A herd of underweight Thoroughbred horses are making excellent progress in their recovery with World Horse Welfare thanks to careful feeding and healthcare, with the support of feed company, Baileys Horse Feeds.
The horses were rescued by World Horse Welfare last year from a site in Devon where they had been left following an eviction. Seven of the mares from this group went to Hall Farm, the charity’s rescue and rehoming centre in Norfolk, where they have been turned away in a field for a few months to settle and decompress. Feeding is a key part of their recovery process and helping malnourished horses to regain weight and condition has to be done carefully and gradually.
When a horse or pony is taken to one of World Horse Welfare’s rescue and rehoming centres it is just the beginning of a lengthy and expensive process, with each horse being carefully looked after, assessed and rehabilitated by the charity for many months before becoming ready to rehome.
Sue Hodgkins, Hall Farm centre manager said: “We have been working gently with the mares since they arrived, assessing their behaviour with each other and their grooms. As we approach spring and their weight improves, some are ready to begin the next step of their journeys towards rehabilitation.
“One important aspect of health and recovery for each horse is good quality nutrition and we are so thankful for the support of Baileys Horse Feeds who are providing all of the hard feed needed by the 300 horses and ponies being looked after here and at our other three rescue and rehoming centres around the country.
“These Thoroughbred mares are a fantastic example of how hard feeds can be used alongside good quality forage, such as grass and hay, to help horses who need to gain weight in a healthy and sustainable way. They really enjoy their feeds and feed time also offers a wonderful opportunity for the grooms to bond with the horses and start to get them used to being handled.”
Graham Rice, business development manager for Baileys Horse Feeds said: “We’re proud to support World Horse Welfare and their teams rehabilitating all kinds of horses and are really looking forward to seeing how these Thoroughbreds progress.”
