But when her body was discovered breathing, the volunteers recognised they were dealing with one of the worst cases of neglect they had ever come across and took urgent action. The representative of Here4Horses Equine Charity said, “The choice was made to give her a chance, and it took five people to bring her to her feet.”

The remarkable journey Heidi took to recovery was later captured in a number of photos that show what a warrior this young child has been. Let’s have a look at Heidi’s remarkable change below, which will make you cry (or cry a river) without fail.

The BHS volunteer was horrified to find what he initially believed to be a dead horse when he got at the scene. Heidi was discovered in the most awful condition, according to Wendy, the charity’s founder and an expert in equine welfare and education.

She told us, “Whether he thought she was already dead is irrelevant—she had been subjected to a lot of pain. When rescuers turned up, they met with a knacker worker who had been contacted by the owner to come and remove her body.” However, the rescue team decided to give the young pony a chance.

Heidi was unable to stand or move and was thought to be in critical condition. She had such low blood protein levels that a plasma transfusion was necessary, and the early stages were “touch and go,” Wendy recalled. The pony was unable to stand on her own for more than five weeks.

Due to Heidi’s emaciation, a blood test revealed that she needed a plasma transfusion, therefore she was put on a drip. Healthy horses contributed many liters of blood. The Here4Horses staff “had to be creative, modifying multiple pairs of leggings into shorts to help keep her pressure sores from additional damage” while the pony was receiving therapy. She had to wear cushioned bandages during the procedure.

But the recovery was anything but gradual and simple. It took Heidi months and months to recover sufficiently for her to run freely in our pastures, according to Wendy. “Too many wounds, worms, parasites, and illnesses had been given time to take hold,” she added.

In essence, the team believes that Heidi’s combative personality was crucial to her recuperation. The pony’s lengthy road to recovery began after receiving emergency care. The Here4Horses team sees incidents like this once or twice a year, according to Wendy, who claimed that Heidi was on the severe end of neglect and cruelty.

“While we do witness this kind of injury and illness all too frequently, it is simply cruel or a lack of understanding on how to properly care for horses.” Thankfully, the injuries started to heal. And after a while, Heidi started to appear happier.

She eventually put on some weight again. Additionally, Heidi’s vivacious personality and gleaming hair were everywhere! Such an inspiring amazing work. Please let us know your thoughts on the story, and do not forget to spread out the story on social media with your friends and family.

<p>The post Volunteers Find Horse Just Breathing, Bring Her Back To Life, And Transform Her Into A Beauty first appeared on Horse Spirit.</p>

She was going to be put down for meet, but thankfully someone saved her. But the encounter has left Fancy damaged, and she now lives being afraid of people. Even worse than this isn’t it. Throughout it all, Fancy was expecting a baby.

The staff at Crossfire Equine Rescue in Texas promptly dropped everything to save Fancy from her fate after learning of her plight. Fancy was assisted by Annie Shurtleff and her colleagues, who are committed to helping horses in need.

Fancy was scared of her rescuers even after Annie’s crew had rescued her from the slaughterhouse auction. The rescue team made every effort to gain Fancy’s trust in order to calm her down and gain her acceptance.

To illustrate how amiable they were, they frequently spent the night in the barn with her. Fancy finally was able to show her loving side to the rescuers as she warmed up to them with time, love, and devotion. This pregnant horse gave birth to a sweet filly soon after being saved.

The birth was effortless and painless. The newborn was then introduced to Fancy for the first time. The expression on Fancy’s face when she sees her infant tells it all. It demonstrates how appreciative this horse is to Crossfire Equine Rescue for saving her and enabling her to give birth to a gorgeous newborn boy.

As the baby boy grew older, Fancy and her child devoted a lot of time to spending time together. Fantastic mother: Fancy. Fancy has been doing well after giving birth a few years ago. She and her child have both since been adopted into loving families. Fancy was so apprehensive after all of her difficult life experiences that it took Crossfire Equine Rescue some time to find the ideal home for her.

However, she was fortunate to find an owner who would be patient with her. Fancy is already enjoying her new home to the fullest. We’re happy that Fancy is now in a wonderful home where she can unwind and take in the fresh air without a care in the world after going through so much in her life. What a wonderful conclusion to her tale.

