R.I.P Beautiful Flamenca

Devastatingly  I found Flamenca dead in her stable this morning. She had colic yesterday but when the vet left last night she seemed totally fine. The vet said it was most likely due to the terrible dust storms we are having and has just phoned to warn me to watch all the others as he is getting 5 or 6 cases of colic a day due to the sand in the air. The horses water is full of sand, it is everywhere and of course they are breathing it in too. We had to wear masks to go outside, our chests feel wheezy.  Horse owners in Spain – keep a careful eye on your horses while this dust is around.

I feel so guilty that I didn’t check her in the night but I had no reason to, she was even wanting to eat when I left her , but the weather was so fowl, torrential rain mixed with sand and strong wind, I can’t help thinking that maybe if the weather had been better I might have checked her again.   She was such a sweet horse,  she did not deserve to die at only 13.

This is her story:- 

Date of birth  January 2008

Flamenca was 8 when she came to us. We agreed to take her on in August 2017, when her previous owner explained that she had terrible sweet itch and needed to live somewhere away from the mosquitoes (we are very lucky that we never suffer the problem here and rarely see a mosquito).

Her previous owner saw her at a meat dealer and couldn’t leave her there. She had lived at a stud and been beaten and abused . When her previous owner rescued her she was malnourished and had been living on waste food from a brewery and vegetable trimmings.

Sadly to add to her problems, she was then ‘broken in’ by the dealer and was so traumatised she wouldn’t come out of her stable for a week. Luckily her previous owner then decided to take her bitless and barefoot and , when looking to re home her to a bitless and barefoot home, found us on Facebook.

When Flamenca arrived she did look a mess, with no mane , her tail rubbed hairless and red, bleeding sores all over her from the bites. After just 2 weeks of special baths and not being bitten anymore, she was already looking so much better. This winter I have had her on a winter balancer supplement to help with her skin and she is really looking lovely with a thick fluffy coat and a new mane and tail growing back.

She did need to lose quite a lot of weight when she came to us and she had rings round her feet from having laminitis but now that she is integrated into the herd she has to work more for her food (and share it of course!) and she now looks a much more healthy weight.

This is Flamenca when she came

This is Flamenca today

She has become best friends with Sierra which is lovely to see, the two of them are always together, eating , sleeping, relaxing, it is so sweet.Her feet are also looking great , the rings have grown down and been filed away and her new growth is lovely and healthy. We are now looking forward to getting her back under saddle as soon as the weather improves.

She is a very kind natured horse and really seems to love people, always following me around, looking for attention. She was previously ridden in a side pull so we are hoping she will become a great addition to our riding herd , especially as she is a really good size and also young, so will be great for our heavier riders.

 

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