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Miss Marple came to us on July 3, 2005 through a local auction with two other horses, Pip and Granny Smith. Miss Marple is a chestnut grade mare. Her exact age is unknown, although we believe her to be around 15 or so.
Miss Marple caught our eye at the auction because she was covered in what we think to be scrapes across her side, chest, neck and face. All of those scrapes were missing hair and seemed to be swollen and infected. That first night we saw her at the auction, the house did not put her through for sale, so we did not have any opportunity to get her out of her unpleasant situation. In the past, this particular auction house has not agreed to sell horses to us privately on the night of their sales.
We returned to the auction house the following week, hoping to remove her from the auction house, and again we were disappointed to find that she was not being shown that night. We were happy to see though that the infection seemed to be lessening.
Third time is a charm, and finally we were able to convince the auction house to sell Miss Marple to us privately, since they were hesitant to put her in the auction looking as she did. They told us they thought she had an allergic reaction to a breast collar – that was what had caused the severe infection. They also mentioned, after we signed the papers, that she was impossible to ride! Rears, bucks, etc.
Since Miss Marple has come into our care, we have learned that she has severe trust issues, probably stemming from abuse. When we turned her out in the quarantine paddock, it took 4 weeks before we could touch her again! But, her “allergic reaction” – we do not believe it was an allergic reaction, but we must go on what the auction house told us – has healed up nicely, and the hair has grown back to cover her bald patches. We are slowly getting her to trust the people around her, and she in return is slowly letting us teach (or perhaps re-teach!) her to stand nicely for grooming, fly spray, fly masks, vet and farrier attention… We have not ridden her yet.
She will be a challenge for anyone looking to adopt her, but we think she will develop into a nice mare if someone is willing to put some time and patience into re-training her. If you or someone you know is looking for a project, contact Amy at:
SCREquineRescue@yahoo.com