<p>The post Pregnant Mare Saved From Slaughterhouse Sees Her Baby For The First Time first appeared on Horse Spirit.</p>

When Valliere was with him, an 82-year-old friend of his called to tell him that he had encountered a moose deep in the forest. The man tried his best to help the poor animal but to no avail. Valliere initially tried to contact the Northern Ministry of Development, Mining, Natural Resources, and Forestry by phone, but unfortunately, no one answered his call. So the brave man anxiously took the matter into his own hands, he called Greba, and they rushed to save the desperate animal.

The two knew that it could be critical to the moose at any time, so they hurriedly searched for the trapped animal. They just jumped on an all-terrain vehicle and headed to the place where their friend took them. However, they finally found out, and it took nearly two hours!

“I was at home and I got a call from a buddy saying he’s in the bush taking soil samples and he’s found a moose 20 feet from the road,” Valliere told blogTO. “When I got to the trail I couldn’t see anything,” says Valliere. “Then I looked to the side and all I saw was a head. I said ‘Holy Jesus, this thing is really stuck! He’s not stuck, he’s buried!’”

The men immediately realized that things were much more complicated for this confused moose that barely raised its head. So they first tried to calm him down and then tried to pull him out.

“I felt so sorry for him. His mouth was full of mud and his eyes were full of mud,” the man said.”He started to fight back, tried to reach me with his legs, but couldn’t reach high enough.”

With the help of Valliere’s dog, a white Labrador, the trapped animals finally calmed down, and the determined man can finally rescue him!

“The dog just went up to the moose and laid there and put his head down, and the moose looked at the dog and was like ‘oh, okay,’” Valliere explained. “He must have realized we were there to help him, or he was just exhausted, but he calmed right down.”

Greba took time to take some dramatic rescue photos, which were later shared by another friend of theirs, Bill Desloges, on Facebook. These photos show how difficult it is for this poor animal and two brave men to save him. Finally, the two heroes announced that they would be happy to help the poor moose.

“I felt good that we got him out, ’cause I felt so sorry for him. He was struggling and struggling and just couldn’t do it,” the brave men said! However, the men said there were they this time, but anyone from Timmins would have helped the moose, and they will certainly help any other animal that finds itself in need. “We didn’t think it was that much of a big deal because everyone in Timmins would have probably went out and helped,” Valliere said. “We all love our animals here.”

<p>The post 70-Year-Old Men Rescue Moose Trapped In The Deep Mud first appeared on Horse Spirit.</p>

“We found one straight away and we tried very hard to get it to work, but we knew after two to three days it wasn’t going to. So we kept at it until we found another mare, again he [the foal] was willing, but it just didn’t happen.” Des said his child, Charlie, eight, recommended they give the foal a shot Rusty. At this stage, they were frantic to discover an answer, so they checked it out and the pair reinforced quickly. “It was very straightforward and they’ve never looked back,” he added. “There haven’t been any digestive issues and the foal is being more than adequately provided for.

“It wasn’t working the other way [with foster mares], so it was desperate times and desperate measures to keep the horse alive.” Des, whose foals have proceeded to appreciate National Hunt accomplishment with coaches on the two sides of the Irish Sea, said he has luckily never needed to attempt this. “We’ve never lost a mare at this late stage before and we had to thank goodness it has just worked,” he said. “It’s really nice the racing public have got behind it.” Other than the self-evident, there is one, marginally rotten, distinction from utilizing an encouraged female horse… “The biggest problem is lying in cow pats and he comes up with big brown patches,” he laughed. “As long as he keeps sucking away, that’s what matters! We are just taking each day at a time.”

A cow has become an unlikely foster mother to an orphan foal in Co Wexford.🐴 🐮 🥰
(Tap for best view on mobile) pic.twitter.com/5Nps9CyZxi

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 27, 2021

<p>The post Cow Unlikely Becomes A Foster Mother To An Orphan Foal first appeared on Horse Spirit.</p>

What they should eat:

Pasture Grass and Tender Plants

Horses’ natural diet contains pasture grass and tender plants. Fresh pasture is 90% of the nutrition a horse needs to be healthy. It includes silica, which is very important for dental health. We have to be very careful because many health problems like obesity, equine metabolic syndrome occur frequently in our modern horses, just because we don’t feed them properly. Pasture grass isn’t certainly the problem, but the type of horses we’ve grown and the absence of exercise are.

