Caitriona Murphy

SHOCKING images of a cob who was left with gaping wounds when the headcollar he was wearing became embedded in his nose have been viewed all over the world this week. Video footage released by Kildare-based equine charity My Lovely Horse show the yearling being rescued from a 100-acre site in Fonthill, Clondalkin, by their volunteers.

The piebald cob was abandoned on the land, which is owned by NAMA, as a foalwith a headcollar but never caught again to remove it as it became too small for him.

Getting tighter by the day, the straps eventually cut into his flesh. By the time he was rescued, the wound was open right down to his nasal bone, chronically infected and infested with maggots. He will be permanently scarred.

Emma Louise Keegan, a volunteer with My Lovely Horse, told The Irish Field the rescue operation had taken several weeks.

“There are about 30 horses on the land and the herd this cob was in was the most highly strung group, they were all very people responsive and would gallop off the minute they saw anyone,” she explained.

The rescue operation took several attempts and required the help of a Dublin Zoo handler, Gerry Creighton, and a tranquiliser gun to sedate the cob and transport him for treatment by veterinary surgeon John Drum.

“The headcollar was so tight he couldn’t even open his mouth properly and we had to cut it to pieces and slide it off his nose because his skin had started to grow over it,” explained Keegan.

Despite multiple appeals for his owner to come forward, no one has claimed the cob.

Thankfully, the youngster – now named Gerry after the man who made his rescue possible – is now recovering. He has been wormed and completed a course of antibiotics and is gaining weight daily, as well as learning to trust humans.

A video following his rescue is available to view on www.theirishfield.ie and donations to My Lovely Horse Rescue can be made on www.mylovelyhorserescue.com/gerry