Pedals’ astonishing recovery
Earlier this year, a young horse was discovered emaciated, covered in lice and tied to an old bike, which had been wrapped in barbed wire at a site in Hertfordshire. Now, following her rescue and careful rehabilitation, the pony named ‘Pedals’ is almost unrecognisable from the youngster that first came into our member charity World Horse Welfare’s care.
On February 28th World Horse Welfare received a report from a concerned member of the public which described the 18-month-old skewbald’s situation as, “Tethered horse, no water, no grass on mud patch, no hay, out in all weathers, underweight and very depressed.”
Field Officer Becky went to investigate and found the horse in a shockingly poor state. Despite being so young, Pedals had shoes on all four feet, a concerning sign suggesting she had been used for some form of work, and at such a young age and in such poor condition that would have been completely inappropriate.
With both a veterinarian and the police confirming her suffering was of a level for her to be taken in, Pedals was rescued under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. She was taken into the care of the team at Hall Farm Rescue and Rehoming Centre to begin her road to recovery with a tailor-made rehabilitation programme.
Efforts to locate her owner proved unsuccessful and abandonment notices yielded no response so sadly no action could be taken against them.
The team at Hall Farm named the filly ‘Pedals’, motivated by the bicycle to which she was tragically tied to. Her transformation has been nothing short of miraculous; from a severely underweight, lice infested pony, she has blossomed into a sweet and loving filly, with an incredible temperament.
In the summer, Becky was reunited with Pedals as she was about to begin a new chapter in her life, having been assessed as ready for rehoming: “Pedals has completely transformed, she looks completely different, I wouldn’t recognise her if I hadn’t been told who she was, she was in really, really poor body condition and, to be honest, I think she was close to not surviving.
“The best part of my job is to be able to remove these horses and ponies from these terrible situations and then be able to come and look at them fully recovered, with an amazing prospect of a new home and a great life.”