BUSINESSES in the county town have been lending a helping hand to a care farm that helps adults with learning disabilities.

Cowden Care Farm based in Charminster offers adults with low to medium level learning disabilities hands-on jobs or work experience.

The farm has 50 adults attend each week and teaches small animal experience, equestrian skills, horticulture, growing fruit and vegetables, bedding plants, furniture restoration and computer training.

Earlier this month the Echo told how last year’s wet winter affected the grass at the farm, causing the farm’s horses and rescue ponies to contact laminitus and county town firms have responded with a show of support.

Laminitis is a disease that affects the feet of hooved animals, found mostly in horses and cattle.

Clinical signs include foot tenderness progressing to inability to walk and increased temperature in the hooves. Progression of the disease in severe cases could require aggressive treatment or even euthanasia.

Anna Hall, director at Cowden Care Farm, said: “Our animals at Cowden Farm are rescued locally from people and come to Cowden for life.

“Laminitis is a serious condition and a considerable amount of horses or ponies have to be put to sleep with this condition.”

Anna added that the grass has now begun to grow again during spring and contains a high level of sugar. She said a horse that has contacted laminitus cannot cope with this grass, and will have to spend its life back in a stable during the spring and summer.

The farm sought help from tree surgeons, gardeners or anyone that could generate wood chippings to help their horses.

And Anna said since the appeal in the Echo, Dorchester’s Inwood Design donated wood shavings and Darren Scott from Deane Computer Solutions in Poundbury donated nine tonnes of wood chip.

Anna added: “We would like to thanks these guys publicly, so a massive thank you must go to them.

We are still raising money for the rest of the wood chip needed and still need a significant amount, so please help if you can.

“Anyone who may be able to help can deliver the wood chippings to the farm at any time; just turn up and empty your truck.

“Anyone that can still offer us free wood chippings would be giving our horses back their lives during the best time of the year – and to them we would be incredibly grateful.”

Anyone still wishing to help should visit http://bit.ly/1BPY1xi.