May 15th, 2016
9:21am
Thank you ALL for your good thoughts and prayers! WE BELIEVE AND GUESS WHAT???
Aaleyah Belle is coming home today!
2:13pm
Elizabeth and Bri have precious cargo on board – Aaleyah Belle is homeward bound!
3:34pm
Big sigh of relief… Home! As Aaleyah Belle once said “Never give up!”
May 16th
Aaleyah Belle is doing well – thankfully! She really did grow up to be a big girl. I know Momma Sue is proud.
May 13th, 2016
10:01 am
Aaleyah Belle greeted me this morning by refusing breakfast and throwing herself on the ground wanting to roll. It wasn’t easy getting her up, but once we did so, we led her to the barn. The vet is on the way. She received IV meds as directed by the vet and I’m doing red light therapy on her now. She’s relaxing and is no longer wanting to roll. Please continue to send good thoughts and prayers.
11:24 am
The vet just left, so now, we wait and pray. Aaleyah Belle was tubed and oiled. She is comfortably resting in her stall and is waking up from sedation. Once she is awake, we will do some walking. Please keep the good thoughts and prayers coming. If she becomes painful again, we will be going to the hospital.
3:06 pm
Aaleyah got better but then it hit again out of the blue so we now need prayers to get her on the trailer – she’s refusing to load.
3:55 pm
After much cajoling and praying, Aaleyah is finally in the trailer! More good thoughts and prayers please!!!! There is no one in this whole wide world who could ever convince me that the power of prayer does not work. And I just know that there are Angels walking amongst us who come and go in many forms. Aaleyah is on her way to the hospital at UF.
5:28 pm
Aaleyah settled in at the University of Florida Vet Hospital and is being examined – they will do an ultrasound, bloodworm, rectal, etc. We will update more later.
MATCH GAME FOR AALEYAH BELLE!
Three wonderful supporters have joined together to sponsor a $1,400 Match Game to assist with the veterinary bills and hospitalization of our beloved Aaleyah Belle!
All donations up to $1,400 will be matched ~ $5 will become $10, $10 will become $20 and so on. Each and every donation is truly appreciated and please be assured that no donation is ever considered as being too small.
Donations are tax deductible and can be made via various means on our website at www.bhfer.org or via our PayPal address: bhfer@earthlink.net. If donating via PayPal, please designate your donation for ‘Veterinary Bills.’ If you select the tab for ‘Friends or Family,’ no fees will be deducted from your contribution.
Thank you all for your continued love and support and please keep our precious girl in your thoughts and prayers.
November 23rd, 2013
Beautiful day. But very windy. This is Barbara and Delaney giving out hay.
I’d like to ask everyone to send a good thought or prayer out for mini Peaches tomorrow as she goes to Rainbow Bridge. She was at UF most of last week but her adoptive mom, Susan, took her home to spend a couple of days with her before having the vet out to help her to Rainbow Bridge. Peaches has cholesterol granulomas in her brain and her neurological function has been significantly impaired. She’s been having issues for awhile now but keeping her comfortable and functional has become too much on her. Peaches is 26 and is 1 of 14 mini Falabella horses that we rescued in a very sad case in 2010. There were 7 mares and 7 studs (now geldings). Out of the 14, Peaches will be 2nd out of the herd that we’ve lost. We truly appreciate Susan and the TLC she’s given to Peaches these past few years.
This is mini Peaches with her BFF, Callie. My thoughts and prayers will be with Peaches, Susan, and Callie tomorrow as Peaches makes that transition to the Bridge.
November 24th
Mini Peaches runs with the Heavenly Herd now. We love you Peaches – always!
Artist: Greg Ambrose
Liberty and her BFF, mini Magic. Both are mares from mini Peaches original herd of 14 – a rescue case we worked back in 2010. They are doing well and are very much loved by their adoptive mom, Lorrie.
