So this is Olaf.
Olaf came in at the start of December.
He was found on an abandoned piece of land
fly grazing, and we got a phone call from the land owner
to say to us, there's a little youngster on the field.
We're not quite sure how he's got there. He's just been abandoned.
So he came into our care
and we went and picked him up and rescued him.
It's going to be quite hard for owners that haven't got horse knowledge
to take action on the horses when they find them on their land.
So the best thing that they could have
done, which they did do, is to ring World Horse Welfare.
So as a youngster, Olav didn't actually come in in a really poor condition.
We would be expecting a youngster to come in.
That's not got its mum to be maybe a little bit
on the underweight side, but he didn't come in that bad.
He wasn't used to human interaction.
So we put him in the crew yard so we could catch him up daily.
We could also get diet under control for him,
and he could get used to human interaction.
So Olaf was put into an isolated crew yard.
He did have a friend next door. He couldn't
obviously contact that other horse because they were both in isolation.
They could see each other.
It was such a nice feeling to see Olaf being put in a place where he could see
the horses and make some friends with the time that had been abandoned.
We obviously didn't know how long he's been abandoned for,
so you can imagine he probably was very scared.
It's not nice to think that a youngster hasn't been with his mum.
So it was really nice to see that he just had that interaction with another horse.
Part of the routine here at Hall Farm, we will get all of our welfares
checked over by our specialists, so that would be the vet and the farriers.
We will get blood tests checked
for all the horses to make sure they've not got any infections
or any concerns that we all need to know about to get under control.
We will get their feet all trimmed by the
farrier to make sure they're all sound and comfortable
and the day that we get the all clear from the specialist.
It's the best day ever because it means that the horses can go out
and they can interact with all the horses on the farm.
But it's very important that they get the all clear.
So we know we're
not going to give any infectious diseases to the other horses on the farm.
But the day that happened, I was really gutted
because I was on holiday, so I personally didn't get to see my little
Olaf go to the field and meet his friends, but I have heard that it was a very,
very good experience for him.
When they get to come out of the stable or the crew yard,
they have got a bit of a spring in their step, so we will take them out
to the field in the best controlled manner to be safe for both sides of us.
And then as soon as you normally let them off, they go absolutely crazy.
And it's just really nice to see because they are getting
to let off that excitement and they get to interact with horses.
And it's just a really happy moment.
It's such a heartbreaking thing to see and experience
when they first come in, especially something like Olaf that is a youngster.
No youngster should be without their mother.
And when you finally get to that point where you can see
that they've got that trust in you
and you can see them
interacting with friends again, so they're not on their own company,
it makes such a difference to your feelings, and it's a really happy moment
for me. The reason
why we could do so much with Olaf and rescue him
and give him the life that he needs is all down to you.
So all the donations that you give to World Horse Welfare.
So it's really important that if you can donate to wild horse welfare,
we appreciate every single penny that you donate
because it means that we can go out as soon as we get a phone call
from the public to say we found a horse like Olaf or any horse
that's been abandoned or mistreated.
With your continued support, it means that we can rescue more horses
like Olaf in the future.