Charlie

A sixteen year old 12hh chestnut Welsh Section A

Charlie was originally rescued from a barn of Welsh ponies who were used for injection trials, possibly for vaccines. When the trials were finished, the ponies that were not rehomed were put down. Charlie was initially rehomed where he was mistreated and then rescued by a riding school where he was very stressed and did not settle. He was rehomed again to a friend of the riding school’s owner who described him as unrideable and despite some difficult times with him she persevered. From there he came to our yard on full loan as a project. Due to further difficulties he was given up by his loaners after persevering with him for six months. A lot of his problems were caused by ill fitting saddles and bits in his mouth causing pain. He clearly showed symptoms of separation anxiety and a severe head shaking problem.

Since being with us Charlie no longer shakes his head as we do not use a bit in his mouth, we have given him time off wearing a saddle until his muscles have been rehabilitated and his separation is being addressed by pairing him up with Jigsaw, which is a gradual ongoing process. Everything is being done to avoid any build up of stress and to alleviate his anxiety we keep him in a consistent routine that he can rely on.