Abandoned horse to compete at Great Yorkshire Show

A horse that was abandoned on an industrial estate seven months ago has been nursed back to health and is now competing at a prestigious agricultural show.

The three-year-old Dartmoor pony was discovered roaming free in the car park by staff at Hadee Engineering in Sheffield in December.

When nobody came to reclaim the stallion, he was taken in by Thornberry Animal Sanctuary, whose staff named him Hadee and entered him into the Great Yorkshire Show's rescue category.

Alison Bailey from the sanctuary said Hadee had a "cracking little temperament" and she would be "really proud" to see him "strut his stuff" at the show.

Katie White, accounts administrator at Hadee Engineering, recalled the moment she first saw the horse.

"I came into work and as I drove in there was a horse sort of just munching the grass and then over the next few days it would be fast asleep here."

White, who had looked after horses herself for 25 years, noticed a "deep cut" on his nose from the head collar and was "worried" about his safety.

Horses from a nearby traveller site had wandered onto the premises in the past before being reclaimed, but South Yorkshire Police were unable to identify the pony's owner and passed his care to Thornberry in North Anston.

Hadee had a matted coat and had to spend a month in quarantine, and was castrated before being allowed around other horses at the rescue.

He is now 13 hands (132cm) in height and has been "slowly prepared" for a new life.

Hadee's progress over the last six months has been so dramatic that the team at Thornberry decided he was ready for a wider audience.

The Great Yorkshire Show, now in its 167th year takes place on the 14 – 17 July is a celebration of British farming and the countryside at the Showground in Harrogate.

His entry into the rescue competition class is a chance to educate showgoers about his story, added Bailey, as well has how far Hadee has come since his mysterious appearance in Sheffield.

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