Page 4 - HT_2016WinterNewsletter

Duchess Diaries... Her story so far Arrival:
In September 2016, The Horse Trust welcomed our newest welfare resident. This gentle 13.1hh piebald mare was found starving and dehydrated by the New Forest Verderers after she’d been abandoned there. Being a domesticated pony, not a feral New Forest native pony, she could not possibly have survived without being rescued. We do not know yet what the future holds, or if indeed there will be a future for her. Only time and tests will tell, but she is with us now. At least she will be safe, warm, dry, fed and loved whatever happens next.
Week One:
The microchip states that her name is Duchess, aged around 4, with no other factual details. She is a wobbly little girl with a low body condition score who certainly has not been treated like royalty; very far from it. Duchess is extremely lethargic on arrival with no life in her and weighing less than 300kg. She is suffering the effects of dehydration as well as internal and external parasites.
It is vital that we also assess her behaviour to understand what frightens or stresses her, which can be very hard to spot in a pony so lacking in energy. Unfortunately, her blood tests have returned showing that she has significant liver damage. This is something we often see with rescue cases where horses have been scavenging to survive and eating toxic plants. At this point we are very concerned for this poor little pony and whether she is going to make it after all she has already been through.
Week Two:
Our little girl is now in the very early stages of her battle to recovery. The good news is that our Vet Tony has now cleared Duchess of disease and any parasites, which means no more bio-security suits for the team; however, he will be taking some more blood to see how her liver is doing after her first week here. Our priority is to get some all-important nutrients back into her body that she so desperately needs. Duchess is continually being monitored and fed small amounts of food. This is gradually being increased so that her body can cope and absorb all the nutrients, without overloading her on calories which could cause her body to shut down. As the days go by she seems to becoming more familiar with her surroundings and her routine, and more importantly, more trusting with our team members. Although Duchess is still very weak, her personality is slowly starting to shine through and you can’t help but fall in love with this sweet little pony that needs our help.
Duchess has now had her first visit from the farrier here at HT where her front feet were trimmed. As a result of lack of care, Duchess’s hooves were over- grown on arrival. Regular attention from the farrier is important to maintain correct foot balance and helps prevent conditions that may cause lameness.
Duchess struggled to lift her feet up for longer than a few minutes at a time without her starting to become unbalanced as she was so weak. We decided it would be kinder for her to have her hind feet trimmed next time as we did not want to exhaust this frail little girl, who was obviously struggling to hold herself on three legs. We are practicing every day, picking her feet up to help her strengthen her muscles and gain all important confidence with our team, so we can make Duchess feel as comfortable as possible during her recovery.
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