Why we need your help
Holly came into our care on a cold November day. She was discovered by our Field Officer, Tony, alone, hungry and frightened. She was desperately moving from mare-to-mare on a cold Welsh hillside seeking food and comfort, but none showed any interest in her. Her fragile little body suggested she’d been away from her mother for far too long so Tony moved swiftly to get Holly to safety.
Groom Steph Leek explains how vulnerable Holly was:
“Little Holly arrived at our Glenda Spooner Farm in Somerset after receiving emergency treatment at a holding yard. She was very underweight, very quiet and really quite unwell – she was lying down a lot of the time and often needed help to get to her feet. She had painful rainscald all across her face, all around her ears, on the front of her legs and all over her back. Because she was immunosuppressed she didn’t have the ability to fight off an infection caused by the rainscald.”
Steph and the team worked around the clock, feeding Holly every two hours day and night, treating her rainscald and making sure she had a warm rug and a deep bed to keep the harsh winter cold at bay. Thanks to generous donations from people like you our expert team saved Holly’s life and will continue to give her round-the-clock care over Christmas. Although Holly is doing so much better and the team is hopeful that she will make a good recovery, she is still a very vulnerable little foal who needs specialist care.
This year alone World Horse Welfare has cared for 30 foals. All youngsters take a great deal of care, but three of those foals came to us as emergency cases where no mother could be traced and this puts enormous pressure on our precious resources.
Will you help us fund the care of Holly and her friends this Christmas?