A group of 14 neglected ponies have been given a second chance at life after being rescued by a Devon based equine charity. The Mare and Foal Sanctuary has been rescuing horses and ponies for 28 years but the latest new arrivals are the largest number they’ve taken in at once.

The group, initially from a herd of over 100 animals were part of a welfare case and amongst the last to be rescued from a site in the South West in an operation that also included the RSPCA and Blue Cross.

Once rescued, the 14 young colts, fillies and a mare and her foal were taken straight to the Sanctuary’s rehabilitation site in Newton Abbot where they were all quarantined and their health and welfare needs assessed thoroughly.

Head of Equine Sally Burton explains, “13 of the 14 ponies were completely unhandled on arrival and had never had any routine health care, however in just two and a half weeks, our grooms have managed not only to catch all of these ponies, but handle them well enough to enable our vet to get blood samples from every single pony and microchip almost all of them.”

“It’s very important to give each pony a thorough health check, and not just for their own benefit. With so many rescued horses and ponies in our care, blood sampling is one of the routine measures we take to ensure the new arrivals are not carrying any contagious diseases such as strangles before they are able to join the resident herd.

“The grooms have shown a lot of dedication in getting these ponies to start to trust them and let them know they are in a safe place, but the hard work has only begun as now each one will go through rehabilitation and training before going up for rehoming in the future. It takes a huge amount of time and patience to get them to that point but it’s so rewarding when you get to see them head off to a new home.”

The new arrivals take the number of horses already rescued in 2016 to 19, the most the Sanctuary has ever rescued so early on in the year before.

The Sanctuary is now home to 316 horses and ponies, 164 of these are living at loan homes across the South West but the Mare and Foal Sanctuary is there to offer advice and support to carers at all times and will always provide a home for the ponies on loan if they ever need to return.

With so many more mouths to feed the Sanctuary is keen to rehome more of their residents, there are currently 28 horses and ponies available and looking for loving homes and more will be ready soon.

Sally is urging potential carers to get in touch, “If you can offer a home to one of our horses or ponies please contact us, the more we rehome the more we can rescue.”

For more details on the horses and ponies available for rehoming and how to go about it please visit the Sanctuary’s website: www.mareandfoal.org/rehoming-list

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