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All Hands on Deck as Pigeon Fever Descends

I didn’t want to let another week end without sending out an update. To say we’ve been extremely busy would be an understatement. As some of you know, Valley Girl got sick about a month ago. It started with edema under her tummy. She was examined by the vet and blood tests were done. Over the next couple of days without improvement, the vet came back and did an ultrasound. A culture was also done and, unfortunately, the results were positive for dreaded Pigeon Fever. Valley Girl had already been separated from other horses and the barn was placed in lockdown. Valley has had a few abscesses rupture from her tummy to her chest. She had another, hopefully the last, to open yesterday.

Each horse is inspected from head to toe daily, sores are treated, SWAT and fly spray are applied, and fly masks are changed.

A couple of weeks ago, we found swelling on Addi’s chest that was suspect, so we put her in quarantine. The vet examined her and performed blood tests and a culture. Most recently, Mo also had some chest swelling so the vet came again to examine him, do a culture and run blood tests. Cultures for both Addi and Mo came back negative, but, out of an abundance of caution, we continue to treat them as a worst case scenario. Since then, the vet has lanced the swelling on Addi’s chest in order to drain and collect the discharge, but there is still some swelling. Mo had one open under his tummy on Friday and although I collected the discharge, he continues to experience some swelling.

Pigeon Fever is transmitted mostly by flies carrying the bacteria when they land on a horse that has open sores or wounds. It is, thankfully, not transmitted nose to nose like strangles. We don’t know where it originated but we are located in an agricultural community and have farms all around us with cows, horses, goats, etc. and the flies are absolutely horrible this year. It is possible that it was already in the ground, but we’ve been here almost twenty years and never before have had this issue.

Bio-security is real and it takes time and resources, all day, every day. Volunteers have been very good about following protocols put in place. It’s been quite an expensive, and exhausting, endeavor with no end yet in sight.

We’ve invested quite a bit into bleach, exam gloves, fly spray, SWAT, etc. If anyone would like to help, we would greatly appreciate it. Donations are tax deductible and no amount is ever too small. We don’t know how much the veterinary bill will be, but we will share it once it is received.

A few of our needs can be found on our Amazon Wish List: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/363QQBR2KM14O

Thank you and have a safe and blessed weekend.

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Flint, the Boy with the Most Beautiful Smile

Flint, a very special and sweet Quarter Horse gelding with a heart of gold, went to Rainbow Bridge early Friday morning. He came to us back in December, literally skin on bones. He was a wise, grateful, and loving soul who always seemed to be smiling – and such a beautiful smile he had. His rehabilitation went well and he became wonderful friends with Kalista and Amira. He had been living a good and happy life.

Temperatures warmed up recently and when that happens, I think we all tend to slow down a little – both humans and horses alike. We’ve been dealing with some other issues which I will share at a later time, but we have been diligently checking each and every horse every morning for any signs of illness.

At the morning meal on Thursday, Pam contacted me on the radio to inform me that Flint didn’t finish his breakfast and had walked away and laid down. This was not a good sign.

He was in a paddock at the south end of the property where he stayed with Kalista and Amira. I immediately went to assess him and he was up when I arrived. His respiration was slightly elevated, his gums looked good, and his temperature was normal, but he clearly wasn’t himself. I walked him up to the barn after giving him some Banamine and on the way, he wanted to graze, so we stopped for a bit and he passed poop which was a good thing. Afterward, he was tucked into a nice clean stall with fresh water so we could monitor him. He perked up, ate all of his mushy lunch, passed more manure, ate hay, and drank water. Since his eyes were bright, we let him out of the stall. He grazed for a bit and passed more manure.

By late evening, he wasn’t himself once again. Jessica was here and took his temperature and checked his vitals. His temperature was normal, his gums were pink and moist, but his HR and RR were slightly elevated. With this info, I called the vet and we followed instructions regarding what medications to administer and we were instructed to withhold hay and grain and to keep him stalled for the night. He passed more poop and drank more water before lights went out at about midnight.

When I checked on him at 6:15 yesterday morning, he had passed more poop and drank more water. He looked tired and worried, but not painful. I was going to call the hospital at 7:30 am but shortly after 7:00 am, he collapsed. There was no struggling at all – he was just gone. My heart shattered. We don’t know if it was a possible GI issue such as a rupture from a strangulating lipoma, his heart – or perhaps internal bleeding from a ruptured aorta, or some other issue. He was twenty-seven years old.

Flint now runs with our heavenly herd at Rainbow Bridge with Beauty in the lead. While our hearts are torn, we are grateful for the few months that we had with him.

Flint knew love, received daily attention from multiple humans, was served nutritious meals multiple times a day, and he had many horse friends. He will forever remain in each of our hearts.

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Easter Happenings Around the Rescue

It’s been another busy week with picture perfect weather as we prepared for Easter!

Please enjoy a little journey encompassing the daily happenings at the rescue whilst witnessing firsthand, our precious little herd experiencing the ‘Joy of just being a horse!’

