It can be heart breaking when an old rescue horse arrives at the Centre. So often they are painfully thin and weak, the light has gone from their eyes and their spirits appear broken. You can see that in their prime they must have been someone’s pride and joy and you wonder how they have come to be rejected and neglected for so long. We rarely have a history of such rescues and all too often the damage they have suffered is not obvious.
One such case is Corrie who arrived at the end of January. This old girl is skin and bone, her back is sunken, her hip bones jutting out. She has no muscle, and one eye is damaged. We have no idea how long she had been suffering in the hell hole from where she was rescued. Touchingly, she still relates to humans (unlike her younger companion Frontera, who is much more wary).
We are concerned about Corrie She is so weak that when she lies down she is unable to get up unaided. Fortunately the ARCH team are always ready to spring into action and give her a helping hand. She is getting regular vitamin injections which seem to help for a day or two. Corrie has an infected tooth and infected sinuses. She is on antibiotics to help as she is not strong enough to be sedated for dental work yet. But our old girl has a strong will to live. When she gets to her feet she tucks into her food and enjoys being given attention.
Whatever the outcome, we will do our best to give her the care she deserves which has been sadly lacking for so long. The picture above shows her receiving Equine Touch from ARCH volunteer Alison.
