Rescue Work
Our rescues have ranged from horses and donkeys who have been starved, beaten, lacked veterinary or farrier care, been extensively bred or shipped from home to home without any stability. Some of our rescues have lived on tethers being tied to a rope for most of the day and have never interacted with other horses in a herd or know how to behave socially with other horses. Our aim is always to bring them back to health and to let them live happily and freely on our land for the rest of their lives.
If you are aware of a horse in immediate need of help, then please contact us, preferably with photos.
Due to being at capacity we can only squeeze in emergency cases. We do not rehome or offer retirement facilities for horses.
Some of the animals we have helped:
Princess
Once someone’s beloved horse who ended up being fed a handful of mouldy food a day. Princess was seriously malnourished, worm infested mare who needed extensive dental work when she came to us.
Before and after photos are shown below.
Brian
Brian is an older donkey, we believe in his 20s. He pulled a plough for a farmer until 2 or 3 years ago and was then tethered to a post.
Brian’s feet were so long (donkey and horse feet continuously grow and have to be trimmed by a farrier) that he was forced to walk on his heals. He spent most of his time lying down due to pain. X-Rays showed that he had previously suffered from laminitis which is a very painful condition of the foot - This had gone untreated. Brian had a very high parasite count. His teeth had been neglected to such an extent that the vet had to remodel his mouth so he could eat.
Brian’s feet when rescued.
Happy Brian several months later!
Ben
Ben is our very special boy. Ben is the foal of a Shetland pony we brought who had travelled from Spain to France to Portugal and we thought deserved a stable home.
Ben was born with a genetic birth defect called Skeletal Atavism which results in malformed legs. Foals with this disease typically have to euthanized by 6 months.
Ben will be 2 this year and thanks to the wonderful work of our Osteopath who performs acupuncture and other bodywork on a regular basis, together with our wonderful vets (and some meds!), Ben is going strong!
Ben before treatment.
Ben after treatment!
Sparky
Sparky was one of our first rescues. He was in his late 20s. He had pulled a gypsy cart, could work no more, collapsed in the road and was left for dead. We took him from another charity who had began his rehabilitation. Sparky had tick fever and a number of his teeth were rotten to the bone when our vet examined him.
He was provided with extensive veterinary and dental care. Sparky was one of the sweetest ponies we have ever met, despite his prior treatment. He finally had 2-3 years of quality life and was provided with medication throughout to help his injuries and arthritis. He could no longer eat hay due to his teeth but loved his hay mash substitute!
We finally had to say goodbye to him as the winter approached. RIP Sparky. We will always miss you!
Sparky loved his hay mash “slop”
Kylie
Kylie has spent her life being a “breeding machine”. She had foal after foal after foal. Her right knee had such bad arthritis it was the size of a football and we questioned if we need to euthanize her immediately.
She wasn’t with us for long, but we gave her quality end of life care with all the medication she needed to make her comfortable for her final few months after years of a miserable existence. Sleep well beautiful mare.
