It is prohibited to copy any part of this website, all copyrights belong to CYD

           Jumper
Jumper was for many years a good jumping competition horse. His owner an experienced rider and present day member of the CYD Santa María centre competed with him until one day he went lame. An abnormality with his tendons and a deformation of his hooves were discovered. His owner has never thought of giving him up. A few years ago now he left him at the recovery centre so as he could receive the attention that he needs and have a good life. However Jumper hasn’t been very lucky with his sponsors. He is one of the few horses at the centre that can still be ridden, of course only for hacking or for a little exercise around the ring. He likes to feel useful. A few months ago a young girl assured us that Jumper was the horse of her life and that she wanted to sponsor him forever. ..... But as life isn’t always a story with a happy ending the fairy god mother she appeared to be turned into the wicked step mother, no sooner than she experienced a minor difficulty in her personal life she cast Jumper aside. After this deception Jumper needed somebody full of energy so as to reinstall the joy of life in him again to carry on playing. This he found in dear Jayde and family that at present are responsible for him. Jumper needs somebody strong by his side, a person with personality like him. In Jayde he has found his other half. He’s very intelligent. He knows exactly who he’s up against. He knows his virtues and our weaknesses. He knows that he’s a handsome horse and seeks, as they all do, someone that complements him to respect him. His kidneys can not cope all that well anymore and on cold days he loses his arrogance, that’s when he needs a very special someone to wrap him up and tell him that the sun will come out tomorrow...

The Head of the association received a call from a person that assured her that she could no longer take care of her lifelong mare. The Centro CYD never collects horses with owners only ill treated and/or abandoned ones but we accepted to go and see how the mare was because recently we had made contact with a woman that said she loved animals and that she wanted a horse just to keep her mare that had recently been brought from another country. A member of the association went with the person interested in adopting, to check the mare wasn’t wounded, ill or had been a victim of ill treatment. As soon as they arrived the “eye witness” explored the mare and realized soon enough that Ruth is an old mare, noble, with a nice character, that’s calm and needs some help, she’s not got many years left and needs to be given the chance to rest but unfortunately Ruth and the lady who was going to adopt her didn’t “hit it off”. Finally the association finds an adoptive home for her that asks no questions, that doesn’t want anything in particular from her just to help her and save her life. Luci suffered an accident a few months ago and now rests in peace eternally.

This “report” is aimed at all the calls we receive from people that when they can no longer exploit an animal that has served them for years, get rid of it by selling it horse dealers without scruples. We have a lot to learn from the old. We ask of you to not abandon them. There are always other solutions.

Riza was bought in Holland by an inexperienced rider that wanted more than anything to get into horse riding and even into competing. However, things didn’t go how he’d of liked and not long after returning to Spain Riza was lame. In the end after consulting the best specialists in the Hospital Clinic de la Universidad de Córdoba (University Clinic of Córdoba) the overall consensus was that the mare was useless, in other words she would never be any use as a sports horse. Her owner could have sold her on –just as she was sold to him- or abandoned her to her luck but he decided to do the responsible thing and asked the centre for help to find a good adoptive family for her. At present, Riza laps up all the attention from a marvellous family in Rincón de la Victoria.

 

Black Beauty is simply a fantastic mare. Beautiful, strong, powerful. For years various riders tried to mount her but day by day rather than Black Beauty becoming docile she became more rebellious. For not recognizing her clumsiness or lack of interest they struck her off the list as “crazy”, without showing the interest in her to see what it was that made her act in that way. Concordia, Head of the association became interested in her case. She was convinced that the mare suffered some type of pain that transformed her into a dangerous mare. A few years ago Black Beauty came to form a part of the Centro CYD. Everyone up to that point considered her a lost cause. The overall opinion was that she had to be put to sleep to do her a “favour”. After a few months analyzing her behaviour the conclusion was met that Black Beauty suffered from a serious eye injury that made her lose sight –and in turn control of herself- day after day. The only option was to perform a surgical operation on her to remove the left eye. A few hours after the operation was performed, Black Beauty was already in a better mood. At present she lives happily with Faye who sponsored her and then adopted her. Thanks to Black Beauty’s story we can explain some things that are important to the centre. Firstly you shouldn’t give up just because you don’t understand what animals are trying to tell you. Secondly it’s not the first nor the last time that the Centro CYD has had top ay for an expensive operation. If only we had regular help that meant we could face such expenses with some sort of calm. For the time being we have to refer to the most ingenious methods to solve this sort of problems (we would now like to thank the cooperation of veterinarians that help us keep costs down). Thirdly “adoption” is an option at the Centro CYD, there’s always a true love towards a horse. Faye came to the centre on a daily basis to visit her little mare for many months but as this young lady lived far away from our recovery centre she came first thing in the morning usually at about eight O’clock to spend some time with Black Beauty before going to work. She kept this up for more than a year until finally she asked us if she could adopt her and takes her somewhere nearer to her home and workplace so as to dedicate more time to her. The latest pictures of them both on the beach don’t leave any doubt as to how much they are enjoying together.

