The Orphan Horses of Paynes Crossing
Donation protected
This is a fundraiser to support the care of 7 neglected and abandoned horses, who roamed the Wollombi Valley, NSW, Australia for 15+ years, before the 2020 Black Summer bushfires revealed their existence and enabled their rescue by a team of amazing equine guardians. These boys are old and won't live forever, but we aim to give the 6 remaining horses a safe, secure and happy old age. Money raised will go directly to their daily feeding program and general health requirements (worming, feet trimming, dentistry).
This is their story:
When fires raged through huge areas of New South Wales in Summer of 2019-20, bush, houses, barns, stables, sheds and fences burned.
Quite suddenly, near Paynes Crossing in the Wollombi Valley, seven horses appeared. They’d been living wild, on thousands of acres of bush. When the fences went, and their acres burned, they came off the wild land into our hands.
They were old Standardbreds – trotters - horses who apparently raced for a man who retired them to his place after racing and then died. Few people knew the horses were there.
When we found them, they were thin; they’d had no care, no proper feed, for years. They were old – all over 20 – and tough; they’d had to be. Ashleigh Power & Fiona Migan, local horsewomen, set up a Facebook fundraising page: “a call to all equine guardians.” Within days, there was $9000 to help the horses get the care they much needed and save them from being separated or even worse…sent to the knackery.
The money raised went straight to work: vet assessment, worming, and their overgrown, rough teeth were attended to. Equine nutritionist Carol Layton from Balanced Equine designed a feeding plan for them. And then we had to find a home for them. They were temporarily with some friends with limited arable land.
Sometimes you wonder if you’ve witnessed a miracle. The owners of on old homestead close to Wollombi offered up acres of good country, with good dams, and complete with an old but sturdy shed for feed and equipment.
So one day in February (Valentine’s Day, in fact), a flotilla of horse floats went to get them – and we wondered what the boys would think of floats, after all their wild time. Like gentlemen, they walked right on – and approved their new home.
The Lost Stock Team developed: a group of volunteer “equine guardians” who worked a roster for feeding – initially twice a day, then once a day. The donated funds bought feed, hay, whatever they needed; and slowly, slowly, those ribby shapes filled out.
Each has his own personality, from shy and retiring to abundantly confident. Some love being brushed and pampered while some took a while to realise we were friends, and we loved them.
It was with the greatest sadness that we had to let one of the boys go earlier this year. Uncle had a tendency to “choke” – to get a blockage in his esophagus. After two pretty severe incidents of choke the vet advised that this wasn’t going to improve so we had to make the decision to euthanase him …tears in the eyes of every one of the Lost Stock Team.
The herd now consists of:
Pops: is top of the herd yet extremely shy when it comes to humans.
Baz: bold and chilled out and takes everything in his stride. He shares his food with the bottom of the herd (Braveheart) and is partial to a brush. He surprised us all early on when he leapt up half a metre in to the feeding barn on to the wooden floor.
Juniper: a very gentle and easy going fellow with a gorgeous thick forelock. He was the first to be caught in the wild when the herd was found. He suffers quite badly from ‘the itch’.
Fitch: sassy, lean and fast on his feet. Fitch is bossy at feed time and knows exactly where his place is in the pecking order.
Zoro: black, fat and confident. It is not uncommon to arrive and find Zoro covered in muddy residue from his daily swim in the dam. Zoro picked up condition and is quick to put Braveheart in his place.
Braveheart: captures hearts in a second. He is the bottom of the herd pecking order and has a respiratory issue so we aren’t sure how long we will have him with us. He is fed at the back of the barn away from the other horses and often will just wait at the back of the barn while the others are getting fed and will peek out waiting for his
These old boys have a strong hold on a lot of hearts – those who physically look after them, and all those fabulous people – those ‘equine guardians’ - who have donated money, hay, feed, and much love. The horses are old. They won’t last forever. But we want to give every one of them a safe, secure and happy old age.
Whilst we are running a tight ship, at the end of the day caring for six elderly horses is not cheap and the fundraising must go on for as long as they need us. Almost a year into our journey of caring for these gentle boys our funds are low and thus this fundraiser has been established.
We welcome your donation with huge amounts of gratitude to help us continue to keep them thriving and assure you that any donations will get put to great use. Our Facebook page has regular updates on the herd and the activities concerning their ongoing care.
$20 buys a full bale of hay
$40 buys a bag of hard feed
$100 buys wormers for all of the horses
$300 pays for all the horses to have their feet trimmed
$500 pays for all the horses to have their dentistry done
Thank you for your love and support,
The Orphan Horses of Paynes Crossing crew of equine guardians.
