Our lovely boy Basil has found a wonderful new home with Eric and his horses.

Basil will spend his time babysitting a freshly weaned paint foal - what a lucky boy he is!!

I'm sure he'll do a super job of it too 

The time has come for Basil to find a new home. He is being offered FREE TO EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD HOME ONLY.

Basil is being given away as a companion horse only. I have ridden him a handful of times bareback with ease - he's very quiet and well mannered, however he really is past the riding stage I feel. The main issue I've found is that he is extremely cold backed and when you put a saddle on his back he hunches right up and does not like it one little bit. With a lot of work he may get past this issue and one day might be rideable under saddle but time is not something we have a lot of here.

Basil is past the worst of his neglect and has really come into his own. He looks fantastic - still a bit bony here and there but no longer amaciated like he once was. He has all his teeth and they were filed only recently so he has no problems grazing and is only in pasture at the moment, he is not being hard fed and is holding his current weight very well. If he's kept on a well grassed paddock, he'll only get better and better.

He is a very respectful horse to handle and doesn't pull or walk over you when you are handling him. Great for the farrier, easy to catch, gem to brush and fuss over etc....

Basil is easy to float, is a patient natured boy and a delight to have around. If anyone is looking for a horse of Basils nature, please contact me.

Bree - 0419 118 840 or email: horseswithhope@yahoo.com.au  Located in Lyndhurst, Victoria.

Bit blurry but he looks oh so pretty I just had to post it - better pics coming soon.....

Basil had his teeth done on the 25^th Oct and was a very well behaved boy. He was a little apprehensive at first but once he understood what was happening he relaxed let the dentist do his work. He said Basil’s teeth were very sharp and that he had an ulcer from them protruding into his cheek OUCH!!! They are now much better and we’re sure Basil is enjoying grazing a lot more now that it doesn’t hurt.

Yep!! Looking just fabulous. Basil has spent the last week scoffing himself silly with the lushest greenest grass around.

As his rehab so far as been so intense and his health has been a risk - ie chances of further colic attacks and chest infections. We have put him in this new paddock where he is being treated like a king. Our good friend Merridy is helping us monitor Basil as he needs daily checking at this stage and Merridy has been kind enough to use her spare time caring for Basil and attending to his needs. THANKYOU MERRIDY!! It is clear that you are doing an amazing job.

Basil is happy and is looking better and better each day. Can't wait to compare photo's in a few weeks and see the difference!

Basil is looking much better. He has been moved to our large paddock where there is an abundance of green grass at the moment and he has really improved. He has only been there for 1 week but you can already see the difference. He still has a long way to go but with the spring grass upon us, he's sure to pick up in leaps and bounds.

Baz is feeling much better already. Hasn't really changed much in body condition but his general outlook is much better. He has a bit of a sping in his step and seems much happier than he was when he arrived. He is getting fed twice a day and has 24/7 access to a large round bail of hay.

We got him a new combo rug to keep him cosy on cold nights and he's just loving it . He's had his feet done and those awful shoes have been taken off him. He was a complete angel for the farrier and is moving very well now. He is no longer sore on that front leg and has been trotting around like a loony at dinner time. He's a big sweetheart.

Basil is a 19-year-old Anglo-Arab gelding. He stands approx 15hh and is truly a sorry sight. He has been severely neglected and malnourished and is not a well boy. He has numerous old injuries all over his legs and is lame on his near hind leg at the moment. He has shoes on!! – god knows why someone would shoe a horse in his condition – they must have been riding him – how awful. This poor fella is very flat and has no energy at all. His spine is very prominent as are his hips, ribs and shoulders. We have had to get a high-neck type synthetic rug for him so that he doesn’t get a rubbed wither or hips. His rump is extremely sunken and he has no meat or muscle tone anywhere on his frail body. To top it all off he is losing hair in places from old scabs that are falling off.

Basil was so ill and under nourished when he came to us (8^th Aug 2006), that we had to lock him up and slowly introduce feed and hay into his diet rather than just letting him go in the paddock. After 2 days his body seemed to give up and he got a chronic case of spasmodic colic. He went down in the yard and couldn’t get up. He couldn’t hold his head up and was clearly in a lot of pain. The vet was called and came to Basil’s aid. The vet gave him 2 injections and incredibly - all of a sudden it kicked in and Basil got up and looked fine almost instantly. He made a truly miraculous recovery and his strength and ‘will to live’ through the whole nightmare was clearly evident.

Even though Basil has been through the ringer and was devastatingly neglected, he still has trust in humans and comes up in the paddock to say hello at every chance.

We look forward to seeing Basil blossom into a healthy well-rounded boy in the future. It will be a slow but steady trip back health, but we will nurse him through it every step of the way.

Below: Photo's of Basil on arrival - 8th August 2006 -