This is Charlie the pony cob found wandering the streets in Ireland at the height of the horse meat scandal. Just one of thousands of abandoned equines, Charlie hit the news because he had previously been microchipped which led to his being identified as a horse that had been slaughtered in an Irish abbatoir in March 2012.
But of course Charlie wasn't dead he was, although starving, very much alive. The gardai (Irish police) asked Hungry Horse Outside an equine rescue centre in Longford to take Charlie in and it was they who discovered that he had supposedly been slaughtered.
This probably means that Charlie's passport was sold to be used so that another, possibly larger, horse could go to slaughter.
Charlie's previous owner was contacted but she had let Charlie go some 3 years ago and although upset to hear of his plight was unable to take him back. So Charlie is currently in the care of Hungry Horse Ouside but he is looking for a new home. If you think you have the facilities and knowledge to give Charlie a home please contact Hungry Horse Outside.
Update on the above article : Charlie found a new home by the end of 2013. Hungry Horse Outside sent the horse to a Belgian horsewhisperer, who also owns a manege in Varna, Bulgaria. After breaking Charlie in Belgium, the horsewhisperer prepared him for working with children and sent him to Bulgaria in spring 2014. As from April 2014 Charlie started working with children in the manege "Horse Club Varna", a manege run in a natural horsemanship way. He is now working and living in a group of about 12 horses and ponies, only in a box during nighttime, in daytime always outside in the prairie (unless he's on a trailwalk with children or working or playing with them in the covered arena).
Posted by: Dirk Gaudeus | 04/27/2014 at 08:22 AM
Thank you Dirk for letting us know what became of Charlie.
Posted by: Horse of the Week | 05/03/2014 at 10:47 PM