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We were not always like this, once upon a time we were loved and cared for and someone's prize Horse

                   Ana

Anita is a very good mare that worked as a school master during many years. A long time ago, before even the association and the Centro CYD were born the following occurred. Concordia, the present day head of the association, had her horses stabled at a riding club. One day, she heard screaming in the ring and found a commotion. In front of a crowd she observed how a very big strong girl was punching Anita in the face; apparently her younger sister had fallen off of the mare. That day, Concordia decided that she had to rescue Ana and free her from a miserable life, going around in circles with inexperienced riders kicking away at her. It wasn’t the first time she’d been hit; many humans confuse nobility with weakness and take advantage of kind animals that have no notion of bearing a grudge. Anita has always been and always will be a small kindly mare. In the Centro CYD she is now calm and happy, Concordia and her have been joined at the hip since those days. However she hasn’t been very lucky with regards to adoptive families. She’s been adopted on three occasions, she has always behaved well and given her best but in the end these families for reasons not concerning her have decided to give her back to the centre. It usually happens to the best of them, the ones with the best personalities, they use them for their children to learn how to ride, and for them to accompany their old animals but when they don’t need them any more... Anita will not be given up for adoption again. She’ll die in the centre very loved and cared for by all of us. However we would like sponsors interested in her (aside from mummy Amanda). When we collected her we did it with a view to giving her good quality for the approximately last couple of years of her life. Eight years later… We can safely say that she still has a good quality of life. She’s our trump card when trying to adjust a new horse to the centre. Anita will never make things difficult. She’s good, very good. She’s also clever, she knows that she’s very old and that she needs lots of care and if we forget she reminds us. Amanda, her best friend, comes every Sunday not only to bring her daughter now but because she has understood that Anita is like another child… And you only ever get one mum!

                 Indiana

Indi is a very pretty mare that changes colour each season. There are moments in the year that she’s very dark and others that she’s completely white. In her hay day she was a schoolmaster. They abused her as she’s very tall and in theory could weight bare. All the hefty riders were for her… Indiana suffers from a deformation of the hip that causes her a lot of pain especially if she’s to withstand a heavy weight on her back. This mare has been like so many others the victim of ignorance for many years. With Indiana the typical idea of “the bigger the better” was applied. Really Indi’s back is too long to carry very tall and/or heavy people. Indiana is a relatively Young mare (especially if we compare her to other animals that we care for at the centre…), she has a good temperament and she may still be ridden by children or be lightly backed by learners that want to feel safe. Unfortunately recently we thought that we’d found the right person for her, a kind of soul mate. We must now recognize our lack of foresight when handing her heart over to this family, we look out for her, we have to protect her but however we failed her. This family that promised to never abandon her and that they would care for her come what may when it came down to it, at the first opportunity left her without as much as a goodbye. They literally broke her heart and she was very sad for months. However if we’ve learnt one thing over the years it’s that love heals all ills. Indiana’s smiling again and has regained the will to live thanks to Prisca. Many voluntary workers come to the Centro CYD Santa María out of curiosity but slowly but surely lose interest and leave. It’s hard work. Prisca’s arrival was one of those small miracles that occur every day and we don’t even realize at least at first anyway. For Indiana it meant, as we said before regaining the will to live. Its incredible how the mare has changed this last year, her hierarchy within the group has also changed, now she’s the “Queen”. She’s much stronger now that she has someone to call her own and that gives her an unstoppable inner strength. For us, Prisca’s arrival has meant that from that moment forth we’ve had a hard working, faithful, confident and dedicated hand with the horses. We know that lots of the people she knows do not understand why she spends so much of her time on this recovery centre but maybe if they saw her with Indiana or how strong she is in complicated situations or the respect and gratefulness with which all the animals look at her with, then maybe they’d understand and they would be proud of the work she does when helping us.  Indiana is a beautiful mare with a great stance. Mistrustful (she has reason to be so), but very sweet when she finally does trust someone. They broke her heart, but that’s in the past now. Now with Prisca she’s smiling again and we hope they’re very happy together and that life lets them continue to share experiences as friends forever. Please sponsor so that we can continue to give other animals a second chance.

             Sahrah

Sahrah’s history is unfortunately blighted since birth. Sahrah wasn’t a foal that was wanted nobody awaited her arrival she was what is known as an “accident”. The head of the association made herself responsible for her as soon as she opened her eyes with the intention of finding a nice owner for her, a family that would look after her but the filly was small and with character and so nobody “fell in love” with Sahrah. Nine years later she’s still with us but although she receives the same care and attention as the others, her eyes don’t show the same happiness that those who’ve been sponsored clearly do, a human friend with whom to share their tale… She’s calm but without a doubt there’s something missing. Like we’ve already said, on past occasions all the CYD animals live calm and contentedly, trusting the people at the centre but … There’s such a difference between those that eagerly await on a daily basis their sponsors arrival and the ones that just wait…! She’s a diamond of a mare with character and very noble, she is always straight. Never deceiving but she has never received the unconditional love of a human, she doesn’t know what it’s like to be the “most special one” to somebody, she hasn’t found a sponsor that only asks about her or that goes to the centre only to visit her. In the meantime Hazel a volunteer  That has already sponsored many of the horses, offers her all her care and attention.

