Abby the Belgian horse is a beloved member of our farm family.  We rescued her from being sent to slaughter in either Canada or Mexico.  She was 300 to 400lbs underweight.

Abby had a serious injury to her front foot at some point.  The equine vet who checked her said it was probably a fracture that was not taken care of.  The joint turned to bone in an effort to heal itself.  We found her on Facebook at a place called "Ryons Rescue Pen".  We bought her with a half hour to go before she was shipped out with the likelihood of her being slaughtered.  We knew no one would want her with those feet as she will never be able to be ridden.

She came to us with no name or history.  She has harness scars on her sides so it looks as though she was worked hard and possibly had foals.

We named her Abby after one of our twin daughters.  We told Paige the other twin that the next female animal will be named after her!
 
For the first time in what looks like 3 years Abby had her teeth fixed and a tooth pulled.  Her teeth are uneven and will probably never be completely repaired.  We know her mouth feels better as she ate an apple for the first time after her teeth were fixed!

Grazing her 2 hours a day by the vineyard and in the meadow, feeding her senior feed and supplements 3 times a day has helped her put on about 150lbs since.  We got her June 21, 2022.

Her feet were done for the first time in years.  Her back feet give her the most trouble when the farrier works on her as all of her weight is put on the sore front feet when a back foot is worked on.  Two rocks came out of her back hoof when they were trimmed.

Even through all she has endured she is the sweetest girl we could ever have hoped for.  She still needs to learn to be nice to the donkeys.  When we call her name "Aaaabbbbyyyy!" she comes with her tall swishing.

She is home at last!