Faith in Saving a Young Horse's Life

The equine veterinarian left at 2 a.m. and the little filly was still down but she seemed a little bit stronger. She had been down since 6 p.m. the night before and road in the horse trailer lying down for the one and a half hour trip.

One-year-old and nearly starved to death. When the trailer pulled up at the Save The Horses rescue farm, we literally carried her to a make shift stall. The rescue farm is full, actually over full but this was a life and death situation so we found a way to squeeze her in. It was cold and rainy, animal control confiscated the horses and only had a field to keep them in, no shelter and no veterinarian available to euthanize this little filly. She barely had a 10 percent chance of survival. Lori Yonts, who runs Sunkissed Acres Rescue in Summerville, Ga. got the call from animal control. Lori is three hours away so she called Save The Horses. She was willing to make the six hour round trip but we were closer and it was very, very critical. Three volunteers from Save The Horses, Judy, Sam and Natalie, made the trip to Chatsworth and with the help of animal control officers, carried the nearly lifeless body onto the trailer. They also loaded up a buckskin mare who rode standing up all the way. The buckskin mare had been down earlier in the day, she was critical as well. Judy took the buckskin mare to her farm, just around the corner from the rescue. She had to make room as well but the buckskin seemed more physically stable.

Cynthia Heaton, along with Josh, came out to help, as well. Cynthia runs Trinity Horse Rescue in Acworth. About the same time, the vet arrived around midnight. She gave the little filly two bags of fluids. The filly's eyes were swollen and shut with dirt and debris. We washed them with saline several times and applied an antibiotic ointment. Though she didn't have the strength to pick up her head, she was happy to open her eyes a little. She would look at Cynthia every time she spoke. She would kick her legs violently like she wanted to get up. It was good to see the fight in her. It is the kind of hope we hold on to when in such a grave situation. We turned her over to the other side so she could be comfortable. In the morning, we gather several people and we were able to get her to her feet. We slowly walked her to help her get some circulation and strength. She went down two more times that day. She went down on day 10. Our hearts sank, we wondered if she was loosing her battle. She got up on her own a short time later. Everyone cheered! It does our hearts good to know we are helping her survive another day.

It has been two weeks now. Her very swollen legs are almost normal. He eyes are clear but all the fur around her eyes is sluffing off as well as skin and fur on other parts of her body. She has a long way to go but she is making progress. Blood work is nearly normal. 

Thank you to everyone who donated to help with her care, her vet bills, her hay and feed. We still have a long road ahead but it looks like we are on the road to recovery.

Save The Horses Rescue farm is located in Cumming.

Three Horse Rescues were involved in saving these horses. You all help by your constant support and generous donation.

Thank you for your compassion!

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