Caramelo first arrived at ARCH early in 2021 following a high-profile SEPRONA operation against an unscrupulous horse dealer. He had been concealed with a mare in another location, both horses having physical problems which, presumably, made them unsaleable. The mare, Iscar, was blind and Caramelo was lame following a serious injury to his hoof. After months of veterinary treatment and recurrent slight lameness, he was rehomed with several others on a finca to live a free roaming life. Sadly, his condition worsened owing to the extreme dryness and the hardness of the ground and it was decided that it would be in his best interests to come back to ARCH.
Since his return his condition has been monitored by our own vet and an equine specialist. After various surgeries with only slight improvement, it was decided that he needed to go to the equine hospital in Cordoba for further investigation. There the affected area was opened up and a displaced piece of chorium – which generates the hoof wall – was removed. The growth from this chunk of chorium was pushing against the bone and caused a restriction of the blood flow. This was major surgery as you can see from the photo below.
Now Caramelo appears to be recovering well and we are hopeful that he will be pain-free in the future. He is a young horse (now eight) with a lovely temperament, and we felt that he deserved a chance to live a normal life. But his specialist treatment was far beyond our normal resources which is why we are launching an appeal in the hope that donations might go some way to helping us replace the funds we had to find to help Caramelo. You can use the donate button here on the website or log on to https://donorbox.org/caramelo-s-operation
Any help you can give us at this difficult time, with prices of feed going through the roof, will be most gratefully received. We will keep you updated on Caramelo’s progress.
P.S. ARCH rehomed Caramelo’s original companion, the blind mare, near a veterinary hospital in Madrid where they restored her sight.