We hope to get our horses back to health and return to normal activities (aiming for after Easter holidays) and our kids to come visit their favourite ponies.

we will try to update this page with the horses recovery but all updates will be posted on our Facebook page (click for link)

Armaghi Local news article coverage (clink for link)

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Deirdre from O’Reilly and Fee veterinary surgery for their quick call-out and for taking care and understanding of all our horses , the maintenance team at the Longstone site for all their help and support helping with fencing and keeping the horses safe, Armaghi for covering the story to help share awareness, All our team of volunteers for their support and time looking after our horses, to all our schools and pupils for your understanding at this time and lastly to you the general public for your support through the years and for all your lovely messages we really appreciate all the offering of help and support.