Here's something that I don't think I've mentioned on this blog previously:
Eggsy once lived in a garden!
The people who abandoned Eggsy didn't actually have anywhere suitable to keep their ponies, they kept one Shetland in the front garden in a space approximately 8ft x 8ft, another Shetland pony in the small back garden complete with greenhouse, pond, bonfire site, washing line and chicken coop. Here's a photograph of the Shetland in a corner of the back garden which was surrounded by a deep dyke on two sides, the photograph doesn't really give an idea of exactly how small a space it was.
Even though the Shetlands had very little space in their individual sections of the garden they were luckier than Eggsy. Eggsy was kept in the passage way between the front garden and the back garden with barely room to turn around. It wasn't to be for long though as they only had him a month before they abandoned him.
If you're wondering why this wasn't stopped the RSPCA did visit over welfare concerns but did not take any action.
The point of this post really is to show the potential dangers of keeping an equine in the garden, danger lurks all around.
I've already mentioned the deep dyke on two sides of the property, without fencing a pony could easily have gone in and drowned. Not that most people have a dyke for a garden boundary but many do have hedges and many common hedges are poisonous to equines. This particular garden had a laurel hedge, poison, other common hedging shrubs eg. privet and yew are also deadly poison to horses.
Garden fencing is probably not going to be suitable for equines, a horse or pony could easily break out injuring itself in the process and if it got onto the road it might be involved in a road traffic accident. The front garden to this house was walled, but the wall was broken down in places and it is a wonder that the pony in the front garden did not escape.
Garden plants: The list of ordinary garden plants and shrubs that are poisonous to horses is huge. Did you know that irises are poisonous to horses? What about magnolia or clematis? These are just examples of common garden plants that are poisonous to horses.
I've mentioned a pond in this back garden, it was a fish pond which probably contained various chemicals to make it a good environment for the fish but that water could be potentially lethal to a pony drinking it.
And then there are garden ornaments, the home owners had a number of those concrete animals in their garden all of which presented a hazard to the ponies who could easily have injured themselves on them.
Finally we have the problem of the garden lawn, obviously Eggsy's former owners weren't mowing their grass, the ponies were eating it or what was left of it, but if you are grazing your horse or pony on the lawn un-horsey neighbours might throw their grass clippings over the fence thinking they are providing a tasty meal for your pony.
Grass clippings should never be fed to a horse or pony because the process of mowing causes them to begin fermentation. Fermenting grass clippings give off gases that can build up inside the horse and cause colic or other gastrointestinal disorders. Horses cannot vomit or burp and the gases can build up to such a point that they cause a rupture resulting in death of the horse.
Gardens really aren't a safe place to keep an equine.
Of course Eggsy is no longer kept in a garden, he has a nice paddock with safe electric fencing, a plentiful supply of food, thanks to your kind donations, fresh water and an equine companion to keep him company.
Donations are helping to cover the cost of raising Eggsy
Would you like to help Eggsy?
Eggsy has a GoFundMe campaign to help raise funds for his care, we'd be really grateful if you'd go take a look, share it far and wide via your social media and of course if you can spare some money please donate.
Help Raise Abandoned Foal Eggsy ~ GoFundMe
Thank you, Eggsy and I really appreciate it x
