Vale Beautiful Mack
He was so brave and fought so well and for so long, but our beautiful goofball Mack suffered some serious complications on Monday afternoon that he couldn’t overcome, and he was put to sleep.
We are devastated at losing a key member of our herd after an already terrible year for our organisation. Above it all, we still have a very large vet bill to pay off which we will struggle to afford.
Any help you can provide to alleviate our financial stress would be so appreciated. Mack would have helped hundreds of people during his time with us, and with your support we can continue to help more in his memory.
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In Memoriam
To say that we are heart-broken is an understatement. This isn’t how this time was meant to end. We are just so grateful that, with support from our amazing donors, we were able to try everything possible to save him.
Mack was almost 15yo, a Thoroughbred ex-racehorse that struggled to find his home until he came to us 8 years ago. He loved the company of friends and gained confidence each time a new herd member was added. He worked his way gently from the lowest in the pecking order to become the respected elder gelding, adored by the mares, pair-bonded with his absolute love, Cappy; loved by the ponies; and treasured mentor to our orphan foal Phoenix in his formative years.
He was goofy, playful, ticklish, gentle, handsome, funny and filled with joy. His late afternoon happy gallops with the herd when the cool breezes rolled in were something to behold; his power and strength were awesome to witness – he was so majestic.
He was so gentle with our clients and held space for them beautifully; so many of their hearts will be shattered today as well as our own. We feel blessed that they were able to share our experience of Mack during their healing journey.
Everything we do at the Sanctuary is consent-based, even in the way we manage our herd. They are never required to do anything they don’t want to do unless it’s required for their safety or ours. Mack thrived under this approach. He had true agency over his life – something that we wish every horse could experience.
Mack may not have lived to a ripe old age with us, and we will miss him with all our hearts every day but one of our beautiful volunteers put it so perfectly when she said, “I have an anchor of peace knowing that we showered our boy with a bottomless pit of love, compassion, care and respect.” We will all be hanging onto that anchor as we navigate our grief.
Mack will be cremated so that he can join Indy in the memorial garden that we hope to have when, one day, we finally find a forever home.
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On the afternoon of Monday May 12, our beautiful goofball Mack suffered a serious, life-threatening health scare. At dinner time he was found lying on the ground, unable to get up, and it was apparent he has been there for some time. He received two vet visits that night and well into the early hours of Tuesday, and it initially seemed he had made a miraculous recovery.
The following morning though, Mack, unable to eat or even stand for more than a few minutes at a time, was rushed to Gatton to undergo emergency surgery to investigate the cause and fix whatever is going on. His initial surgery went well – repositioning parts of his intestines which had become dislodged and had started crushing other parts of his insides – but he struggled with his recovery, going into toxic shock that night.
After a poor Wednesday, Mack underwent another operation on Thursday morning, where they discovered and removed a clot as well as a portion of his small intestine which had died off.
On Friday he developed pneumonia, and attention turned to his digestive system, which had still not started again after it had initially shut down during his first surgery. Mack had not eaten since Monday morning and, being unable to eat, was quickly losing weight. Most of the fluids entering his body were refluxing back out again.
The weekend was a rollercoaster ride. He’d improve in one way, and worsen in another. But through it all, his digestive system stubbornly refused to start again.
On Monday afternoon, a week after his initial collapse, Mack suffered from a massive and unexpected complication of his second surgery and had to be put to sleep.
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Hoofbeats Sanctuary is a mental health charity operating since 2019 in the Sunshine Coast area. We specialise in providing incredibly effective and life-changing equine therapy programs to women and girls in need, and working hard to be able to offer spaces to those in need at low-to-no cost. In 2024 our results were backed by an independent service evaluation.
Our herd of horses and ponies are the backbone or our programs, and any issues that affect them roll on to the quality of programs we deliver. By helping to keep our herd happy and healthy, you can help us continue to deliver our programs to those that need them most, at the quality that has come to be expected of us.
We lost one of our herd last year, the impact of which stopped our program delivery for over a month. We have already been unable to deliver programs since the end of February for reasons out of our control, and were so looking forward to start again just this week. We are devastated at the thought of having to delay programs further, and would be so grateful for any assistance you can provide.
Thank you.