 

We received a request for help from a public institution in Málaga that mainly attends to dogs. They asked for our help as they had picked up a pony with a leg that was in a very bad way and they couldn’t offer it the care that it needed.  We transferred Don Bombón, who arrived at our shelter with a very swollen, bleeding leg and in a lot of pain. Once at the shelter he was immediately attended to by one of our veterinarians that confirmed the seriousness of the injury. Even though we knew that he’d never walk properly again we thought that we had to give him another chance. It’s incredible how he improved in just a few days once given the appropriate care. For a long time we thought that he could never be given for adoption as very few people want crippled animals but it would seem that one should not despair as usually you are rewarded. In the first place Don Bombón managed to charm a group of Scandinavians who sponsored him and then a little later on he was adopted by some marvellous people. At present he lives happily with his new family accompanied by a pony… ¡They even have a little forest all to themselves! Don Bombón’s story shows us that there are people out there that look beyond exterior beauty and so there’s still hope for other horses.

Moonlight is now an old friend of the Centro CYD Santa María. He’s been with us for many years and his improvement has been unbeatable. His story is a great example to many people who visit this page wanting to adopt a horse. When Moonlight arrived he had laminitis, a complicated illness that with patience and care can be treated. It’s an illness that many of the horses that have arrived at our recovery centre have suffered from as most owners prefer to get rid of their animal rather than treat them accordingly. However, Moonlight was very lucky. When he arrived at our centre, Hazel, a volunteer worker who we’ve already made referent to on many occasions decided to take total responsibility for him, economically and affectionately speaking. She didn’t care how long she’d have to wait, if she could eventually see an improvement in this abandoned horse. Now they are great friends. Hazel, who is now moonlight’s happy owner continues to care for him at the shelter and they enjoy strolls in the surrounding area as Moonlight has made a complete recovery. Hazel and her relationship with Moonlight are an example of generosity and hope.

Often animals end up facing the consequences of human disputes… Esperanza is a young, kind and healthy mare but one day her owner argued with his father in law who owned the land where Esperanza was kept… After various threats and reproaches on both parts, they came to the conclusion that it would be best to get rid of the mare. We called one of the people that had been on our adoption waiting list for over a year. They accepted Esperanza readily offering her a good life in Huelva. She’s now very happy with this wonderful family who have already helped us with many abandoned animals.

 FOX TROT

 This young colt of barely two years of age was in the middle of a road in the Mijas area when we received the first alarm call from an English citizen who had also contacted the Local Police to inform them as to what was going on and the risk of accident. The legal course of action and indeed common sense dictated that we obtain a police report authorizing us to collect the animal and transfer it provisionally to the centre. The police however chose to leave the animal with the lady who’d reported the situation. When nobody from the Town Hall who the police works for contacted her though she ended up having to contact us since she could no longer keep the colt. Fox Trot has a seriously injured hind leg which makes him much more difficult to handle. In a few days the association had to spend about 700 €, that by law, should have been spent by the administration. At present the colt is at an adoptive home but if he is not operated on soon he’ll never be able to live an ordinary life. We removed danger from the road so that nobody was harmed... Now what?

We collected Johnny because, Concordia, the Head of this association received a call alerting her to his plight. It would seem that Johnny was piggy in the middle of a dispute between neighbours who couldn’t think of a better way to solve their differences than shooting Johnny! Given the seriousness of the situation we decided to collect him and transfer him to the shelter. However due to our dire financial state it was very difficult for us to feed and care for another horse. Luckily an adoptive family was soon found for him.

We collected Kate with Claudia in Marbella. Both mares were in very poor condition. Her malnutrition process was advanced and we decided to quickly transfer them to the shelter. They are both good mares, friendly, kindly and generally good but unfortunately being a kind good tempered animal isn’t always in a horse’s best interest as people take advantage of them, taking every ounce out of them, squeezing them dry and then abandoning them to their fate. Marbella is one of the places where we’ve had to collect the most animals, it’s a shame that an area that boasts being a nice place for its residents pays so little attention to abandoned, ill treated animals within the area. At present Kate is cared for by one of our neighbours but we would like a sponsor to help with her veterinary bills or with purchasing materials for her (rug, head collar, fly mask etc.). Kate is noble and calm. She’s not independent, she likes interacting with humans and other animals. Amongst her friends are Claudia and our neighbour’s four dogs. She likes to go for walks with her sponsor and eat grass!

