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Brave pony’s amazing recovery from crippling arthritis

Inky the Shetland Pony, who lives at Halfpenny Farm
Inky the Shetland Pony, who lives at Halfpenny Farm

A Shetland pony so crippled with arthritis he was almost put to sleep has made a remarkable recovery and is now trotting round his field.

Inky moved into Louise Yule’s Halfpenny Farm animal sanctuary two years ago, but his health soon deteriorated and he kept falling to the ground.

CCTV was eventually installed in his stable so Ms Yule and her partner Mike Kinghorn could run down and lift the pony up if he fell in the middle of the night.

But the 35-year-old horse now has a new lease of life thanks to a special diet along with liquid doses of Metacam, an anti-inflammatory medication which helped ease his pains.

And yesterday Ms Yule said she was amazed by how much the stallion’s condition had improved since he came into her care at the farm in the Kintore, Aberdeenshire.

Inky the shetland pony with owner Louise
Inky the shetland pony with owner Louise

She said: “He came in quite old and stiff with his companion Harris, a 21-year-old stallion.

“The youngster had eaten most of the food, so he was quite lean and arthritic and he fell in the field of the January of the next year.

“He couldn’t get himself up, he kept falling down so we had to go and get him up.

“When a horse can’t get himself up you really have to consider its quality of life. It’s not healthy for a horse to be lying for more than four to six hours because it puts pressure on the lungs, guts and legs.

“For about three months we got up and lifted him if he was stuck. If he hadn’t picked up, we would have had to call it a day.”

Inky was put on a high energy diet with gradually increased servings of sugar beet and chaff and was given oil supplements.

But the veterinary nurse had to be careful not to let him gain weight too fast to avoid him suffering from other health problems.

Inky was also separated from his stable companion Harris at night to make sure that he was able to eat all of his own food.

The two Shetland ponies were brought to the animal sanctuary in May 2013 as their owner was moving and was worried they would not make the journey.

Ms Yule added: “We gradually worked away with him and now he trots in and out like a youngster, a little lively pony.

“He has put on weight and has continued to improve over the two years.

“He is our big success.

“I’m really proud of him because he had kind of given up and he is now full of life again.”