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 horses 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, 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 2 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 its not true. I had been like it many years. We do not know how long for, 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. But 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 so many years of problems and bad shoeing. My old owner did it himself, putting strain unnaturally on my feet. I really really enjoy going out walking with the other horses. I follow them by choice when the others go riding but I need to have a long slow process of corrective trims on my feet to encourage natural growth. If I continue to walk this way I file my feet naturally in the wrong way and the problem continues.

Anxious to get out

I have 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 that there would be some special boots for me ( hoof boots). But unfortunately the 3 pairs that come don’t fit me, and the 1 set that does came with only 1!! 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 are 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 his progress. Please help us to get him back to enjoying his 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 for him to be unbalanced. Because of the complicated history for Shanty he still has a lot of issues, but we are fixing 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”