November 25th
Some of you may remember Baby Girl – she’s another miracle. Baby Girl was adopted over a year ago to a wonderful family out of state. She recently started showing some changes around her right eye (which was the side of her face that was severely injured when she came to us). After consulting with her adoptive parents vets, and our vets, we thought it would be in her best interest to bring her back to the rescue so the same care team that she had when she was here can examine and assess her. If you read the article it may help to understand why we think it’s important – her case was pretty unique and the fact that she survived with her odds being “0 to none” says something about her love for life. She’s a very special mare. She arrived back here on Friday and settled right back in. She will be going to UF in a couple of weeks. Dr. Morton is looking forward to seeing Baby Girl again! Here’s a link to her story which was in newspapers around the world. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20111218/ARTICLES/111219630.
Baby Girl upon arrival at Beauty’s Haven in 2011.
Wow – I really was “glowing” at work this morning!
Some of you may remember Daisy – a 4 year old miniature donkey that came to us in August 2013 with cancer around both eyes – the left eye was not even recognizable. Daisy has had many surgeries/treatments and some of the cancerous areas have improved while some are just determined to stick around. We brought her back to the rescue to continue with her care and try a different treatment. She’s full of life and is just a joy to be around. She doesn’t really know what to think of the boys – we’ve had storms all day and they have been in their stall. Maybe the sun will come out tomorrow and we will see how they do. For now, they talk through the stall gate.
“Double Trouble”! The boys, JoJo and Jazzy, over the weekend.
The boys trying to help with the semi-annual great “clean up the barn aisle way up in the rafters” task. Yes, it took from sun up until after dark. But it looks really nice now and the spiders are gone.
Sometimes when I see Little E tagging behind Mishka, I get goose bumps – the loss of Gentleman is still fresh in my head and heart. Mishka is doing well – gaining weight and muscle.
Betsy Rose enjoying a warm mash which she adores.
We are so truly proud of our excellent rating on Great Nonprofits.
Ruby’s UNselfie for #GivingTuesday.
Please join us on #GivingTuesday!
Wishing Everyone a blessed Thanksgiving!
Sincerely,
Theresa
Beauty’s Haven Farm & Equine Rescue, Inc.
A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization
Dr. Ryan will be back out tomorrow to examine Mollie’s eyes again and to run more blood work. Mollie is still passing sand in her poop. Her appetite is great. She didn’t get much exercise today because of the weather.
Mollie’s eyes are both cloudy. She’s pretty good about getting her eye meds, thankfully.
Donovan… isn’t he handsome?
Fiona is so sweet. She’s come so far in trust – she approaches and follows me now. Her and Dayo come running when they hear me call (likely because they know they are about to get hay) out to them. The sound of them running across the pasture is simply awesome. If all goes well, both will be at their new homes next week. This has been quite the adventure!
Betsy Rose – what a determined little mare. She was skin on bones and it’s amazing she survived. She has been nothing but determined to make it through her rehab and recovery. She is a great source of encouragement for us. She believes… This photo was taken back in July.
A lovely article about another miracle we were blessed to experience – Baby Girl.
Sincerely,
Theresa
Beauty’s Haven Farm & Equine Rescue, Inc.
A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization
Website: https://www.bhfer.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bhfer.tb
I spent a good part of yesterday reading, through teary eyes, the very thoughtful and much appreciated emails and posts about Ambrosia – and the artwork is lovely.
First, let me say she is, and always will be, quite the mare – she had a heart of gold. Even though humans let her down tremendously by ignoring even her basic needs and by turning her loose to wander a rural community as a homeless horse – she didn’t hold it against us. This was Barbara comforting Ambrosia the night we met her.
The next day when we picked her up and took her to the rescue she walked off the trailer, looked around, and held her head up high – for the first time we saw light and life in her eyes. She was immediately started on antibiotics. She settled into her stall and went to eating her hay and Fibre-Beet mash – she loved food! She got groomed at least a ½ a dozen times a day and was pampered to the max. The day we loaded her up to go the hospital she loaded without hesitation. Once there, it took her all of about a minute to settle in before she started eating her hay.
