Mickey

Flicka

The Flicka Foundation started with Mary Berryman and her rescue and care for an elderly pony called Mickey. ​

In its early days, we called the beginnings of our sanctuary ‘The Golden Oldies’.

​Flicka, a small strawberry roan pony, was rescued after being found in a field in the middle of an industrial estate; a small pony amongst high-rise buildings and billowing smoke. Flicka was delightful - he loved people, was very affectionate and adored lots of fuss despite his terrible start in life. Sadly, he developed liver cancer after several years of teaching young children to ride;  he was retired to convalesce with a condition we knew would ultimately take his life. After six happy months, Flicka’s cancer sadly took him from us. He was buried in a prime place in one of our paddocks and will never be forgotten.

Flicka’s illness highlighted the problem faced by many horses and ponies that become unwell or too old to work, so the Flicka Foundation was born.  Flicka lives on through the work we do today.

​​​Since then we have had the privilege of many horses, ponies, sheep, pigs, cows, cats, dogs, rabbits, many small animals and donkeys coming to us for lots of different reasons. Each one has a story to tell. Some have suffered unthinkable cruelty or neglect, some have been abandoned or ailing in some way and requiring lots of TLC.

Read the amazing stories of Marybelle and Bilbo...

We currently care for over 100 donkeys, horses and ponies at the sanctuary, all whom have been rescued from abuse, neglect and abandonment. Many of the gorgeous donkeys who live here were rescued from certain death on the continent. In addition, various cows, rabbits, cats and dogs call our sanctuary home.

In 2007 we gained registered charity status to help with our fundraising efforts - it costs close to £90,000 per year to feed and care for our residents and this doesn't include staff and volunteer time, essential site maintenance or equipment.  Every year we do lots of fundraising events, such as sponsored walks, coffee mornings, raffles, fun runs, open days and concerts. We have even completed an abseil down the cliffs on the north coast of Cornwall! If you are able to help us in any way, please visit our fundraising page.

All animals deserve a chance - whilst there is so much cruelty in this world to people as well as animals the reality is that it’s possible to care about more than one issue at a time. We mustn’t assume that a capacity for compassion is dependent on mutual exclusivity.

We hope you may consider adopting one of our donkeys or making a donation - these beautiful animals depend so much on us and they deserve to live out their days loved and cared for, in green fields with their friends.

​Thank you so much for your interest in our work, if you would like any more details about Flicka you can email us at [email protected] or write to us using the address below.