A foal thought to be less than six months old is fighting for his life after being found wandering the streets in Holmer Green, Buckinghamshire.
Dobby required immediate, urgent veterinary care
‘Dobby’ was found by a member of the public at midnight. They managed to get the colt to safety on their land before calling The Horse Trust.
Despite the charity’s efforts, no owner was found and Dobby was seized under the Control of Horses Act and taken to their Princes Risborough yard.
The Horse Trust vet, Nicky Housby-Skeggs, estimates Dobby is between four and five months old — too young to be taken away from his mother.
“We’re not sure of the nature of his abandonment, but as a charity we have seen a lot of colts being abandoned over the years in a similar situation,” said Alice Morgan, director of fundraising and marketing at The Horse Trust.
Rescue effort
Alice added that Dobby was found wearing a rug and headcollar, which is unusual for abandoned horses.
“We haven’t seen anything like it before, especially on a youngster of his age,” added Alice. “He clearly has had an owner, but he’d been wearing the rug and head collar for a long time. They’d rubbed him raw and he’d got tangled in his rug, which we had to cut off him.
“Also the state that he was in — severely dehydrated and very thin — means he hadn’t received the correct nutrition for a long time.”
Dobby was also riddled with lice and so emaciated that his body score was one out of five.
When The Horse Trust team arrived to rescue Dobby, they found that he is so terrified of people that head groom Claire Clark laid by his side for 45 minutes until she was able to touch him.
It was then a team effort to carefully herd the colt on the horsebox.
“Our team used a careful herding technique to move the foal. This technique reduces stress as it works alongside their instincts,” said a statement from The Horse Trust.
“Using skills like this means we can ensure that a flight response isn’t triggered, and no further distress is caused. This is extremely important while working in open environments, particularly those at the roadside as he could have ended up back in severe danger.”
Urgent plasma transfusion
Dobby is now living with The Horse Trust, but there is a long way to go to his recovery
Alice added that Dobby has a long way to go in terms of his recovery.
“When he arrived he couldn’t get up. Nicky thought it might be because he was so dehydrated and so young. She gave him fluids but he still couldn’t get up. She did other tests and found that his albumin levels [liver protein in the blood] were very low and that same night he had an urgent plasma transfusion,” she added.
A blood test in the last week shows that Dobby’s albumin levels are getting better.
“He has a long way to go behaviourally as well. He’s very fearful of people,” added Alice. “We have a team of behaviourists working with him in bursts of 5 to 10 minutes several times every day trying to gain his trust.”
The Horse Trust is appealing for donations to help fund Dobby’s continuing care, after a particularly hard year financially due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Click here to donate.
