Latest News
Gala Open Day | Paddling Paws raise money to help more doggy-paddlers | New text alert scheme | Animal Health Trust is the Pony Club's Charity of the year | Join Richard Dunwoody on our China Challenge! | Foal Immunodeficiency Syndrome (FIS) | News Archive
Join us for our Gala Open Day on Sunday 19 September
We will be throwing open the gates to Lanwades Park on Sunday 19 September for our annual Gala Open Day. The day is packed full of fun and entertainment for all the family – including the dog!
Come along and enjoy a dog walk through the grounds and onto Newmarket Heath, a companion dog show with a special class for past and present AHT patients, dog agility and scurry, Suffolk Horses, trade stalls and much more.
In the main ring there will be displays by the K9 Freestyle Dog Dancing, Elaine Hill’s Sheepdog team, and the Rockwood Dog Display Team.
With plenty of food and entertainment on the menu, this really is a family day out you can’t afford to miss!
Gates open from 10am. See you there!
Swimming dogs raise more than £7,500
Six dogs join Animal Health Trust team to complete sponsored swimathon.
Six swimming dogs who took part in a sponsored swimathon have raised more than £7,500 for the Animal Health Trust (AHT).
Joined by members of the AHT’s small animal Hydrotherapy Unit, the 12-strong team took it in turns swimming for a total of 12 hours.
The aim of the Paddling Paws swimathon was to raise funds to help buy a water treadmill. The treadmill will enable the AHT’s Hydrotherapy unit to treat many more dogs and cats. It will not only help to lessen pain and stiffness, it will also enable the unit to treat a wider range of painful conditions.
Jo Handley-Howard, Head of Hydrotherapy at the AHT, said: “The swimathon went very well, although I think it was much harder than any of us expected. Our six swimming dogs were absolute stars and I’m sure many of them finished with more energy than we did!
“We’re now a step closer to raising the money we need to buy a water treadmill and I’d personally like to thank everyone who sponsored us. Your support will help us to help many more dogs and cats, so thank you.”
The AHT needs to raise an additional £20,000 in order to buy a water treadmill for the Unit. Anyone wishing to donate to the appeal can still do so at www.virginmoneygiving.com/paddlingpaws
New text alert scheme launched for equine influenza
This new service, sponsored by Merial Animal Health, will alert you to outbreaks of equine influenza in the UK by text message to your mobile phone. If you are an equine veterinary practitioner and would like to sign up for this scheme, please register on the Merial website at: www.merial.co.uk
If you would like to contact us regarding outbreaks of equine influenza virus or would like to sign up for our sentinel practice scheme, please send a message to: info@equiflunet.org.uk or follow the link to www.equiflunet.org.uk for more information on equine influenza.
Animal Health Trust is the Pony Club's Charity of the year
We have been announced as The Pony Club’s charity of the year 2010.
Judy Edwards, The Pony Club Chief Executive, said: “I was so impressed with the work of the Animal Health Trust when I visited their Newmarket site and laboratories last year, and I felt this was something that our 50,000 strong membership should be aware of.
“Health and welfare of Members horses and ponies, and indeed all animals in their care, is uppermost in The Pony Club’s teaching, so to support the work of the AHT in making it our ‘Charity of the Year’ gives us great pleasure and will, I hope, enable more of this wonderful work to be undertaken”.
We are launching our Pony Power campaign to Pony Club Members at The Pony Club’s annual conference on 3rd March.
This campaign will let Members of The Pony Club know what we do for their horses and ponies. Pony Power branded fundraising packs will be distributed to all Pony Club Branches and Centres encouraging them to support the fundraising effort.
We are hoping that PC Members will raise £100,000 for the campaign over the course of 2010. That’s the equivalent of each Branch and Centre raising just over £100 each.
Peter Webbon, AHT Chief Executive, said: “We’re delighted to be The Pony Club’s charity of the year. It gives us a great opportunity to tell Pony Club Members about the great work we do for all their horses and ponies and to them about diseases such as laminitis, Strangles and grass sickness which could affect any of their ponies, at any time. We hope that its Members will support the Pony Power campaign and raise lots of money for our vital work.”
