A young colt has been found injured and abandoned on a main road, after being used in harness races.
Jack
Equine welfare charityHorseWorld were contacted by Avon and Somerset Police, after the youngster was found loose on a main road in Avonmouth, covered in harness sores.
The coloured colt, who is around 15-18 months old, has since been taken to live at HorseWorld. He has been called Jack in honour of one of the charity’s late trustees.
Injuries
A statement from the charity suggested that the horse’s harness wounds were ‘consistent with pulling a horse-drawn vehicle at speed’.
“Jack’s injuries are deep both physically and psychologically,” said HorseWorld’s Managing Director, Mark Owen. “He has a nasty wound under his tail where the crupper of his harness has dug in and sores across the top of his front legs where a breastcollar has been used too low.
“He was also wearing a shoe with a winged edge on one hoof, presumably to influence his gait, but there was evidence he had been shod on all four hooves. It is heartbreaking to see.”
Owners
It has not yet been possible to track down the colt’s owners.
“Jack was not micro-chipped so as yet a prosecution has not been possible, although we will be assisting the police with any enquiries they have to bring his abusers to justice,” added Mark.
Jack has now been micro-chipped and passported him, as is the law for a horse over six months old, and now legally belongs HorseWorld.
He will stay at HorseWorld’s Welfare Department for the foreseeable future, where he will be nursed back to health and receive veterinary attention. In the future, he will be turned out with a herd and given time to grow up and mature in his own time.