ILPH steps up fight against obesity among the UK’s leisure horses
The ILPH will now be equipped with weightapes to help in its fight against equine obesity, thanks to horse feed manufacturer Dodson & Horrell.
Obesity is the biggest threat to equine welfare in the UK, says Roly Owers, chief executive of leading horse charity, the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH).
“It’s much easier to bring an underweight animal up to weight than it is to reduce a horse’s weight when it is obese,” said Mr Owers.
“And it’s much harder to seize overweight horses than ones that are underweight — because overweight horses are just seen as ‘healthy’.”
The ILPH has been running a “right weight road show” in its attempt to tackle obesity at its root cause.
Last week the ILPH’s right weight road show team received a significant boost in its work with the donation of 25 weightapes from horse feed manufacturers Dodson & Horrell.
The ILPH’s right weight manager Samantha Lewis said: “This is great news and means that every one of our field officers, loan visits officers and recovery and rehabilitation centres will have their own weightape.”
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The road show team is out and about this spring and summer visiting local riding clubs, livery yards and colleges, educating owners and riders about the right weight for their horses and ponies.
To find out how to arrange a visit to your group or yard, contact Samantha Lewis, tel: 01953 497217 or email samanthal@ilph.org or visit www.ilph.org
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