Orphaned foal bids farewell to fantastic foster mum

By Justine Thompson

General news

16 March 2010 10:07

An orphaned thoroughbred foal called Jerry who was fostered by a rescued mare at World Horse Welfare has been reunited with his grateful owner.

When Jerry lost his own mother last August, his worried owner contacted the National Foaling Bank to see if they could find him a surrogate mum.

At around the same time staff at World Horse Welfare’s recovery and rehabilitation centre at Belwade Farm in Aboyne were caring for Lightning, a grey Welsh Mountain pony who had given birth to a very sick foal.

Unfortunately the foal could not be saved and centre manager Eileen Gillen contacted the National Foaling Bank to see if Lightning might be able to help another foal. The rest as they say is history!

Eileen recalls: “The next day Jerry was brought to Belwade Farm and we all held our breath as he was carefully introduced to Lightning, but to our relief she took to him straight away. Despite her traumatic past she has been the most fantastic foster mum and when Jerry grew bigger than her, she used to lift her hind leg to allow him to suckle more easily.

“Jerry has now been weaned and the time has come to return him to his owner. We are so pleased that we were able to help and of course we are immensely proud of Lightning.”

Lightning arrived at World Horse Welfare in January 2009, after she and five other thin and lice-ridden ponies were found living among car batteries, broken wood and metal.

The charity hopes she will soon be rehomed through its  loan scheme. To find out more about rehoming a horse or becoming a member please visit www.worldhorsewelfare.org