Betty

Betty came to Jess on the 30th December, 2021. It took 3 teenagers and Jess to push her up a steep hill and practically carry her onto the float. She was extremely lamanitic, with long curled hooves and would not walk even 5 meters to get a drink of water. She was covered from head to toe in a severe case of itch and had welts and sores where she had rubbed herself raw. She was grumpy, in pain but through it all she stood so patiently to have her hooves trimmed.

Jess put her on an emergency diet including herbs (under Kerrie's guidance) known to support pain and inflammation responses and began trimming her on a weekly basis. She also began the Itch protocol including daily use of the cream and itch tonic.

Jess's daughter fell in love with her and began working with her, grooming her and generally loving on her. Circumstances created an extended stay at Kerrie's place (for a whole year!) so she could be managed more closely and instead of being yarded in a small yard, Betty was able to integrate into Kerrie's herd on a 3 acre paddock. Shes had her ups and downs there over the 12 months she was there, however it has been a wonderful learning opportunity. We trialed things like grazing muzzles and monitored not only her body's response to grass and other factors but also her emotional needs when grazing with a muzzle on. 

We decided that the muzzle was not suited to Betty in this scenario as she felt vulnerable with the other horses and so would protect herself with aggression. The decision was made to move her onto a track system, solo for the time being and at the start of February 2023, Betty made the move back to Jess's home and onto her own track within her paddock. Betty can interact over the fence with Jess's other horses and she has the option to move away into her own space when she needs to. She is much happier within herself in this scenario. 

Within 2 months of Betty coming into The Graceful Equine's care she had grown her coat right back in a healthy glowing solid black colour. She went from unable to walk 5 metres for water or to graze, to galloping around the paddock at full speed and with great enthusiasm. We were able to test her handling experience with Jess's daughter and Betty is now actively ridden (On lead only) and is able to be handled on the ground completely independently by a 5 year old child. 

She likes to hang out with the adults around a campfire but does get anxious when being caught by an adult, we think this is mostly due to the size thing! Belle can easily catch her, independently and their bond is just incredible to see. 

She is cheeky, clever and oh so adorable. For an aged mini, we think she looks amazing!