Salt update Sat am

Salt made it through the night. He was down a lot and I was worried about colic. But I think he was both exhausted and relieved. Today is the beginning of a new life for him.

I’ve named him “Twilight’s MoonShadow”. As I sat with him last night while he was resting I looked up at the sky and the stars were everywhere against the black sky. Looking up – just above MoonShadow – I saw a beautiful, very bright star that shined just to the right of the crescent moon – almost as the moon was cradling it. MoonShadow has a white crescent moon on his forehead and I’m sure he was Twilight’s friend that stood over her for the days she was down before I got the call to help her. How sad he must have been to watch Twilight slip away. And how he must have felt that it was only a matter of time for him. Twilight held on for us until we got her home that night. And once at the rescue I went into the trailer to check on her – she lifted her little nose a tiny bit, eyes fading to cloudy blue, she gave a little knicker as I kissed her one last time, and she was gone. We love you Twilight – always. I’m so sorry Twilight that we didn’t get to you in time. And I’m so sorry that we didn’t know about Salt while we were there – and he was only a few yards away from us, in the dark. But we will do our best to help your best friend who is now named in your honor. And now you fly with the angels sweet girl – we’re so proud of you.

Moonshadow – your life has just begun. You have a new family now that will do all we can to help you to grow strong – we want to see the will to live come back into your eyes. The crescent moon I found on your forehead brought about some relief for me – like a feeling that this is where you are supposed to be and that Twilight had a hand in it. She’s that bright and beautiful star in the sky that is watching down over you.

Thank you all for caring about this sweet boy. We’re trying to find out his history. He isn’t the TB “Salt” that we found in the database. But we will keep researching. Today, if he is up to it, he will get a hooficure. Dr. Ryan and I will be reviewing his blood work today. MoonShadow is drinking and I groomed him as he ate his little mash this morning. I would love to give him a bath. We’ll see what the day brings.

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TB gelding is here…

Meet “Salt.” When we got there to pick him up he held his head down – his neck leaning against the fence like he was trying to disappear. No water and living on sand. No hay. The left side of his face has a big “dent” in it. Body sores. Lip dangling. Puffy eyes with flies and gnats. Thick unhealthy coat. Terrible feet that smell horrible. Ulcerations in his mouth. Dull eyes that seemed to have wandered away from where he was.

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You can see the indentation in his skull. We may never know what happened.

Salt is now here – he almost fell coming off the trailer. Dr. Ryan has examined him. Salt (he will have a new name when it comes to me) is a 1 on the Henneke scale and even without the blood work back yet Dr. Ryan says some of his organs may be borderline. Salt can’t shut his urine flow off – there is just no muscle. When a body is deprived of food it feeds off of itself – the fat goes, the muscle, then organs. Death isn’t far behind.

Please say prayers for him. I’ll update more later but I need to get back out and finish up things before it gets dark. If anyone would like to help sponsor him it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for caring.

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IMO Twilight – TB Needs help NOW

We are asking for help for a very emaciated TB gelding that needs help NOW. This boy is at the same location that Twilight came from. If we don’t pick him up by this evening AC will seize him.

Would anyone like to help with this boy in memory of Twilight? We need sponsors – $350 for immediate needs. And then monthly sponsors for routine care after. Dr. Ryan is coming to check Lacey this afternoon and we want to get this boy here ASAP so Dr. Ryan can vet him too. The TB’s registered name is Salt. He won $125 in his racing career.

Donations are tax deductible and no amount is too small. Please go to our “Donate” page on our website – www.bhfer.org.

We have a potential home for Montana that will free up a space – please pray that this home comes through. And please pray for Salt.

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Lacey – Colostrum – Urgent

We are looking for 15 ounces of colostrum for Lacey’s yet to be born baby. She’s dripped so much we’re concerned there may be not be any. If anyone is in the Ocala area and has any extra please contact me. I may be overly concerned (because of our experience with Joy last year) but I am having Dr. Ryan come to check Lacey today.

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Lacey’s foal test strip…

Watching Lacey be a bit more agitated today – rolling, scratching her tummy, standing facing downhill, dripping milk, and looking at me as if to say “is it time yet???” I decided to do the Predict A Foal Kit test strip. All squares were green when starting out. This is our result.

