NL 80

Newsletter No 80 Fforest Uchaf Farm. Maindy Road, (Maendy) Penycoedcae, Pontypridd.

R.C.T, Wales. UK. CF37 1PS Tel; 01443 480327 info@pitponies.co.uk www.pitponies.co.uk www.sponsorapony.co.uk Open to visitors; May/Oct=Sunday 11am – 4pm. Weekdays 10am – 2pm. Closed Saturdays Nov/April= by appointment, www.visitpitponies.co.uk Adults £4:00 OAP/Children £2:00 or £10:00 per car. Groups/Schools/Clubs by appointment. Special needs visitors please telephone to discuss your needs.

NB All visitors it is always advisable to telephone 01443 480327 or 07798584735 before you visit.

PROVIDING TENDER LOVING CARE TO NEEDY HORSES & PONIES

Pit Pony Jake sadly has died. He was unexpectedly struck down with colic. The vet attended and tried to help him but sadly, he was beyond help; He died at the farm free from fear and pain with people who loved him. The vet thought it was age related. We were shocked as he was previously so well and nothing had changed in his routine.

Jake was built like a brick outhouse and was so strong. He seemed invincible. He had a good retirement with us and spent many lovely days with the company of his many four legged friends. We are very glad to have known him.

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Tales from the yard.

The ponies had to be urgently, shut out of the nursery field late last summer as some parts of the wall had collapsed overnight. Some very kind folk pictured here from the Dry Stone Walling Association Welsh Branch came recently and repaired the worst two places in the wall for the ponies. The dry spell before Storm Emma met the “beast from the east� as the weather man told us, it allowed us to let the ponies back into the Nursery field until the snow came.

In the picture below they are having a drink and wandering along, as they have not yet realised the gate is open.

These few balmy days made us all think spring was coming. We even saw Crows flying over carrying twigs to build their nests. Then Bam the snow and wind hit.

The centre was snowed in for several days and eventually we had to dig our way out with the JCB as we were running short of pony feed and groceries,

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Pit Pony Dylan is having trouble shedding his coat and looks a real wooly bully. We have been helping him from time to time with a rubber currie comb (picture inserted ) party. It’s the only painless way to help him. He is rubbing himself all around the yard. He is a Strawberry Roan with black points (lower legs) and changes colour with the seasons. His coat comes through quite brown and changes to grey as the year goes on.

Snow very pretty to see but glad when it is gone. We have not seen much for several winters. We have made up for it this winter!

Star

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Rosie is a little mischievous and is now in Jake’s old stable to occupy Dylan thoughts! So he did not fret so much.

Jake in the yard with his many friends. He has been licking the Molasses mineral lick, they get it all over their muzzles then spread it all over the others. He now wants to groom with Puzzle and spread it all over him. He was such a character (as all the old Pit Ponies have been) and we will really miss him.

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“Congo says will campaign to prevent child labor in cobalt mines.

In the news. March 1, 2018 LONDON (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo will launch

this month new monitoring and tracing mechanisms to tackle child labor in cobalt and copper production, a mines ministry official said on Thursday. Sourcing of the metals has come into focus as manufacturers scramble to secure supplies of cobalt, a key component in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, as production of electric cars surges. Congo is by far the world’s biggest producer of cobalt, accounting for more than half of global supply. But rights groups say child labor is used to produce some of that cobalt. Amnesty International calculates a fifth of the country’s cobalt output is mined by hand by informal miners, including children. Alexis Mikandji, the director general of the Ministry of Mines’ certification agency, CEEC, said the Congo had eliminated the practice in the production of diamonds, iron ore and tungsten. Now it has moved on to tackle child labor at copper and cobalt mines, Mikandji told a metals conference in London. “There (in copper and cobalt mines) we have stepped in to look at putting in traceability and monitoring systems,” Mikandji said.“In fact, these mechanisms that I have just mentioned will be operational this very month, March 2018.”

The new mechanisms would apply to artisanal or small scale miners, their customers and operations run by both small and large scale mining firms, he said.

Congo’s parliament approved a new mining code in late January that would raise taxes and royalties and eliminate stability agreements for miners such as Randgold Resources, Ivanhoe China Molybdenum and Glencore.

Mikandji declined to comment on whether President Joseph Kabila had signed the code into law. Last week, a senior aide to Kabila said the president he had not yet.

