Easter Monday.
Mid-morning and the phone rings… ‘There is a pony by itself, limping badly and with blood on a hind leg, on Pound Common at Chailey. It may have been hit by a car.’ I made a number of phone calls – Anna my job-share colleague, who set off to check things out as she wasn’t too far away; to arrange borrowing a livestock trailer and for stabling should it be required.
By the time I arrived on site, Anna had managed to get some electric fencing around a group of 11 ponies including the lame pony. I phoned the vet and he was soon on site and looking from outside the enclosed area, he thought it was a foot injury as opposed to a skeletal injury. We left it that he would return when we had it corralled. Anna then set off to collect our heavy metal corral equipment and more fencing from some 20 miles away, while I kept watch over the ponies and explained matters to curious members of the public out walking. Ninety minutes later, Anna arrived back accompanied by Mick – so the dream-team were on the job!
After strengthening the fencing and erecting the corral we drove and corralled them and set about shedding-off the other ten ponies. I then drove off to collect a livestock trailer in case the pony needed to be removed off-site. The vet duly arrived and darted the pony with a strong sedative at which, it literally clear-jumped the corral hurdles from a standing start, these being some 1.5 metres high – I’ve never witnessed that in foureen years of dealing with Exmoor ponies!
We pursued it for some 300 metres across the common to a point where the drug was increasingly taking effect upon it. Something else I never witnessed before then happened. As it became increasingly giddy and weak from the drug, two other ponies were purposely either side of it supporting it including biting it on the neck as if to say, ‘Come on, stay on your feet!’ Finally after repeatedly collapsing and getting up perhaps a dozen times, it went down for good; we waited some ten minutes for the drug to further work. Then, after being briefed by the vet, we made our move from some 30 metres away and held it down on the ground while the vet put a head-collar on it and then tied its two rear legs together. Two of us had our full weight upon it to counter attempts to struggle free even though it had received a very large dose of sedative – native pony survival instinct for you!
Upon close examination by the vet, it was indeed a severe split hoof injury, perhaps a forked tree, or piece of metal, or even from an incursion on to a cattle grid – we shall never know but, not due to a road accident. After paring the hoof to remove loose material, the pony was given anti-biotic, pain-killer and anti-fly spray and then the collar and rope were removed. It took about another hour before he was able to stand properly and to walk and finally, to feed. Corral and fencing were then dismantled and loaded and redundant livestock trailer returned. I eventually left site after a final check on the poor unfortunate animal, early evening. All in a day’s work!