Hay

Many of us can’t afford to let our horses forage on pasture during the whole year. When grass isn’t available, hay is the next-best choice but all know that it is not that easy to find good horse hay.  It is best if you have hay tested so that any shortfalls in vitamins and minerals can be remunerated with supplements. For some horses, rich hay can be an issue just in the same way rich pasture grass is. ​

Salt and minerals

Supplements such as salt and minerals may be added in a- concentrate mix or may be offered separately. A salt block or loose salt in a pasture or stall allows horses to help themselves when they have a craving. Some salt may come mixed with minerals. Many people find that salt is consumed more during the summer months than in the colder weather.

Concentrate Mixes

Concentrate mixes may have several ingredients in them or some feed mills will mix concentrates on your requirements. Concentrate mixes help make up for any shortfall in nutrition and provide a quick source of energy. Mares or working horses often benefit from being fed concentrates in addition to grass or hay.

What they shouldn’t eat:

Grains

Grains that are grown, collected and processed as we prepare now, are not natural foods for horses. For example,  some grains like wheat, aren’t good for horses. It is very easy for horse owners to feed too much grain to horses because it doesn’t require the chewing time or contains the silica that grass does and this can contribute to conditions like ulcers and dental problems.

Fruit in Large Quantities

There are a lot of equestrians who like to feed horses apples for treats. But sometimes eating too many fruits can easily cause colic and may lead to founder. You probably may not feed your horse more than one or two pieces of fruit but the real danger is when horses have access to a lot of fruits, or someone leaves a basket of apples over the fence assuming they’re giving the horse a ‘treat.’

Lawn and Garden Clippings

Lawn and garden clippings can contain several hazards. Just-cut or semi-wilted plant material can be a problem in itself, even if it appears to contain nothing but grass.

Meat

Experts say that horses can and do eat meat (and can develop a quite violent behavior to get it). Although, just because horses can and do eat meat it does not mean that they should. There are specific horses who are trained to eat meat but this doesn’t mean that a regular diet of meat in the long-term is a good thing. Your horse may like a random bite of a burger or tuna sandwich and can eat it without harm, but since we don’t know yet what the long-term effects on most horses, a diet high in meat would be not a very good decision (along with being too expensive). Horses have the teeth and digestive system of a highly specialized herbivore.

‘Gassy’ Vegetables

It is a known fact that vegetables like broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts or other vegetables in the cabbage family, have a bad effect even in us humans. This can also happen to your horse, who may feel the same type of trouble after eating ‘gassy’ vegetables like these. A few needles or sprouts may not matter, but it probably isn’t a good idea to feed them a large quantity of these vegetables because the consequences would be catastrophic.

<p>The post A Guide To Horses’ Special Diet: What Should They Eat And What They Shouldn’t first appeared on Horse Spirit.</p>

She decided to take off the front and have a closer look at the anatomy inside. Her decision changed the whole perspective on horse crack in horses and the way they have been doing it before maybe it wasn’t the perfect one. At the 11th annual Northeast Association of Equine Practitioners (NEAEP) symposium, held in Saratoga Springs, New York, she decided to share what she learned with other interested vets and farriers.

Below can see the complete images of damaged tissue, intending to help hoof care professionals understand why they have difficulty in fixing some cracks, and when it is the right occasion to call the veterinarian for a more specific diagnosticating. By seeing these images, everyone will be able to get understand why some of these cracks persist or reoccur.

“Owners are often way more concerned over cracks that rarely cause lameness than they are over issues that are truly detrimental to the horse, such as major hoof imbalances.”- Paige said. Below we are showing you all kinds of cracks captured by Paige:

1. Toe Cracks

2. Double Cracks

3. Quarter Cracks

4. Heel Cracks

5. Solar Cracks

6. Bar Cracks

<p>The post Closer Look Beneath The Horse Hoof Cracks first appeared on Horse Spirit.</p>

Or, for a more sophisticated look, Hoofies can be matched up with stylish ankle wraps and colorful tack. This little cowgirl certainly approves of the ensemble! Or channel springtime sprightliness like this sweet steed, who is rocking jewel-tone leg wraps and vibrant green Hoofies that almost blend in with the background! No horse, no matter how big or small, has to be excluded from the fun!