After her initial assessment at the hospital, we discussed her diagnosis – pleuropneumonia (infection of the lungs and pleural space). Her care team determined that to get a good indication of whether or not there was a chance for her to recover they would need to drain her chest and see how quickly it would refill. This procedure (drained about 7 gallons of fluid) gave her quite a bit of relief. Her breathing was better – she stayed upbeat. She trusted humans to do to her what was needed – I truly believe she knew we were trying to help her. She cooperated – always. Her temperature was normal and her heart rate went significantly down – she continued to have a good appetite. She was only 13 years old.
Through every step of the way we evaluated her quality of life – it was constant throughout our decision making process. It was identified early on what aftercare would be needed and we were committed. While we knew from the start she likely would never be horse to be ridden we did think she would be happy being a pasture pal. And we agreed, from the beginning, that should her comfort level not be able to be controlled, or should she develop another issue such as laminitis, and her quality of life was poor with no relief in sight, we would help her to cross. We would not let her suffer. One of the key tools in determining her quality of life was by observing her will to live which was enormous. She had a great appetite and didn’t appear depressed. She would hold her head up high and was interested in what was going on around her – she would even whinny to Billy the goat or a passersby.
I spoke with the doctor on Thursday night – he recommended giving her some time to recover from the first surgery before going through the second. Friday morning the doctor called and said overnight Ambrosia’s temperature had risen as did her heart rate but she was quite the Champion – she was still eating and drinking fine. She did have increased swelling in her legs. The doctor decided to ultrasound her heart and said he had some concerns and said that he wanted the cardio team to conduct an ultrasound. While we waited for them we took Ambrosia out to graze for a bit, which she really enjoyed.
We went back to her stall and she became interested in a very handsome horse that was being evaluated.
Once he was left she seemed tired – her breathing had been getting more labored and she began to sweat. I played songs for her on my cell phone – she seemed to really like “Lost in Love” by Air Supply. I guess I did too – we must have listened to it about 4 times. I told her about the many people that loved her and were helping her. I apologized for what humans had, or hadn’t done, for her. And I prayed.
The cardio team arrived and did another ultrasound. The cardiologist determined that Ambrosia had developed congestive heart failure. Her heart had been working overtime to compensate for the decrease of lung function. The right side of her heart was weak. We once again reviewed her quality of life and determined that, while we could prolong her life it was not in her best interest, the time had come to let her go. This is never an easy decision or one taken lightly – but we loved her enough to do what was in her best interest.
Ambrosia had several days of a full tummy and clean fresh water, she had been kept comfortable, she was doted on constantly, light in her eyes had returned, and she was genuinely interested in humans and what was going on around her. She had regained her dignity and was loved by so many and that’s important – she crossed Rainbow Bridge knowing she mattered.
I want to believe that at some point in her life she was loved and properly cared for. We will never know but we were able to prevent her from dying alone, hungry, and in pain. We knew going into this that she could take a turn for the worse at any time and we may have to let her go. God had other plans for her and we accept that. I held on to her and told her she was so very loved and I hummed “Lost in Love” as she crossed the Bridge. I could picture her holding her head up high towards the sky and running, reaching for the stars, as her body grew whole and strong again – what a glorious vision it was! I sat by her and held her and let the tears flow.
Before returning to the rescue I sat for a long time in the car in the parking lot at the hospital. I folded my arms across each other and rested my head on them against the steering wheel – as I did I could smell her. I had washed my hands but not my arms and her scent was still on them – a sense acceptance came over me. Acceptance is needed in order to move on. And I know that Ambrosia wants us to continue to help others that end up homeless, hungry, cold, alone, or in a bad situation – and with your continued help we can.
