Post by sixfootblonde on Jul 31, 2007 21:43:05 GMT 1
Lady Guinevere
Beautiful liver chestnut mare, heavily in foal and was due to go to the meat man any day as she is well up to weight.
She is supposed to be 10 but we think she is approx. 18 (will get it verified by dentist). And is approx. 13.2hh.
She is branded but we know nothing about her. Hoping to find out more.
We think she is semi-feral.
She arrived this morning.
When she came off the lorry she looked a little wobbly. Her eyes were really gunky as was her nose. Her eyes looked a little cloudy. She has insect bites all over her chest and belly. She has a number of small injuries to her body. Her mane is all dread locked. She is really greasy. She is lame on her right hind. Her feet are badly overgrown. OK, that is the physical stuff.
She is quite bargy - she just walks round and round you with no understanding of what it is all about. If you stand in front of her she will stop though! Veronica said she is not good to catch so keep a head collar on her. She would not stand still whilst been held by a human. She is quite head shy and has a scar over her left eye - which is the side she is most head shy with.
The first thing we did was give her water - she was soooooo thirsty! We put up a nice shiny new electric fence. We spent over an hour with her, on the head collar, letting her eat grass and drink whilst we undreadlocked her mane. Took over an hour. I also gently found her scratchy spots - under her belly. Also, taught her little about following feel with the head collar. She seems perfect with traffic. Anyway, we got a leather head collar for her and let her go. She had a wander round. Then the sheep came trotting through and nipped under electric fence which had a hedge behind it incidentally. So Guinevere knew how to proceed... so she just walked straight through said new shiny fence, through hedge, and out into 15 acre field. My friend and I just stood there open-mouthed. And left her. We need to get big charge electric fence charger as she is supposed to be in quarantine for 14 days.
I went back to see her 3 times - just to check all is well. She is dodgy to catch. She just calmly walks away, and keeps walking. Have to approach her with 'special scratching' in mind. This seems to work... eventually (no rush Sarah, no rush ). The last visit up there, she followed me like a big chestnut stalker all the way up the field and then came and stood beside me for a while. I felt honoured. I feel she wants to trust but is unsure. I would love to know her past. I usually only get youngsters because you know what has happened, etc. so this is a leap into the unknown for me
So that is the end of day 1. Will bring updates as regularly as I can. Below are a few photos.
And, once more, I just need to say a humongous [glow=red,2,300]thank you[/glow] to Sarah for funding these beautiful animals safety, and to Lisa, Lucy, and Melissa for all their amazing hard work to make a difference to these horses' lives, and lastly to the rest of us for providing sanctuary and time to these beautiful needy creatures.
This was her at Dept 41:
This is Guinevere at home today
Beautiful liver chestnut mare, heavily in foal and was due to go to the meat man any day as she is well up to weight.
She is supposed to be 10 but we think she is approx. 18 (will get it verified by dentist). And is approx. 13.2hh.
She is branded but we know nothing about her. Hoping to find out more.
We think she is semi-feral.
She arrived this morning.
When she came off the lorry she looked a little wobbly. Her eyes were really gunky as was her nose. Her eyes looked a little cloudy. She has insect bites all over her chest and belly. She has a number of small injuries to her body. Her mane is all dread locked. She is really greasy. She is lame on her right hind. Her feet are badly overgrown. OK, that is the physical stuff.
She is quite bargy - she just walks round and round you with no understanding of what it is all about. If you stand in front of her she will stop though! Veronica said she is not good to catch so keep a head collar on her. She would not stand still whilst been held by a human. She is quite head shy and has a scar over her left eye - which is the side she is most head shy with.
The first thing we did was give her water - she was soooooo thirsty! We put up a nice shiny new electric fence. We spent over an hour with her, on the head collar, letting her eat grass and drink whilst we undreadlocked her mane. Took over an hour. I also gently found her scratchy spots - under her belly. Also, taught her little about following feel with the head collar. She seems perfect with traffic. Anyway, we got a leather head collar for her and let her go. She had a wander round. Then the sheep came trotting through and nipped under electric fence which had a hedge behind it incidentally. So Guinevere knew how to proceed... so she just walked straight through said new shiny fence, through hedge, and out into 15 acre field. My friend and I just stood there open-mouthed. And left her. We need to get big charge electric fence charger as she is supposed to be in quarantine for 14 days.
I went back to see her 3 times - just to check all is well. She is dodgy to catch. She just calmly walks away, and keeps walking. Have to approach her with 'special scratching' in mind. This seems to work... eventually (no rush Sarah, no rush ). The last visit up there, she followed me like a big chestnut stalker all the way up the field and then came and stood beside me for a while. I felt honoured. I feel she wants to trust but is unsure. I would love to know her past. I usually only get youngsters because you know what has happened, etc. so this is a leap into the unknown for me
So that is the end of day 1. Will bring updates as regularly as I can. Below are a few photos.
And, once more, I just need to say a humongous [glow=red,2,300]thank you[/glow] to Sarah for funding these beautiful animals safety, and to Lisa, Lucy, and Melissa for all their amazing hard work to make a difference to these horses' lives, and lastly to the rest of us for providing sanctuary and time to these beautiful needy creatures.
This was her at Dept 41:
This is Guinevere at home today