Pictured from Left to Right Top Row

  • Chris taking care of Peaches, cleaning her trachea and grooming her.
  • Mishka loves his tree – the shade makes a huge difference. It’s hard to believe that we planted these trees almost twenty years ago and every tree we planted, miraculously, survived.
  • Pam giving out hay. Hopefully, the grass will start to grow soon and we will not have to make as many hay runs.

Pictured from Left to Right Center Row

  • Cindy clipping Luiji. Warrior was also clipped.
  • Me having a discussion with Beau about his fly mask.
  • Dancer was thrilled to get extra tummy scratches when Carol visited.
  • The horses all behaved and enjoyed the extra attention.

Pictured from Left to Right Bottom Row

  • CaryLou, as always, loves to be the center of attention.
  • We have had some cool nights and Frodo needed his sheet. He’s styling!
  • Magic is such a good boy. He sported his fly mask proudly today. He loves to give kisses so I just had to give him one back!

We truly hope you enjoyed this Easter week tour of Beauty’s Haven, a place where ‘Life begins, again!’

Wishing Everyone a Blessed Easter and Passover.

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Valley Girl

The vet was out to see Valley Girl on Wednesday as she had some significant edema under her stomach. She seemed a bit off at the beginning of the week, but she did not have a fever. Her heart and respiration rates were normal, her gums were of normal color and she was eating her five meals a day.

Dr. Valle listened to her heart, lungs, etc. and did not believe there were any issues. Valley Girl does have an open sore under her tummy, which, when cleaned up, did exude some puss. Although Valley Girl’s bloodwork results were relatively normal, she has been started on antibiotics.

Valley Girl is staying at the barn for now and is being closely monitored. Once we get her over this issue, we will make an appointment for dental surgery.

She has EOTRH Syndrome which involves degeneration of incisor and canine teeth which sometimes may involve cheek teeth as well. Over time, the roots of these teeth are resorbed or dissolved. Surgery can be performed while standing, but the horse must be heavily sedated. Without surgery, the disease will progress. Valley Girl is a bit up there in age, but aside from today’s edema issue, she is in good health.

Lastly, we are in the midst of ensuring that each member of our beloved herd have ‘Pretty Feet’ for Easter, so if anyone is in a position to assist with this need, both horses and humans alike, would be forever grateful. Just click on the ‘Donate’ button below.

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Happy Feet for Easter!

Several members of our beloved herd are awaiting their turn to have “Happy Feet for Easter!”

Pictured Left to Right, Top Row

  • Addi always wants to be the center of everything. She’s beautiful both inside and out.
  • Breakfast seems to have given Willow a bit of extra energy this morning.Please click on the image above to view Willow as she experiences the joy of “just being a horse.”
  • Our golden years girls ~ Jo, Dancer and Valley Girl.

Pictured from Left to Right Center Row

  • Poor Amira has the annoying ‘itchies’ this time of the year.
  • Beau and Tobias wanted to play ‘me first’ this morning. Tobias is one to never shy away from the camera. Or anything else for that matter!
  • Beau and Tobias both ended up getting their fair share of attention.

Pictured from Left to Right Bottom Row

  • Kalista and Flint are doing great. They both had hooficures on Thursday.
  • Ford, Elka, Willow, and Mo enjoying the sunshine.

If anyone would like to help our beloved little herd have “Happy Feet for Easter,” it would be so greatly appreciated. There are at least a dozen horses scheduled for the farrier within the next few days so please click on the ‘Donate’ button below if you would like to assist with this need.

Thank you!

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A Very Special Visit!

We had a very special visit yesterday from Dr. Christopher Burnham, D.C., accompanied by a great group of students learning about chiropractic on the horse. Chiropractic adjustments can help restore and correct spinal alignment while decreasing muscle tension, leading to increased flexibility and range of motion, thereby, helping to relieve pain and discomfort. And we most certainly, witnessed that today!

It is so very rewarding to see the impact chiropractic has on the horses.

Mishka, Jo, Peaches, Valley Girl, Dancer, and Danni all greatly benefitted, but we saw a tremendous improvement with Mishka! After his treatment, it was so good to see him grazing and moving about much better. The look that came over Mishka during, and after, his treatment was priceless! We truly appreciate Dr. Burnham and the entire group for taking the time to come out today. Dr. Burnham may be contacted through his Facebook page or via his website. He is located in the Ocala area and I learned that he also works on Magnum, a horse that Dr. Bess Darrow adopted from us a few years ago!

We hope to see Dr. Burnham again in the near future. We can’t thank him enough for the relief he brought to many here today. And I do believe that Valley Girl has a new best friend in Dr. Burnham.

Many thanks to our volunteers who came out too – our Saturday crew today was Tara, Pam, TJ, Melissa, and Yessaira. We appreciate them all!

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And Then There Were FOUR!

