Raggles is a 14 year old Shetland pony who arrived at Mane Chance a couple of weeks ago.

As part of our usual protocol when we welcome a new horse, we complete a full health check of the animal, running blood tests and checking teeth, hooves, weight etc. When we don't have much background veterinary information handed over, it's important that we learn as much as we can about the horse physically as well as spending time with them emotionally to understand their personality.

Raggles came to Mane Chance having spent all of her 14 years of life living in a small, muddy field and had literally never left it. We were told that she was prone to laminitis and had therefore been confined to a small fenced off area, away from the lush grass to prevent the laminitis flaring up. But other than that, little was known about her.

We were really shocked and saddened therefore to receive the results of her first blood tests and to learn that Raggles is living with a number of serious challenges:

- she has chronic liver disease with very advanced fibrosis meaning that her liver function is severely impaired. Whilst the liver is an incredible organ that can repair itself to a point, this damage is far too great and is now irreversible.

- Raggles has untreated Cushings disease - also at a critical level

- she has very poor hoof condition, impacted hugely by the laminitis bouts that we know she has had in the past. Following X-rays, we now know that her pedal bones in her front feet have been damaged and have a sponge-like appearance, full of holes, rather than a solid structure that they should have. This has led to poor soles, hooves and must be very sore for her.

In short, Raggles is a very poorly pony and her prognosis is also very poor - we have to face the fact that she may not be with us for as long as we would have hoped - or expected.

But despite all of this, Raggles is a sweet-natured, gently pony that has just had a huge upheaval in her life. She has moved from the only home she has ever known to a new world of adventure - one that she is understandably not sure of at the moment. But as the first couple of weeks have gone by, she is starting to relax and show us what a truly lovely little mare she is - and she has already melted hearts. We have to do all that we can to help her.

But what exactly do we do?

At the Sanctuary, we believe that emotional welfare is as important as physical welfare so we want to be able to give Raggles the very best quality of life that we can for as long as we have her. We will give her all the love and care she deserves but we are realistic that it may not be for long. Our team are spending more and more quiet time with her, just giving her scratches and gentle fuss when she wants it.

Physically, we have taken X rays of her feet to understand fully what is happening with her damaged hooves and soles, and we are hoping to get her little boots to cushion her sore feet. She is prone not only to laminitis but she shows evidence of past abscesses too, so we are hoping to prevent them as much as possible from developing again.

We have started to medicate the Cushings disease which has to be the priority to treat. This medication (Prascend) takes a little time for the horse to get used to, so we need to give Raggles a while to settle with it before we try anything else. Together with our amazing vets, we are desperate to come up with a complete care plan as quickly as possible in order to support her liver too, but the reality is that we have to do it slowly and methodically and hope we have enough time. Whilst we wait to be able to treat the liver disease with medication, we are giving Raggles Vitamin E and milk thistle - two natural supplements that target the liver. Hopefully that will bide the time for a little while.....

We have taken the difficult decision not to put Raggles up for sponsorship as we don't want supporters (particularly children) to be lulled into a sense of longevity.

But that doesn't mean that you can't still be an influential part of her life - and a crucial one in fact.

The medication, the tests and the blood work are important in guiding us as to how best to keep her comfortable and whether we are making a meaningful difference or not. But they are expensive and repetitive and we badly need some help with them. We also want to buy her boots and get her pain free enough to integrate her into a little herd of oldies so that she can spend the rest of her days in company....something she has never known except over the fence with another horse, Nell.

We know that there will come a day when the war is lost with Raggles' health, but for now, we are happy to fight the smaller battles for and with her.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could give this little pony a few months of reduced pain, love and equine friendship - we can see that she is desperate to join a bigger herd but we can't integrate her until she is strong enough. We dream of seeing her living on our tracks with our older, gentle herd - for as long as she has.

Please would you be a part of making this happen? Would you consider donating towards the costs of giving this little pony some care and support for as long as we can? Hopefully, together, we can make a real difference for her.....

We really need your help and thank you for anything that you can give....