Hero's Gelding

Hero is a very special boy - he is a Clydesdale x Irish Sports Pony cross and is 9 months old.




I first met Hero's mum, Hope, when she was brought to a yard I used to be on.  At the time no one knew that she was pregnant. I had very little to do with her for much of her pregnancy as she was owned by a livery but she much spent much of it in a field with a rug on and very little food. At one point a vet who came to see her told her old owner she would not survive giving birth at the weight she was at. It was not a good time for her. 








Luckily she managed to foal on her own, and at 2 days old a friend managed take ownership of both Hope and Hero.  However due to circumstances she was taken back and left in a field with Hero yet again to lose weight and starve.




This is where I enter the scene I managed to persuade her old owner that she didn’t have the resources to feed and look after a mare and foal and I took on their ownership and managed to turn a very skinny Mum to a fat and round happy mare and a gangly foal to a healthy happy playful colt.








When I took the unhappy pair on Mum had borne the brunt of the neglect and was in a very sorry state, she was massively underweight and hadn’t seen a farrier for years. We almost lost her and Hero to a massive roundworm burden and only due to the quickness of my vet we managed to stop Hope from colicing. Hope spent the first 3 weeks under constant vet care due to her weight and had constant diaorriah due to the fact she had been starved.  They have both thrived since, and gained weight and the small scared foal that wouldn’t even come to you is now a very relaxed halter broken colt.








Unfortunately my circumstances since taking on Hero and Hope have changed and I have spent my savings on getting them fit and healthy. 




I was recently told that due to a back injury I am disabled and will need a year at least from working or I will be in a wheelchair. It means that right now money is tight and my health is not great and although I am trying my best to raise the funds for Hero’s op it is very difficult to do so.




Hero really needs to be gelded asap, I have a few acres I rent and he needs to be safe to be in a paddock next to his mum without the risk of him trying to mate her. Without gelding him even if I were to sell him, his chances in the current economic climate would be very slim. Horses are being dumped, especially colts, on a daily basis and his best chance in life is to be a gelding. 








Unfortunately the surgery needs to be done this spring hopefully before his mum comes into season so he doesn’t need to be stabled constantly. I hate having to ask for help but in order for him to live a healthy happy life he really really needs this.




I would be so grateful if anyone could give anything at all to help with his gelding op. My wonderful vet has said it will cost £200 to do a standing gelding, which is his best option. After all he has been through he deserves the ability to live as a happy gelding and be with his mum and other geldings, rather than the solitary existence of a stallion.




Thank you so much for reading his story!