ARCH were contacted by police in Malaga who had had a report of an abandoned horse in the mountains. Walkers in a remote area had come across an obviously badly-injured mare. We managed to access the area with a trailer (no easy task given the terrain) and with great difficulty loaded her and brought her back to the Centre. Our vet, the lovely Rocio, is usually an optimist but she was doubtful whether anything could be done for her, given the seriousness of the injury. The mare could put no weight on one of her front legs, and the shoulder was swollen with long-term infection. Rocio feared a fracture which would, sadly, mean the only help we could give would be to put her to sleep out of pain.
First we had to drain the wound, no task for the squeamish. This took several days and the mare was an absolute star, allowing the treatment with no sedation and staying still, as though she understood we were trying to help. Around six years old, she has a lovely temperament, and is gentle with humans. How anyone could leave her to die in such pain is unbelievable. Naturally she has no chip and we cannot trace her former owner. Elly has named her Angelica, because “she was an absolute angel”.
Now things are looking a little brighter. Angelica is putting more weight on the leg and walking better. An ultra sound on her shoulder has revealed muscle damage but a follow-up X-ray showed that in fact there was no fracture. We are all continuing to hope and fight for this little angel.