Under the constitution, the president has 15 days from the time parliament sends him the bill to either sign it into law or return it to parliament for further deliberation. If he takes no action, the bill automatically becomes law”. Gleaned from the internet.

The dangers of anti-freeze and choosing the “right” one. Following a report from Social Media that a well-meaning woman had put anti-freeze in her field drinking water and killed her pony and several others I found this! “Anti-freeze, or ethylene glycol, is regularly used at this time of year as a coolant in car radiators and is the leading cause of serious accidental poisoning in cats and dogs. Ethylene glycol is a toxin that makes up roughly 95% of all commercial anti-freeze solutions. It is not poisonous in itself, but when broken down in the body and absorbed, ethylene glycol compounds are highly toxic, acidifying the blood and eventually leading to total renal failure. Because the early signs of ethylene glycol poisoning are non-specific and are quite often mistaken for other problems, incidences of poisoning commonly are not treated within the critical period when veterinary intervention could be successful. Unless you are fortunate enough to catch your pet ingesting anti-freeze, you might put down its general malaise to simply being ‘under the weather’ or ‘out of sorts,’ rather than seeking immediate veterinary help. By the time your pet does start displaying obvious symptoms, it is likely to have become uremic, meaning your pet's kidneys have failed. At this point, the prognosis is usually poor. Unfortunately, anti-freeze is thought

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to have a sweet taste, something that makes it immediately appealing to animals, especially cats. The additive is also odourless and colourless (sometimes) so cats and dogs are not repelled by it, thinking instead that it might be some sweet tasting water. For this reason, it is essential that, if there is a spillage of anti-freeze from your vehicle that makes it onto the ground, you clean it up before your pet has access to it. If you see your pet ingesting, or suspect it has ingested anti-freeze, contact your vet immediately. The sooner it’s treated, the greater you’re pet's chance of survival, even if only a small amount is consumed. It is thought that less than 5 tablespoons of anti-freeze is enough to poison a medium-sized dog, with much less affecting cats (1 tablespoon). There are three stages of anti-freeze poisoning; initial symptoms, which may be evident within 30 minutes of ingestion, are relatively minor (i.e. vomiting, a 'tipsy' or un-coordinated gait, tremors or twitching, increased thirst and urination, and mild to severe depression). Moving into stage 2, animals tend to stop displaying obvious symptoms while the toxin is being absorbed from the digestive system and causing internal damage. By stage 3 of poisoning (usually within 12-24 hours in cats and 36-72 hours in dogs), symptoms will progress catastrophically, with severe lethargy and depression being evident, along with a tender or painful abdomen (around the kidneys), excessive salivation, a low body temperature and rapid heart rate, convulsions and complete deterioration. If you are certain your pet has consumed anti-freeze and isn't suffering from some lesser complaint, before taking it along to the vet, try giving it a strong salt water solution to make it vomit up the harmful toxin. Do this no more than 3 times at 10 minute intervals and, if unsuccessful, go straight to your nearest veterinary practice. Others recommend giving a small amount of neat spirit, which acts almost as an antidote for the ethylene. Because anti-freeze is a common product found in most households and garages, our pets are frequently exposed to it, especially when we top up our cars and it leaks from the radiator. Cats are a lot more likely to lick this up than dogs, being left to wander unattended outside, and need to ingest a far smaller amount of ethylene glycol to be in danger. If you own a cat or know of cats in your area, be particularly vigilant about using anti-freeze and make sure it is stored well out of harm's way. Thankfully anti-freeze poisoning is completely avoidable so, as long as you are sensible about where you leave it and how you use it (and your neighbours too!), there should not be any danger to your pets. Make sure all containers are securely sealed after use and be sure to check the floors of garages and driveways for any spillages. If you use anti-freeze a lot at this time of year, think about switching to a propylene glycol-based one instead as, while it is still toxic, it is far safer than the ethylene glycol solutions on the market”. Gleaned from the internet as we have 12 Cats.

Dennis wrote. The first Job I ever had I was placed into the stables to work. I could have been a Horse Keeper if I had wanted to. I liked the Ponies, I Liked working with the Ponies and without those Ponies, we had two hundred of them in Chilton Colliery. There would not have been any coal production without them. They were the ones who did all the work, taking the empty tubs in and bringing the full ones out and it’s not; it’s not on the level, when you go down the mine it’s not level you’re going up steep hills and going down steep banks it was not easy work for the Pit Ponies.