This is the kit we use. The squares were all green before the test.

So when do you think Lacey will foal? Please keep eyes on her at http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=beautyshaven and don’t hesitate to call us if you think anything is going on. Our last mare to foal was Joy – that was a heartbreaking experience – it was a dystocia. We almost lost Joy.

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Gentleman and Others Update 04/25/12

The lump on Gentleman’s neck is a mass that you can somewhat manipulate. It is by the esophagus and jugular vein and surgical removal is not an option. We are not sure if it had anything to do with the choke or not but it likely did. He has been getting mushy meals and he’s drinking. His attitude is better today but he’s pretty much just stayed in the aisleway of the barn. We measured the mass and will be keeping an eye on it. Please keep our Gentleman in your prayers.

Lacey is getting antsy. Lots of rolling today and scratching on the hay bales. She’s still dripping milk. I was surprised she was able to get up from her rolls!

I’m not sure she is going to wait for May to get here to have her baby! Please don’t forget about her fundraiser: https://www.bhfer.org/events.html

Our beautiful Aaleyah Belle. She’s doing great.

And look at little Peggy Sue! I don’t know why she was running but she had a great time. She is doing ok and the stifle surgery helped. But the doctor was amazed at how she endured the pain of the original fractures and that she is managing as well as she is. Some days she isn’t as active as others. But she is always there to greet you and to ask for a hug. She really is a sweetheart the big beautiful eyes.

Morning Star, Baby Girl, and Indy got out yesterday morning and loved their little adventure.

Buttercup is doing great and is as beautiful as ever! Gary is doing a great job with her and she is ready for a forever home.

Archer, one of the 3 Amigos, had his first hooficure and he needed it! Archer is a 7 year old Standardbred that is as sweet as they come. He is going to make someone a very nice horse. We don’t know anything about his past but he does not have a tattoo. He came in pretty thin a couple of weeks ago and needs to put on at least another 200 lbs but he’s looking better each day. He’s a tall boy – at least 16.1 hh – we’ll stick him to see. Dr. Bess did his teeth yesterday. All of the volunteers love him – he has a puppy dog disposition. The other 2 Amigos went to their new home, together, a couple of days ago.

Dr. Bess checked out Lady’s teeth and opted to wait to see if she is pregnant before working on them. We won’t have the results back from Lady’s pregnancy test until tomorrow. Dr. Bess says she thinks Lady’s odds of being pregnant are 60/40.

We still have 4 Paso mares that need homes ASAP. Please check out the latest on our Anthony Herd Page on FB. https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/172714409506468/

Gentleman’s vet bill is about $250 including a new bottle of Banamine – donations totaling $135 have been received to help with it. If anyone would like to help with the balance it would be greatly appreciated. We had buy hay today – total bill of $1077. Yesterday a load of shavings for here at the rescue was $240. Yesterday a load of shavings for the Paso mares – $200. Dr. Bess was here yesterday to do Archer’s teeth, coggins, and a pregnancy test on Lady – $170. The podiatrists will be here on Saturday and at least 6 hooficures will be done. It all adds up quickly and we need continued support. Donations are tax deductible and no amount is too small.

Don’t forget that Lacey is up on MareStare – we appreciated eyes on her so we can get some sleep at night!  http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=beautyshaven

We truly appreciate everyone’s support and continued prayers for Gentleman. God bless and have a wonderful evening!

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Another baby?

I do want to take a minute to share that Dr. Bess was here today to work on Archer and Lady Jane. Lady Jane really does have a big belly despite being able to count most of her bones. A pregnancy test was suggested – we should have the results back tomorrow.

Is she – or isn’t she?

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Gentleman Update

I did call Dr. Ryan to come out this afternoon. Some of the obstruction had resolved itself before I called him but there was enough still there to be concerned. So, Gentleman got sedated and tubed. The rest of the obstruction that could be cleared was – that is the good news – the nasogastric tube passed through the entire length of the esophagus. The bad news is that there is a lump – a cyst or tumor still there that may have helped cause the obstruction by pushing on the esophagus. He is having a tough time swallowing water and is on a liquid diet for now. I’ve got a call into Dr. Ryan to see if an ultrasound would help to determine what the lump is.

