13 April 2017

Specialist hernia belt boosts Josephine’s recovery

A beautiful cob’s recovery from major surgery has been given a boost by the arrival of a very specialist piece of equipment.

Josephine, a long term patient of Redwings Horse Hospital, has been trying out her new hernia belt produced by US-based company, CM Equine Products.

Poor Josephine was rescued as part of our largest welfare operation in 2014, which involved over 400 horses. After a tough start in life and many months of treatment to help overcome the neglect she had endured, Josephine was enjoying life at the Sanctuary when she developed colic.

Thankfully Redwings has its own Horse Hospital so we were able to give her the life-saving surgery she needed. Although she survived surgery, as the wound healed Josephine developed a hernia. This meant a long stay in the Horse Hospital until the wound healed completely.

After many, many months, the wound is healing well, but the hernia has got bigger, so we ordered a special hernia belt from America, to help reduce it.

Gemma Walpole, Head of Fundraising, said: “We were very excited to receive the belt as we hope it will make a huge difference to Josephine’s recovery.

“Josephine has touched hearts all over the world - even Marge from CM Equine Products, who provided the belt, said how beautiful she was. We’re very grateful to the company for sharing Josephine’s story and for generously offering Redwings a discount on the purchase of the belt.

“It is specialist equipment like this that your donations fund, giving horses like Josephine the best chance of recovery.”

Each year more than a dozen Redwings residents, like Josephine, require emergency surgery from life-threatening conditions, such as colic, performed at our own Horse Hospital.

To keep our hospital open and to support the ongoing recovery of our four-legged patients, you can donate today below or to find out more click here.