When we received a call referring to Kiwi we decided to collect him so as to offer him a second chance. Kiwi is a funny, playful donkey. He’s always dreaming up new naughtiness. We thoroughly enjoyed the time he was here with us and remember all the times he made us smile even the hard ones. Finally we decided to transfer him to the Donkey Sanctuary so that he could enjoy having friends a little more like him.

This mare and her foal were wandering on a road when police contacted us. This was a few months ago and the truth is we were in a very bad way economically speaking, as we had recently spent a considerable amount on various veterinarian bills that had to be paid. However we decided to bring them to the centre as their lives (and those of the drivers on the road) were at serious risk. Finally both were very lucky, they have been adopted in Toledo where they live happily with their new family.  Owning a horse is a great responsibility. Not only is there their care and well being to consider but that of third parties. This is why we insist that the people really responsible, owners, town halls, regional offices etc keep a tight ship and impose the corresponding fines when faced with any illegalities.

Platero’s story can serve as a good example to children (and some adults). Catia, a little girl from Marbella, demanded the attention of her elders until she got help for Platero, an abandoned donkey. Her attitude shows that you mustn’t turn the other cheek, even a little girl can be of a great help, always with adults’ help. Catia probably saved this poor animals life. Platero was collected by the Centro CYD Santa María’s van and lived with us for some time until he recovered. We changed his name as we always do when a new animal arrives at our shelter as if to say:” new name, new life, you have a second chance”.  He now enjoys the company of other donkeys like him in a recovery centre for these animals in Antequera.

Saltarín was an excellent competition horse but one day he injured himself and his owners decided that it was time to change horse… Thanks to the owner of where Saltarín was stabled who wanted to give this wonderful animal another chance we knew of his tale, although he wasn’t hers, as she had dealt with him for years she felt sorry for him. For this reason she contacted our shelter so that we’d find a family that was prepared to give him the care and attention that he needed for a speedy recovery. That’s exactly what we did and at present he lives happily with a family that treat him like a King and that don’t mind how long he takes to recover.

Siroco is a very handsome horse. But his family after 20 years could no longer care for him and they asked us to help find him a new home. Siroco’s first day at the centre was terrible for him. He was extremely stressed and he could not understand why he’d been dragged away from home. We were very worried about him as he was one of the few animals that didn’t adapt immediately to the centre’s tranquillity. We had to find some very special people for him as Siroco had grown accustomed to being pampered and spoilt by the family over a number of years. Finally we found a mother and son to take him on even though he seemed so on edge. At present he lives happily with them on a lovely spacious finca where he enjoys all the care he deserves as one more of the family… Although they must always make sure that the kitchen door is tightly shut…

                 Rafaela

What the most wonderful thing about collecting and opening the doors to our shelter to another animal is…: the animal itself. Rafaela is a wonderful creature, physically speaking she’s in pretty poor shape, but at the moment all she wants to do is enjoy the moment and fight to keep on going. The subgroup of Police Mount of Málaga has shown us on various occasions how much they care for horses. They know that each time they bring an equine to the centre it will suppose money being spent and a strain on the shelter that we can hardly cope with, but to them, as with ourselves, it’s still difficult to leave suffering horses abandoned. The agents rescued this mare from drowning in a pond in los Asperones. She had a rope tied around her neck that had been wrapped around her front legs and a puncture wound affecting her tendon. ¿Will these things continue to occur if we find that we have to close as nobody faces reality? Where will the authorities put the animals that are abandoned thanks to the Ley de Protección Animal being put into practice and with Summer arriving? Where will they cast their eyes whilst a mare is drowning?

Arcoris -Arrived 5^th February 2009 Rafaela gave birth not sure at what time as the groom found the foal when he went to feed her. He is a big foal all legs, but what a lovely boy he is .Mum is very good with him very protective over him, poor Fumeur who is next door is getting all the ears back from her. He was named Arcoris in English his name is Rainbow as we had a very bad storm and that morning a big rainbow over the finca. 

Rafaela and Arcoris- went to Holland our first ones abroad.

Transport Company www.paardentransporten.eu