Hoofies come in medium and large; the large is big enough to fit even the largest draft horse, and the medium can be cut down to fit the tiniest pony! Best of all, Hoofies are appropriate for any event or occasion! For national holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth, some patriotic Hoofies make a lovely statement. Or try a more specific look, like these Hoofies bedecked with pink in honor of breast cancer awareness!

Honestly, though, no matter which color you pick, you just can’t go wrong! After all, if you’ve ever met a horse, you know that every single one is beautiful, inside and out! Having pretty hooves is just the cherry on top. If you agree that every horse deserves to feel pampered and pretty, make sure to share on Facebook for everyone who loves horses as much as we do!

<p>The post Pretty Accessories That Will Give Your Horse An Extra Beauty first appeared on Horse Spirit.</p>

We had been for a check-up at the equine hospital in the morning and when we got back in the afternoon I turned him out with Thomas. Usually, when I bring them in at teatime I whistle and they come to the gate but this time they didn’t come over. My dad and I walked across the field and found them eating two piles of cut grass.” Tia immediately phoned the vet, who advised her to give them only water overnight and monitor their condition.

“My mum and dad checked on them from 9 pm to 1 am, and then I checked on them at 1 am, 3 am and 5 am and my mum took over at 7 am. Luckily they didn’t show signs of colic but I’ve to keep an eye on them over the next few days, I was advised to feed them little and often on Thursday. Thomas has type 2 diabetes so the rich cut grass could have been really harmful to him.” Tia said a tourist caravan site neighbors her field where she believes the grass came from.

“We’ve had trouble in the past – eight years ago a friend’s horse died after it ate cut grass which had been dumped, that’s why I was so scared thinking I could lose the two of them,” she said. “The owners of the site have been great, they know what cut grass can do to horses and are going to have a word with the people who did it. The site opens at the start of March but sometimes people come a little before to sort out their caravans for the season. Someone has come and cut their grass, dumped it and left.

<p>The post Danger Coming From Grass Cutting- Owner Seeks To Raise Awareness first appeared on Horse Spirit.</p>

Following the closure of the UK’s two other main Caspian studs five years ago, Sirhowy is now the UK’s largest herd, holding more than a third of the total stock of the ancient breed in this country. It is also the only herd in the world to have all 28 bloodlines discovered by zoologist Louise Firouz.

The stud was founded by breeder Naomi Thomas in 1987 and in recent years had diversified into an equine-assisted therapy center, using the Caspians’ excellent temperaments to help people with mental health difficulties. Last year’s Beast from the East, followed by the exceptionally hot summer, put the stud under financial pressure and Naomi said she is now struggling.

“I was feeding every horse on the property winter hay last summer because we had no grass,” she said. “I have used my savings to keep the stud and the therapy center going, but now we are looking for sponsors to come forward. I have tried every avenue before asking for help, but we now risk losing the herd.” Though difficult to come by, as much of the UK stock is used for breeding, Caspians make exceptional children’s ponies and are known for their speed as well as their jumping ability.

<p>The post Risky Future For World’s Largest Herd Of Rare Breed first appeared on Horse Spirit.</p>

Mayor Anastasios-Nikolaos Zorzos pledged that five key improvements would be implemented ahead of this holiday season.

These are to:

1.Extend the shelter at the top of Fira Port steps to protect equines from the sun

2.Install a permanent, free-flowing water trough at the top of Fira Port steps to hydrate working animals

3.Repair and extend the shelter, and install a permanent water trough, at the bottom of Fira Port steps

4.Revise and simplify the code of practice for working equines on the island and to harmonize it with new European directives within the framework of Greek law

5.Support training sessions organized by the Donkey Sanctuary.

The Donkey Sanctuary and GAWF will monitor progress in follow-up visits and both organizations also urged visitors to make informed decisions “about their suitability to ride an animal as well as the suitability of the animal to be ridden”.

<p>The post Authorities To Take Actions To Improve Conditions For Santorini’s Working Donkeys first appeared on Horse Spirit.</p>