So this is Bunny.
As she came in at Easter time, we nicknamed her Bunny.
She's been here for maybe a week now.
One of our Field Officers was out
checking on some other ponies in the Welsh mountains
and came across her on her completely on her own.
Stood in the middle of the road
Our Field Officer tried to find some horses
that she might as belong to, and they all kicked her away.
So obviously, they weren't her family.
It was obvious she was only a couple of days old.
So our Field Officer decided that the best thing for her
at that time was to come into our care
so that she could get everything she needed to survive.
So our Field Officer took Bunny to a holding yard
so that she could get fluids and a check over to make sure she was going to be OK.
So once Bunny had been at the holding yard
for a few days and she had everything she needed in a check over there,
our Field Officer brought her here
and she was really quite weak.
So she was carried off of the trailer.
And as you can see, she's very small, but
she's doing much, much better now.
Yeah.
So obviously we're about we're a couple of weeks down the line with her.
So initially one of the main problems that we have to be concerned about,
whether or not they've had they've received adequate colostrum,
which is early milk at the right time because they get
a lot of really helpful things for their immune support from that.
Before she came in here,
she had all those checks done and everything was normal from that.
Going forward, though, obviously trying to get the right amount of milk
into them to keep them well hydrated and give them good enough
nutrition to grow and develop can be really challenging.
So what we have to do with an orphan foal or an abandoned
foal is to feed them sort of every couple of hours,
which obviously is is very labor intensive.
But it's good when you've got a good team here to do it.
And then really with that becomes the problem
that if we're interacting with the foals and they're relying on us or,
you know, people generally to be getting all of that
nutrition, then
they tend to struggle to develop their behavior as a normal horse.
So that's why often we prefer putting them on a foster matter where possible
so that they can still develop that bond and realize
how to interact with the herd and
how to behave like a horse.
But obviously sometimes that that isn't an option.
And so where we can we try and have a friend with someone who can
teach them a few manners and help them learn how to be a horse growing up.
So since Bunny's arrived at the farm,
we've had to give her substitute milk feeds every 2 hours.
So we've got a rota and we're up in the middle of the night, 2 a.m., 4am,
making sure that she's drinking properly and getting everything she needs.
So we're not quite sure how Bunny ended up on her own in the middle of the road.
Her mum may have been young herself and not sure how to look after her, but
we're just very grateful that our field officer happened to come across her.
And lucky that we could look after her
and make sure that she's got a bright future ahead.
So Bunny will stay here
having two hourly feeds for a good few weeks until she's stronger.
We'll gradually wean her off of the substitute milk
and what she's strong and had all have that checks.
Hopefully in the future, she'll be rehomed as a youngster.