I’m sorry that Ambrosia was dumped in a rural community and had no human to care for, or about, her. I am sorry that we could not fix her health issues. And I am sorry that we could not keep her comfortably with us for a long, long time. But I’m not sorry, not in the least, that we tried. God bless each and every one of you for caring and helping in some way. Ambrosia had a huge love for life. She would have kept going until her heart burst – she was that kind of horse. She was quite the mare and had the heart of a Champion!
I have learned to fight the good fight to the end
And if I had to I would do it all again
And when the sun goes down
I won’t fear the night
I will keep my head towards the sky
Knowing that the Lord is on my side
And when the darkness falls
I won’t fear the night
I will keep my head toward the sky
Knowing that the Lord is on my side
(From the song Heart of a Champion)
Sincerely,
Theresa
Beauty’s Haven Farm & Equine Rescue, Inc.
A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization
www.bhfer.org
Ambrosia remembered…
http://iacmusic.com/stationGen.aspx?stationID=7428
Artist: Greg Jones
I spent the most part of today at UF with Ambrosia. She developed a thrombosis in her neck so the catheter had to be removed. The other side of her neck already had a thrombosis in it so that side can’t be used either. They have switched her over to oral antibiotics. When I got there this morning they were already in the process of flushing out the cavity (they had to remove a good part of her rib in order to get to the abscess). This will need to be done daily. She was a good girl, as always.
Dr. Stieler was off today (she deserved it!) but came in any way for the flushing of Ambrosia’s cavity and to check up on her. Everyone is so good to Ambrosia – it’s like home away from home except there she is in AC without flies!
Waiting for her to fully wake up from sedation after having the cavity flushed.
Her appetite was good and she’s drinking fine. She devoured her treats today.
Listening intently to little Billy “baaa” to everyone.
At times she looks very tired but that’s very understandable. She does have swelling in her legs – especially the back ones.
There was almost an aura about her this afternoon – the light in her eyes shines on.
Just being around Ambrosia makes you feel good. While you can see the effects that neglect has taken on her you can also see past them – you see the beauty she is both inside and outside. Her heart is full of gold. She has the right attitude and is very tolerant of what is being done to her – a huge plus to get her through this. She has another surgery coming up on the other side – possibly at the end of the week.
Please continue to keep Ambrosia in your prayers. There are still many things that can go wrong but we don’t, and won’t, dwell on them. Her care team monitors her closely. I can’t thank Dr. Stieler, Dr. MacKay, Dr. Freeman and Dr. Dymock (lead surgeon’s), Dr. Husted, Erik and all of the wonderful people at UF enough – from the minute you walk into the main office you feel welcome.
Ambrosia is in ICU and she has eyes on her 24/7. It’s comforting to know that there are many people that care about this wonderful mare that was kicked to the streets to fend for herself – neglected, sick, and all alone. But she now knows that she is loved and that she matters. We are all making a difference to Ambrosia.
Some have asked for pictures from yesterday. I’ve included a couple below but be forewarned – some may consider them graphic. One includes the rib upon removal.
Please don’t forget to share the link to Horse and Man – a very informative blog at bhfer.melissa. We have a long way to go to raise enough funds to cover her expenses. In addition to the hospital expenses there will be aftercare – medications, follow-ups at UF, etc. All donations are tax deductible and no amount is too small.
Thank you all – God bless and have a good night everyone!
Sincerely,
Theresa
Beauty’s Haven Farm & Equine Rescue, Inc.
A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization
www.bhfer.org
Ambrosia Today
They had flushed the cavity out and are redressing the surgical area in this picture.
Ambrodia is eating and drinking. They had to remove the catheter and have switched her to oral antibiotics. I’m amazed with her positive attitude! She has a long, long way to go and there can be complications at any time but we are only thinking positive.
Little Billy sings to Ambrosia. He’s quite entertaining!
Quite the mare…
Sincerely,
Theresa
Beauty’s Haven Farm & Equine Rescue, Inc.
A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization
www.bhfer.org
