Mister

Thursday 10th January 2008

We were asked to take in Mister at the request of the RSPCA in October 2006. He was found at a dealer’s yard in a very sorry state as you can see by the pictures, several dogs were also removed from this site. His body condition was very poor, and his skin was in a very bad state as he had been left out in the field in the winter rain and storms with no rug for protection.

On arrival at Bransby we found that Mister had an identichip under his skin which is used to identification purposes. We traced this number and discovered that Mister was bred in America and transported over to the UK as a yearling.

Mister is a thoroughbred horse, which is the breed of horses used for racing. They are not the hardiest of horses and require a lot of care and attention, especially during the harsh winter weather. They are not as hardy as native breeds such as cobs which grow thick, woolly winter coats to protect them from the elements. Some thoroughbreds can survive the winter weather living outside, but with the help of special waterproof, warm rugs which protect them and keep them warm.

Mister was obviously mal-nourished and extremely underweight. When weighed on arrival at Bransby he weighed in at only 470 kg which for his height of 16’2 is dreadful. He started a feeding programme which was built up slowly over time, and in August 2007, almost a year later, he weighed in at 620 kg and looked fantastic.

The skin condition that he was suffering from is called ‘Rain Scald’ and results in large tufts of hair dying and falling off, leaving bald patches and further exposure to the elements. It was mainly along his back and spine. This required daily bathing and grooming to remove the scabs and allow the air to reach the skin to heal it. Sally, his carer, contacted a feed company called Feedmark (www.feedmark.com) who make a skin supplement called ‘Equidermis’. Feedmark kindly donated a supply of this product to help Mister’s skin problem which provided additional nutritional support for his skin.

In August 2007 the dealer was taken to court and prosecuted and ownership of Mister was signed over to Bransby. The dealer received a lifetime ban on keeping dogs and was ordered to pay £3000 in costs.

When Mister was turned out with a companion, he displayed some stallion-like behaviour and on further investigation he was confirmed as a ‘rig’. This means that he has one undescended testicle, and can behave and think he is a stallion as opposed to a gelding. Further investigation is required by our vet to try and correct this to allow him to live his life as a gelding and be turned out with mares and possibly rehomed.

We suspect that Mister may have been backed for racing, and hope that behaviour permitting, he will be able to be re-homed at some point in the future to pursue a fulfilling life with someone.