Story
Zuza is a 21-year-old mare. Her story began with a phone call from our vet: we heard about a mare living in bad conditions and in poor shape.
She was looked after by an old man who no longer had the strength for it, but he couldn't bring himself to say goodbye to her. He fed her, yes. But she lived more or less shut in a small dark stable, even though there were meadows all around. Her hooves were terribly overgrown, with the shoes grown into them; she perhaps hadn't been reshod for more than eight months. When we took her, he cried.
We don't want to judge him. Such things happen: a person means well, loves the animal, but no longer sees for himself that he isn't doing right by it. We write about it so that people can see that even a situation like this can be solved, with understanding and without shame.
We first came to see Zuza four months before she came to us. We offered help; the man decided then to keep her, and we left without her. Nobody wanted to take her from him. They got in touch with us themselves four months later, when he could no longer cope, and then he gave her up voluntarily. That was when we came the second time, this time to fetch her, so that we could get her the care she needed, if it was still possible.
We explained everything to the man: where Zuza would be and what would happen with her next. And our door is open to him: he can come and see her any time.
What awaited her was an initial examination with the vet, taking her shoes off and trimming her hooves. How it went on from there we write below, as it happens.
How Zuza is doing
The first thing we did was take her shoes off. By our estimate she had had the front shoes on for a year. And those shoes were the worst part: while they are on the hoof, the horn has nowhere to break off. So it kept growing and growing until her hooves were like tubes, and her front legs were rolling over completely inside them.
Her hind shoes had already been torn off; at some point during that year they simply fell off. But no one had trimmed her hind hooves either, so the horn grew out to the sides and splayed. And because she stood in the stable the whole time, she had nowhere to wear it down.
We took the front shoes off by sawing off a piece of horn together with the shoe in one go.
The main reason was Zuza's condition. Pulling out nails is long and unpleasant for a horse, and we weren't sure she could stand it on those legs; we had to hold her whole leg anyway so she wouldn't fall. Sawing it off while she stood calmly was easier for her. And it at least showed how badly the hoof had overgrown: we were left with the evidence.
Later she managed fine and we could fine-tune normally.
This came off her front hooves in one go, horn together with the shoe. Zuza in the background.
Then we fine-tuned it, but deliberately without a big change of angle. Over that year the bones in her legs had settled into the position the deformed hoof forced on them, and if we changed the angle sharply we would hurt her. That is why we trim her gradually, millimetre by millimetre, roughly once a week, and turn the angle slowly towards the correct position. At the back it will take even longer, because there the horn splayed out to the sides and there is more to correct.
On the first day Zuza just stood in the shelter and stared at the wall. Exactly as she had been used to in recent years. We were afraid she wouldn't even want to live; she didn't respond to us at all.
The first days. She stood and stared at the wall.
So we kept going to her, several times a day; you could say someone was with her almost all the time. And after a few days she began to respond. She began to come out of her depression.
The vet prescribed painkillers: her legs are terribly twisted and it must have hurt. All over her body she had lumps that could be squeezed and pus came out of them. Milka gave her a proper bath.
From the first days we have been going out with her to the pasture several times a day to graze. And that is when Zuza began to come back to life.
Grass under her feet instead of a dark stable.
Zuza was joined by Steiger. And then she came fully alive: she probably hadn't seen a friend of her own kind for years.
The first day. Nothing more needs to be said.
Zuza and Steiger have well and truly fallen for each other. Neither may move away; the other one looks for him straight away. When Steiger arrived in pain, we stopped the walks because of his pain, since Zuza wouldn't go alone and would get stressed too.
When the horses' teeth were being done here on the farm, Zuza's were done too. They were in a catastrophic state. The equine dentist did what could be done.
Around that time we also had her X-rayed. Her legs are very arthritic, and the images clearly show the long-term neglect.
These days Zuza is taking it easy with Steiger in the arrival paddock, which is right under our windows, so that we are close to them. She is content and full of life.
Two who won't budge from each other's side.
The arrival paddock with sand: a soft surface for hooves that need it.
These last days Zuza has been going out to graze with Steiger again. For now only in the garden, as much as both of them can manage. Steiger has just had his shoes taken off and hard ground still hurts him; how he is coping, we write on his page.
In the garden. Where one goes, the other goes too.
And over the last few days what our vet said has been confirmed: Zuza doesn't see much. Milka watched it closely: when Steiger moved away, Zuza started looking for him. She couldn't see him. When he is next to her, she sees him well.
So now Steiger is her guide horse. No one taught him; he is just there, and she knows where to go.
Zuza lay down. In the middle of the paddock, stretched out, and Steiger was standing a little way from her.
She is lying down and in no hurry to go anywhere.
A horse only lies down like this where it feels safe. Usually one of the herd stands by and keeps watch. When she arrived, you couldn't get near her, and lying down was out of the question.
Only after a while did she start lying down during a walk and when we were with her. You can't hurry that in any way. The horse decides it for itself.
And she loves to roll. She scratches her belly on the ground like this, and it looks as if she is dancing on it.
Zuza has a new water trough: a stainless steel tub. Until then we used a plastic mortar bucket, and we stopped liking it: it is made of recycled plastic, it smells, and nobody knows what leaches from it into the water after a day in the sun. Stainless steel can be scrubbed and releases nothing.
The first drink from the new tub.
And we did her hooves. She walks on them much better.
Today we grazed Zuza with Steiger on a piece of pasture that we are adding to the arrival paddock. Tall dry grass and soft ground. Exactly what does her hooves good. On concrete Zuza walks carefully; here she doesn't.
Zuza on the left, Steiger on the right. Both came straight to us.
She grazes and lets herself be stroked.
I sat down in front of her and she carried on grazing. Her head was a little way from my hand. In the middle of July, in the first days after she arrived, you couldn't even get near her.
Zuza doesn't see much, so every new place is some work for her. We noticed that she kept to where Steiger was the whole time. She didn't go more than a few steps from him.
Photo gallery: Zuza
Photos of Zuza, from her rescue to today.
Virtual adoption
Zuza is twenty-one years old, has arthritic legs and hooves that we will be turning millimetre by millimetre for months yet into the correct position. On top of that there are her teeth, her eyes and painkillers. A donation for Zuza goes on this, so that she gets as much good as possible out of the time she has left. You can send it by bank transfer using the details below.
Bank transfer (SEPA)
Account holder: RIO o.z.
IBAN: SK97 8330 0000 0027 0350 7560
BIC/SWIFT: FIOZSKBAXXX
Payment reference: Zuza
Our account is transparent, every payment is public here. Before you confirm, please check that the recipient is RIO o.z. and the IBAN ends in 7560.
What we need right now →
A light aluminium shovel for mucking out, a corrugated pipe for a reservoir, LDPE hoses for a water supply, concrete utility poles. Maybe you know where to find them.
Thank you →
Everyone without whom it wouldn't work: those who come to help and those who support us professionally.