Photography by www.rhianmaiphotography.co.uk
We are devastated to bring you the heart-breaking news of the loss of our beloved Millie Mule. Millie was only small in size but had the largest character and the greatest strength. We really are going to miss her so very much, especially Senior Welfare Assistant Rhian, who had built a strong bond and rapport with Millie over the years.
Millie came to us with Arlo and 4 other horses when their owner, who had been struggling to care for them, was hospitalised. She was extremely needle shy, making even routine procedures, not only difficult and often traumatic for poor Millie, but dangerous for staff and vets. Due to her issues with needles we decided that it would be unfair to rehome her and she stayed with us on the farm, becoming very popular on our open days and sponsorship scheme.
Earlier on in the summer, following a period of seeming not herself, Millie had a problematic tooth removed. After the tooth removal we struggled to get her to eat and she became a bit poorly. We turned a corner with the help of our vets and she was appearing to be doing well and getting back to normal. However, yesterday it was apparent that she had lost weight over a matter of days and had now stopped eating.
Our first worry was the life threatening hyperlipaemia caused by not eating, but this was secondary to an underlying issue causing her to go off of food. Her blood test results showed that she was either suffering from a surgical colic, which seemed unlikely as her symptoms weren’t matching, or that she had tumours, which seemed the more likely cause of her symptoms. Despite receiving pain relief, a drip and stomach tubing this morning, she failed to show an interest in food. Given the opportunity, Millie would keep fighting no matter what, she was very stoic. But we had sadly run out of all options.
All of Millie’s sponsors will be contacted in due course and we thank you for kindly sponsoring her.
Rest in peace beautiful Millie x