Clydesdales safe from worst nightmare, thanks to Heavy Horse Heaven charity
A GENTLE giant, Chance the Clydesdale's luck had run out but thanks to a saviour she has been given a second shot at a happy life.
A GENTLE giant, Chance the Clydesdale's luck had run out but thanks to a saviour she has been given a second shot at a happy life.
Offered free on Facebook by her financially strapped family, the majestic horse is among a number of Clydesdales who have become innocent victims of the economic downturn.
NSW woman Karen Hood, who started a charity Heavy Horse Heaven two years ago to rescue horses like Chance heard of her social media plight and took her in.
Clydesdales, which weigh 800kg and can be sold for up to $1.30kg for slaughter, cost almost $2000 a year to feed and thousands more in upkeep and medical bills.
"They said they were unable to afford the right care for her," Ms Hood said of Chance's former owners.
The mare has this week won a battle with laminitis, a condition which causes inflammation of the feet of horses, after Ms Hood thought she may die over the weekend.
Her heart rate and temperature soared to potentially deadly levels but a vet in Murrumbateman, just outside Canberra, saved Chance and she was yesterday continuing her recovery.
The first Clydesdale, named Banner, which Ms Hood took in was destined to be slaughtered until a friend bought her at Camden sale yards.
She later learned Banner was a champion Clydesdale mare who had six foals - two went on to be champions - but had an eye tumour and that it was possible her former owners were unable to afford to treat it.
"A girlfriend rang me and said she was at the doggers (people who buy horses sent to knackeries)," she said.
"That is when we decided to do it (start the charity.)"
After removal of her cancer riddled eye Banner was rehomed to a property in Victoria where she lived for a year before the disease returned.
All Ms Hood's rescued Clydesdales are rehomed on lifetime contracts with one, Smokey, moving to her next door neighbour where Grace Van Rooy, 11, is devoted to her super sized pet.
Smokey came to Ms Hood after he had been abandoned on a NSW property and "almost died of fear" when she snapped a carrot for him early on during his care.
He is now completely at ease with Grace.
"He is just so gentle and so kind, I can just sit down and play with his feathers (around his hoofs) and he doesn't mind, he is one of the most beautiful horses I have ever met, I was about to cry when my mother said 'I think we are going to have him,'" Grace said.
"She had a connection with him straight away. We called him Smokey, my great grandfather's nickname was Smokey he used to use Clydesdales delivering milk, he used to be able to fall asleep and they used to know where to stop.
"Mum called out 'Smokey,' he came and that's when we knew he would be our forever horse."
Ms Hood's Royalla property is currently host to three other big horses who had been either abused or abandoned to be sold to knackeries.
While she said "a lot of the ones we have seen are through financial hardship," Ms Hood has also rescued Clydesdales who have been mistreated or their owners had died.
She has been overwhelmed by the response to her charity with one woman calling out of the blue to tell Ms Hood she was purchasing her a $10,000 second hand float big enough to carry heavy horses.
"There is something amazing about Clydesdales. They are just so gentle," she said.
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