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The Sad Passing of Onslow
ONSLOW - BORN MAY 1992
It is with great sadness that we inform our supporters of the passing away of our wonderful large shire horse, ‘Onslow’.
He was a large character in size and was a most gentle if not a little clumsy horse and is greatly missed, by all the staff and of course all his horse friends in the stable yard.‘Onslow’ was born in May 1992 and stood a massive 18.3 hands. He was bred as a ‘Show Horse’ but because of the conformity of his back legs, he was not thought desirable enough to be sold on for competitions, so ended up in the horse sales.
He arrived at the Sanctuary on the 7th June 1996 having been bought by a kind lady who had outbid the meat man and wished him to have a kind and secure home for life.
He was certainly one of the favourites of the Charity and everybody loved Onslow.
Please read on to know more about Onslow
Onslow had a poor start to life. He was bred for the show ring but in human terms he had knock knees and was worth more for his weight in meat. Fortunately he was rescued from the market and saved from slaughter by a kind lady in 1996, who asked the charity to take him as she had nowhere to keep such a large animal.
When he arrived he soon became the boss and if anybody got a bit above themselves he would firmly but gently put them in their place. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body but was never quite sure where his massive feet were, so you always had to be careful in case he stood on you. His poor start in life resulted in him suffering from ill health most of his life. In 2007 he had to go the famous Langford Veterinary Hospital. He was so big, he had to be transported in a cattle lorry, on his arrival the entire veterinary school and staff turned out to see him because they had never had such a big horse. When he came back to us, he had to be nursed back to health by our wonderful staff. Sadly, his problems persisted with bouts of his uncomfortable illness which affected his bladder. He always responded well to treatment, but sadly a few days before his passing nothing that the vet or staff could do could save him. He went quickly and without pain. His loss left everyone equine and human feeling that a great presence had left us. In the week that he passed another huge shire horse called Timothy desperately needed a new home. Although no one could replace Onslow his passing has enabled Timothy to find a new safe home.
Onslow will always be remembered and missed by everyone at the sanctuary including all his horse friends and supporters