We were harshly reminded of the grim reality of equine welfare work, on the evening of July 1st – when we received a call about an abandoned foal.
Only days old, dehydrated and desperately weak from starvation, he serves as a sad reminder that our need to be Here4Horses is as relevant and important as ever.
One of our team of volunteers whisked him off to Clevedale Vets Equine where Vet Alistair Love so kindly met her at 10pm to administer fluids, test his antibody levels and give him antibiotics.
It was a long night trying to teach him to suckle from a bottle.
We were a little concerned that he may be a dummy foal, suffering from ‘Neonatal Maladjustment Syndrome’ and twice performed a ‘Madigan Squeeze’ just in case.
A repeat visit to Clevedale Equine Vets led to blood tests, more IV fluids and milk via a stomach tube. He is on strong antibiotics to mitigate against infection, indicated by a high white blood cell count.
It has been and still is a tricky situation with many hurdles to face. He is now much brighter, becoming more curious and sometimes a little boisterous, which makes us cautiously optimistic for his future – a future of hopefully 20 years+.
Hand rearing a sick foal is extremely challenging & expensive and despite improving daily, he isn’t out of the woods yet.
In time, we hope to find him a foster mum but this is a huge long-term commitment for our small charity as he will accumulate costs in excess of £2,500 per year and will now be Here4Horses’ responsibility for lifetime.
Patrick Pony (on our website now aged 13) faced the same fate and was also lucky enough to be found and rescued by a Here4horses Volunteer. We hope our experience with Patrick helps this little one enjoy a full and healthy life too… with your much needed help.
Please give what you can to help this wee boy (who has now been named Biggles), our team of volunteers will be eternally grateful for any sum you can afford.
