Rainbow Bridge

Ginger
Ginger was a 20+ year old sorrel Belgian that came to the rescue in 2006. She was lame and had severe abscesses in her hooves. Ginger lived with the rescue for about two years.

Bright
Bright was a 14 year old, registered quarter horse with navicular disease. She was donated to us by a family who had taken her in to help her original owners. She had always been their yard ornament and was spoiled and spunky. The pain from her navicular ebbed and flowed but at times was just unbearable. We worked on her diet and she had special shoes, all of which helped but sometimes nothing seemed to help but medicine. In May of 2008, Bright was humanely euthanized when the pain and lameness became too great.

Bella
Bella’s owner brought her to our local animal auction, Roan Mountain Auction, and the auctioneer wouldn’t take her because she was so thin and sick. The man tied her up outside and walked away. The auctioneer fed her and gave her water, trying to help her out but she was very sick and ultimately we got to bring Bella home—even though I wasn’t sure she would be alive when we opened the trailer doors at the farm. She was about 27 years old, a solid sorrel color and upon her arrival she wouldn’t eat or drink for two days. I really thought we were going to lose her. The vet said she had probably never had her teeth floated—might have something to do with eating, huh? So we got her vetted and fed her warm mash, chopped her hay and she slowly began to get better. She was hard of hearing and slept a lot but once she began to get weight on her personality came out. She was sweet but ornery too and she always knew exactly what she wanted. Bella lived and thrived with us for a year until one morning I went out to the barn to feed and found her dead in the pasture. She had a good year and we will always remember her.

Lambchop

Lambchop came to live with us when she was 3-days old. She had suffered a serious brain injury when she was kicked by a grown sheep in the auction pen. Her mother was sold and the buyer didn't want lambchop. We were not going to leave her alone to grief for her Mom. Lambchop came home with us and drank out of a bottle six times a day, lived in a dog crate and wore doggie underwear. She was wonderful, but becuase of her brain injury she only lived for about three weeks. We took a nap together one afternoon and she never woke up. We will always miss her and in the short time she was here she won our hearts!

Magnum:The Little Horse with a Big Heart

August 6, 2009

In August, Watauga County Animal Control asked Horse Helpers to go with them to look at a horse and help evaluate its condition. We had no idea that we were going to meet the skinniest little horse we had ever seen. By all rights this horse should have been dead, but instead he was trying to eat grass what little grass there was with such fervor that we couldn’t even get his attention. His entire focus was on getting what little he could into his skeletal body. WCAC took pictures and determined that they would go before the county magistrate for an order to seize this horse.

 August 7, 2009

WCAC wasted no time. The next morning we received a call from WCAC asking me to hook up the trailer and meet them at the pasture where this little guy was. Along with one of our board members, we put hay in the truck--with extra for the other hungry horses in the pasture. We packed a halter and lead line, medicine, and sweet feed to help catch him.

The owner had informed Animal Control that the horse’s name was Magnum and so on arrival we set out in the pasture to round up Magnum. He was up in the top of the pasture and we hiked up calling him, the board member a little behind me.  Magnum slowly made his way to me and I put a halter on him and turned around to head back to the trailer when I saw my colleagues face. I had warned her that she had never seen anything this bad, but the warning wasn’t enough. The look of shock on her face has been mirrored by everyone who saw him in the first few weeks he was back at the farm. He is without a doubt the most emaciated horse we have ever taken in. In fact, our biggest concern on that day was he would make it to the farm alive. If so, we would be forced to determine if the kindest thing to put him down immediately or give him a chance to recover. We called the vet on the way back and asked him to meet us at the farm as quickly as he could.

After we arrived at the farm with Magnum still walking we began the standard refeeding diet for malnourished horses, keeping in mind that he did have a history of founder. Starved horses can’t just be put in front of a bucket of food and allowed to eat. Refeeding a starved horse improperly can instigate what is called refeeding syndrome which can kill them, so we had to be very careful. Horse Helpers follows the protocol set out by UCDavis, the leaders in research on starved equine. Carolyn Stull, in particular, has done pathbreaking research in this area. Magnum’s owner had told Animal Control that he had to keep Magnum this skinny because he had foundered. So one of the first things we did was to talk to Dr. Stull to determine how we should modify Magnum’s diet to take into account his history of founder/laminitis. We began by feeding him six small meals of alfalfa a day, slowly increasing the amount of food while reducing the number of feedings, this allows his gut to adjust to receiving regular food. After ten days  he is allowed to eat alfalfa free choice until he has reached optimum weight. Knowing this we gave Magnum his first meal of alfalfa. What an appetite, he was so happy to eat. This little boy had a light in his eyes that didn’t look like a horse ready to give up. We had to give him a chance!

Below are photos of his hooves on his day of arrival. Notice that in the upper photo his hoof is too long. These are his rear hooves in which he was still experiencing some blood flow. The lower hoof is a front hoof and there is no growth there only terribly chipped hooves.

