The Next Chapter Horse Sanctuary

The Next Chapter is a newly formed charity that is based in Countesthorpe, South Leicestershire.  The founder member Shelly Page has been  the go to person by a number of organisations such as the police, RSPCA and others for advice about care for abandoned and often sick horses of all ages.  She has  worked with the local County and District Councils to offer advice and try to help the horses that were in difficulty and often in a poor state.

Over recent years she has had a number of successful outcomes including rehabilitation and eventually rehoming of horses. Assisting in this process has been a number of volunteers to help support and manage both physical and emotional health need. Shelly was offered temporary use of land where horses could be nursed back to health with the input of a vet and care from a range of volunteers mostly local to the village and surrounding area.

In the spring of 2023, Charity status was applied for and established as the number of cases and workload had been increasing.

In early May this year, Shelly had a call from the police as a very young foal of around 2 weeks old was found by a landowner and they didn’t know what to do. It is thought that the foal had been abandoned overnight and was very cold and hungry. The RSPCA were on the scene and it was agreed that Shelly would take the foal into her care. The Blue Cross were able to transport the foal to The Next Chapter yard and a make-shift stable was quickly assembled for him, in an area that would be used to provide a quarantine facility in the short term.

A  vet and Shelly were on hand to meet him as soon as he arrived at the yard to examine and assess him and quickly give him fluids.

Exhausted baby able to lay down and rest after his horrendous experience.

The little foal was named Mickey, after the name of the police officer who was on the scene and who contacted Shelly.  A two hourly feed regime  was set up for feeding both all day and night time, and an appeal was put out to the village to ask people for help as more pairs of hands were needed as a number of the current volunteers, including Shelly had full time work during the day.

Mickey now has a number of foster mummies who were on site every 2 hours to feed him and he knows when they have arrived as he is watching and listening for the gate to open. Seeing his little face through his fence was a joy as he  impatiently waited for his bottle to appear! However, it has been a big ask for a number of our volunteers who have diligently visited through the unsocial hours and stayed the night on site, to watch over and care for him.

Eventually he was allowed outside in one of our fields and he was so pleased and interested to see the other horses. He has a particular friend called Elvis who is his new foster parent. Elvis is teaching him how to be a horse, although he does have a very cheeky personality. He is eating grass and foal creep now  and he loves his friend.

He is certainly   much loved by all his carers and is a becoming a little star in our village attracting help for all his horsey friends. He is now four months old, and is our beautiful boy!