Horsepool Farm

08/06/2026

🌿🐑 SAVE THE DATE! 🐐🐹

We are delighted to announce that our Annual Open Day will be taking place on:

📅 Saturday 29th August 2026
🕰️ 10am - 3pm

Come and join us for a fun-filled day at the farm and discover what makes Horsepool such a special place. Whether you’ve visited us before or are joining us for the first time, we’d love to welcome you!

💚 Meet our wonderful animals
🐑 Watch animal demonstrations
☕ Refreshments available
💬 Chat with the team and find out more about what we do
🌿 Enjoy a relaxed day out in the countryside

🎟 Entry is just £1 per person
👶 Under 3s go free

Our Open Day is a great opportunity to explore the farm, meet the animals, learn about our sessions and projects, and spend time with family and friends in a peaceful setting.

More details will be announced closer to the event, but for now make sure to pop the date in your diary!

We can’t wait to welcome you all to the farm 💙💚

02/06/2026

🌿 Gardening Volunteers Wanted! 🌿

We’re looking for a few green-fingered volunteers to help us keep Horsepool Farm and our beautiful Airbnb, Lavender Lodge, looking their best.

Tasks could include weeding, watering, planting, pruning, sweeping, general tidying, and helping us keep our outdoor spaces welcoming for both our visitors and animals. Whether you’re an experienced gardener or simply enjoy being outdoors and getting stuck in, we’d love to hear from you.

Volunteering can be flexible, and every bit of help makes a huge difference to our small team.

If you enjoy fresh air, beautiful surroundings, and being part of a friendly community project, please get in touch. 🌸

To find out more, send us a message and we’ll arrange for you to come down, meet the team, and see the space.

Thank you for supporting Horsepool Farm and Lavender Lodge 💚

01/06/2026

🌿✨ Exciting Summer Holiday News at Horsepool Farm ✨🌿

We are so excited to announce that over the upcoming summer holidays we will be trialling Tuesday morning independent family sessions here at the farm 🐑🐐🐇

These sessions are designed to give families the chance to enjoy our peaceful, calm and quiet space, especially for those where regular 1-1 sessions may not always be possible. Come and spend some gentle time with the animals, enjoy the farm atmosphere and make some lovely memories together 💛

📍 Tuesdays during the summer holidays
🕘 9am – 1pm
⏰ Half hour bookable slots
💷 Introductory contribution of £10 for up to 5 people

Please note these sessions are strictly pre-booked only — unfortunately you will not be able to just turn up as permission is needed to access the site.

To book or find out more please message us or email:
📧 [email protected]

We cannot wait to welcome some new families onto the farm this summer 🌞🐾

25/05/2026

✨ We have some incredibly exciting news to share! ✨

Our wonderful Barnaby has been named a finalist in the Animal category for the BBC Radio Leicester Make A Difference Awards 🏆

We honestly could not be prouder of this very special boy. Barnaby works tirelessly to brighten the lives of our poolers and brings comfort, smiles and confidence to so many people every single day. Whether he’s gently supporting someone through a difficult moment, making everybody laugh with his cheeky personality or simply being there for a cuddle, he truly makes a difference everywhere he goes 💛

To see him recognised for the joy and support he gives to others means the absolute world to us. We already know how amazing he is, but it’s so lovely to see others recognising it too 🐑✨

We are beyond proud of you Barnaby 💛

BBC Leicester

22/05/2026

A very important job on the farm this week was weighing our donkeys 🫏⚖️

Regularly weighing our animals is a huge part of keeping them healthy and happy. It helps us monitor their overall condition, make sure they are getting the correct amount of feed, and allows us to spot any changes early before they become bigger problems. It’s also really important for accurate medication and wormer dosing to keep them safe and well.

Densel is sitting at a beautiful weight and has gained a little recently, which is exactly what we would expect as he matures into his adult donkey body 🫏💛

Colin on the other hand has always been a little on the chunky side since arriving with us, so we like to keep a close eye on his weight in case we ever need to make changes to help keep him healthy and comfortable.

Donkeys in particular can be very prone to weight gain, which can lead to health issues such as laminitis, so keeping track of their weight is essential. Equally, unexpected weight loss can be an early sign that something isn’t quite right.

