A once neglected pony now has a new start in El Paso County

CALHAN, Colo. (KRDO)- A once neglected pony now has a new start, thanks to the generosity of strangers and an animal rescue in El Paso County.

Athena the pony had overgrown hooves that hadn't been cared for in years. They made it hard for her to even walk. After a local rescue asked for help to get her to Colorado from out of state, donations came pouring in.

Just after the start of October, the 18-year-old pony arrived at Houghton Healing & Therapy, a horse sanctuary in Calhan.

Jennifer Houghton couldn't believe the condition the pony was in, especially her hooves.

"I immediately cried because it was devastating seeing this horse, the way she was even standing," said Houghton. "She had severely overgrown feet. She was malnourished and thin, and she also had really bad teeth."

After learning about the pony in Nebraska, Jennifer put out a call for donations on the group's Facebook page. $600 in donations helped the group get Athena transported to the sanctuary in Calhan.

"Because of the severity of her feet, we actually had to use a sawzall, like you would use for, like, lumber or something because there was no other way to clip through them," said Houghton.

The group estimated that Athena's hooves hadn't been trimmed in six years, with the pony carrying about seven extra pounds.

"There's a lot of dried up, hardened manure and hair that had been collected that she was dragging around, and it had actually crawled back up into her leg and rubbed a wound into her front right leg," said Houghton.

After everything the pony had gone through, the group decided to name her Athena after the Greek goddess of war because, to them, she continues to be a warrior.

Jennifer is sharing Athena's story on social media in hopes of bringing awareness to animal cruelty. Athena has now become a TikTok sensation.