This is my friend Bill. He came to stay in February when he wasn’t very well at all. I have been looking after him since then. He and his friend Ben were lucky ponies: not only did the RSPCA rescue them, but some other kind friends sponsored their rehabilitation while they stayed ay my yard.
The Pettifor Trust is a Swansea charity, which raises money for needy animals. One of their many responses to the plight of horses in 2013 was to contribute towards some veterinary expenses of four ponies which had been rescued by their local group of RSPCA inspectors.
So, to begin at the beginning, Bill and his friend Ben were spotted by the good Inspector Nic, who arranged for them to be removed from their desperate starving plight – hooray for the RSPCA!
All these ponies needed to be gelded before rehoming and Bill’s operation was not straightforward. In fact, he had to go to horse hospital to have a special procedure – hooray for the Pettifor Trust!
It’s a sobering thought that if Bill had been left with his breeder, he might have died, but even if he had survived a winter’s starvation, he would have been an oddity, and would have finished his short life at the abattoir by now.
His good luck continued yesterday, when he went to his new home. Another old friend of mine (sshh, don’t tell a soul but it’s my farrier) made friends with Bill while he was here and yesterday, he fetched him home to live with his family’s driving ponies.
I wish him well.
hooveswho 