Both boys took it all in their stride and enjoyed plenty of fuss afterwards of course ✨

Good welfare is always at the heart of everything we do here at Horsepool Farm, and sometimes the little routine jobs make the biggest difference 🫏

21/05/2026

☀️🎉 Come and see us at the Burbage Big Summer Bash! 🎉☀️

We’re so excited to be attending on Sunday 28th June from 12pm–5pm 🌿🐾

We’ll have lots of fun activities at our stand including:

🐶 K9 First Aid Demonstrations
🍬 Guess how many sweets are in the jar
🌈 Sensory activities
🐷 Name the pig!

Come along, say hello, learn more about what we do here at Horsepool Farm and meet some of the team behind our little farm community 💛

We can’t wait to see everyone there!

Britannia Fields (Burbage Rfc)
Burbage Parish Council
Burbage Carnival & Fireworks events burbageevents

09/05/2026

🐷✨ Our piglets have their names! ✨🐷

After so many wonderful suggestions and lots of thought, we’re so excited to introduce the newest members of the Horsepool family…

🖤 Obsidian (Obi) – our black and gold boy
💙 Sapphire – our beautiful black girl
💛 Citrine – our black girl with gorgeous golden tips
🤍 Topaz – our stunning black and white girl

A huge thank you to everyone who helped with suggestions and supported us in choosing the perfect gemstone-inspired names for these beautiful new additions.

We’re so excited for you all to watch them grow as part of the Horsepool family 💎🐖

07/05/2026

🐷✨ We’ve chosen a naming theme! ✨🐷

After so many amazing suggestions from you all (and some very tough decisions!), we’ve finally chosen a theme for our little piglets…

💎 Crystals & Precious Gemstones 💎

We absolutely loved reading through all your ideas — thank you so much to everyone who took the time to comment and help us choose. There were so many thoughtful and creative suggestions, which made it incredibly difficult to decide!

Now comes the next challenge… choosing which crystal-inspired names suit each little personality best 🐷💛

28/04/2026

🐷 We need your help picking a theme! 🐷

Our beautiful piglets are settling in wonderfully, and we’ve hit a little naming dilemma…

Normally, we choose a theme for naming our new arrivals, but this time we thought we’d hand it over to all of you! 💛

We’d love to hear your ideas for a thoughtful, fun and fitting naming theme for our gorgeous piggies — so get those creative minds working and drop your suggestions in the comments 👇✨

A little small print:
As many of you know, Horsepool Farm is a space that supports young autistic individuals, so we kindly ask that all name suggestions are respectful, considerate and shared with care.

We can’t wait to see what wonderful ideas you come up with 🩷

23/04/2026

🐑🐴🐐 Native Breeds Close to Our Hearts 🐔💛

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust have released their 2026/27 Watchlist, and it’s a lovely reminder of just how special some of the breeds we care for here at Horsepool Farm really are.

We’re proud to keep Kerry Hill sheep, who are now thankfully no longer at risk 🐑
Our Dartmoor ponies, Blue and Bear, remain on the at risk list 🐴
Our Old English Goats are still a priority breed, and we work closely with the Old English Goat Society to help support and grow their numbers 🐐
And of course, our Cream Legbar hens, known for laying the most beautiful true blue eggs 🥚💙

Native breeds mean so much to us. They are part of our farming heritage, full of character, resilience and history. We are committed to playing our part in helping to protect and preserve these incredible animals for future generations.

Every breed has a story, and we’re proud to be a small part of keeping those stories alive 💛

🚨 NEW WATCHLIST NOW LIVE 🚨 Our 2026/27 Watchlist, which reflects robust analysis of each breed’s genetic diversity and registration data, shows a mixed picture for the UK’s native livestock and equine breeds.

The most significant changes are the movement of two sheep and two cattle breeds to the Priority category:
🔴 White Park Cattle
🔴 Lincoln Red Original Population Cattle
🔴 Boreray Sheep
🔴 Soay Sheep

The data shows more positive indications for Native Aberdeen Angus cattle: the breed saw a 37.2% increase in total registrations, the highest number since 2000 👏

2025 was also a very successful year for the Suffolk horse, with the number of dams producing a registered foal the highest since 2010 📈

An emphasis on the importance of registrations has also helped drive a 132% increase of total registrations for the English Goat in 2025 compared to 2024 ✅

Join us throughout the week as we explore the insights from this year's watchlist with a focus on those four breeds moved to the Priority category this year.

Download the poster: https://www.rbst.org.uk/watchlist/