CLIFFORD

Clifford was brought to us, along with his best friend George, from a small charity in Devon. Originally, Clifford roamed the moors of Dartmoor, but he had managed to miss the previous year’s ‘round-up’. When he and his younger brother were subsequently brought off the moor no one came forward to claim them, so he was taken to Hugs Foundation.

Unfortunately, Hugs discovered they had suffered an outbreak of strangles at their site and after getting local vets in to scope their herd, it was Clifford’s pal George who was found to be the carrier of this very nasty bacteria. With the regular vet callouts and extra care and time keeping the rest of their herd free from infection, it was too much for a small charity to take on, so they reached out to us.

The decision was made to keep this duo together for companionship as their treatment plan was not to be a short process and they are highly bonded and nervous to handle. Whilst keeping George company, Clifford managed to stay strangles free and after a  second clear test in January 2023 our hard-working Vet Team confirmed both ponies were strangles free!

Our training team continues to visit the pair 3 times a day for approach and retreat training to attempt to build up some trust.
Clifford is slowly starting to reveal his personality and we are sure that with love and patience he will continue blossoming.
There is still a way to go in developing their confidence so they can be relaxed for handling and we are hopeful they are going to become settled into a long and happy life with us.