Mare Lame in Both Back Legs

This mare was spotted walking along dragging her back feet, she looked very stiff behind. Our welfare assistant sought advice from our vet who suggested it could be Spavin. We informed the ponies owner who agreed we could take the pony into our care. Once she has settled in at the yard we will get our vet to assess her and she will receive any treatment she may need.

Dead Foal on Yennadon Down

On the evening of Tuesday 23rd July, 2013, we received a call from a lady out riding her horse informing us she had come across a dead foal, her horse was naturally spooked by it so she rode on. Our welfare assistant went out in order to try and identify the foals mother and inform the owner. On arrival the first thing that was noticed was that the top of the foals ear had been cut off, the cut was clean and looked like a pair of scissors or a knife had been used. On further investigation it was noted the foals male genitals had been cut out and its eyes were missing, the eyes could have been taken by crows. The tongue had been pulled out and its belly slit open. There was no evidence of excessive blood spill, claw or bite marks or gun shot wounds. There were lines of white paint coming from the foals head and front legs pointing South-West. All this aroused suspicion and the Police were informed.

We do not know if the desecration and mutilation of this foal took place when he was alive or once he was dead or how many people were involved. Either way it is criminal damage as the foal is owned by someone. If the foal was still alive and not properly sedated these actions would have caused extreme pain, suffering and distress. Taking the foal away from its mother at such a young age would have caused distress to the mare and she is now at risk of developing mastitis in her udder, this can be an extremely painful condition and can result in serious infection and abscesses.

There is some suggestion of a ritualistic motive, however we are keeping an open mind.

The Police are investigating this matter and have appealed for anyone who knows anything about the incident to contact them on 101 stating reference number 91823072013 or you can contact us and we will forward any details to the Police, we will treat all calls with the strictest confidence.

We would like to remind anyone using Dartmoor or Bodmin Moor not to feed or pet any of the ponies you may encounter, no matter how tame or cute they may be. These actions can make them less fearful of humans making them more vulnerable to any individuals who mean to do them harm them.

 

DO NOT TAKE PONIES OFF THE MOORS!!!

We would like to remind people not to remove any pony from any part of Bodmin Moor or Dartmoor, no matter how bad it looks. If you are concerned about any pony please contact either ourselves - 01822854823, Dartmoor Livestock protection - 07873587561, The Secretary of Bodmin commoners - 07703468628, Animal Health Vets (DEFRA) - 01392266373, Trading Standards - 08454040506, The RSPCA - 03001234999 a local vet or the Police. It is a criminal offence to take any animal from either of the moors and if caught you may be prosecuted.

We say this after we were asked to take in a foal that had been taken from Bodmin Moor after a well wishing member of the public thought it had been abandoned. The individual then put the foal in their car and drove it 62 miles to their home, this meant the foal was illegally transported after effectively being stolen. While we completely understand this individual was worried about and cared about the foals welfare we cannot support these actions. We have to work within the law and although often frustrating we must follow strict procedures before removing any pony from its place of residence.

Lame Foal near The Warren House Inn

During a monitoring session our welfare team were approached by a tourist who had seen a lame foal near the Warren House Inn. The team were near by so went straight out to locate the foal to assess. The foal and his mother had not roamed far and as his mum had a brand the owner was established and contacted.

Thin Skewbald Mare Seen From B3417

We received details of a thin mare with a foal seen from the B3417 near Princetown, our welfare team were out that way so they went to look for her. She is certainly underweight, however she was with a small group of ponies who all looked well and her foal was big and healthy. The mare had plenty of milk in her udder so we decided to monitor her and her foal, we are hoping she will pick up in the next couple of weeks. If she doesn't we will contact her owner and ask them to assess.

Pony With Large Sarcoid

 

We were sent this photo of a pony near Long Ash which clearly shows a very large sarcoid on her belly. Our welfare team went out to find the mare and assess, on arrival the mare was found quickly and the sarcoid looked to be around golf ball size. There was some slight ulceration but not severe, our welfare assistant contacted the ponies owner who said he would look for her on his evening rounds and assess. We will continue to monitor this pony and contact the owner again if it looks infected or is causing the pony distress, she seemed very content and was not affected by the sarcoid.

Thin pony with Sore Legs

This little pony was reported to us early in the morning when our welfare team went to look for her she was lying down just outside our yard. She was very thin and had very sore hind legs, she was covered in crab and horse flies and was very weak.

It looked like she had mud fever and on closer inspection we could see that her hind legs had become infected. We knew who the owner and tried to get hold of him but he was out of range, so we decided to bring the pony into our yard and keep her contained until we made contact with the owner.

Soon after the ponies owner came to collect her, he assured us he will give her a shot of penicillin and a wormer then put her in a grass filled paddock to allow her to recover and gain some weight.