Horse ownership comes with a lot of responsibilities, including providing each animal with proper nutrition, access to clean water, appropriate shelter, regular exercise, and veterinary care.

Horses should be treated with kindness, respect, and consideration for their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. This includes providing them with a safe and suitable environment and addressing any health or behavioral issues promptly.

Photo: YouTube/World Horse Welfare

Unfortunately, many horses are left in situations that are less than ideal, and some are downright neglected, abused, or abandoned!

World Horse Welfare is "a charity that works to improve the lives of horses and the horse-human partnership in all of its guises." They often work with horses in tough situations and conditions, and that's how they came across a pony named Dave.

Photo: YouTube/World Horse Welfare

The charity shared on YouTube that Dave had been abandoned in a field and left to "gorge himself on open grassland."

The 5-year-old pony ate to his heart's desire and ended up becoming dangerously obese before World Horse Welfare Field Officer Chris Shaw discovered him.

When Chris came upon the abandoned pony, the poor thing was "grossly overweight and suffering from Laminitis, an extremely painful hoof condition." He immediately got to work on rescuing him and getting him the medical help that he needed.

Photo: YouTube/World Horse Welfare

After being assessed by a vet, the vet described Dave as "the most overweight pony she had ever seen." Dave was going to take some work, but it was nothing that World Horse Welfare couldn't handle!

After working on diet and exercise with Dave, they were pleased to announce that he made an incredible transformation and lost nearly 200 pounds!

You can see more of his story in the video below: