I remember seeing a post on the “Sakkara Equine Clinic” Facebook page (an equine hospital in our area) about a horse they had in their care. The horse had a twisted body and he appeared to be entirely missing a hoof on his hind leg. People asked on the Facebook page what had happened to the pony and had they euthanised him but there never was a reply from admin to what the fate of the pony with the stumpy leg was.
Here are some screen shots from the Sakkara Equine Clinic Facebook page. They are clearly dated 10th December 2013.
I did actually think about the pony from time to time because it was such a strange case and because we never did have a reply from Sakkara about what had happened to the pony.
Then my head groom contacted me to say that a man had come from the countryside with a horse and he wanted us to pay for the transportation costs!
So I said yes we could pay the costs and asked for some photos of this new foster case we had sprung on us.
When my head groom sent through the photos of the same pony from the Sakkara Equine Clinic 6 months ago I was shocked!
I immediately made an offer to purchase the pony, there is nothing we can do too help if the pony does not belong to us. We do not posses the legal power to seize animals from owners.
We were told no.
I made the conscious decision to allow the pony to stay on our property. At least if the pony was on our property I knew that he would receive, food, water, bedding and medical care. I knew we could work on the owner and purchasing the pony.
What I didn’t want to occur was to push the owner so hard that he took the pony away and hid it in another unknown stables for the rest of its life.
This pony staying with us was the best chance he had at a peaceful end and the right decision being made for him.
The team gave him, food, water, shade and a sandy menage to lay in. We wormed him but only so he didn’t pass any parasites to any of our animals. We didn’t have his teeth done or his hooves done, he didn’t have very long left in this cruel world and the stress of both procedures was not worth inflicting upon him.
It wasn’t an easy or quick procedure for the owner to allow us to purchase him. The owner had not listened to the advise of Sakkara Equine Clinic vets to euthanise the pony, and they had taken the pony away from them and kept him another 6 months so why would they consider listening to us?
A deal was made though. 400le was the cost of freedom.
The little pony doesn’t need his legs anymore because he now has wings. ❤
I do not regret my decision to allow this pony to stay on the property. If I had turned this pony away from our stables because I was worried what people would think then can you imagine where this pony would be now?
Nothing in Egypt is fair and nothing is ideal! There is no such thing as perfection. Allowing this pony to stay was not a perfect solution to the problem. Allowing the pony to be taken by his owner to an unknown fate was a worse solution!
This pony stayed with us in our care so we knew he would be comfortable, fed, and loved. The uncertain future he faced if we had turned the case away is an unbearable thought. He wasn’t a sick pony, he could live for years like this… hidden away in someones stables… overlooked because he wasn’t perfect or useful.
The right decision was made for this pony. Nothing happens in Egypt very quickly, negotiating with owners is a tricky and sensitive issue.
But we prevailed. The pony is free. This is a success story for this pony.
My heart goes out to the team who cried for the entire final procedure. Life is not fair when the soul is so strong but the body so weak.
In heaven all that was wrong is right again. So when we met again you will be whole and able to gallop with the rest of our rescues who are now free.
This is the story of how one unfortunate stumpy legged pony stole everyone’s hearts.