A new-born foal with ‘severely deformed’ legs will live happily ever after thanks to a set of special shoes enabling her to walk again.
Malnutrition
HorseWorld was called to attend to an emaciated mare and her young foal in the Frampton Cotterell area of north Bristol, after they were spotted by a dog walker.
The mare was extremely underweight, not just from malnutrition, but also because she had been using her energy reserves to provide her new-born foal with milk.
She also had a long moustache, which indicates she was confined without access to food for some time.
Custom-made shoes
“Many cob-type horses grow moustaches,” said HorseWorld’s husbandry supervisor, Joanne Vaughan. “When they are grazing, the hair wears off as quickly as it grows.
“For this mare’s moustache to be as long as it was, we believe she wasn’t able to graze for some months.”
Both mare and foal are being treated at HorseWorld in Bristol. The filly, who has appropriately been named Cinderella, has had custom-made shoes glued on her back feet to support the legs and encourage them to grow correctly.
Good prognosis
“Cinderella’s legs were very deformed when she was born,” explained vet Carys Chadwick. “Her fetlocks were dropped and her legs swayed out to the sides when she walked.
“They are now straight and strong enough to start exercising and the pair of them were let out into a paddock to continue their rehabilitation together with a very good prognosis.”
Her mum, Duchess, is beginning to gain weight, although it is slow progress as she is still feeding Cinderella.