               Galante

Galante was a great competition horse. We have said it on multiple occasions, if you are the owner of a horse that you have taken part in competitions with, that has made an effort for you to win, that for years has “worked ”,the very least you owe him is a dignified end.  Too know when to stop. Galante competed at a high level for some years with one of his hind legs completely deformed. A present day member of the association felt sorry for him and rescued him on his own. With the necessary treatment (cold water showers, massages, mud…) he managed to make Galante’s leg better and restore him to his former glory. For a couple more years they participated in some competitions, always in small jumps so that Galante’s leg was not affected. But age caught up with him, he suffered a crisis that he would never recover from completely. A little later he was given to the centre so as to have another chance for a good life, aside from the condition of his leg, as his owner thought that only at this recuperation centre was it possible for him to be offered the necessary daily care and attention that this horse needs. Galante suffers from chronic Lymphatic and although he’s pain free and fine most of the time one has to permanently keep an eye on him in case he has a relapse, as when this occurs it has to be treated very quickly or else he can die. Luckily now, Galante doesn’t only enjoy the care from the centre's team but also that of his new friend, Jayde, which is to him like an “angel”. Proud, elegant, smart he enjoys games sweeties, caresses and walks are not enough. He needs to invent. He’s always knows as to what’s going on around him, he has to be the first to know everything that’s going on at the centre. He has found in Jayde, an 11 year old volunteer his ideal play companion.

          CALIZA

Caliza has always been a very proud and classy mare however even she needs special attention, although she pretends that she doesn’t care. This has been even more the case since she has come to form part of Centro CYD Santa María. Even though she’s small and very unhappy at times she always holds her head up high, she’s a curious soul and is very energetic. She’s a very pretty mare and it’s very easy to fall for her charm. Also she’s one of the few that can still be ridden, it would be good for her, as she’s still young, full of life and wants to share new experiences to go to a family who she could share all this with. She’s independent but like most of the horses we’ve come across here, all she wants at the end of the day is a friendly hand that promises to care for her and that will return to visit her the following day. She urgently needs a sponsor to shower her with love and attention and that will help us pay for her keep. To better understand Caliza and to learn of her true story, contact the shelter’s secretary:

             Fidle

His a lovely chap, around 17 years old we think. All his working life he has been pulling a cart and taking people around. Now he has laminitis and can’t walk very well he can know longer do his job which is why he is with us.

He would make a lovely companion for some one his very good with the other horses.

          Claudia

Poor Claudia! We shouldn’t start any story like that but the truth is Claudia has been quite unlucky with her adoptive families. She’s just returned here for the third time! We’ve done all within our power to find her a good home since, unlike almost all the other horses at the shelter isn’t injured in any way; she’s just a little underweight due to the malnutrition she sustained. This mare was collected with Kate in the Marbella hills area. They had been abandoned and their condition was so bad that we nearly didn’t make it in time… She’s a good mare that just doesn’t coincide with the right people. In any case, we want to make the most of her tale to remind people wanting a horse from Centro CYD Santa María that although we state in our contract that we collect the animals if for “personal reasons” they cannot care for them –which is true- we would like people to take the responsibility more seriously and not return them at the first obstacle as though they were dealing with a handbag or such. ANIMALS ARE NOT TOYS; we should take responsibility for them and not abandon them because we don’t like their character, because we don’t get on well with them or because they fall ill... Claudia is calm, kind and a little cheeky. She’s elderly so needs to be treated with care and patience. More to the point she knows that she’s no spring chicken and needs humans to care for her. You have to be very careful with her food as she’s still recovering. We would like to find a sponsor for her to come and visit her at the shelter that would help us give her a happy last few years of life.

         Estrella

Estrella turned up unidentified in the Feria de Cartama in a very bad way. SEPRONA, the Town Hall’s environment department and the OCA asked for our association’s help. The initial veterinarian report recommended she be operated on. Estrella has a broken leg bone that must have caused her great suffering for months, but as she all alone, without any help from anyone recovered from such a dreadful injury we all agreed that she be given a second chance. At present Estrella needs a second operation for which we are fund raising. This type of surgery with all the possible discounts applied costs about 4.000 €. (If anyone would like to consult as to this sum they can do so in the Hospital Clinic Veterinarian de Córdoba). Advice as to events to raise said sum will be gratefully accepted so that finally Estrella can live a normal life rather than live with the constant threat of her leg giving out. She’s a kind mare that’s full of energy, which life hasn’t treated too well and humans were greatly responsible for her pain. Nobody was capable of alerting as to her situation for over one year! Let’s just hope we can now give her the life she deserves. She’s a filly that wants to happily run free. At first she was wary of everybody but we have gained her trust now and she even lets us treat the wound on her leg –a painful process- without getting angry with us, as she knows that it’s for her own well being. The expenses generated by this mare in veterinarian bills and materials are enormous, we ask that someone somewhere cooperate by sponsoring her.

Reina is the “little girl” that enlightens our days. It’s true that there are other amazing animals that make us smile but also in a shelter like this, you see so much suffering... We constantly have to say our goodbyes to horses that have been very special to us but now there’s Reina who has a long happy life ahead of her playful and intelligent foal that considers us her family. The Guardia Civil of Traffic from Mijas brought her to us when she was scarcely 10 days old, we searched for her mother but she may of been run down or died somewhere near where Reina was picked up from. For animals like her, so as to be able to offer them a second chance, the authorities need a shelter like CYD Santa María that will take care of her bottle feeding her every two hours for the first month… Aside from her mother; who would have cared for her and brought her up?

Rondalla –Beautifully mare this horse is a very good jumping horse and has won a lot of events. She has come to the centre through know fault of her own, she was purchase with the help of the owner of the centre  for someone who wanted to learn to jumper but for personnel reasons they could know longer look after her, and gave her to the centre.  The owner of the centre let of friend look after her, but after a few people said the mare had got very skinny, and after taking a look at her the mare is now at the centre and nears a loving family to take her on. If you feel you can give her a loving home please ring for an appointment and come and see her.    

To all the ones that made it to new homes and sadly to all the ones that didn’t, you will always be in our hearts