Two unusual horses get ready to help emergency teams.
Unless you’re a serious horse-lover, you may never have heard of the Norwegian Fjord. But two of these rare animals are living in Alvechurch, and now they are lending their strength to a marathon charity bid.
Owners Janice and John Corbett, who have stables off Radford Road, intend to ride the South Downs Way in five days on their Norwegian Fjords, Johan and Sossy.
The trek, which starts on September 19, is in aid of the charity BASICS – an ambulance service support team – and was originally planned by Janice’s friend in memory of her sister who died of cancer, but her friend’s horse became unwell and will not be able to participate. With Janice planning to ride Sossy, the Corbetts then bought Johan so John could join her on the trip.
Norwegian Fjords are ideal for this kind of venture, as they are a hardy and robust breed with a gentle disposition and a strong body structure, as well as being very sure-footed. They are willing to work and want to please, making them very trainable and suited to all types of riding, driving and draft work.
Their most distinctive attribute is their darker dorsal stripe which runs from the poll to the tail, and the mane is usually trimmed to emphasise this. Fjords generally range in size at maturity from 13.2 to 14.2 hands (54 to 58 inches) and weigh about 900 to1200 pounds, meaning they are neither too big for a child nor too small for an adult.
Powerful despite their smaller size, the horses possess a curious, active character with an obvious display of either masculine or feminine traits according to their gender. Most important is the ability of the horse to use and develop its inborn qualities.
Historically, Fjords have appeared in different shapes, models or body types, according to the different needs of the times, and it is from this wide genetic pool that the versatile Fjord of today comes. Today, there are only around 260 of them in the British Isles.
If you would like to sponsor the ride, and raise money for this cause, contact Janice and John on 07976 902182, or Jenny Davis at Lilac Cottage, Lower Rowney Green.
About BASICS – British Association for Immediate Care
BASICS provide support to the ambulance service for both trauma and medical emergencies throughout the UK. Teams consist of highly skilled doctors and nurses, available on a voluntary basis to assist ambulance crews in difficult accident circumstances and certain medical emergencies.
The doctors come from various specialist areas including anaesthetics, accident and emergency, trauma and orthopaedics, including consultants and GPs. The nurses are from intensive care units and accident and emergency departments.
Many patients have survived out-of-hospital trauma catastrophes beyond the scope of paramedics through the commitment of the teams. The larger component of their work is involvement with trauma and entrapments, where specific expertise is required including surgical procedures outside the hospital environment.
Their work helped to save many lives in such disasters as Hillsborough, the M42 pile-up and the aeroplane crash on to the motorway in Leicestershire. The team members give their time and skills on a voluntary basis, however their organisation depends entirely on money raised as a charity to provide their equipment.
For more information visit https://www.basics.org.uk