Trixie-Belle

At the back of the yards at the Grafton sales were two chronically emaciated ponies – one bay, the other grey. They were in shocking condition, very weak and had been running with a stallion. They were bought by the knackery for $30 each but we were able to convince the dogger to sell them to us. Unfortunately, the little bay mare was too weak and didn’t make it but Trixie was a fighter. She went down in the yards and it took 4 people to get her back up and on the truck. Signature Equine were transporting her for us and the driver wasn’t confident she was going to make the trip, she was so weak. Trixie was very scared and untrusting – she wanted to eat but couldn’t make eye contact and was so scared she couldn’t bring herself to come to a person even for food. Gradually, she became more trusting and certainly loved her food! Just when we were making progress, Trixie went down with tick paralysis. The vet fully expected her to be down for 7 days until the tick serum could do its work. The biggest hurdle was that Trixie was so weak and skinny, that constantly lying down would mean pressure sores and infection – she was going to have to be turned regularly and the vet also suggested a mattress to try and soften the pressure on her poor body. Jennifer and our fabulous Gold Coast volunteers worked around the clock to keep Trixie hydrated and encouraged her to eat. She was turned on her mattresses regularly and on day 3 she got up and has never looked back. She is now fully recovered and such a beautiful example of the work of SAHA.