Ginevra is a young mare, who arrived at our rescue centre in June 2012. She was not actually a cruelty case but was at risk of being put down due to ignorance about the illness Equine Infectious Anaemia (EIA).
Ginevra’s owner, Anne, had come across her by chance one day while out hacking. In the short time they spent together they developed a strong bond, in spite of the mare’s somewhat difficult character. The young mare quickly became a part of Anne’s family, and through endless patience and plenty of love Anne succeeded in winning back Ginevra’s trust, changing her nerviness into a quiet character. Unfortunately Anne’s work in the UK took her increasingly frequently away from Ginevra and after a while Anne decided to take her to England with her. She began the paperwork and procedures to do this, including the blood test for EIA. And Ginevra came out positive (read here about our research into EIA). All the other horses in the same yard were tested and all others resulted negative. Anne was suddenly under a lot of pressure from the owners of the other horses in the yard who, knowing nothing concrete about this so-called disease, tried to convince her to have Ginevra put down. Fortunately Anne was not so easily persuaded and within a few days had come to know of our Association and above all of our group of 7 AIE-positive horses, living at liberty together, all perfectly healthy. Today, Ginevra lives happily together with them.