A HORSE which was severely burned in a suspected acid attack has undergone her third skin graft operation at the Rainbow Equine Hospital in Old Malton.

The eight-month-old cob filly, called Cinders, was taken there last month after being abandoned in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, suffering from facial burns.

She had pioneering surgery using fish skin after an appeal for donations raised more than £18,000.

Now vet David Rendle has revealed that while most of the damaged areas had healed, she had been left with bands of scar tissue on either side of her face and around her eyes which had contracted, causing distortion of her eyelids and muzzle.

She had therefore undergone a third surgery to graft the areas that had not completely healed, assisted by plastics surgeons from Pinderfields Hospital Trust in Wakefield.

"Within 30 minutes of the end of surgery Cinders lifted her head, looked around and simply stood up, unflustered by her 3rd general anaesthetic," he said.

"Thirty minutes later she was back in her stable enjoying her lunch."

"We are extremely grateful to all the professionals involved from both Rainbow Equine Hospital and Pinderfields who have donated their time to treat Cinders, to Zimmer for the loan of equipment and most of all to the hundreds of people who have made donations to ensure that Cinders gets the very best of everything.

"A wrong is being righted. We will continue to do all we can to ensure Cinders makes the best possible recovery and has a long, happy and pain-free future."