Easy Horse Care Rescue Centre

Our mission is to rescue and rehabilitate abused, neglected and abandoned horses, ponies and donkeys, while campaigning for the better treatment of animals across Spain. We are a no-kill foundation and provide each rescued animal with a safe and loving sanctuary – either here at our centre or via rehoming – for the rest of their lives.

Bronson the walking miracle

Since starting the rescue centre five years ago we have had the privilege to have saved the lives of many horses. Each and every one of our residents all have their own story to tell, and many of them have survived horrific conditions imposed upon them by their owners It never ceases to amaze us how strong their will is to survive and most of them do with the help of ourselves, Dorothea our equine vet and our dedicated volunteers .

Bronson's story is a truly amazing one

In October 2010 we received a phone call from the Guardia Civil informing us that they had found an injured horse in Almoradi. When we got there, there was a beautiful, pure Spanish stallion aged around 9 years old lying in a field along the main road. Upon approaching him we could see serious damage to his head. It became apparent he had a deep head wound which was oozing blood; Bronson had obviously been hit with something sharp and heavy possibly a hammer to cause such a deep and serious wound , we think it must of been deliberate When we tried to approach him he desperately tried to stand up to escape from us as he was obviously terrified that he would be struck again .he would then stagger a few steps and then collapse, we finally managed to get hold of him as he still had his head collar on and broken lead rope which indicated that he had broken free from his captors and had managed to stagger to the road to be in full view of the passing traffic . This probably saved his life .The volunteers from the Rescue Centre struggled to get him standing once again as he was tipping over and staggering to one side as we later found out the metal object had shattered the skull and severed the nerve that controlled his inner ear balance, it was as if he had had a stroke and lost the use of half his body.
Dorothea came out to help us attend to him upon assessing his situation which wasn't looking to good, we had two choices; Either Put him To Sleep or attempt try to get him back to the rescue centre which in itself was a huge undertaking, it took six of us plus Dorothea constantly injecting stimulants into him, to get him up and into the horse trailer, this we eventually managed and had to support his head with ropes and all had to travel in the trailer with him to stop him collapsing.


When we made it back to the rescue centre again it took all of us to get him into a stable where he was secured with his head held high as he had a huge risk of a brain haemorrhage if his head was allowed to drop ,he was kept like this for the first seven days and kept alive with drugs (a drip to feed him , antibiotics to fight of infections ) he survived this against all the odds , which took us to the next challenge would he be able to eat , drink, lay down and get his self-back up again , these were basic requirements that he would have to be able to do his self to survive.


Miraculously these basic first requirements he was able to do, he continued to live inside the stable for four weeks, as slowly he regained his strength, X-rays showed that not only had he shattered his skull but he also had a fracture all the way down the left side of his face .His injury was cleaned twice a day, continually small fragments of bone would come to the surface.


"The horse's skull is made of individual bone pieces that form a bony case that protects the brain and chief sense organs. A trauma to any of these bones can result in a fracture, compromising the delicate structures they enclose, which can cause a variety of clinical signs depending on the structure that has been damaged. Usually, there are signs of neurological impairment, like loss of consciousness, blindness, disorientation or even seizures. Sometimes, immediate death is the result.
In Bronson's particular case, he sustained a trauma to his head which fractured the temporal bone. This bone encloses an organ called vestibular system; the vestibular system is where the sense of the balance and the sense of spatial orientation are located. The vestibular system sends signals primarily to the neural structures that control eye movements, and to the muscles that keep a creature upright. The clinical signs of a dysfunctional vestibular system are called vestibular syndrome. This syndrome is characterized by head tilt, nystagmus (abnormal eye movements), circling, strabismus (abnormal eye position) and ataxia (abnormal movement pattern).
Bronson, apart from the vestibular syndrome had serious and life threatening problems from the trauma that also affected his brain; actually the extension of the neurological damage became apparent after his life was no longer in danger. He will have vestibular syndrome for the rest of his life". Quote from Dorothea.


We then made a small area outside of his stable from him where he would be able to learn to walk again as he gained confidence we increased the size of his walking area, he was kept like this for six months where he slowly got better and stronger and his horrendous head injury healed, with our little Samson keeping him company and spurring him on.


The day finally came when we decided to put him outside in his own paddock so he could be with the other horses. Nervously that morning we lead him outside not knowing what he would do, and how he would react. Once in his paddock he just stood there looking at the other horses and then starting walking a bit at a time and then started trotting, then he started cantering, then started galloping and bucking and kicking, and just being a horse set free, we all just stood there with our mouths wide open, in absolute amazement, we truly had no idea that he would physically be able to do this, it was a very special moment in time for us, these moments are what makes it all worth it


Bronson continues to live outside permanently which is what he prefers, he is now in a larger paddock where he lives with his best friend Harry Trotter, who he saw being born in the paddock next to him and instantly developed a deep attachment with. Harry and Bronson are now inseparable.


Here are just a few ways you can show your love and support for Bronson and his friends by helping EHCRC Foundation:

Visiting our Beauties on Sundays 1pm-4pm
Donate or Buy Items from our Charity Shops
Become an EHCRC Member and Give Them a Voice
Become a Volunteer
Hold a Charity Event on their behalf
Add us to your Face Book
Share our site with your friends www.easyhorsecare.net

Article from the Costa Blanca Newspaper February 2013

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