Epona's Pastures
News, Thoughts and latest events
An Easter Rescue - April 2009
Just before the Easter long weekend, Epona's Pastures was contacted by someone who needed our assistance.
This person has been breeding TB's and racing them for the last 20 years, but he had hit hard times due to the ongoing drought and the current financial crisis and was no longer in a position to care for his horses.
Before our visit to the property, we were told that the horses were down in condition, with the owner not wanting any profits from the horses, his only concern was for their future. We were only too happy to help someone who was putting the welfare of his horses ahead of his own personal gain.
On our first visit to the property we were introduced to eight mares of various ages that the owner was hoping to find new homes for. The horses were indeed down in condition and the very devastated owner took time to introduce us to each horse individually and explain their bloodlines and history. Many of the horses he had bred himself and raised from day one. He was obviously very proud of his horses and he was facing a difficult decision to part with them.
The Easter Eight . . . .
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Goldie was raced in her younger years but has been a broodmare for the last eight years.
Jazzy - 15yo broodmare. This old girl has had three winning foals from a total of five. She is a placid and kind horse who is generally at the bottom of the pecking order in a paddock.
Bonnie - A dark bay 14yo broodmare. This sweet girl was also raced in her younger years. A tendon injury put an end to her career on the track and she is probably the one most down in condition when we met her.
Not Named - 4yo Bay mare with a white star. This young filly has not done much in her life. In fact, she has not done anything at all. She is a little shy and was in need of some TLC when we met her.
This little sweetheart has not done much in her young life to date either. She is a very friendly girl who will com up to you straight away looking for a scratch and a cuddle. Again, this young girl was bred to race but was never given the chance to do so.
Pippa's Mill - 7yo chestnut mare. This lovely mare is well bred and was on her way to a career on the track when a tendon injury occured. She has a lovely nature and the owner was hoping someone might take the time to turn her into a pleasure hack.
Our Mino - Chestnut mare with a white star and two white back feet. This mare is an old trooper. She is 19yo and has been there and seen it all.
Perrie - 7yo Bay mare. This mare was broken to saddle but an injury to her fetlock meant she never got to see the racetrack. |
What Next ?
Suddenly faced with 8 horses to look after and re-home we quickly had to think of the best way to assist these horses. As we generally have a full house with rescue horses at any point in time and have limited land to hold horses on, we had to think of other ways that we could assist.
We quicly decided that we would take Jazzy in to our care as she was showing signs of colic and seemed to need the most urgent attention. She arrived at Epona's Pastures two days later, her story can now be found on the main page.
One of the local neighbours was kind enough to offer a paddock for some of the horses. The paddock is appoximately 6 acres and had enough grass to feed 4 of the horses for at least 3 weeks. 
We requested that the owner wormed all the horses before they were taken off his property and he was then ready to transport them.
Within three days we had moved Milo, Goldie, Bonnie and Pippa to the new paddock with plenty of feed and fresh water.
Below are a couple of photos of the 4 horses as they arrive at their new paddock....
The remaining three horses were placed in a paddock together at the owners home where we supplied a round bale of hay and regular feed donations.