SEPE Online

The situation of many horses in a terrible state behind Fuengirola, (Malaga), that are along the river bed or tethered or hobbled behind the Miramar shopping centre gets us complaints on a daily basis. There does not appear to be any importance to improve the situation from Mayoress Esperanza Oña and her staff as this situation would have been resolved some years ago. Over the years we have only been asked to collect horses from this area when it has been far too late, some have been without paperwork, worm infested or have lost eyes due infections and lack of care or have over grown hooves or had viral infections. And how come there has not been a serious accident because of the horses and their foals running loose on the road is a miracle in itself. When we have had to pick up an equine there we have had to pick up huge bills and spend our very limited funds on trying to save these horses when it is far too late or have the cost of putting them down.

It is time for the local authorities to get this situation resolved!

Yet another Lucy Rees course was a huge success and well attended; everybody not only enjoyed the 3 day event but hopefully went home with a lot of knowledge knowing that there is a better way of training horses by understanding gentler methods! Lucy was assisted by Toño Hernandez and Raquel Villares and everybody had a great week end. She has a style and rapport with every horse which is very special and we eagerly await her next book, which hopefully will be on the shelves soon. We will of course let you know when we have further details! We are currently negotiating to have other training courses during 2,010 at our Malaga centre and will keep you posted.

The work is well underway at our centre in Malaga to turn one of the former piggeries into an indoor riding school which can be mainly used for the riding for the physically and mentally disadvantaged, which brings a great deal of joy into their lives. It also gives the older horses a real sense of usefulness that is mentally therapeutic to a formally active animal as well as its rider. It will be useful to us when we have training courses also when the weather is not so suitable. So far some of the parents of the physically and mentally disadvantaged have offered us some financial assistance on the work so we can get it underway to carry on classes throughout the year but we still desperately need financial assistance getting this facility up and running early in the new year. Of course once it is up and running we would like to hear from other individuals or organisations that would like to make full use of the new facility.

These are our latest acquisitions, which had to be rounded up after being in collision with a car just outside Alora, in the province of Malaga. Although luckily no one was injured there could have been more serious outcome, one mare was lucky to escape with minor injuries after being hit. The mare had lost the use of its sight in one eye but it was not believed to have been caused due to the collision.

As the Guardia Seville could not locate the owner the horses they were collected and taken to our facilities at Lauro Golf Centro Ecuestre in Alqueria, Alhaurin de la Torre, Malaga although the stallion was a little under weight and probably needed worming hopefully they can both be speedily brought back to health!

In 15 years of SEPE attending such incidents it is very unlikely that the owner of the horses will come to claim them as it will mean picking up any bills also!

If the owner does not come forward as with many other equines in our care at our facilities we will need sponsors.

We have Lucy Rees returning to our centre at Alhaurin de la Torre, Malaga to do her popular course one on the last week end in November 27th, 28th, 29th. The course will start with a meeting on the Friday afternoon preparing for a full day on the Saturday and then on most of the Sunday. Lunch will be provided on the Saturday and the cost of the course is 150 Euros and half must be paid as a deposited well in advance to confirm a place as there can only be a limited number.
We are always in need of further volunteer helpers for grooming and experienced riders for schooling, so if anyone can spare just a few hours a week please contact us. You can get further details by contacting Victoria at SEPE on 626677719

We had to say goodbye to our oldest resident Rica, who had been with us for many years. She was 43 years old and although she had quite a problem with arthritis in her later years she had been otherwise quite strong. She was rescued with another horse that had been abandoned on some land next to the American military base at Cadiz . When the people involved were transferred away from the base that had look after them they asked us to take them in. As she was like family we will all miss her very much.

Lucy Rees has informed us that she will be doing another course on Natural Horsemanship for us later in the year, so we need to know who will be taking part this year as early as possible as last year we had many people that were disappointed because they had missed the date, so please let us have your details if you wish to take part.

