A HERD of rescue horses have been given a slight reprieve after getting a temporary place to stay.

Equine Gentling, a not-for-profit organisation that rehabilitates rescue horses and supports young people, have been allowed to stay temporarily at a 12 acre site just outside of Ditchling after being evicted from a plot near Steyning at the end of last month.

Owner and founder Dan Corbin said: “The most generous couple have allowed our herd to graze their land in a way that helps us both.

“We need land so we can continue our work - with this collaboration, our horses will nurture the land, clearing the way for their inspiring conservation project."

The new home has meant that the group has been able to restart some of their community work, organising sponsored walks every week and inviting groups to visit the herd.

He said: “It’s so wonderful to see the herd reconnect with some of our most vulnerable people and we’ve started seeing new volunteers and have had some great work mornings.

“We also have a footpath that runs along the side of the land and have had lots of wonderful conversations with more of the local community.”

However, Dan explained that the herd requires more acreage or other sites within which the herd can rotate their grazing.

The organisation has roughly a month to find another plot, and is currently putting a proposal together for local campsites, farms and landowners around the Ditchling area.

He said: “Our hope is to change the perception that horses damage the land and, of course, give our young people a place to keep building their relationships with the horses.”

Dan’s grand plan is to create an alternative agricultural college of sorts, which would take a farm the size of Home Farm at Stanmer Park. The organisation are currently creating a ten-year plan to put in a public bid for the tenancy in September next year.

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