The owner of a one month old pony who was stolen from a stable in Aldenham last year has set up a charity in his memory.

Cecil, a brown and white Shetland pony, went missing from the stables in Summerhouse Lane in August 2014.

Since then, owner, Julie Blake, of Fairfield Close, Radlett, has set up a charity called Cecil’s Horse Sanctuary.

The charity rescue healthy horses from being put to sleep because they can’t find a home.

Ms Blake said: “When little Cecil was born my dad also died of cancer and then four weeks later he was stolen from us.

“This sanctuary is therefore in memory of my dad and Cecil, who we are still searching for a hope he comes back to us.

“I have rescued horses before, but when Cecil went missing we thought we needed make this official to really make a difference, so since then we have become a charity.”

The 55-year-old mother of two explained that many of the horses that have been rescued are either cults, which become stallions.

She said: “Often people don’t want stallions as they can be nuisances. But there are others too.

“Recently we had a Shetland pony come in just an hour before it was going to be shot. And there was another horse that was found on the Hitchin bypass.

“He apparently kept escaping from its owners so we met with them and they asked us to take him in.”

Currently there is no set funding for the sanctuary. Instead Ms Blake said she works really late nights and early mornings to keep up the work she does with the horses during the day.

The charity also rely on donations from people, which include items such as food, hay and straw.

In total they have rescued more than 18 horses, seven of which have now been rehomed.

Ms Blake added: “We also often horses coming in who are sick.”

She said they currently have one called Noodles – a 13-year-old Welsh Mountain, who was going to be put down because he was blind.

There is also Rolex – who she said is “really suffering” at the minute with his hip and back, and also has a hernia. He is a two-year-old black and white pony, who the sanctuary are raising money for, for his treatment.

Ms Said: “We have had a lot of support, especially since Cecil was stolen and we still have a lot of people coming to us saying if they have spotted a pony that could be him – and we want people to continue doing that.”

Emma Keegan, a 22-year-old volunteer, said: “I have known Julie since I was 12-years-old and it is amazing what she does here and the difference it makes to the horses.

“I adopted one of the rescue horses and the difference from when he first came in to now is just astonishing.”

For more information or to volunteer click here.