Two ex-racehorses were rescued in shocking condition. This is journey to recovery. Follow it their story.

1. The first month
On 16 February 2013 two ex-racehorses were rescued from
Chatsworth in the Western Cape. Racehorse 911 found them
neglected, starving and with infected wounds. This is their
progress in the first month of rehabilitation.

2. Turando’s Tease
Once the fillies had been removed to
safety, their condition was assessed by
an equine veterinarian.
Turando’s Tease was clearly thin but
carried more weight than the other filly.
Her left hind leg was badly swollen from
the fetlock to her groin, cellulitis from
an infected wound on her fetlock.
She was immediately given strong
antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.
The horse’s passport indicated she was
a three year old, by Lake Conniston out
of Rose Ispahan (by Jallad).
16 February 2013

3. Silver Socks
The thinner filly was Silver Socks, a
three year old by Lake Conniston out of
Petticoat Lane by Dominion Royale.
According to the fillies’ owner in
Chatsworth, Socksie was very fast and
had won many races in the area. Bush
racing, an underground and illicit form
of racing, is rife in KwaZulu-Natal and
the Eastern Cape but little is known
about it in the Western Cape. The
owner’s statement that the horses had
been used for bush racing raised an
immediate alarm.
Aside from being obviously severely
underfed and near starvation, Silver
Socks was lame from an abcess on the
coronary band of her left hind foot.
16 February 2013

4. First steps
Racehorse 911 used the fillies’
passports to trace their history. They
had been in racing training until early
December 2012 before going to a dealer
who passed them on to the Chatsworth
owner. In just two months the fillies
went from being highly conditioned
athletes to this shocking condition.
Dr Peggram surmised that they had
been given little if any feed and were left
to their own devices to find what
grazing they could in the veld.
19 February 2013

5. Feeding right
The trouble with emaciated animals is
that their digestive systems are not able
to cope with large amounts of food. Dr
Peggram predicted the fillies would
show signs of protein overload via puffy
legs as they were simply not used to
getting any protein. To avoid this, the
horses were fed teff (which is mild on
the digestive system) and oat hay as
well as small amounts of concentrates.
19 February 2013

6. Kind donations
Rehabilitating emaciated and mistreated
horses is a long-term process. Dr
Peggram estimated it would take at
least 6 months before the fillies would
reach two thirds of the condition they
carried in racing.
This process is also very costly and if it
weren’t for the enormous kindness of
many people who have read about the
fillies and followed their story on
www.racehorse911.co.za and on
Facebook at Racehorse 911, and
donated money for oat hay and teff, the
project would not be possible. In
addition, local feed company, Equus
Horse Feeds offered to sponsor the
fillies’ concentrates.
19 February 2013

7. Treatments
A fairly small but infected wound on
Turando’s Tease’s hind leg was the
cause of cellulitis, a very painful
inflammation which extended from her
hoof to her groin. Initially it was too
painful to touch and she would lift her
leg so high to get away she would fall
over.
Anti-inflammatories, pain killers and
antibiotics were administered and soon
gave her relief. The leg was hosed and
bathed in cool water to soothe it and
provide additional comfort.
19 February 2013

8. Hoof care
The farrier work has also been
sponsored by two very kind people who
have adopted the feet of a filly each.
The first visit from the farrier revealed
that their hooves were riddled with
abcesses. He cut them out as best as
possible, being careful not to cause too
much distress.
We poulticed the worst of the abcesses
and continue to do so, which seems to
give them some relief. Without their
little red booties (made from a nappy,
shade cloth and red duct tape), the
fillies can hardly walk.
4 March 2013

9. A spark at last
When the fillies were rescued from
Chatsworth they were in such a state of
depression, both physical and mental,
that they had no interest in anything.
They didn’t prick their ears or behave
like normal horses. They ate and drank
and their bodily functions were normal,
but it was as though they had no spirit.
After two and a half weeks, we finally
saw signs of interest coming from the
horses. This picture shows them
waiting at the gate for dinner. Silver
Socks is on the left, Turando’s Tease is
on the right.
4 March 2013

10. Feeding regime
To start with, the fillies were placed on
Equus Nice & Easy cubes. This is a low
protein (9%) hay replacer. It was gentle
for their stomachs and helped prevent
digestive problems associated with the
sudden feeding change. This was
supplemented with ad-lib oat hay and
teff.
After 3 weeks the feed was altered to
start introducing Equus All-Time
Balancer supplement and a higher
protein concentrate, Equus Cool &
Perform (12%).
6 March 2013

11. Gaining weight
One month after Silver Socks and
Turando’s Tease were rescued from
starvation and neglect, the fillies are
starting to show signs of picking up
weight.
They are still plagued by abcesses and
Dr Peggram has warned that this could
continue for many months as their feet
suffered a great deal of abuse. They had
been ridden without shoes on hard,
stony uneven ground. Thin-walled and
flat-soled hooves of racing
Thoroughbreds accustomed to being
shod, couldn’t cope with this trauma.
12 March 2013

12. You can help
Rehabilitating emaciated horses takes a lot of feed, care and money. We wish to
express a heartfelt thank you to all those who have donated feed and sponsored
farriery, veterinary care and donated blankets. If you would like to help, email
admin@racehorse911.co.za. Share this slideshow, follow the blog at
www.racehorse911.co.za and like us on Facebook at Racehorse 911.