| Lily was born in April
1995. She had a dramatic start to her life! Her mother,
Alice the mountain pony had made a stricken escape from Beeston Horse
Sales. She had seemed destined for the meat market. She was
nursed back from the brink of slaughter by the H.A.C.K. Sanctuary.
Alice had been brought by an owner to be sold at Beeston. The
palomino pony escaped from the horse sales and sparked a cross country
pursuit which resulted in the owner declaring that the person who caught
her could have her. Eventually, she had to be shot with a
tranquiliser dart and was all set to meet a nasty end when Pamela and
Alison from H.A.C.K. arrived to take her back to the sanctuary.
Alice was a terrified pony who would not let anyone near her. She
cowered in a corner. In time, she started to make friends with
Alison, although she was still very nervous. It takes 11 months
for a pony to give birth and the sanctuary staff suspected she may have
been pregnant. She eventually gave birth to a beautiful foal the
sanctuary named Lily, without complication April 1995.
At three years of age Lily went out on
loan to a very good loan home. It is believed that she was let out
of her paddock on purpose by a mindless stranger. The mare then
managed to make her way into a shed where she devoured a bag of 20 rat
poison nuts. Lily faced massive doses of Vitamin K each day in
order to save her life. The H.A.C.K. vet was on holiday at the
time and there was no cover for such a case. The sanctuary staff
had to start ringing round for help. At least seven vet surgeries
were contacted before one actually agreed to help. The biggest
problem was finding enough Vitamin K to inject into the horse. Rat
poison destroys the clotting agent in the bloody and the animal then
starts to bleed to death.
Vitamin K is the agent that clots the
blood so has a counter effect and until the poison is passed through the
body and the immune system starts producing its own Vitamin K, Lily had
to undergo being injected with large doses each day.
The vet pulled out all the stops and
travelled round to find the Vitamin K so desperately needed. Dr
Derek Knottenbelt from Liverpool University was also willing to help
with advice to the vet. Up to now, Lily is making a satisfactory
recovery.
It seems unlikely that she will be able
to go out on loan again as in addition to all of this, she also suffers
from Sweetitch, an allergy to midge fly bites and she needs special
rugs, lotions and potions to keep her comfortable.
We implore all horse owners to ensure
that there is absolutely no way their animals can have access to rat
poison, it should not be kept in the vicinity of horses at all.
Update
May 2009
What
is happening to Lily now?
Firstly
lets have a look at her, this photo was taken in the summer of last year
2008.
As
well as having had the unfortunate rat poisoning incident, Lily
also has Sweet Itch, and having a pony with sweet itch takes alot of
work and dedication. Anybody buying an equine please be careful
and look out for the tell tale signs of Sweet
Itch (remember it is not cureable). In the summer it is easy to
spot, if a horse/pony has Sweet
Itch they will be allergic to
the midge fly bite or more
accurately to the saliva that
goes into the bite. The poor horse/pony will start to itch and they will do anything
to rub that itch away - fences, posts, gates, trees and hedges and
this continues until open sores appear and still the horse/pony will
continue to itch. There is no relief for them, we can try lotions and
potions, there are many on the market, if it helps then that is fine,
but they are only a small part of the fight you have to help your
horse/pony with this horrible reaction.
As well as open sores they will also lose mane and tails,
if this continues without treatment or care then the skin will start
thickening and hair will no longer grow.
In winter it is harder to tell if a horse/pony has sweet itch - some of the
mane and tail may have grown back and the current owner may tell you it
was just from ordinary rubbing, winter coats hide a multitude of sins,
always get your hands in there, feel for scabs, lumps and bumps etc.
So
what can we do to help our horse/pony with Sweet
Itch? The season used to be from April to October, but now
with milder winters the midges are out there longer.
I like to get my Sweet Itch rugs on in the
first weeks of March, weather
permitting. Lily
wearing a rug designed for Sweet
Itch sufferers.
This
rug is
made of a
close weave canvas (not waterproof) - the neck and shoulders are lined
with silk and the belly wraps right around to help protect the tummy. This of course does not protect the face and an additional face
mask with a very fine mesh also has to be worn. I personally find this rug better worn when the weather is not so
hot as it is quite heavy and the material has no give, so the rug must
be removed often to check beneath. There
are other rugs on the market including Boett and Pagony, both are made
from a light breathable, stretch fabric, they have face masks and other
attachments that help, depending on the severity of the Sweet
Itch. I like to use these rugs in the hot weather (of course your
horse/pony should always have access to shelter and water). I have never found a rug that did it all and so I tend to customise
Lily’s rugs and they are very much a work in progress.
Apart from the rugs, what else can be done? It
is important to keep your horse/pony clean, (midges love a dirty
horse/pony). This does not just involve washing but a good
grooming regime is important too. If you notice a sore, deal with
it immediately, there are many lotions and potions out there, try a
variety as some work better than others on different equines. I find that fly
and midge sprays last only for as long as it takes for it to evaporate,
but always keep an open mind, these items may help you as part of your
regime.
Finally,
having started my Sweet Itch regime for the
coming season, I now am looking to start Lily’s Schooling, her
odd conformation, along with her height - 12.3HH limits our choices, but I think carriage work would be ideal for
her, so the schooling has started,
below is a picture taken of Lily
wearing her new harness.
|