We have been very fortunate recently to have had some excellent knowledgeable volunteers stay at our Malaga centre that have helped us bring on horses that can be of use for either classes or for future training courses. Even those horses where we eventually decide can go out to new homes for adoption need to be brought on so they have a better chance of being re-homed. Apart from some very older equines we have several that have permanent injuries that will more than likely always with us, as it is very difficult to re-home these, even as companions. We get told by many so called experts that it would be more viable to put these horses down but whilst they are otherwise healthy and not suffering this will never be our policy.
Apart from always needing financial support, we still could do with further regular experienced volunteers that are able to help us with schooling as well as those needed for grooming and general welfare. Please contact if you could give us a little of your time.

2009 it has to be a year of change by trying to bring in experienced helpers and volunteers who are dedicated to improve the lives for the Spanish equine and wanting to see a better life for them. As this has been a very hard task in the past. We of course need dedicated people taking over key positions that have the expertise.

We need to have a total rethink on funding issues as the small social events do not pay even a fraction of our running costs even though all funds are always gratefully received. We desperately need the look at the broader picture and seek what help the commercial sector can offer us, we also need to look for grants and those supporters who are willing to make regular donations each month however small. Otherwise we can never hope to establish ourselves enough to lay the foundation for a better future for many equines that will need our support Our work and goals have to be from within our constitution, which needs to go far beyond the work we do at our shelter in Malaga.

We would like to thank all those who have pledged their help to us for the months ahead. We know as a society we have many people who have made provision for us in their will, which will hopefully make our society stronger for the next generation to take over and we truly thank all those people for their kind consideration and generosity.

In the picture our latest guest!

We have managed to find many horses from our Malaga centre new homes as we have put a lot of effort into advertising and finding them suitable situations. With the recession biting and all animal charities suffering financially, we feel to be able to run any type of emergency service for the police as we have over the years, we have to keep the monthly outlay to a minimum.
Some equines have been with us for a while and will be sadly missed but we know they will be happy in there new homes. We feel that with many people being out of work more horses, mules and donkeys will be abandoned due to the lack of finances and will need our help and support. It seems that terrible situation are arising regularly somewhere in Spain where the owner has run out of money and his horses are left to starve.
We of course are not backed financially by any authority in any way and unfortunately we can only take in what our finances will allow. Where some welfare situations have arisen there have been up to 30 horses needing support but we are just not able to cope with large numbers without financial backing.
For those who want to help support our work even if they donate 5 Euros on a monthly basis, this builds up and can give us the revenue to be able to offer a service to the police, who already have a difficult job with little support.

The picture is of our latest arrival who we have called Tapas after a local group that has supported our work.
She was taken from a building site near Cartama estacion although when brought in she was covered with black grease from the cranes on the building site she appeared very healthy compared with 99% of the animals we take into our sanctuary at Alhaurin del Torre. She of course has no micro chip so it is unlikely that the owner with try and claim her without having any documentation.
Although we still try to run a 24 hour service for many of the local police forces and take horses, mules and donkeys into our care that are abandoned or in accidents we still do not get any financial assistance from any Juntas or Ayuntamientos and the total cost of transport, veterinary fees, post-operatory care and farriery, as well as feed, bedding and all other maintenance costs of the Centre, is met with money from donations and funds raised by our collaborators.
For all the above, SEPE wishes once more to thank all the collaborators and volunteers who ensure its continued existence and help to better the lives of many animals, who cannot speak for themselves

We are pleased to announce that Lucy Rees is with us once again at SEPE ‘s centre on the 24th, 25th, 26th October for part 2 of her natural horsemanship course, which will be announced officially in the near future in the Spanish national equestrian magazines. For those who took part in the first part of the course we will be glad to have you back and for those who did not manage to attend part one of the course Lucy will try to bring you up to speed to include you. Unfortunately we can only have limited number of people on the course and those who book first will be accepted on a first come first served basis, so to avoid disappointment please let us know as soon as possible if you are enrolling.
Lucy is a renowned author and has a very natural way of communicating with horses from her studies in the wild. Maybe Monty Roberts and Pat Perelli are better know in Europe especially as they are great showman but many of Lucy’s supporters around the world think she has a very special talent second to none.
You can find out more about the course on Lucy’s web site.