A horse rescued after collapsing by a kerbside in Co. Tipperary last year, was among the winners of accolades at a summer show over the weekend.
As he is now known at home, ‘Woody’ finished second at the Cork Summer Show last Saturday (June 17), in the in-hand rescue pony class with new owner, Orianna Wood.
The skewbald that was a stallion at the time of rescue, had been found on a kerbside in Co. Tipperary less than 12 months ago, and was rescued by My Lovely Horse Rescue (MLHR) on October 15, 2022.
Co. Cork-based Kelly Mellerick, welfare volunteer for MLHR, received the initial call “around tea-time” from the gardaí. After several phone calls Mellerick was able to find transport for Woody that would take him to a stable for one night.
Mellerick said: “When the gardaí reached out for help, of course we did not hesitate. It was an awful scene and heartbreaking.
“We were scrambling because we were in Cork, and Kildare is also very far away. So we were able to find someone fairly close by who was willing to take him to their stable for the night so we didn’t have far to travel him.
“The vet gave him a steroid so they could get him stood, and he kept me posted throughout the night. He was much stronger after a night’s rest and we went and collected him in the morning and brought him back down to Cork.”
The vet report stated that Woody was dehydrated, underweight and lacking in muscle tone and that he “collapsed through exhaustion”.
Mellerick said: “Without the guards coming out and calling the vet, he could’ve easily been a dead horse just left there.”
Rescue horse
It was suspected by MLHR that Woody had been a horse used for sulky racing across Co. Tipperary.
When strong enough, MHLR had the seven-year-old castrated and ready to be rehomed as a gelding.
In December 2022, Orianna stumbled across Woody and “it was love at first sight” according to his new owner; she went on to adopt the gelding later that month.
His rehoming to Orianna was under the guidance of previous adopter, Kelsie. Kelsie helped Orianna with a programme to build up gradually.
“He’s been restored to excellent health and he did extremely well in his class at the weekend – we are very proud of them,” Mellerick said.
Kelsie had her horse, Jensen, that she had also adopted from MLHR, at the Cork Show, where he went on to win the championship.
Jensen had been rescued by the charity as a six-month-old foal from a pound as a “very weak foal, with a very heavy worm burden”.
The Cork Summer Show held classes for horses and ponies that had been adopted through a rescue centre in Ireland. The show offered both in-hand and ridden classes.
My Lovely Horse Rescue runs three rescue centres, one in Co.Cork (where Mellerick is based) and two more in Co. Kildare.