Unclaimed Ponies From Holne Drift

After all the ponies had been sorted and claimed after the Holne drift 20 were left unclaimed. The commoners got to work trying to track down their owners, they were advertised for a two week period, as is required, in order to track owners. A number of the ponies were claimed, a few were rehomed and we were asked if we could take the remaining seven.

The group included two mares and their foals, a yearling filly, a young colt and an older colt. If we hadn't agreed to take the ponies in they would probably have been shot. We will work with these ponies at our rehabilitation yard, the colts will be handled and castrated and the foals will be weaned once ready.

Merrivale Pony Drift

Our welfare officer attended the drift on horseback in order to assess the entire process. Everything ran smoothly from beginning to end. All ponies, apart from one mare and foal were sorted and claimed by their owners.

The unclaimed mare and foal were moved to the Reeves premises and we are working with him and the commoners to try and establish an owner.

September Update

As well as responding to calls regarding moorland ponies we are involved in a number of calls regarding privately owned equines. We respond to every call we recieve, in many private cases we visit the site that has been reported, establish ownership and discuss the worries of the caller and establish a resolution. We never disclose who the caller is, many private investigations are resolved swiftly. However we do not report these private calls on our blog.

We also attend the monthly Exeter equine sale to ensure welfare needs are being met.

In September we responded to four private call outs.

Hallworthy Moorland Pony Sale - 1st Sale

The standard at todays first annual pony sale was high and the initial attendance was high during sale of riding horses and young stock. However interest dwindled when the moorland ponies entered the sales ring, many went unsold other than some of the larger ponies.

A pony with a large sarcoid was refused entry by the auctioneer but was bought outside the ring and signed over to SWEP's care. She has recieved treatment and is recovering at our rehabilitation yard.

Lame Foal Near Middlemoor

We received a call from a worried dog walker about a piebald foal who was lame, our welfare assistant went out to assess. On arrival the foal was lying down with a large group of ponies, when it stood up it could be seen that his front nearside pastern was swollen and he was reluctant to weight bear on it. Our welfare assistant spoke to the foals owner who was aware of the problem and explained that the foal had been lame on and off for a couple of weeks and he was monitoring it. He wanted to wait for the drift in two weeks to take the foal off the moor to prevent anymore excess stress to the youngster and its mother. Our welfare assistant was not 100% happy with this and decided to seek further advice from our welfare officer. We are currently trying to come to a solution with the foals welfare our priority.

 

 

* We are disappointed to report this foal was made to wait for the annual drift to be taken off the moor, we do not know his outcome.

Mare With Herniation of the Abdominal Wall

 



This pony caused minor alarm due to its underside looking "lumpy", on closer inspection it could be seen that the abdominal wall has herniated. This is likely to be due to the mare being pregnant many times, possibly carrying larger foals. She is an older mare and should not be bred from again, she did not have a foal with her.

Lame Mare Near Long Ash

 

We have received a number of calls regarding this mare near Long Ash. She has been reported as she seems to be lame and having difficulty keeping up with her herd, she seemed to be distressed and has been seen calling frantically. Our welfare assistant has been to assess this mare on two occasions and both times she has been slightly lame but does not seem to be in any distress. She has been with a group of ponies grazing happily both times.

She is, however, slightly lame and seems quite stiff. Her owners have been out to assess her and feel she is in fit condition to stay with her herd, they feel it would distress her more to load her onto a trailer and move her. They will monitor her over the next few weeks, we will also be monitoring this mare. If her condition becomes worse we will ask for her to be taken off the moor.

We think she may have a sticky stifle joint, which is why sometimes she looks extremely lame and unable to walk comfortably. When a sticky stifle joint becomes trapped the locking mechanism of the leg kicks in and it could look to some people like the leg is broken or unable to take the weight of the animal. Usually the joint will pop back into place and the pony will be a little stiff, if it continues a small operation can be performed to cut the tendon and freeing up the joint.