News
The Moorland Mousie Trust receives Royal Patronage!
Press Release
'A small, Exmoor Pony based charity, The Moorland Mousie Trust received its highest accolade to date recently when Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall accepted their invitation to become Patron.
This honour is the culmination of eight years of hard work for the organisation’s founder and chief executive, Mrs Valerie Sherwin, who is thrilled to have their work recognised by such a high-profile figure. Mrs Sherwin said: “I was surprised and delighted to think that Her Royal Highness feels that our small charity is worthy of her patronage, we are very honoured and look forward to being able to welcome her to Exmoor one day. Her Royal Highness apparently has fond memories of the Moorland
Mousie Books as a child and is a keen horsewoman”.
The name of the charity came from the “Moorland Mousie” books, written in the 1920’s which tell the story of the life of an Exmoor Pony. The books also had an educational aspect to them, as they taught children how to look after their ponies through the various episodes of his life, very much like the Anna Sewell Black Beauty story.
The Moorland Mousie Trust was founded in 2000 by Mrs Sherwin, who lives on Exmoor, and Sue Wingate, an equestrian artist from Surrey. They were joined later that year by Juliet Rogers from Northumberland, now Chairman of the Trust. The Trust was established in order to help stop the decline in sales of Exmoor pony foals. Juliet says, “We all felt that it was so sad that a British rare breed suffered from a lack of prestige and sales. These ponies are a special part of our heritage and thanks to the establishment of The Exmoor Pony Centre, which is now the base for The Moorland Mousie Trust, more people are learning about the ponies who otherwise may not have done so”.
This is the second big milestone in the charity’s short lifespan. Exmoor National Park Authority recognised the importance of the work by awarding £69,000 to the project through its Sustainable Development fund, and Defra also gave £34,000 towards the establishment of the Exmoor Pony Centre via the Rural Enterprise Scheme. Juliet said: “These two awards, alongside several smaller grants and donations have all helped to raise the profile of these unique British treasures. Phase one of the project, the Centre is now up and running and is proving to be a success. We have visitors on a daily basis, and the profile of the breed is being raised all the time. I hope that the Patronage from Her Royal Highness will help to build on our success and also move us on to the next phase to establish an education centre in a disused building known as The Music Room”.
Golden Horseshoe Pleasure Ride
Thank you to everybody who took part and visited the staff and volunteers at this years Golden Horseshoe event. The weather was fantastic, ponies and riders all had a good time. Sponsorship monies are still coming in however we are pleased to announce that we have already topped last years total. The ride is important to the Charity for fundraising but also to show the capabilities and fun that can be had on Exmoor ponies. Watch this space for more photos.
Lots of fun had by all at the popular 'craft afternoons'
Volunteers needed
If you are interested in helping the Moorland Mousie Trust with its work including that at the Exmoor Pony Centre please visit the recruitment web page for more information.
Easter Fun Day - Fabulous!
Thank you to everyone who kept faith and visited the Centre on our Fun Day, 23rd March 2008, despite the overnight frosting of snow. It was a fantastic day which helped to raise much needed funds for The Moorland Mousie Trust. Staff, volunteers and visitors all had a great time. Special thanks to adopters who came to visit their adopted ponies and also to our dedicated volunteers who helped set up the event and assisted on the day. We look forward to what is sure to be an annual event!
Santa at the Exmoor Pony Centre
December was a great month at the Centre and thank you to everyone who helped us during the Christmas period. We hope to make our Santa's Grotto an annual attraction, to find out more call the Centre after the 1st November 2008.
 
Sadie and Jenny preparing for Santa's arrival
Grand Draw Winners
The 'Grand Draw' raised desperately needed funds that will go towards the hard work of The Moorland Mousie Trust and The Exmoor Pony Centre. Thank you to all of the kind prize donators, the supporters who turned up to view the draw, and of course everyone who bought a ticket. Your generosity will help the charity to continue to promote and conserve the Exmoor pony.
The draw took place on Thursday 14th November. Supporters, staff and volunteers gathered to view the draw, some even taking a starring role by picking winning tickets which were then announced by Valerie Sherwin, founder of The Moorland Mousie Trust. Photographs were taken by Mike Sherwin and results were recorded by Linzi Green. The results are as follows:
White Horse Inn, Exford 2 nights B&B : Ticket 01689 R. Harries
£100 Gift Voucher: Ticket 04718 V. Collins
Mounted Mike Sherwin Photo: Ticket 10542 C. Davies
Woods Bistro Meal Voucher: Ticket 03834 P.Hall
Reserves: Ticket 05766 R. Boundy
Reserves : Ticket 05146 J. Ablett
Amanda Sareen picking a winning ticket,
announed by Valerie Sherwin
Foal Handling a great success
Once again the Centre welcomed Sarah Weson to run the course 'Handling the Young Exmoor Pony'. As expected Sarah impressed staff, volunteers, participants and spectators alike with her skills and intuitive handling techniques. The Centre took on 22 colt foals, all of whom had training and progressed fantastically. Some of these foals have made their journey's to foster homes or to our base in Northumberland. As some of you may know Barney was a big hit last year and he has already found a willing successor, Peanut! Peanut is calm, quiet and cute as well as being very friendly and inquisitive. So please make a trip to the Centre to visit him, his remaining friends and to support the work we do.
For more details about the 2008 course or to know more about foal sponsorship or fostering please contact the Centre.
Birthday Celebrations. 26th July 2007
We have just celebrated our first birthday. We had a lovely afternoon tea party on the actual day, 26th July, where we had the chance to thank so many of our supporters, and we were also very lucky to receive a most welcome cheque for £2,000 from The Exmoor Trust. Amongst the guests were visitors from the Exmoor area and further afield. Johnny and Julie Kingdom put in an appearance, which caused great excitement with the children who were here having their taster session. Here are some of the photos from our parties:
  
  
  
 
The Golden Horseshoe Sponsored Ride.
Congratulations to all who took part, depsite the miserable weather. The rain never stopped until the last hour. Ten of our ponies took part, partnered by volunteers and staff. At present the total raised is in excess of £1200. We were quite surprised at the number of people who took part, not just Exmoor ponies, many having driven some distance to be there. Special mention must be made of one of our regular supporters, Helena Ahier and her Gelderlander "Hopeful" who became an honorary Exmoor for the day. They travelled from Oxfordshire, in a hired horsebox, and due to an accident the previous day, found themselves being used as emergency transport, along with supporters Lindy Mitchell and Harry Crawford. Helen and Hopeful raised an amazing £317. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took part and raised money for us, and a very big thank you to Barbara Wigley and The Golden Horseshoe organisers for choosing our charity to benefit from the event.
Pictured above left to right:Margaret Aureback and Katie, Lousie and Rufus, Jenny Deane and Tuppence, Lisa Chawner and Ossian, Anne Ansell and Dylan, Verity Lunn and Abbi, Laura Goodfellow and Mouse, Eleanor Lunn and Tom, Leigh Crossman and Bertie and Rosie and Rama.
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