Horse Shepherd Equine Sanctuary

25/05/2025

A big 'thank you' to Petstock for the fabulous 2 pallets of goodies that arrived for the animals of the Sanctuary - it felt like Xmas. Even little HSES Bart who has been very sick popped outside in the sun for an inspection!

21/05/2025

Today, dosed with pain relief little HSES Jewel has had her long hooves trimmed. Journey to pain free underway. Thank you Jack and Nick Hoofcare for coming so quickly.

20/05/2025

This has been a hectic few weeks - on Thursday with thanks to RSPCA Victoria Inspector Frank, we were able to secure the surrender of two dear little ponies HSES Jewel and HSES Moon.
Sadly HSES Moon (Black Shetland with a beautiful nature) was too badly compromised and in significant pain leaving us no option but to put her to sleep. Thank you again to Ballarat Equine Clinic Vet Rachel for your kindness at these difficult times.
We promised little Moon that we would do our darnedest to rehabilitate her best friend. Laminitis is one of the cruelest chronic conditions we see and we have some exciting plans underway to be able to assist owners - to be announced soon.
We will share little HSES Jewels journey - tonight she is tucked up in a soft box with a new friend HSES Rocky.

19/05/2025

Thank you to Felix who has spent the last 3 months volunteering here at HSES. Felix is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the USA. After receiving their Global Gap Year Fellowship, which provided Felix the funded opportunity to volunteer abroad for a year, he chose HSES!
We wish you well in your future studies and travel.
Now we turn our focus to the Melbourne University Vet students who chose HSES to complete a placement.

17/05/2025

We can't save them all, however we really have saved some super horses! Horses that were written off, malnourished, neglected and even destined for pet food. Meet HSES Monty showing what a wonderful breed the standies are, his first session with Ewan.

14/05/2025

Equine Welfare in Victoria is at a crisis point.
There is a growing gap between animals in desperate need of help and the animal charities available. A perfect storm of economic downturn, a prolonged drought, significant increase in feed costs, and a dwindling welfare system is at play. The scale of this situation is unprecedented.
The RSPCA have stated today via media that unless they receive significantly more funding from the Government they will be forced to drop poultry, livestock, and equine.
While social media is a powerful tool in spreading awareness we worry that the discussion surrounding the costs involved in rescue and rehabilitation is not attracting the same attention and focus. Many times we observe the unrealistic expectations that these horses go to rescue. The stark reality is there are very few organisations if any in a financial position to help all, there are many groups on the brink of closing and many have already disappeared.
A decision by the RSPCA which we are sure was not taken lightly both signals the enormity of the problem but also puts us on notice of the scale and extent of the challenge ahead.
We are grateful to our wonderful support base, without you we couldn't exist. We are constantly balancing our existing commitments to the animals in our care with the everyday surrender requests

09/05/2025

Greetings fair readers! It is I, Sir Ed. Have you missed me? As you all know, I run this joint, and things have been fairly busy recently. The two-legs decided this morning I should receive some recognition for my hard work and took me out for coffee and cake!

We stayed local and went to our town’s cafe, Gordons at Gordon Well! They certainly knew how to treat a pony of my importance. A carrot was provided on my arrival, tick! Patrons swooned, yes swooned, at how handsome I am and gave many compliments, tick! Coffee AND banana cake was provided, big tick! I’ll admit to having had my heart set on a good carrot cake but that banana cake…YUMMY. So make sure you head on down and get some. It’s delicious.

I’m told my Shire of Moorabool has many great attractions in it. I mean, I thought I was the greatest attraction but apparently there are others. If you’d like a visit from me to promote your business in the area, talk to my people and we’ll organise something.

07/05/2025

Here they are! Our month of May pin-ups in our 2025 calendar. HSES Doc and HSES Elvis, two larger than life characters that call the Sanctuary home.
HSES Doc a two time Echuca saleyards veteran as a young horse with a sign that stated "will rip your head off - dog meat only".
HSES Elvis - arriving in a truckload of 13 unhandled malnourished ponies - this little stallion now gelded just loves to play with the big guys.
Huge thank you to Frank & Libby for their sponsorship of Doc and Julie for sponsoring Elvis so the fun and games can continue.

06/05/2025

A huge thank you to Tim Beggs Horse Transport for transporting HSES Levi and HSES Kari to their new home with Toni and Jeff in Leongatha today. HSES Levi's companion girlfriend Kari hasn't floated for at least 10 years however kindly handled by Tim and with a huge heart of love for Levi saw her load straight on the float. They will think they have landed in heaven with all that grass!

02/05/2025

New in the shop - a special collection of our three best sellers. Frangipani, Gardenia and Lime&Coconut. All lovingly hand poured to order right here in Australia. Say I love you mum with gifts for good, all proceeds support the rescue and rehabilitation of our beautiful equines. The link to purchase is in our profile. Thank you for your support. 🙏

24/04/2025

23/04/2025

Gosh there is a lot of great reading in the Hoofbeats magazine and you can purchase online. Perfect for the weekend! There is a great article on sponsorship of SANCTUARY horses where we feature. We love the cover photo of Corinna from Angel Lodge and her rescue pony Griffin.

Australian Equestrian Magazine - riding, training and horsekeeping