August 8, 2009

Our vet arrived the next day to evaluate Magnum and see what other things needed to be done. it was determined that not only was he starved but Magnum was anemic and dehydrated, his teeth had not been floated, he had white line and laminitis, and he had rain rot. Magnum is at least 25 years old although you would never know looking at him. Dr. Lang decided that we would let him stabilize before floating his teeth and for now we would focus on refeeding, a good worming and addressing the anemia. Magnum was to continue on his refeeding schedule adding in Red Cell for iron.

August 15, 2009

Magnum is little horse with a big! After the first day at the farm he began whickering to us when we come down to check on him.. He is happy to be here, friendly, and gregarious. We have put him in a stall with deep pads and lots of shavings so that he can easily get off his sore feet. It is rewarding to go down in the morning and have to brush his shaving off. We know he has had a good night’s sleep. And he never stops eating. He puts his head in the bucket of alfalfa and only comes out to talk to you.

The farrier came today to work on his hooves. They are in terrible shape and you can see how severe the found was by the lack of growth in his front hooves as compared to his back hooves. He has little to no circulation anymore in his front hooves so we have to keep them in as good a shape as possible, while the back ones can be trimmed up some with each visit. He was great for the farrier but it was a hard day for him. He could hardly walk afterward because of the pain in his feet and so we led him back to his soft stall to lie down.

August 18, 2009

He has had trouble walking ever since the farrier visit. He is slowly getting better but his body’s response to the trimming is yet another indication of how severe the laminitis must have been. It will be important that his hooves be maintained well.

October 2009

Well, Magnum has hardly come up for air out of his muck bucket of alfalfa cubes since we were able to let him eat free choice. The vet estimated is arrival weight at about 450-500 pounds while his ideal weight should have been about 950 pounds. Imagine being half of your ideal body weight? So Magnum is trying to make up for lost time and is eating about 50 pounds of cubed alfalfa every day and a half. He shed his unhealthy coat and is shiny and beautiful albeit still too thin. By the end of October he has probably put on about 250 pounds. Still a long way to go but you can no longer rest a cup on his rib cage, he slopes now!

His personality has just grown and grown, Magnum is very talkative and has won over everybody that comes in the barn. He loves to be brushed and will stand and eat while you brush until you just can’t do it anymore. When we arrive with a fresh bag of alfalfa cubes Magnum takes one end of the bag while we start on the other and he tries with all his might to rip it open. He knows what is in that bag and he wants it now! Given Magnum’s age, over 25 yrs. old, he will probably never fully recover from his starvation. But we can at least let his last years be happy and comfortable.

Everyday he is brighter, gains a little more weight and  neighs a little louder.

November 1, 2009

Magnum is having increasing pain from the laminitis. He is having cold sweats and his pulses are up. The vet has prescribed bute to see if we can get the pain under control but if not we have very few options. Bute is a dangerous drug to keep a horse on, potentially destroying their kidneys and causing ulcers. He can’t stay on it long term. There is a surgery that cuts the nerves to the hooves that signal pain but that doesn’t eliminate the process of laminitis. We are having to look at all our options. He is spending a lot more time down and off his feet. We can go in his stall and snuggle with him and he will rest his head on our laps. Magnum seems so happy to be loved on that his pain is secondary to him.

November 15, 2009

His pain has not eased up nor has his difficulty in walking. Still bathed in cold sweat even on bute. He has days where he seems really depressed and I determine we have to put him down and then the next morning he is perky and eating and responsive.

The vet came this afternoon so that we could determine what to do. He now has the beginning of an abscess in his front right hoof which generally indicates that the coffin bone is actually getting ready to puncture his frog. Surgery doesn’t seem to be an option since all it does is deaden the pain but not stop the movement of the coffin bone. We set a date for the 18th to euthanize him.

November 18, 2009

Since we no longer have to worry about setting off his founder again Magnum has been receiving his favorite treats from horse cookies to carrots to apples. He doesn’t like sugar cubes or peppermint but he was at least given the choice. He is really bright today, which will make humanely euthanizing him all the more difficult. But at least we know he will be able to walk out into the pasture and I keep telling myself that it will be better for him to be out of pain. When Dr. Lang arrived we walked Magnum out and he rested his head on my shoulder as Dr. Lang administered the drug. It was dark by the time the vet was able to

come out and so everything was quiet and peaceful. Let this be a reminder of how benign and steady neglect destroys health and that it is as much abuse as is direct physical abuse. Magnum was not ready to die mentally but physically he could take no more.

Now Magnum can run and play with his friends in big beautiful pasture with blue skies. He doesn’t have to worry about whether he will be fed and he doesn’t have to worry about each step he takes and how much pain it will create. He brightened our lives; we were so lucky that he came to be with us, even if only for a few months. Magnum was spoiled and loved those few months and he gave back to us immeasurable love and joy. He will be sorely missed.