Shanty’s Story — Let’s Get Shanty Walking Again

Here is a blog post about Shanty’s horse care. A rescue horse with one of the most complicated stories. Sadly, his rehab hasn’t been plain sailing and he still has some hurdles left, but he will get there with the right amount of love, care and time. This is his story — direct from the horse’s mouth!

Good morning everyone! My name is Shanty. Many of you will already know me as I have lived at the Finca for over a year already.

When I came, I had nerve damage in my face causing my lip to drop and I struggled to eat. I had broken ribs, a blown tendon in my leg, and numerous other aches and pains. After the initial drugs wore off, I was in too much pain to walk two metres. I was kept in a tiny paddock made out of rusty bed frames. They were told just before I was rescued that I had an accident which caused all of these problems, but it’s not true. I had been like this for many years. I was so unhappy I cribbed all day — and now I have no teeth!

Long horse care

My horse care has been long and intense. Through many treatments, tests, slow rehab and lots of time and love, most of my problems have healed. However, I still have difficulties walking heel-first. I am very unbalanced in my feet due to many years of problems and bad shoeing. My old owner did it himself, putting strain unnaturally on my feet. I really enjoy going out walking with the other horses. I follow them by choice when they go riding, but I need to have a long slow process of corrective trims on my feet to encourage natural growth.

Anxious to get out

I’ve had some time stuck inside without much exercise, giving my feet a chance to grow. But my mummy says they grow so slowly that this route is not really working. I am getting miserable — I want to go out. Now I crib more and am grumpy with the other horses, just because I am bored.

I was told that with the big delivery that came from England there would be some special boots for me (hoof boots). But unfortunately the three pairs that came don’t fit me, and the one set that does came with only one! So my chance to go out walking again without wearing down my feet isn’t possible yet. So we are doing an appeal to get me some special shoes of my own so I can join my friends and go walking once again!

Donate hoof boots

If you have any of these hoof boots you no longer need, we would really appreciate them — even if they don’t fit me, my friends sometimes need them. Or if you don’t have any, maybe you could donate to this appeal and help continue my rehab. Let’s buy Shanty some hoof boots and we can buy some specifically for me. They’re difficult to get hold of on the island, so they are much more expensive!

Here you can see an old video on our YouTube channel with my progress. Please help us get me back to enjoying my life!

Here I am enjoying a walk with my friends

Shanty 1 month with us vs 9 months with us

With these photos you can see quite clearly the angle in which Shanty places his front feet, causing strain and imbalance. Because of Shanty’s complicated history, he still has many issues — but we are fixing them one at a time until the day he can be totally comfortable. Hopefully!

“After the initial drugs wore off I was in too much pain to walk 2 metres. I was kept in a tiny paddock made out of rusty bed frames.”