Meet the resident Shetlands

Open Day 2010 Horses Grazing

Cleo and her friend Gussie were rescued by us when they were neglected when the children lost interest in them. Gussie remains but Cleo died tragically - possibly of a worm infestation according to our vet. We worm all our animals regularly, so this condition was something which would have developed before she came to us. Gussie has always been very nervous and is very difficult to handle. If you want to get hold of her you have to launch yourself in a rugger tackle round her neck offering a treat at the same time!

Charlie is the lunatic of the bunch. He lived in somebody’s kitchen and a tiny garden until he outgrew them and started causing havoc. It took him some time to adjust to being a pony and living with others in a stable and field.He suffers continually from Sweet Itch in the summer and has to be treated daily with special creams. He has a limp which may need corrective surgery.

Raffles was the victim of divorce and as a home could not be found at the time we were asked to take him in. He suffers from diabetes and requires wet hay to remove the sugar from it.

Mickey came to us when his companion died. He was grieving and lonely and needed to be with others. He has a front cleft hoof but if the farrier cuts it properly he is able to walk and trot normally.

Mistletoe (a dappled grey) She arrived with Hogan (black) who is the brother of Hamish (also black) These three all came together as an emergency after a fourth died in the river which ran through their field. When we rescued them they were all screaming as they were so traumatised and hungry but after worming and regular hay and pony nuts they do not make a sound.

ABC OD 2010 Photos 052 Open Day 2010 Parade 2

Rupert (bay in colour) came from the same owner as the others. We wormed him immediately he arrived and the following morning found large red bots and white tapeworms in his manure. He coughs on hay so has to be on wet hay and also has Sweet Itch in the summer months.

Open day Girl with Shetland

Eddy and Beverly arrived shortly afterwards. Eddy poor chap was entire upon arrival so had to be castrated. There are far too many unwanted mini Shetlands for us to want to add to their numbers. Beverly seemed rather fat and we were worried she might have been pregnant but after extensive worming she slimmed down so it was a false alarm.

Jack and Jill IMG_3042a

We were asked to rescue Jack and Jill when their owner became very ill and had an extended stay in hospital. They are both small Shetlands and Jill would be hard to re-home because of her deformed back legs. As a result she trots in a very peculiar fashion and has been nicknamed Miss Merrylegs. Jack was so weak he went down with bronchitis and also had a bad tooth abscess. He had to have a long course of antibiotics.They also needed serious de-worming upon arrival but since then our vet has given them the all-clear and says that Jill should live a decent pain-free life in spite of her deformity. Rather inbred these mini Shetlands are not hardy unlike the stocky, strong real Shetlands. At first they were all very wary of humans as they had hardly ever been handled but are now fine.Our poor farrier had a really rough time with them at first as they were not used to having their hoofs done.

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