by Neglected Horse Thought Dᴇᴀᴅ Rᴇsᴄᴜᴇᴅ And Nursed Back To Health By Volunteers
We hear a lot about dog and cats being Rᴇsᴄᴜᴇᴅ and rehabilitated. It’s practically a genre all its own. Those stories are important and wonderful and inspiring, but it’s important to remember that it’s not just domesticated pets who sᴜꜰꜰᴇʀ and need ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ. When the volunteers from the British Horse Society came upon this ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙʀᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ sight, they couldn’t hold their tears. Next to a building site in East Durham, England, a horse was sitting in the mud, just like she would have ᴅɪᴇᴅ. That’s what the ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ team initially thought.
The ᴘᴏᴏʀ horse, named Heidi was in a ᴛᴇʀʀɪʙʟᴇ condition. She could barely breathe, let alone to stand on her feet. However, the British Horse Society volunteers knew they had to give her a chance. So they carefully took the starving pony to shelter and tried to help her.
“The volunteer was horrified at what she first thought was a Dᴇᴀᴅ horse amongst the mud and rubbish,” the ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇ wrote on Facebook. “Moments later however, the horse was seen to be breathing and the sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ volunteer quickly made a call for assistance.” Once ʀᴇsᴄᴜᴇd, everyone knew it would be a nearly impossible mission to put Heidi back on her feet. Heidi couldn’t stand or walk on her own, needing five weeks to regain enough strength to do so. Besides sᴇᴠᴇʀᴇ sᴛᴀʀᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, Heidi had numerous pressure sᴏʀᴇs, ᴡᴏʀᴍs, ᴘᴀʀᴀsɪᴛᴇs, and various ɪɴꜰᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴs. It took months of slow, careful ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ for her to recover enough to safely explore the outside pasture. And once her ᴡᴏᴜɴᴅs had healed enough for her hair to grow back, Heidi’s true beauty began to shine through. But the lovely horse proved she’s a sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇʀ and despite she had been through unimaginable things, she made an incredible recovery. Even it took over five weeks until she was able to stand on her feet alone, no one would recognize her now, nearly a year apart.
Now, after months of medical care and a long way to recover, Heidi a totally different animal. She regained her weigh and her hair grew back. She has such a wonderful mane and she looks so happy. But most important, she’s now fine and healthy and more…she’s now a rosette-winning horse.
