A foal born to a rescue pony at the Horses and Ponies Protection Association (HAPPA) is doing well despite a tricky start to life after her dam struggled to produce enough milk to sustain her after she was born. 

Wotsit, a three-year-old chestnut mare, was found abandoned on common land by the RSPCA when she was three months pregnant. Shortly after she was rescued she was transferred to HAPPA’s Burnley base for further care and rehabilitation.

She had had limited interactions with humans and was extremely nervous of human touch, particularly by the vet and farrier. 

The staff at HAPPA have spent the past few months developing Wotsit’s confidence around humans and introducing her to new experiences in advance of her giving birth to her filly foal who arrived on Friday 9 May.

Despite a problem-free birth, a few hours later on-duty HAPPA equine care supervisor, Nicole Simpson, noticed that something didn’t seem right.

Equine emergency

“I knew that we needed to act fast to save Wotsit’s newborn foal. I called the vet and unfortunately after a blood test it was found that Wotsit had not expressed enough milk after giving birth, therefore not providing her foal with the much-needed nutrients found in colostrum (nature’s first milk),” said Nicole.

“This was an emergency, if the little foal did not receive the nutrients needed in the next couple of hours, then things would deteriorate very quickly, possibly resulting in the foal’s death. 

“The attending veterinarians from Aireworth Vets managed to source colostrum from a very kind donor, Ess Jay Arabians. 

“This subsequently had to be fed through a tube directly into the stomach to ensure, with every certainty, that the vital nutrients were absorbed into the little foal’s frail body and blood stream. Then the real work began!”

Round the clock care

Nicole and a team of vets worked through the night to ensure Cheeto had the best chance of survival. A second blood test showed that nutrients in her blood stream had improved so over the weekend Wotsit was given medication to bring on her milk.

Every two hours, the HAPPA equine care team held Wotsit and gently guided Cheeto to her teats.

A bucket of horse formula milk was also offered to Cheeto to top up the milk that Wotsit was unable to offer. 

Watch Cheeto slurping milk out the bucket in the video below:

Over the past few days Cheeto has gone from strength to strength and has been out playing with her mum in the indoor school (see video below). 

For more information about HAPPA or to donate to the care of Wotsit and Cheeto or their other residents, click here.

Videos and images © HAPPA.

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