British European dressage silver medallist, Laura Bechtolsheimer, is lending her support too. The equestrian star will hold an exclusive dressage clinic with the Pony Club Branch or Centre which raises the most money for our work.
Laura said: “I’m really pleased to be able to support the Pony Power campaign because I think it’s really important that we raise as much money as we can for the AHT.
Every horse and pony across the world has benefitted in some way by the charity’s work. That’s what makes what it does so vital.”
Throughout the year, the AHT will be running a Pony Power raffle with cash prizes for all winners and giving Pony Club Members the opportunity to win a course of 12 portable cross-country fences, a jump trailer and show jumps for their Branch or Centre.
Peter Webbon, added: “If Pony Club Members respond as I really hope they will and raise the target of £100,000 we will dedicate and name an equine research laboratory, here at the Trust, after The Pony Club.
“Every activity, regardless of how much it raises, will take us closer to this target, enabling us to save the lives of many more horses and ponies.”
For more information, click here: www.ponypower.org.uk
Sponsor Richard Dunwoody on our China Challenge – only two weeks to go!
In September 2010, Richard Dunwoody will head up the AHT’s exciting China Challenge; a 12-day trip to walk part of the Great Wall of China.
Richard is being joined by 10 intrepid trekkers all raising vital funds for our work.
The China Challenge team will fly to Beijing before setting off to a more remote section of the wall for five days of hiking and staying overnight in campsites or guest houses. They will then return to Beijing for a visit to the Forbidden City before boarding a flight to Chengdu in central China, where they will visit the Panda Sanctuary.
Since his retirement from racing, Richard has given tremendous support to many charities, including an appearance on TV show Strictly Come Dancing. He has completed a trek to the South Pole and walked 1000 miles in 1000 hours to raise money for Sparks, Spinal Research and Racing Welfare. Now he is undertaking a trip to China to help the Animal Health Trust raise funds to improve the lives of animals.
If you would like to sponsor him and the team to do this, you can do so by clicking on either of the buttons below.
Scientists at the AHT save foals from fatal condition
Scientists from the Animal Health Trust (AHT) and The University of Liverpool have identified the mutation responsible for Foal Immunodeficiency Syndrome (FIS), a condition which is fatal to all affected foals.
A DNA test to identify carriers of the mutation is now available from the AHT.
FIS, more commonly known as Fell Pony Syndrome, affects not only Fell ponies but also Dales ponies. It causes foals to become anaemic and fall prey to opportunistic infections. Sadly, any foal born with the syndrome will not survive.
The team led by the AHT’s Dr June Swinburne and Laura Fox-Clipsham, in collaboration with Professor Stuart Carter of the University of Liverpool, believe the discovery will prevent unnecessary suffering by preventing the birth of foals affected with this dreadful condition.
Dr. Swinburne, said: “After ten years of research, this is an exciting and important discovery for breeders of Fell and Dales Ponies across the world. By identifying the mutation and developing a DNA test, breeders will be able to make informed decisions about which ponies to breed. This should prevent unnecessary suffering and, in time, eradicate this awful condition.”
Professor Carter, said: “The University of Liverpool’s investment in the latest genomic technologies has made this breakthrough possible. On a personal level, it is so gratifying that after years of working with distraught breeders and owners, that we can now see our way to a future in which no more sick foals are produced. We can also ensure that this dreadful problem does not spread to other horse breeds.”
The research has only been possible thanks to funding from The Horse Trust and the support of the Fell Pony Society and the Dales Pony Society who have supplied DNA samples.
The Horse Trust's Chief Executive Brigadier Paul Jepson, said: “We’re thrilled to have been able to support this exciting project. It was evident from the start that this project would bring significant benefits for equine health and welfare, ultimately leading to the prevention and elimination of a fatal disease.”
Laura Fox-Clipsham, a PhD student whose work has led to the breakthrough and development of the proposed test, added: “We would urge any breeders of Fell or Dales Ponies to utilise the test once it is available. All they will need to do is send the AHT a sample of hair from the ponies for analysis. The information they will gain in return will arm them with the facts to avoid breeding foals with this devastating illness.”
For more information on the FIS DNA test, click here: http://www.aht.org.uk/genetics_fis.html