Popeye

2009 | Blue Roan | Cob | Under 14.2hh

In November of 2024 we received several reports of a horse in distress, tethered on waste ground.

Many caring and concerned members of the public were desperate to help and he was placed in a secure area.

We arranged for a veterinary surgeon to go out and make an assessment.

The Vet discovered that although his body condition was ok, he was completely blind in one eye, probably due to a condition called uveitis and only partially sighted in the other eye because of a cataract.

His feet however, were utterly neglected and the important frog in the centre of each foot was completely missing, rotted out because of the filthy, wet conditions in which he had been forced to stand.

He was also crawling with lice and continually stomping his hind feet – plagued by a nasty feather mite infestation too.

Note: feather is the name given to the long hair growing on the lower limbs of some horse breeds.

Abandonment proceedings were followed under the Control of Horses Act and despite widespread publicity, no owner came forward.

Our resources are always seriously limited but we were now committed to seeing him through and he was so lucky that our Trustees agreed that we should step in and offer him a second chance.

Sadly, this is not always possible and if it were to happen at this moment in time, we would have to pass the case onto one of the bigger charities. That’s how fragile our existence really is.

We collected the newly named ‘Popeye’ and took him firstly, to the lovely Alistair Love, a Vet and huge Here4Horses supporter, at Clevedale Equine Practice.

He gave Popeye a thorough health check and scoped him for Strangles, before we then brought him into our care.

Freedom from a tether brought lots of mixed emotions for Popeye.

His stable was a safe place he could control.

He could choose whether to allow humans near or not and would be quite clear when unwelcome approaches were made.

In the first couple of weeks, we were unsure of his future as his warning face (not unlike a cobra 😵‍💫) had intention behind it and on one occasion he bit hard when pushed over threshold.

Luckily, he was much more amenable once the head collar was on each day.

We committed to try and slowly work through his concerns and even for us hardened campaigners the transformation, albeit slow, was utterly heart-warming.

He also quickly buddied up with one of our residents and it was lovely to see mutual grooming become his pastime of choice.

Step by step, interactions with humans became easier for him and he even started coming to come to call in the field. ☺️🐎♥️

However, we were still unsure whether a suitable foster home might ever be found as he remained highly sensitive.

Thankfully, miracles can and do happen… we knew we had a breakthrough when we could clean his groin area without fear of a ninja outburst 🥷

He also adores being scratched by humans and horses alike – even now that his creepy crawly population has been exterminated – so there was a way to his heart!

Once he found trust in us to handle him all over, his personality began to shine through and we thought if someone with the right horse needing a companion – and the right level of experience and commitment – he would have a chance.

A few weeks ago, that second chance landed in our inbox and after a successful home check and visit to meet the man himself, Popeye made a trip to his new foster home to meet his new pal.

Boys will be boys and the two playful characters gave each other a solid 7/10 from the outset. 🙌🙌

It is never certain that two horses will pal up – 2 is a very small herd with no friendship choice, so we always like it to be a good match.

Thankfully, over the days and weeks the friendship has grown and although it looks like Popeye is the leader, his new pal is very happy with that! 😊

He has also endeared himself to his new carers and we were very happy to receive news that ‘…they are already inseparable and I have fallen in love with him already’.

We love a happy outcome – and this has got to be up there with the best of them.

Here’s to Popeye enjoying many lazy days, finally living his best life. 💜🐎💜🐎💜