A stunning youngster has been taken in by The Horse Trust in a desperate state.
Named in honour of The Queen, Balmoral came into the charity’s care as Her Majersty’s coffin was in procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall to lie in State.
The bay colt was bought “sight unseen”, having been described as a 17.2hh hunter, but is in fact only 12-18-months-old and much smaller than his new owner was told. When he arrived at his new home he managed to jump out of a stable and get into a paddock with other horses who “beat him up”.
He was taken in by The Horse Trust who assessed his condition.
“He arrived in a shocking state, very underweight, with a body condition score of just 1.5/5, riddled with lice, covered in wounds and in urgent need of having his hooves trimmed before their length affected his development,” a charity spokesman said.
“Most of our rescue cases are badly affected by encysted small redworm that don’t always show on tests. So far he’s been wormed twice and tolerated it. Skinny horses don’t always cope well with lifesaving wormer and can badly colic after being treated.”
They said Balmoral’s biggest hurdle will be the treatment of his many sarcoids, which will not be straightforward given the numbers and locations of the tumours. A specialist has been booked to assess him.
The Horse Trust waned against buying a horse without seeing it for yourself first.
“Buying an animal sight unseen is not only foolhardy but it encourages sharp practice and the likes of puppy farms to exist.,” the added.
This week Balmoral was given the all-clear for strangles, so he can now enjoy the company of other horses at the sanctuary.
“He’s been looking over the isolation unit fence longingly at Arthur in another paddock and now they can be put together with one or two other youngsters,” they said. “This should be really good for his wellbeing.”
However, the staff are concerned that Balmoral has lost weight.
“Knowing that stress can be a major factor we have taken the decision not to attempt any training with him at present but to leave him be as much as possible and just let him get used to us doing the usual care jobs around him,” they said. “Once he’s had a chance to settle with pony company and not have too many human interventions for a short while, we will be able to see how his weight progresses and adjust his diet accordingly.
“Naturally even though he’s underweight and a growing boy, he’s at very high risk of re-feeding syndrome so we will need to get the balance just right.”
The charity said it would keep its supporters updated on Balmoral’s progress in the coming weeks.
