Q&A with Rosie Mogford

This quarter we get up close and personal with Rosie Mogford the Equine Welfare Education Officer at The Blue Cross animal charity who was at the forefront of organising The Blue Cross Fat Horse Slim Campaign..

Q1

How long have you been working with The Blue Cross?

I joined The Blue Cross in 2005, as Deputy Centre Manager at our Burford Equine Centre and then moved on to manage the re- homing centre at Northiam E Sussex, before taking up this role in 2008. It is 5 years almost, and the longest I have stayed in one  job; it certainly keeps me busy and interested - there is always so much more on the horizon.

Q2

What does your job involve on a day to day basis?

These days my job is nearly all office based and quite different from my freelancing days. Now it is anything from liaising with other welfare organisations regarding sharing the load when welfare prosecution cases need to be taken in, to writing and updating operating and training procedures and educational literature or answering welfare concerns from people who contact The Blue Cross for advice. My job is very varied, no chance to get bored!

Q3

Do you own your own horse and what activities do you take part in?

The last horse I owned, an ID/TB, I actually bred. Last year I sold her and she has now moved to France!

Q4

What prompted the launch of the Fat Horse Slim Campaign?

We take in horses which do not have homes and find them long term loan homes. Over the last few years we began to realise that we were taking in fat or obese horses and their owners had no idea that their horse's health was at risk. We also found that it takes longer to reduce the weight of a fat horse than to build up a skinny one. Also the overweight horses often had permanent health problems like laminitis, or joint issues which is such a shame.

Q5

What’s your top tip for owners of overweight horses and ponies?

  • Remember the lifestyle horses are designed for, especially any horse with native blood, and try to give them as much of that as you can.
  • Remember what is nice for us, is not always what is good for them!
  • Monitor the weight of your horse with weight tape and Body Fat Scoring and do not rely on your (biased!) eyes to spot weight gain.
  • There is a lot of very good information starting to become available on the internet so people can find out a  lot themselves. But to make it easier, just buy one of the Blue Cross Fat Horse Slim Packs!

Q6

Have you had any embarrassing ‘horsey’ moments since you’ve been working for The Blue Cross?

I sometimes volunteer at our rehoming centre and ride horses that need to be kept ticking over while they are waiting for homes. I don't know the horses that well since I moved to office work and I once had to go back and ask which horse was which when I was confronted with a field of bay thoroughbreds and didn’t know who to bring in . It made me feel like a beginner!

Q7

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

'Don't blame the horse'

Q8

If you won the Lottery and could own any horse or any piece of horsey equipment what would it be either for you or the horses at The Blue Cross?

I would love to get a nice big oval horse walker for our Rolleston centre and some comfortable sand laminitic paddocks for our Burford centre for when ponies come in with laminitis. We pride ourselves on horses not getting laminitis in our care but if they come in with it they need lots of TLC. These are on our wish lists, but we may have to keep dreaming!

For more information, see The Blue Cross and The Blue Cross Fat Horse Slim campaign websites.