The first time Ally met the abandoned workhorse Shane, he could scarcely lift his feet. After going years without having his hooves trimmed, he was tender and could barely walk.
While wild horses do not need their hooves trimmed, domesticated horses do not wear their hooves down as quickly as they grow back. Untrimmed nails can lead to infections, fungal growths, abscesses of the hoof and hoof defects.
Seeing Shane in such a terrible state, Ally knew she had to rescue him. So, they took him from the kill pen and brought him back to his new home to receive his first trim.
Shane seemed a little nervous at first, but he quickly realized that the people around him were there to help. For his first trim, there was a lot to take off. At first, they looked more like flippers than hooves.
The difference in his behavior after his trim was extreme. Shane could barely walk before, but now, he could run again. “After his first trim, he was already so much improved,” said Ally. “Seeing him run was absolutely incredible.”
Shane was one of the most recent additions to the Colby Crew Rescue, an organization that started in August 2020 but picked up steam with their “Big John Initiative” in 2021.
Driven by the goal of not letting another ex-workhorse die in the kill pen, Ally and the Colby Rescue Crew rescued 80 horses in just a couple of years, with plans to keep growing as the years continue.
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