A skewbald stallion who needed to lose the equivalent of two adult humans to be a healthy weight was among a group of four obese ponies recently taken into the care of World Horse Welfare.
The charity was contacted following the death of the owner’s partner, who had been the ponies’ main carer, and the ponies were taken to Belwade Farm, World Horse Welfare’s Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Aberdeenshire.
Max, Fontelroy, Bombay and Chancer were coping with a number of welfare issues, including poor feet and parasite burdens, and all were morbidly obese.
After months of gradual weight loss, rehabilitation and learning basic handling and manners, Max and Fontelroy have been rehomed together.
Bombay has recently been rehomed as a companion and Chancer, having returned to Belwade following his rehomer’s change in circumstances, is currently recovering from a small operation. It is hoped that once he has made a full recovery he will be available for rehoming once again.
“In many ways overweight horses are harder to deal with than underweight ones – it is a real challenge to help them lose weight and increase their mobility,” said Eileen Gillen, Belwade Centre Manager.
“Weight loss is crucial but must be done slowly and carefully and it is likely that these ponies will need their diet manged carefully for the rest of their lives.
“Also, Bombay and Chancer, like so many of the ponies that come in, were not used to being handled, and hefty stallions will use their weight whenever they don’t want to co-operate.
“It’s a real testament to the teams here that these ponies came round so quickly and accepted handling and learned manners, making it easier for us to help them, but also ensuring that they have a future.”
