Abandoned horses found wandering on road

Two young horses are the latest victims of the growing problem offly-grazing and abandoned horses in Avonmouth, Bristol.

Multiple injuries

A two-year-old colt and seven-month-old filly – now named Pilgrim and Grace – were rescued after they were found wandering on a road. It is believed they were dumped on industrial land, where they escaped into the road.

Pilgrim had “multiple injuries”, one of which was a deep wound on his elbow likely to have been caused by falling down on the road.There were also older injuries on his neck and shoulder.

“One of the old wounds shows evidence that he had been tethered for long periods of time as the skin on his neck shows a thickened ridge where a collar would lie,”’ said HorseWorld’s equine welfare yard Manager Sarah Hollister.

Problem area

Grace was uninjured, but very nervous and clearly has never been handled.Both were potbellied, which is a sign of a heavy worm burden.

“Neither horse was micro-chipped making finding an owner and prosecution near impossible despite the law stating that all horses over six months of age must be micro-chipped and passported,” said Sarah.

Avonmouth has been a problem area for horse rescue charities for a number of years as it is regularly used for fly-grazing. Last week HorseWorld rescued five-month-old foal Joey who was stuck in a muddy ditch.

‘Cannot cope’

In October 2015 the charity rescued Twiglet who had a fractured back and neck after been beaten with a heavy object. Not long before that they picked up Jack, a young colt used for harness racing and left for dead in the road after he collapsed from exhaustion.

“These are the lucky ones and will hopefully make a full recovery but many don’t,” said HorseWorld’s managing director Mark Owen. “Many are not found until it’s too late.

“We cannot cope with a problem of this scale, we are fighting a losing battle. We are now full to capacity and the problem does not appear to beimproving. The recent weather conditions have meant that the grazing has become sparse and the horses are breaking out in search of food.”

Tighten up laws

The Control of Horses Act, which was passed last year, aims to tackle the problem of fly-grazing, however Mark says he wants to see the law “tightened up”.

“With the number of horses currently escaping onto the roads from fly-grazed land on a regular basis, it is only a matter of time before there is a serious road accident involving both human and equine casualties or even fatalities,” he said.