Buena’s story
Buena was born at Together for Animals member World Horse Welfare’s Glenda Spooner Farm Rescue and Rehoming Centre in March. Her mum Chelsea came into their care last year as part of a large welfare case. Chelsea was unhandled and extremely nervous on arrival, but by the time Buena was born Chelsea had transformed into a very friendly girl. Foals who are born at World Horse Welfare’s farms have a much better start to their lives than their mums did, arriving in a safe environment and receiving kind, expert care right from birth.
The team at Glenda Spooner Farm made sure Chelsea, as a new mum, had time to bond with her baby and monitored Buena to make sure she was drinking properly. Buena very quickly started to test out her legs and show off her moves!
They don’t know who Buena’s dad was and often foals born at the centres after their mums are rescued are the result of indiscriminate breeding, so it’s very difficult to know if they may have inherited any problems. However, receiving expert care from day one ensures them the best possible future. In Buena’s case we can safely say that being born at Glenda Spooner Farm has ensured she’s been a confident young lady right from the very start – such a contrast with her mum Chelsea being so scared when she first came into their care!
Once Chelsea and Buena had bonded well and Buena was a bit bigger, they started to go out in the field with another mare, Victoria, as a friend for Chelsea. The two mares were part of the same welfare case and had been turned out together previously, so we knew they got on well. If the team can turn several mares and their foals out together this means the foals have playmates of a similar age – some great friendships can form this way!
The foals get used to being brought into the yard with their mums from very early on – this means they get the chance to learn about meeting new people, such as the farrier, in as stress-free a way as possible right from the start. Our farrier checks all the foals in the early days to make sure they don’t need any corrective treatment – Buena didn’t, but it’s really valuable for foals to get used to different people in a calm environment as soon as possible.
When it was time for Buena to start learning about coming away from her mum, she took to it really smoothly. To begin with, foals will be taken out of the field with a friend for just a couple of minutes before going back. Gradually this will be extended until both mare and foal are calm and relaxed when the foal comes away from the field to the main yard with a friend to stand in for a while before going back out again. This makes the weaning process much less stressful for both of them. At seven months old, Buena is now ready to rehome and is a confident, inquisitive young filly.