Pony with horrific maggot-infested headcollar wound fights back to be campaign star
A pony found with a horrific maggot-infested injury caused by a deeply embedded headcollar has gone on to become a campaign cover star.
Moses, who was rescued from Walsall in autumn 2019, is fronting World Horse Welfare’s Sponsor a Stableyard campaign, which aims to support the charity’s four centres.
A spokesman for the charity said World Horse Welfare field officer Charlotte Melvin found Moses when she visited a group of cobs, after a member of the public had reported concerns for their welfare.
“Charlotte noticed a strong smell of infection when she approached the last pony on the site and discovered the two-year-old’s headcollar had been allowed to become very badly embedded in the top of his head, causing a severe wound that became infected and infested with maggots,” the spokesman said.
Moses was removed and taken for urgent veterinary treatment. He stayed at the clinic for four days, owing to the severity of his head wound, then was taken to World Horse Welfare’s Penny Farm, where he has remained ever since.
“With time, Moses was able to make a full recovery from his horrific head injury under the expert care of the Penny Farm team and his amazing personality really began to shine through,” the spokesman said.
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“It also made him the obvious choice for the campaign encouraging support for the stable yards that provide vital care and treatment for horses and ponies like Moses. Recovery and rehabilitation can take many months at the stable yards at the charity’s four farms before the horses and ponies are healthy and ready to be rehomed.”
Charlotte said she was very pleased with Moses’ recovery from the wound.
“Moses’ suffering could so easily have been prevented and it’s awful to think that he could have been left like that if someone hadn’t cared enough to report the situation,” she said.
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As the ponies had food and water, and had a small shelter, their “very basic needs for existence” were being
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“Please consider sponsoring World Horse Welfare’s Penny Farm to enable us to give ponies like Moses the best chance of finally being placed into a loving home for the rest of their lives. Your donations make such a difference.”
Moses’s owner pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and was banned from keeping horses for 10 years, given a 12-week suspended sentence and ordered to pay £400 towards costs and carry out 60 hours of unpaid work.
The spokesman added: “The skilled and dedicated work the teams do at Penny Farm, and the three other World Horse Welfare centres in Aberdeenshire, Norfolk and Somerset for around 300 horses and ponies each year, is not possible without public support. Even while the charity’s visitor centres have been closed due to the pandemic, staff at the centres have continued to take in, care for and rehabilitate horses like Moses despite seeing a 20% drop in income over the last year.”
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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.