A New Forest stallion who endured three days hanging from a tree and suffered life-threatening injuries has made a remarkable recovery.
Bullhill Major (‘Major’) is a homebred, who was one of the stallions who came through the New Forest Breed Society’s Futurity Scheme to help maintain a wide variety of quality bloodlines. He has produced several foals and has had the run of the forest for six years, but last summer his future lay in the balance following a serious accident.
At the beginning of June, it was noticed that Major and some mares had not been seen for a couple of days. It was an extremely hot period, so his owner, Suzanne Kempe, who runs a small New Forest pony stud and is a regular public speaker on the New Forest pony breed, thought he had gone to a cooler clearing, deeper in the forest.
However, a call on 4 June from the New Forest Agister on the third day revealed that Major had been found stuck straddled over a Beech branch extending from a fallen tree, with all four feet off the ground. It is unknown how he came to be in this position, but Suzanne believes he may have been trying to mount a mare who passed under the branch.
He was found by a pair of riders who alerted a local commoner and with the help of a chainsaw, Major was released from the branch, and taken to Seadown’s veterinary hospital in Hythe.
“Major is a stallion who is well known to the practice, having known him as a foal and vetting him for his New Forest stallion licencing, he has always been a firm favourite at the practice,” said Laura Trigg, Seadown’s Clinical Director and equine veterinary surgeon.
“Being a stoical New Forest pony, he perhaps didn’t appear to be as sick as he was [when he arrived following his accident]. However, Karolina Kalka one of our equine vets took some bloods from him and realised he was suffering from severe dehydration and potentially going into kidney failure.
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