Devon's Mare and Foal Sanctuary opens purpose-built welfare and education barn

The Mare and Foal Sanctuary has officially opened the Rosemary Kind Barn at its Coombe Park site near Totnes, Devon, named after the charity's founder and marking a significant milestone in its 38-year history. The purpose-built centre replaces an older barn that was demolished in 2020 after becoming structurally unsafe, and provides 13 stables for horses and ponies with complex medical and behavioural needs.

Alongside stabling, the new building includes dedicated spaces for specialist veterinary care, education and community programmes, allowing the charity to combine rescue and rehabilitation work with equine-assisted activities that support the physical and mental wellbeing of visiting children and adults. The Mare and Foal Sanctuary currently cares for around 550 horses and ponies across four sites in Devon, and the barn was backed publicly by patrons and supporters including Angela Rippon and John Nettles, alongside broadcaster Josh Widdicombe.

For owners and breeders, the opening is a reminder of the scale of long-term, specialist care that rescue and rehabilitation charities provide for equines that cannot be easily rehomed, and of the value of purpose-built facilities designed around both an animal's medical needs and its wider wellbeing. Investment of this kind also underlines the importance of charities having secure, modern premises rather than relying on ageing or temporary structures to deliver complex care.