This afternoon, we received a phone call from a member of the public to report a pony colicking on Roborough Down. It was a skewbald mare with a piebald foal. The lady who reported the case said that she had been watching the pony for 45 minutes and it was a serious colic - the pony was described as lying upsidedown with its legs in the air.
Maureen Rolls contacted the local Commoner (Reeve) responsible for the area. SWEP offered to pay for a vet to attend the pony. The Reeve attended the pony and was able to establish the owner of the pony. SWEP still offered to pay for a vet to treat the pony but the offer was rejected by the owner of the pony. They said that they would monitor the pony out on the moor themselves. The family who owns this pony were also the owners of other ponies we attended this year such as Hope (see blog entry http://swepwelfare.blogspot.com/2011/05/hopes-story-day-3-rescue.html )
Again, it is likely that this pony had been fed by tourists. We ask people not to feed moorland ponies. Some foods and plants cause colic, and some can even be poisonous to horses. Colic is a very painful condition and can result in the death of a pony - either through the condition itself, or because some owners may decide to shoot the pony rather than pay the vet fees. Grass clippings are particularly dangerous for horses to eat - the fermenting matter tastes delicious to the horses but causes colic once in the horse's digestive system.
Feeding ponies can also cause other problems, such as aggressiveness towards people, and it can encourage moorland ponies to approach cars, putting them at risk of being hit by cars on the main roads.
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