Gorgeous Gracie-May's miraculous recovery (From Western Telegraph)

Gorgeous Gracie-May's miraculous recovery

Gracie-May, a magnificent Shire horse, is a picture of health as she grazes happily in a field near Burton.

She bears no resemblance to the skeletal creature rescued by the RSPCA from a life of unimaginable suffering at the hands of a cruel owner.

Clearly adored by her adopted family - they describe her as a gorgeous big softie - it is hard to imagine her as emaciated, bald and lice-ridden. As horrifying would have been the mental torture she was subjected to - she was found standing next to her dead foal and three other horse carcasses in a yard in Somerset.

Her owner was jailed for two months and banned from keeping animals for life.

Gracie-May was nursed back to health by staff at the Horse World sanctuary at nearby Whitchurch and is now enjoying life in her new home at Little Dumpledale Farm, Sardis.

Carol and Trevor Davies, her new owners, said the only remaining evidence of her old life had been a fear of having a bridle bit placed in her mouth.

But a Pembrokeshire horse whisperer, Steve Foster, worked his magic on her and chased away those fears.

She now enjoys rides without her previous anxiety. At 17.3hh she is a perfect match for six-foot five-inch Trevor Davies.

His wife, a benefits fraud investigator working at Cherry Grove, Haverfordwest, explained how Gracie-May came to get her name. "She was rescued in the month of May, the vet who treated her was called May and it was said that it was only by the grace of God that she is still alive today.''

Ian Burns, the RSPCA inspector who first discovered Gracie-May, said it had been rewarding to see her return to health. "There was simply no excuse for the way her owner ignored her plight,'' he insisted.