And then there were three....

I have rehomed another Shetland pony from the SSPCA. Her name is Honey, she is 13 years old and approximately 10hh, so a little bigger then Buttons. She is also chesnut with a flaxen mane and tail, but more of an orangey colour in the body and her mane and tail are not as flaxen as Buttons. She was taken into the SSPCA as part of a welfare / neglect case with a horse and her Shetland pony mum. Unfortunately her mum had to be put to sleep 2 weeks after they were rescued. Her feet were horrendously overgrown and she has been badly bullied. The farrier at the SSPCA has said that her feet do show signs of having had laminitis in the past. She has been in the centre for a few months receiving treatment and became available for rehoming at the start of last week although she will need the Dentist and ongoing farrier work. I went to see her at the centre on Thursday with my sister. She is very sweet, very timid but basically going through the motions every day to survive, not to want to live. Her eyes and coat are very dull and there is sadness oozing from every part of her. At the centre they tried keeping her with the other horse she came in with, but the horse terrorised her so they kept her with a 6 month old colt who was there who has front leg deformities. There was no way I could leave her, so I applied to rehome her. We went home and Susan brought Zoe to see Buttons. Looking at him after seeing Honey was like night and day. Glossy coat, eyes bright, full of mischief, just the way he should look. The SSPCA inspector came to do a home check on Friday afternoon, just to check where Honey would be and see Wolfie and Buttons. We saw Wolfie in the field, he was a little unsure (might have been the Vet disguised in a uniform), Buttons came into the stable and was Mr Charming. She thought he was lovely. Buttons makes me laugh. He never discriminates, he was raking through the Inspectors pockets of her big coat. He treats everyone the same, it could be the Queen visiting and he would still raid her pockets or her handbag. Buttons stable has a partition as he used to share with a Section C pony. The doors are all shetland pony height so they can see over. The Inspector said she was more than happy to pass us. She called the centre there and then and it was arranged that I would pick Honey up yesterday.

She loaded and travelled ok, she did manage to turn herself around in the trailer so travelled backwards. She went out in the field with G and Buttons for an hour. She was ok, but didn't really know what to do. She was waiting to be attacked and on the same note was defensive, sort of I'll get you before you get me, but she's not very threatening. Buttons has fallen in love. He was doing extended trot across the field with his neck arched. In the stable he was just standing looking at her looking absolutely delighted. At the moment she's very unsure, her life has been turned upside down again, but it is for the greater good. She's very protective of her hay, I found out that she's terrified of plastic bags and she was scared of the feed bucket when I took it into the stable. She just needs time, consistency, a lot of TLC and reassurance. So Buttons and Honey will have their own Blog which will detail Honey's road to recovery, her feet, Buttons daily antics and managing laminitis. I will try and get some photographs today.

When I told my dad I was thinking of rehoming her, he said I couldn't rehome them all. I know I can't but I'm sure I can make a difference to this little girls life.

When I last posted, I said I was going to ride Wolfie. I was a little optimistic with the weather as we were hit with severe storms, so I still haven't ridden, so fingers crossed for the weather.