Gidget endured a loneliness no horse (or animal) should have had to endure. The Suffolk Punch mare spent 17 years living in the basement of a barn by herself. She hadn’t seen people or other horses for at least 10 years. Her elderly owner would dump oats down a feeding chute into her feed bin to get her food. After so many years living like that word got to Mockingbird Farm Sanctuary.
They rescued Gidget and the moment Gidget stepped off the truck and onto the farm, her eyes lit up. And soon she would make a friend with the mini-horse in the stall next to her. Peggy was also in need of a friend and the two became the absolute best of friends.
Gidget had a very happy final year living at Mockingbird Farm Sanctuary surrounded by love and experiencing a very best friend. Her passing hit Peggy hard. Peg posted right in front of Gidget’s halter and wouldn’t leave it. She wanted her friend to come out of her stall.
Peggy fell into a deep grief. Mockingbird Farm Sanctuary revealed that it was “5 years ago, Peggy’s best friend in the whole world passed away in the early hours of Easter Sunday.
Within 2 weeks of losing Gidget, Peg foundered. She became deeply depressed and her body riddled with inflammation. Suddenly, she couldn’t walk. She has struggled with bouts of laminitis ever since.”
The farm introduced her to a pair of donkeys they rescued and Peggy tried very hard to befriend them, but it wasn’t happening. But there was someone waiting for her. A couple of years later, the sanctuary took in Bourbon, another mini horse.
Peggy and Bourbon have become best friends and Peggy and Bourbon are very happy to have one another.
Peggy’s health could be better. Mockingbird Farm Sanctuary explained on their Facebook page that laminitis “is complicated, but simply put, it’s a very very painful hoof condition.”
They wrote, “We manage every aspect of her diet, hoof care, bedding and medication, but she will never be free from laminitis entirely (she was also diagnosed with equine metabolic syndrome/ insulin resistance and Cushing’s disease)….Please keep Peg in your thoughts, and if you have a few dollars to donate towards her intensive treatment plan, that would be so wonderful.”
You can find out more about Mockingbird Farm Sanctuary and making a donation on their website.
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