Her Majesty’s Customs & Excise sent a nice cheque for £3827.02 from returned taxes from you lovely supporters who have signed up to “Gift Aid” that buys a lot of TLC ! Thank you all who have signed up. Have you? Look for “GA” on the bottom right of your address label. If it’s there give your self a clap. If not and you pay Tax just let us know.

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Donations have recently been received in memory of; Mrs Vivienne Clayforth, Mr Richard Robert Wright and Mrs Doris W M Wright, Mr Douglas J Williams Dr J Thomas who left the Ponies a legacy. oO-0-Oo

Thank you Rhys who saves his pocket money and recently took £10 into Inter-aid Charity Shop in Cardiff for Christine to pass on to us for the Ponies. Well done!

We still need your unwanted Jewellery for the Ponies.

Please ask your family &

friends, colleagues at work. Let us know if you need Posters!

Alyson Tyler sent a donation of £398 raised by taking a % off her Yoga class teaching income to make the Ponies happy. What a good girl!

Thank you all who save and send stamps.

They are still generating a small income that

helps a lot with the winter-feeding. Well done!

Pamela wrote:

I am a retired Home Economics Teacher. A few years ago (12) you printed an excellent fruit loaf recipe. I made many of these loaves with senior pupils to be served at the annual McMillan Coffee Morning we also put the recipe into a little school produced recipe book to help raise extra funds for McMillan. I always enjoy reading the “little Taste of Wales recipe’s but this was a particularly good one. Sadly, I seem to have lost my cherished copy of the recipe and wondered if it could be printed again in a future Newsletter? I guess Pamela is talking about “Bara Brith” a famous Welsh loaf cake. Therefore, here goes.

Enjoy a little Taste of Wales.

Bara Brith Ingredients. 8oz Mixed Dried Fruit, 4oz Dark soft brown sugar, 8oz Self Raising Flour, one 2oz free range egg, ½ pint of hot tea, a pinch of mixed spice, a pinch of salt, one tablespoon of marmalade.

Method. Put the fruit, sugar, spice, salt & marmalade in a mixing bowl. Pour on hot tea and leave to soak overnight. Next day add the egg and flour and mix well. Put into a loaf tin -2lb size.

Cook for one and quarter hours at 150 degrees centigrade gas Mark 2 or 300 degrees F. Serve sliced with copious hot tea, and spread with butter & jam, or clotted cream & preserve if you are posh.

Mwynhewch y pryd! (Enjoy your meal)

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www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/pitpony/

sent cheques for the Ponies for £33.02 and £91.47 A big Thank you all who use the system for your shopping and or use http://pitpony.easysearch.org.uk/ to find things on the internet. By using easysearch instead of Google or any other search engine, you can make a real difference. easysearch is completely FREE and by making just 10 searches a day, you could raise around £20 a year for the Ponies.

As well as raising funds, easysearch also gives you the best search results available on web.

Today, the Internet is so big that different search engines will often deliver different results for the same search. So, by combining the strengths of several search engines together - Yahoo!, MIVA, and many more - you get the very best results in terms of accuracy and relevance, which means you'll find what you're looking for quickly and easily every time - all in one 'easy' search! Every little helps!

Spike also known as Mr Stressy

There are three little ponies in here for company for Spike.

is pictured here having his evening meal. Neither in or out of his stable! Come rain or shine he will not be shut in! Later he will turn around to his hay that hangs in a net at the back of his stable. However, he wanders in and out all night. His enormous feed bucket has to be that big or his swishes his food out all over the floor. If the chickens were not currently, prisoners of the Bird Flu regulations he would have an audience of several around him as even with his big feed bin he is a messy feeder. Give a car! Tom and his team have taken a simple idea and made it work for wider benefit.

The good deeds done with the donations from Giveacar must be awesome. It still amazes us that people choose Old Pit Ponies to benefit. We know nothing of the process. We just trust in Tom & his Team that it has all done properly.

We just get an e-mail from Tom with good news in it. It is the easiest fundraising we do by far. Just a few words in our Newsletters and the contact details on the websites. If your old car is running or not just ring; 020 7736 4242 and give them the details and of course mention you want the funds raised to benefit the Pit Ponies.

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