Please like and follow our page to receive continuing updates of the welfare of the boys:
The Orphan Horses of Paynes Crossing facebook page
This is their story:
When fires raged through huge areas of New South Wales in Summer of 2019-20, bush, houses, barns, stables, sheds and fences burned.
Quite suddenly, near Paynes Crossing in the Wollombi Valley, seven horses appeared. They’d been living wild, on thousands of acres of bush. When the fences went, and their acres burned, they came off the wild land into our hands.
They were old Standardbreds – trotters - horses who apparently raced for a man who retired them to his place after racing and then died. Few people knew the horses were there.
When we found them, they were thin; they’d had no care, no proper feed, for years. They were old – all over 20 – and tough; they’d had to be. Ashleigh Power & Fiona Migan, local horsewomen, set up a Facebook fundraising page: “a call to all equine guardians.” Within days, there was $9000 to help the horses get the care they much needed and save them from being separated or even worse…sent to the knackery.
The money raised went straight to work: vet assessment, worming, and their overgrown, rough teeth were attended to. Equine nutritionist Carol Layton from Balanced Equine designed a feeding plan for them. And then we had to find a home for them. They were temporarily with some friends with limited arable land.
Sometimes you wonder if you’ve witnessed a miracle. The owners of on old homestead close to Wollombi offered up acres of good country, with good dams, and complete with an old but sturdy shed for feed and equipment.
So one day in February (Valentine’s Day, in fact), a flotilla of horse floats went to get them – and we wondered what the boys would think of floats, after all their wild time. Like gentlemen, they walked right on – and approved their new home.
The Lost Stock Team developed: a group of volunteer “equine guardians” who worked a roster for feeding – initially twice a day, then once a day. The donated funds bought feed, hay, whatever they needed; and slowly, slowly, those ribby shapes filled out.
Each has his own personality, from shy and retiring to abundantly confident. Some love being brushed and pampered while some took a while to realise we were friends, and we loved them.
It was with the greatest sadness that we had to let one of the boys go earlier this year. Uncle had a tendency to “choke” – to get a blockage in his esophagus. After two pretty severe incidents of choke the vet advised that this wasn’t going to improve so we had to make the decision to euthanase him …tears in the eyes of every one of the Lost Stock Team.
The herd now consists of:
Pops: is top of the herd yet extremely shy when it comes to humans.
Baz: bold and chilled out and takes everything in his stride. He shares his food with the bottom of the herd (Braveheart) and is partial to a brush. He surprised us all early on when he leapt up half a metre in to the feeding barn on to the wooden floor.
Juniper: a very gentle and easy going fellow with a gorgeous thick forelock. He was the first to be caught in the wild when the herd was found. He suffers quite badly from ‘the itch’.
Fitch: sassy, lean and fast on his feet. Fitch is bossy at feed time and knows exactly where his place is in the pecking order.
Zoro: black, fat and confident. It is not uncommon to arrive and find Zoro covered in muddy residue from his daily swim in the dam. Zoro picked up condition and is quick to put Braveheart in his place.
Braveheart: captures hearts in a second. He is the bottom of the herd pecking order and has a respiratory issue so we aren’t sure how long we will have him with us. He is fed at the back of the barn away from the other horses and often will just wait at the back of the barn while the others are getting fed and will peek out waiting for his
These old boys have a strong hold on a lot of hearts – those who physically look after them, and all those fabulous people – those ‘equine guardians’ - who have donated money, hay, feed, and much love. The horses are old. They won’t last forever. But we want to give every one of them a safe, secure and happy old age.
Whilst we are running a tight ship, at the end of the day caring for six elderly horses is not cheap and the fundraising must go on for as long as they need us. Almost a year into our journey of caring for these gentle boys our funds are low and thus this fundraiser has been established.
We welcome your donation with huge amounts of gratitude to help us continue to keep them thriving and assure you that any donations will get put to great use. Our Facebook page has regular updates on the herd and the activities concerning their ongoing care.
$20 buys a full bale of hay
$40 buys a bag of hard feed
$100 buys wormers for all of the horses
$300 pays for all the horses to have their feet trimmed
$500 pays for all the horses to have their dentistry done
Thank you for your love and support,
The Orphan Horses of Paynes Crossing crew of equine guardians.
Please like and follow our page to receive continuing updates of the welfare of the boys:
The Orphan Horses of Paynes Crossing facebook page
Organizer and beneficiary
Kate McCrossin
Organizer
Watagan, NSW
Rebecca Soans
Beneficiary