A rescued mare and foal enjoyed their first grass for months this week after being rescued by HorseWorld.
The mare was found with her young foal on a popular walking area in north Bristol in July.
The mare was painfully thin and had a long moustache, leading the HorseWorld team to believe she had been confined in a barn for a long time.
“Many cob-type horses grow moustaches,” said HorseWorld’s Joanne Vaughan. “When they are grazing, the hair wears off as quickly as it grows. For this mare’s moustache to be as long as it was, we believe she wasn’t able to graze for some months.”
The foal was just a few days old when spotted by a dog walker. The foal had severely deformed legs.
Staff at HorseWorld’s Bristol rescue site named the mare “Duchess” and the foal “Cinderella”, as she needs special glue-on shoes on her back feet to correct her deformities.
Vet Carys Chadwick said Duchess was “extremely underweight” when she first examined her, which was not only through malnutrition.
“As she is such a fantastic mum she had been using up all of her remaining energy reserves on providing her new-born foal with milk,” said Ms Chadwick.
Cinderella’s fetlocks were dropped and her legs swayed out to the side when she walked when she was found.
To correct the deformities the farrier put special glue-on shoes on her back feet with adaptations that support the legs and encourage them to grow in the correct direction.
“The foal’s legs are now straight and strong enough to start exercising and the pair of them were let out into a paddock to continue their rehabilitation together with a very good prognosis,” said Ms Chadwick.
Cinderella will have to wear the shoes for four to six months.
