Abandoned mare discovered with dead foal
A mare has been discovered with a still-born foal still hanging out of her. She was among a herd of more than 100 abandoned horses in Gravesend, Kent.
Alana Chapman, from World Horse Welfare, who is regularly called to the 8 -mile field, discovered the mare.
“The closer I got to her the more strongly I could smell this vile smell, like a rotting stench,” said Alana.
“The poor mare looked as if she had prolapsed, but what had really happened was she had given birth to a dead foal, the foal and afterbirth were hanging out of her, just left there.
“It was a very hot day and she must have been so incredibly uncomfortable. Once the vet had checked her, we found that she had a broken pelvis, so we had to put her to sleep to end her suffering.”
World Horse Welfare say the incident highlights the growing problem of horse abandonment and fly grazing.
The British Horse Society, Blue Cross and HorseWorld believe there are more than 7,000 equines at risk of abandonment and neglect due to the economic crisis, overbreeding and fly grazing.
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For more on fly grazing see next week’s issue of H&H — out Thursday 8 August
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.