Bransby Home of Rest for Horses was founded by Mr Peter Hunt in 1968 with the objective of rescuing horses, ponies and donkeys in need.
Always concerned about the welfare of horses, Mr Hunt rescued his first horse Sally in 1947. Sally a 4-year-old mare was being kept on a bombsite in South London. She was broken in at 18 months and was used to pull logs from a spinney. Sally was found tearing around a yard with a tyre round her neck after the furniture van she was kept in had overturned in a storm.
Mr Hunt rescued her for £14 and rented a stable for her for 2/6 a week. When Mr Hunt moved to Bransby to start the charity Sally came with him. One of the first horses rescued by the charity was a blind grey mare called Faith. Sally and Faith became firm friends.
As the years have passed Bransby has vastly expanded. Now set over 2 sites at Bransby and Stoke prior the charity is home to over 400 animals. Bransby, Lincoln is in over 600 acres and over 4 yards it is now home to over 290 animals, each yard specialising in specific areas. Bransby, Stoke Prior is set in over 90 acres of land with newly renovated buildings and home to over 115 animals.
Picture of Mr Hunt and Sally
Mr Hunt & Sally
Head Count
Correct on 2nd March 2012
Bransby Site
No. of animals at the Home = 325
No. of animals in loan homes = 147 Leominster Site
No. of animals at the Home = 102
No. of animals in loan homes = 15
Contact details
Address: Bransby Home of Rest for Horses, Bransby, Lincoln, LN1 2PH
Telephone: 01427 788464
Fax: 01427 787657 Email:mail@bransbyhorses.co.uk
Open times
Bransby is open to the public seven days a week, 365 days a year 10am - 4pm
Admission & parking is free
Click to go to map & directions
The original Victorian farmyard dates to 1858. It was built by Thomas Spencer who later emigrated to America. His initials appear on the wall of the original stable block. The main yard is home to over 90 animals, and is home to our shop and tearoom, picnic area, car park and toilet facilities. The original buildings have now been converted into an educational area to teach people about the welfare and correct care of horses. Our Rehabilitation barn and newly opened outdoor school can be found on this yard, as well as numerous stables and fields where the horses can live out in herds.
Main yard before refurbishment
Main yard after refurbishment
Rehabilitation barn
Outdoor school
the peter hunt yard
This yard was given its name in memory of the founder of the charity Mr Peter Hunt. This was the first yard that he purchased for stabling the horses.
It came with 8 acres of grassland and the original buildings were part of a dairy farm. The buildings which are now home to the welfare offices were originally used to keep the milk churns before they were transported to the station.
Peter Hunt Yard before
Peter Hunt Yard after
Woodchip area
The wooden stables on the yard were erected in the 1980’s with the proceeds of the Green Shield Stamps. This yard is home to over 60 animals, and has the specialised facilities such as our wood chip area, to house the lamanitic horses and ponies. The fields that directly surround this yard cater for the lamanitic animals and the fields which follow down the newly constructed walkways house bigger herds.
walklands farm
Walklands Farm was bought by the charity in 2001. Its original use was a large dairy farm which was built in 1968. The farm extends to over 300 acres. This had previously been used for arable farming, so needed to be converted to grazing land for the horses. This involved securely fencing the paddocks and fitting water troughs.
Walklands farm has 3 large barns once used to house cattle are now used to house groups of animals over winter. Rather than having individual stables like the other yards, the barns contain large pens which can house small groups of animals.
Walklands Farm barns
Walklands sand area
Walklands fields
The barns are bedded down in the winter and allow the horses to have warm shelter at night and then they are turned out in the adjoining fields during the day.
Walklands Farm is home to the donkey herd and the shire herd.
There is currently a new sand area under construction next to the barns this will be used to house some of the animals who are undergoing treatment for laminitis.
isolation
Our isolation yard is not open to the public due the sensitive nature of the work done here and the risk of disease.
This yard and the 150 acres of land surrounding it were once used for arable farming.
Isolation before work
Isolation after work
Isolation after work
Now it houses all incoming animals. Each animal must go through a strict isolation procedure to ensure that when they join the main herd they are healthy and free of disease.
priory farm
In 2003, Bransby had a great opportunity to expand its work when Joyce Hall kindly bequeathed The Priory at Stoke Prior in Herefordshire to Bransby. Arthur and Joyce Hall, who had earlier rescued eighteen bakery horses that were being sold due to mechanisation, relocated Nag Hill Home for Horses to the Priory over thirty years ago.
Over the years numerous horses and ponies had a peaceful retirement at the Priory. Joyce Hall wanted their work to continue at The Priory and kindly bequeathed the property to Bransby. The task of carrying out repairs to The Priory started in the summer of 2004.
All photographs are of Priory Farm before the building work commenced
The Priory is now up and running as our second rescue centre and is busy caring for over 100 horses and ponies and providing them with a safe home for the rest of their lives.
Consisting of a large house with stone barns and 30 acres of land, this most generous gift was a wonderful opportunity for Bransby Home of Rest for Horses to extend its important welfare work to an area outside of Lincolnshire.
