B4 & After Rescues
A wild New Forest Mare, who roamed freely around the forest, unfortunately had developed a horrendous hoof overgrowth to her left front leg, as can be seen in the series of disturbing pictures. Her plight was observed, due to the ongoing vigilance of the forest agisters. Their monitoring the welfare of the ponies, identifies any problems to their owners. The ponies then receive prompt treatment, which enables them back to get on with their natural life.
Although obviously lame this wild mare still managed to avoid capture several times! Once caught, a quick telephone call was made to The Barn, to have a vet on standby.
The first photo shows her after sedation, being led quietly down the ramp. The full extent of her problem can be seen quite clearly and although her other hooves were long, which is normal for a wild pony, they were in good condition. The second photo gives another view of the affected hoof when picked up.
Once the vet started trimming the excess hoof away, grass was found growing in the overgrown hoof. When this was removed it was found that she was also suffering from a foot abscess, which had to be excised. This meant having to be poulticed daily, no mean feat with a pony that was totally wild!! At the sanctuary this was to be my task - made extremely difficult one day when I found she had managed to remove her head-collar.
The next photos show her hoof a few weeks later and as you can see it speaks for itself, especially when compared with the previous photos. After her successful treatment she was returned to The Forest, where she will have regular checks to prevent further problems.
This recovery was made possible thanks to the agisters vigilance, the expert veterinary team in conjunction with the blacksmith and also her care given at the sanctuary.
I heard about Cinders, a donkey in Shropshire, who was in a painfully emaciated state, made worse by the fact that she could not eat as her bottom jaw protrudes causing her teeth to overgrow, once again made worse as she had received no dental treatment. Due to her deformity she looked so ugly and forlorn, I just had to buy her! (yes, I paid money for her!). The first side view shows Cinders as we found her, terribly thin and her coat in very poor condition.
Cinders arriving at SAS after a gruelling 4 hour journey, she was immediately given veterinary care and besides her emaciation, she was also diagnosed to have a hoof infection, causing her to lose three quarters of her hoof. This can be seen in the right front hoof, which again had to be trimmed back even further after x-rays to get rid of the infection.
She has since made a remarkable recovery thanks to great teamwork between farrier and vet. Such was her recovery that I was able to ride her on a sponsored ride for the Tsunami appeal.
The last view is of her a couple of months later. What a marked difference! And yes it is the same donkey! Although given the change you could be excused for thinking otherwise. Even her demeanour has improved and she has settled in extremely well with the other donkeys.
She has developed her own unique character and can pull many expressions due to her longer lower lip. She is a typical donkey – if she does not want to do something she won’t! – yet give her an apple and you have a friend for life. Our own ugly-duckling!!
Flapjack was found in this viciously attacked state one morning. It is presumed the damage was done by a poacher’s dog or some similar animal. Obviously immediate veterinary treatment was required, this was given and with time at the sanctuary he has made a full recovery with very little scaring on the nose, despite his appalling wounds.
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* all photos of the wild mare's hoof and Flapjack are courtesy of the Barn Equine Surgery.
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