Title: "The Clothes Horse Sanctuary: A Father’s Mission to Rescue and Rehabilitate Abandoned Clothes Horses"
A father who rescues abandoned clothes horses to reduce waste and rehabilitates them with “medical procedures” and “enrichment projects” has described them as “the quiet heroes of our lives”.
Sam Smith, 32, a support worker who lives in Brighton, East Sussex, founded The Clothes Horse Sanctuary in 2016 after noticing discarded clothes horses on the city’s streets.
Sam, who goes by the nickname “Spud”, first started taking the “beautiful creatures” home and housing them in his back garden, but when the space became overcrowded and a “tripping hazard”, he looked for an alternative location.
Now, he said nearly 40 clothes horses, which are individually named, occupy space at the sanctuary at a local stable, where they receive medical attention for any broken parts, are “free to roam” and even enjoy background music of “washing machines on a delicate wash”.
While Sam appreciates people might think his hobby is “absurd”, he has gained nearly 3,000 followers on his TikTok account @clotheshorsesanctuary and said the support has been “amazing”.
Sam told PA Real Life: “It’s been emotional. There’s been laughter, there’s been tears, but I think there’s a togetherness with clothes horses. I think clothes horses are a sign of resilience … (they’re) the quiet supporters and the quiet heroes of our lives. They might not speak up, but you know they’re there to hold you up when you need it.”
Sam predominantly works for Sussex Empowered Living, which specializes in providing care and support to adults who are autistic, have mental health conditions and/or learning disabilities. But in 2016, Sam noticed that clothes horses were regularly being discarded in or next to the communal rubbish bins in Brighton and he knew “something needed to be done”.
“Before I knew it, I took one in and fixed it up and moved it on – and it’s just escalated since then,” he said. Within a matter of weeks, Sam had a large collection at his home and said his “back garden started to look like a clothes horse convention”. He even started naming them and said his own personal clothes horse is called Malcolm because it “just suits” him.
Speaking about the reasons for taking them off the streets, Sam said: “In Brighton, there’s a lot of re-purposing, re-using, re-homing, so that was the first ethos behind it. They’re beautiful creatures who were just quite often discarded … you don’t often see tumble dryers left out on the street like that, do you?”
With Sam’s garden becoming overcrowded, and the clothes horses experiencing “folding pains”, he knew he needed a larger space to house them. He therefore called a friend, whose family owns a nearby stable, and asked whether the clothes horses could be moved there – and this led to the official launch of The Clothes Horse Sanctuary.
He said the sanctuary is currently housing 36 “resilient, majestic and kind” clothes horses and each of them has been named – with the most recent additions being Steve and Susan. “It’s like becoming a teacher, you’ve got to call them by their names,” Sam said. “Sometimes it can take a while, sometimes I make mistakes, I’m human too, but they all have their characteristics, they all have their personalities.”
Sam said he will stumble across a discarded clothes horse in Brighton almost daily. He believes tumble dryers are largely to blame for this, but also a lack of knowledge on how to repair clothes horses – with heavy, wet duvets often being the main cause of breakage. “We live in a world of obsolescence,” Sam explained. “They’re bred and they’re sold for a cheap price of £10 to £15 sometimes, and people would rather throw it away and get a new one whenever there’s a problem like rust or a broken leg.”
Sam said he now has a team of volunteers at The Clothes Horse Sanctuary to help “diagnose” broken clothes horses and repair them. He said their main mission is reducing environmental waste and educating others. “When (the clothes horses) come to the sanctuary, they get looked over by the medic to see what’s wrong,” he said. “Whether it’s a twisted back or a broken leg or foot, that’s where we do the medical procedures and touch them up. Then after that, it’s a matter of building up trust, helping them get used to recovering from the surgery, for example, giving them wide open spaces, exercise, socialization and enrichment projects. Sometimes we like to put on music … and recently, we’ve been using a recording of washing machines on a delicate wash in the background – that seems to really calm them down. Obviously, we offer some therapy, too, because being abandoned leaves arguably a much larger scar than the physical injuries.”
Sam said the clothes horses which are currently being housed at the sanctuary could probably dry three football teams’ worth of kit. He feels clothes horses are often “overlooked” and would encourage others to offer praise when possible. He said: “Talk to your clothes horse, reassure them that they’re doing a good job, let them know you’re proud of them, let them know they’re loved.”
Sam started posting content on TikTok about The Clothes Horse Sanctuary and said it has “brought people together”. He enjoys showcasing the newest additions and posting top tips and educational videos on how to care for clothes horses and ensure longevity. He has even set up a GoFundMe page, which is yet to receive donations, to help continue their rehabilitation work, and he said they now have an adoption process to re-home the clothes horses – although none have been adopted just yet.
Sam said his main goal is to “put an end” to people discarding their clothes horses and he hopes his content puts smiles on people’s faces. “That’s why The Clothes Horse Sanctuary is here,” Sam said. “It’s about educating people about clothes horses, about proper ways of unfolding, how often you should use WD-40, proper movement and management, and just the care they need.”