I’m so thankful that Marie got me as soon as she knew that Gentleman refused his feed this am. I was out rounding up the 3 kids (Morning Star, Baby Girl, Indy) that were supposed to be in the arena that escaped somehow. As soon as I got to Gentleman he led me to the gate that goes into the paddock where his shelter is. Nikole had been locked in there for feeding time. We let Nikole out and GMan in. I watched as he walked to his shelter and he stood for a minute – I could see discomfort in his eyes. He walked to an area in the sand and wanted to lay down but he didn’t – I went over to check him out and could see a lump on his neck. Then he started to cough and I called Dr. Ryan. I massaged GMan’s neck while Bob got some meds. After administering Gentleman the meds we took him to a stall. The rest of today has already been told but I’m afraid this isn’t over yet. And if Gentleman isn’t swallowing any better by morning and if he needs fluids he will get them.

Someone asked me today how much today’s vetting cost is and I don’t know – I never thought to ask at the time but I can find out tomorrow. If anyone would like to help it would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be called into the vet’s office at 352-237-6151 and should be noted for Gentleman. We do need to buy another bottle of Banamine. I’ll have to cost that tomorrow – we get that someplace else as it’s less expensive.

I wanted to get an update out about all here today but didn’t have a chance. I’ll try tomorrow. We love Gentleman so very much – please keep him in prayers.

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Gentleman

Prayers please! We had a huge change in weather overnight – down to about 40 degrees. I got up worrying about Little E because when we have a drastic change in the weather he tends to colic. Went to check on him and he was fine. However, Gentleman didn’t eat breakfast. I watched him for a bit and he appeared to be trying to colic but then I saw a lump in his neck. He coughed a little and started to drool – choke came to mind. Sure enough, we found a lump on the left side of his neck. I called Dr. Ryan while massaging GMan’s neck and then gave him meds to help as per Dr. Ryan. GMan is now in a stall for observation.

Choke is a horrible thing. If he is no better this afternoon Dr. Ryan will come out. I really don’t want GMan to have to be tubed but if the lump is still there we will need to have it done. The lump is smaller now then it was this morning but it is still there.

Sincerely,
Theresa

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A note for Narissa…

Dear Narissa,

You and Twilight have been on my mind – I think of you and the others in our heavenly herd daily. I miss your smell, your eyes, your trust in us when trying to help your foot feel better. We did our best to keep you comfortable so you could stay with us for a long time. But still, even with meds, your pain became too much and you let me know it was time. I’m so thankful for you helping me to make the right decision. A life here with constant unbearable pain is something I would not wish on anyone. I know your foot hurt very much and walking on 3 legs is hard and it makes other parts of the body ache. I’m very thankful that God put you in our path so that we had some time with you.

As I sat with you all morning the day you crossed I told you about our heavenly herd – from the first we helped here at the rescue to cross the Rainbow Bridge, Frosty, to Twilight and all of the horses in between. We’ve lost many but I know that you are all together now and someday we’ll see each other again. And we talked about Barbaro and how laminitis robbed him of life on this earth too. I don’t know if there will ever be a cure but I pray for it every day. Please tell our heavenly herd how much I love and miss all of you.

You were tired, I know. I’m glad you rested before Dr. Ryan arrived.

Once Dr. Ryan arrived I was very proud of your willingness to walk up Frosty’s Knoll. It’s one of the hardest walks there is for me. Linda, Jenny, Bob, Brie, and even Dr. Ryan walked with us. You were surrounded by love.

You held your head high and trusted what we said – that the pain would go away as you cross Rainbow Bridge and only good would be before you.

The last few minutes filled my heart with so much sadness. But we knew that soon you would be without pain and running with the heavenly herd. You left this world knowing love and with your dignity restored. We were all so blessed that you had been part of our life.

And as you left us to cross the Bridge images of you came into my head and heart – a transition to a youthful and whole and happy Narissa. I found comfort in that.

We loved you enough to let you go and loving tucked you in our blanket of gold to say our last “we love you’s.” And now you fly with the angels.

I love you Narissa, always.

Theresa

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