‘She went peacefully in the sun’: heartbroken farewell to 40-year-old mare weeks after horrific attack

A 40-year-old mare who was badly injured in a horrific assault had to be put down weeks later despite the best efforts of all who tried to save her.

H&H reported last month that Cheyenne had been found at Willows Animal Sanctuary & Animal Assisted Therapy Unit in Aberdeenshire, her home of 20 years, with internal and external injuries. These were caused, it is thought, by someone “repeatedly inserting a sharp object into her”.

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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.

‘She went peacefully in the sun’: heartbroken farewell to 40-year-old mare weeks after horrific attack

The one-eyed mare had had ongoing veterinary care, and was showing signs of recovery, but Willows announced last week that her health had taken a turn for the worse.

“Despite her recent improvements, she started to deteriorate earlier in the week and our vets tried everything possible to try and restabilise her fragile health but sadly, it just wasn’t possible to save her.

“She went very peacefully, in the sunshine surrounded by people who cared very much for her and we are all very glad that was able to have a calm and dignified end.”

The spokesman added that Cheyenne was of advanced years and “no one can live for ever”.

“But we all feel very strongly that whoever committed this vile assault on her is most definitely to blame for her health deterioration,” he said.

“We are still worried for the safety of our other horses and once we know exactly what extra safety measures we are going to put into place we will be putting a fundraiser together for this as we don’t ever want to see another one of our equines ever get hurt like this again.

“We are so humbled by the love and support that has been shown to Cheyenne over this very sad time and we will never be able to thank you all enough. She was an absolute treasure and we all feel very lucky to have known and been able to care for her for the past 20+ years.”

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