Beau is just the cutest boy! Not just because he’s an Arabian, but because he just is! Upon his arrival at Beauty’s Haven, Beau had a Nasal discharge and a cough which did get better over time. He was in QT for at least three weeks and then we moved him to the other side of the property away from the lime rock road which blows dust throughout the paddocks. While in his new paddock, his cough and nasal discharge continued to improve. He never had a temperature and he has always had a good appetite. Out of an abundance of caution, however, we had him scoped and he is now, thankfully, clean! As soon as we figure out where to put him, he will be sharing a paddock with other horses for the time being.

On the last Sunday in March, we thought we would be needing an ark due to the extremely heavy rains, but thankfully, we did successfully weather the storm! March truly did “Go Out like a Lion!”

Then on April Fools Day, Amira seemed to enjoy the joke that she played on us! The prior evening, we had gone to bed with the knowledge that there were only three horses in one of the paddocks. The next morning, however, we discovered that there were now, four! Amira had walked through the electric tape during the night, which thankfully, was turned off, to join her friends. And then there were four!

Lastly, CaryLou and Jazzy, together with JoJo, continue to bring us so much joy and laughter as they are always up to some type of shenanigans especially when it involves a golf cart!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

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Mishka on the Mend

Mishka has an abscess in one of his front feet that has been making him quite uncomfortable. I have tried to poultice it but he just won’t cooperate. He’s a big boy and he knows it. He was living with Willow in one of our south most paddocks but I really wanted him up by our house where I can better monitor him. Getting him from way down there to way up here was quite the chore and it took some time, but we did, thankfully, get him moved. We added multiple loads of sand to his paddock so he could lay down in a soft spot. He has Magic on one side of his paddock to keep him company and he recently met Beau who is on the other side.

Dr. Bess was here last week to check his mouth for any issues and most fortunately, there were none. The vet and farrier also arrived at the farm this past Thursday to attend to Mishka and it was a complete success, thanks in part to the assistance provided by Jessica, Bob, and myself. The teamwork was effective, and I am pleased to report that Mishka is showing improvement. Although his feet still need quite a bit of additional work, over time, this progress is a positive development. We have hope! On Thursday, Rachel and Joshua also provided Mishka with a thorough grooming session while Pam most generously supplied extra hay.

On Friday, while preparing Mishka’s evening meal and hay, we discovered that he had escaped from his paddock and was exploring the area around the house, indicating that he is, indeed, feeling better.

We have raised the necessary funds to cover the cost of Mishka’s expenses as well as for future x-rays to be done before the vet and farrier return in two weeks time. Please keep Mishka in your prayers.

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A Wonderful Trail Ride!

We were blessed to have a great turnout for our annual trail ride on Saturday, March 8. We met lots of new faces – both horses and humans alike! The rains held off until just about everyone made it back. Rachel, Kathy, Gillian, Cindy, and Kristi did a great job – a delicious lunch, raffles, prizes, and more!

Many thanks to everyone who helped in any way, as well as those who participated in the Beauty’s Haven Trail Ride 2025.

Sincerely,
Theresa

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On The Farm: A Pictorial Overview

A few pictures from last week – everyday has been very busy. The weather has been a bit better and we’re thankfully, starting to see the paddocks turn green! This week we’re getting ready for the trail ride on Saturday.

Pictured in Row One

(L to R) Valley Girl seems appreciative of having been relocated to a paddock where she has hay. Valley Girl, Jo, and Dancer are all in their 30’s and get multiple meals a day along with hay that’s available 24/7.

Kali and Flint were moved down to a paddock with Amira and Valley Girl was moved into the main paddock with Jo and Dancer. Since Amira cannot have hay due to her history of choke and her pasture mate, Valley Girl, was losing weight, we felt that it was in the girls’ best interest to separate them. These horses all get fed at least four times a day and they are on grass 24/7.

Mishka and Willow just enjoying one another’s company while hanging out beneath the tree.

Pictured in Row Two

(L to R) Beau getting a hooficure on his front feet only – he was a bit unsure and uncomfortable. He still has mental cobwebs that need to be cleared out. I feel so badly for any horse that has been mistreated. He wants to trust but it’s just going to take some time, consistency, and TLC. He’s pretty vocal – he lets us know when it’s meal time or if he’s out of hay. He still has a cough but his nasal discharge has cleared. If the cough is no better in another week, we will have the vet back out to scope him.

Magic taking a rest after a rather chilly night.

Peaches is still doing ok. She’s twenty-five years old now and since she has very few teeth remaining, she cannot have hay. She, too, is fed multiple times a day.

Pictured in Row Three

(L to R) Frodo gets his hooficures with the assistance of the sling. He took an indirect lightening strike a few years ago which caused him some permanent issues. His hoofs grow at least an inch every two weeks!

Danni and Tobias are both very sweet. Danni loves to give kisses and Tobias is happy with every bit of attention he receives.

Bouie and Frodo are both special needs boys. Bouie has metabolic issues and is prone to founder. We are very careful with their diets. They live around the barn where they have access to their stalls throughout the day.

We hope you enjoyed your little tour of a day at the farm!

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