A bright future for foal found dumped in a ditch

Dumped in a ditch at just a few days old, things could have turned out very differently for abandoned foal, Charley. But when World Horse Welfare rescued her, she was given a second chance and now lives a wonderful life in her new home.

In June 2021 World Horse Welfare received a call about an abandoned foal, but when they arrived the situation was far more serious than they imagined. The foal, now named Charley, had been cruelly taken from her mother and left in a ditch to die. Charley was weak and couldn’t get out on her own, but with help from the Cheshire fire and rescue service, she was lifted to safety and transported to a veterinary hospital for life-saving care.

While Charley received treatment, the search began to track down her owner and, hopefully her mother, but to no avail. So, when Charley was strong enough, she was moved to World Horse Welfare’s Penny Farm, where the team began the round-the-clock job of hand-raising her. Giving her a bottle every two hours, day and night.

Thanks to the dedication of charity staff, Charley made an incredible recovery and was strong enough to go out in a paddock with other youngsters a few months after her arrival at Penny Farm. She went from strength to strength, so that by March 2022 she was ready to begin an exciting new life with rehomer, Sian.

Sain said: “It’s remarkable, within 10 minutes of meeting my other horse it was like they’d always been together. She’s very playful and yesterday she tipped over the full wheelbarrow, then she waited until I’d refilled it and did it again! She makes us laugh so much and we absolutely love her!”

When asked what her plans for Charley were, Sian said: “We are so looking forward to the future with her, especially after she had such a hard start in life. We’re going to take her out for walks to get her used to seeing different things and when she’s old enough, we’re hoping to back her, so that she can enjoy hacking around the local countryside.”

Rehoming a horse from World Horse Welfare is an immensely rewarding experience. Most of the rehomed horses have had difficult lives before coming into the charity and rehoming offers them a vital second chance, as well as making space in the farms for more horses that desperately need help. To find out more about rehoming, visit worldhorsewelfare.org/rehome