“All good things must come to an end” … the saying has never been truer as we write to tell you that Madge & Nanny May, our two 30yr old “Golden Girls” have left this world 
This past winter was hard on our old girls but we thought with the arrival of Spring they would pick up a bit … sadly this was not going to be the case. On Sunday afternoon we found Madge lying down beside one of the bales of hay and she was unable to get back up despite her own obvious attempts prior to us finding her. Nanny May was standing over her and despite her distrust of humans she did not move when we were trying to help Madge, she even stood for a scratch & rub. For the past year or more Nanny May has relied heavily upon Madge to guide her around and so we promised them that when the time came we would ensure they left together, with this in mind we knew that this was our time for honouring that promise.
Rather than dwelling on the passing of our girls we would like to share with you a story we wrote about Nanny May for a competition a few years ago:
NANNY MAY – (Formerly Known As Mabel @ ISPCA)
Mabel, approx 25yrs old, arrived here in Spring 2010 from the ISPCA National Animal Centre in Longford and straight away started to show how ‘useful’ an older mare can be in a herd environment.
Her biggest role arrived in May, when Polly, a new cruelty case pony whom Mabel had taken ‘under her wing’, died two days after giving birth to a foal despite the best efforts of myself and the vets.
The foal, named Rocky, was put into the enclosed field shelter in Mabel’s field and it was through the interactions between them at the gate of the field shelter and on his breaks out of the shelter that Mabel’s name got changed to ‘Nanny May’ as she mothered him, taught him to groom, led him to grass and guided him through the various education levels that a foal needs.
Nanny May is currently teaching Rocky, along with two other colts and three fillys, the dynamics of herd behaviour and if ever I hear her neighing persistently I go to investigate as I know she is letting me know that something is wrong with someone.
As far as I am concerned every herd of equines should have a ‘Nanny May’, she is definitely a permanent fixture here and worth more than her weight in gold.
Both Nanny May & Madge arrived into our care in 2010 so it is going to take a long time to get use to not seeing them around the fields. We hope they are now enjoying a youthful feeling in the next world, running fast & free with all the others that have gone before them 