Starburst is one of the 4 miniature horses we have here at Far From. She’s only 32 inches in height and although she may look like a Shetland, she’s actually an American miniature.Â
Starburst is a retired working pony. Born in America and shipped over as a foal, she started life as a breeding mare before becoming a party pony. Unfortunately, excitable children weren’t Starburst’s favourite thing and so she went on to become a therapy pony, bringing much needed joy to hospitals, nursing homes and children’s wards. This little lady has had quite the career!
Starburst was retired early by her loving owner due to being severely laminitic. Even with careful management, she wouldn’t be able to continue working and unfortunately, the rich grass of Somerset could not provide Starburst with a normal life. The vet advised that she should be off grass for the whole of the spring/ summer months. Her knowledgeable owner knew our landscape would transform Starburst’s future. She will spend the rest of her days here with us, receiving endless TLC and enjoying her retirement.Â
She has a huge personality and never fails to draw a smile (if you don’t believe us, check out her smiley pic above). She’s extremely expressive of her emotions, loves cuddles and even tries to get on your lap – for Starburst, the closer the better.
This little lady is one-in-a-million and it’s an absolute honour to have her as part of our family.Â
Like most of our wonderful rescue animals, Starburst isn’t cheap to care for. If you’d like to gift Starburst some fruit for snacking, fly spray for the warmer months or even some vitamins, we’d all be extremely grateful.
We opened the Far From Holiday Retreat in order to provide us with funds to enable us to continue our work with these beautiful animals. All new arrivals must be microchipped and passported (and normally they aren’t), vaccinated three times, rasped, wormed and given a general health check by the vet – with the majority requiring many more visits to ensure that they are happy and healthy.
If you are unable to come and visit us, you can still help us to continue our work by supporting us financially. We have included a couple of options below.
We opened the Far From Holiday Retreat in order to provide us with funds to enable us to continue our work with these beautiful animals. During the Covid crisis alone we have taken in eight horses, five pigs and a feral farm cat! All new arrivals must be microchipped and passported (and normally they aren’t), vaccinated three times, rasped, wormed and given a general health check by the vet – with the majority requiring many more visits to ensure that they are happy and healthy.
If you are unable to come and visit us, you can still help us to continue our work by supporting us financially. We have included a couple of options below.
Ponies are used to eating small meals throughout the day and breaking up the treats will help maintain their eating schedule. Almost any fruits, and many vegetables, are safe treats for healthy ponies. Apples and carrots are traditional favourites especially with our miniature ponies!
Salt is the one nutrient that ponies will self-supplement to balance their diet and is a real treat for Starburst! She gets very excited when he gets a salt lick and becomes great entertainment for her and us!
We feed Chaff to our ponies to bulk out their concentrate feed and to prevent them eating too quickly. Chaff is dried forage that has been cut into small pieces, in contrast to the long grass stems in hay and haylage. All of our ponies absolutely love it!
We use fly spray for our horses and ponies especially in the summer months. Flies are a general nuisance, but for some of our horses their bites can lead to reactions and persistent itching and discomfort, so this really is a lifesaver as they are highly effective and long-lasting!
All our miniatures have come to us either with or struggle with laminitis. Making sure minis get their vitamins is really important. Now because we have the landscape that these miniature are designed to live on, they probably don’t need all the supplements.
Linseed is high in oil and has been fed to horses for many years for its significant health benefits. These health benefits are predominantly linked to the high presence of Omega 3 fatty acids. We feeding our ponies linseed to promote healthy skin and to help with a high shine on their coats.
Farrier bills every equine needs their hooves trimmed every 6 to 10 weeks depending on the pony. To have a happy healthy ponies it is essential to have a fully qualified, caring, reliable farrier.
Pro earth is designed to make sure they get all the vitamins they need. Because they can’t be on lots of grass, they are either in large bare paddocks or tiny paddocks with very little grass.
