Sophie
2003 | Dun/Buckskin | Highland X Fell | Under 13.2hh
We are often approached by people who have found themselves in difficult situations and are no longer able to care for their animals as they would wish.
We would far rather this happens, than finding people who have continued to struggle on alone and their horses suffer as a result.
Sponsoring ponies like Sophie, means we will be able to continue to offer assistance when needed.
It really is the difference between us being able to say ‘yes we can help’ or ‘sorry, we can’t take any more into our care at this time’.
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The story so far...
Towards the end of May 2022, we received a call from an elderly lady asking for our help. She explained that she urgently needed a farrier as her 19-year-old pony Sophie was suffering from long hooves and her feet needed attention – she had been unable to contact her own farrier.
The lady sounded desperate and we felt we needed to help if we could and so arrangements were made for one of our volunteers to visit with our farrier.
On arrival, we found Sophie in quite a bit of discomfort as she was suffering from a condition called Laminitis.
Laminitis is a dreadful disease, with many causes.
We are always disturbed when people abbreviate it to ‘Lami’, as we feel it makes this terrible illness sound trivial. It is not!
Obesity is a potential trigger and long feet can cause biomechanical failure. Sophie was quite overweight and the excess growth to her hooves was causing her problems too. Sadly, the odds were stacked against her.
Our farrier worked expertly to re-balance Sophie’s feet and (rather unusually), she showed some signs of immediate relief.
We discussed the need for pain relief for Sophie and the fact that she was going to need very careful management to avoid catastrophic consequences.
We also attempted to deal with another young pony at the same location (now named TikTok) but decided a return visit was necessary.
We arrived back early the next day to deal with TikTok, to find the owner (having had time to think about whether she could cope), asking for our help.
The emotional decision to sign Sophie and TikTok over to our care was made and we returned the next day to collect them both.
Sophie’s rehabilitation has taken a very long time.
Removing weight from obese horses and ponies is always a tricky task, made all the more difficult in the summertime, particularly when the animal has painful feet and cannot be exercised.
Thankfully however, we feel a corner has been turned and hope to have Sophie under saddle or in harness, in the not too distant future.
Likes:
Being groomed and eating anything edible and sometimes things that are not!
Dislikes:
The company of most other horses, however, we remain confident of finding her a buddy she really likes.
