Help the Horses of Halifax
Donation protected
The Horses of Halifax need your help! Strangles quarantine jeopardizes historic organization.
Who we are
The Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers (Lancers) is a not-for-profit equestrian school in downtown Halifax that was established in 1936 to enable "city children" to experience the benefits and joy of riding horses.
Lancers runs both junior and adult lesson programs and since the 1960s, has been home to a therapeutic riding program. Lancers' Pony Club was one of the first branches established in Canada, and strongly upholds Canadian Pony Club values.
Lancers' famous Musical Ride has been offering free public performances in the City of Halifax since the founding of the club. The ride has also travelled to perform throughout the province as well as to notable venues such as the Royal Winter Fair, and the CNE in Toronto.
More about us:
www.bengallancers.com
http://activehistory.ca/?s=lancers&submit=Search
https://www.facebook.com/HalifaxLancers/?ref=settings
What we are facing
The past two weeks have brought much anguish to our beloved organization. We have had to decide to quarantine our horses and suspend programming due to a Strangles outbreak. Strangles is a highly infectious bacterial infection (streptococcus equi) in horses, and the disease is well known to travel quickly.
A complete suspension of all programming was necessary to protect our healthy horses as well as the rest of Nova Scotia’s equine population.
Our primary concern right now is without a doubt the health of our horses. At this time we can report that infected horses' symptoms have been relatively mild, and have been kept stable due to exhaustive diligent work by our dedicated staff. While the horses are being well cared for there is always a risk of serious complications.
At this time it is very difficult for us to predict when it will be safe to open our doors again.
Equestrian Canada’s Horse Health and Welfare Department has commended our bio-security measures.
More about Strangles:
https://aaep.org/horsehealth/strangles-contagious-equine-disease
What suspending operations means to us
This is the first time in our 83 year history that health concerns have forced us to close our doors. Because we have 26 club-owned horses, they do not have owners who are paying board or vet bills.
As a not-for-profit, we have always had to rely on fundraising to cover our expenses but our program fees have largely sustained our base operating costs.
Even by suspending our programming, our expenses remain largely unchanged. Our horses are still going through similar amounts of hay and grain, and larger quantities of bedding.
We still have our ongoing expenses such as building maintenance costs, staffing, manure removal, utilities and insurance.
In addition, we are facing considerable vet bills.
We had to cancel our 27th annual Downtown Horse Show, one of our major fundraisers.
We are also monitoring the risk of having to suspend some or all of our summer camps - another crucial source of revenue for us.
What we need from you
We are thankful for those members who have stepped up and continued to support us during this very difficult time.
We now ask you to help us - to help our horses recover, to support and foster young generations of riders and horse people, and to show the power of the worldwide equestrian community.
To anyone:
who has learned to ride because of Lancers,
who has become a better person through Lancers,
who has enjoyed one of our Musical Ride performances,
who finds some joy in watching the horses playing in the paddock on their way to work,
who has come through our doors for a tour,
whose child has had a pony ride at our open house,
who stops to watch our lessons,
who hopes to have a child ride at Lancers in the future,
who never had to worry about where their teenagers were because they were always at Lancers,
who competes with our horses at horse shows,
who has experienced the potentially devastating effects of a strangles outbreak in their barn,
whose life has been forever changed by a horse,
who believes in what we do,
We implore you to consider donating to help the horses of Halifax. These horses touch the lives of so many in our city and beyond. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any amount you are willing to contribute.
Who we are
The Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers (Lancers) is a not-for-profit equestrian school in downtown Halifax that was established in 1936 to enable "city children" to experience the benefits and joy of riding horses.
Lancers runs both junior and adult lesson programs and since the 1960s, has been home to a therapeutic riding program. Lancers' Pony Club was one of the first branches established in Canada, and strongly upholds Canadian Pony Club values.
Lancers' famous Musical Ride has been offering free public performances in the City of Halifax since the founding of the club. The ride has also travelled to perform throughout the province as well as to notable venues such as the Royal Winter Fair, and the CNE in Toronto.
More about us:
www.bengallancers.com
http://activehistory.ca/?s=lancers&submit=Search
https://www.facebook.com/HalifaxLancers/?ref=settings
What we are facing
The past two weeks have brought much anguish to our beloved organization. We have had to decide to quarantine our horses and suspend programming due to a Strangles outbreak. Strangles is a highly infectious bacterial infection (streptococcus equi) in horses, and the disease is well known to travel quickly.
A complete suspension of all programming was necessary to protect our healthy horses as well as the rest of Nova Scotia’s equine population.
Our primary concern right now is without a doubt the health of our horses. At this time we can report that infected horses' symptoms have been relatively mild, and have been kept stable due to exhaustive diligent work by our dedicated staff. While the horses are being well cared for there is always a risk of serious complications.
At this time it is very difficult for us to predict when it will be safe to open our doors again.
Equestrian Canada’s Horse Health and Welfare Department has commended our bio-security measures.
More about Strangles:
https://aaep.org/horsehealth/strangles-contagious-equine-disease
What suspending operations means to us
This is the first time in our 83 year history that health concerns have forced us to close our doors. Because we have 26 club-owned horses, they do not have owners who are paying board or vet bills.
As a not-for-profit, we have always had to rely on fundraising to cover our expenses but our program fees have largely sustained our base operating costs.
Even by suspending our programming, our expenses remain largely unchanged. Our horses are still going through similar amounts of hay and grain, and larger quantities of bedding.
We still have our ongoing expenses such as building maintenance costs, staffing, manure removal, utilities and insurance.
In addition, we are facing considerable vet bills.
We had to cancel our 27th annual Downtown Horse Show, one of our major fundraisers.
We are also monitoring the risk of having to suspend some or all of our summer camps - another crucial source of revenue for us.
What we need from you
We are thankful for those members who have stepped up and continued to support us during this very difficult time.
We now ask you to help us - to help our horses recover, to support and foster young generations of riders and horse people, and to show the power of the worldwide equestrian community.
To anyone:
who has learned to ride because of Lancers,
who has become a better person through Lancers,
who has enjoyed one of our Musical Ride performances,
who finds some joy in watching the horses playing in the paddock on their way to work,
who has come through our doors for a tour,
whose child has had a pony ride at our open house,
who stops to watch our lessons,
who hopes to have a child ride at Lancers in the future,
who never had to worry about where their teenagers were because they were always at Lancers,
who competes with our horses at horse shows,
who has experienced the potentially devastating effects of a strangles outbreak in their barn,
whose life has been forever changed by a horse,
who believes in what we do,
We implore you to consider donating to help the horses of Halifax. These horses touch the lives of so many in our city and beyond. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any amount you are willing to contribute.
Organizer
Halifax Junior Bengal Lancers
Organizer
Halifax, NS