03/12/2017
CALLING ALL HOPE SUPPORTERS AND FANS - HOPE WANTS TO FIND HELP, SUPPORT, AND A FAN CLUB FOR HER FRIEND "ROCKY" JUST LIKE SHE HAD WHEN SHE WAS RECOVERING.
I know it has been quite sometime since we have updated Hope's FB page but its been because she is healthy and doing so amazing!
Her supporters and fans may remember that she had taken a little road trip to Texas where she lived with her adopter, Rachel, who had been with her since day one....then returned to North Carolina where she will forever remain with Justin and Tori McLeod, who, along with several others, were also very instrumental in her recovery and had loved her from the start.
She is now loving life in a pasture with four pasture-mates, a senior Palomino mare, senior QH gelding, senior Mini mare, and middle-aged Mini gelding. She is thriving!
Hope's future is bright as she will always been the spokes-horse for Sandhills Horse Rescue and will also be a demonstration horse for Technical Large Animal Rescue training courses with Justin and Tori who instruct them. Don't be fooled though, she will never lose her inner "Diva" and if you have ever seen her in person at a public event it is not hard to see her "Diva" personality shine!
Hope is eager to find help, support, and a fan club for her friend Rocky, who like her was dealt a cruel sentence of a slow, painful, death by starvation and neglect at the hands of his owners until Animal Control and Sandhills Horse Rescue intervened.
On November 24, 2017, a 10-year-old large pony stallion, who we now call "Rocky" because he was a fighter to endure all he had and still be alive, was found neglected in a pasture where reportedly he had been down on his side for at least 4 days in freezing temperatures. He is severely emaciated and the only way to describe him is a walking skeleton, eerily similar to Hope when she was rescued. Animal Control seized him and with our direction over the phone, lifted him with straps and only four people and supported him as he staggered to the trailer where he was loaded, and the straps were used to support him during transport so that he would not fall during transport and further injure himself or worse. They took him to a facility with a safe corral and shelter, provided him with water and contacted a vet immediately. Once in the corral area, he managed to remain standing to their amazement. It wasn’t a shock to us that he remained standing because, as we learned with Hope and many like her, once a horse in that condition stands up after being down and unable to get up on their own, they tend to remain standing until they physically cannot stand any longer. They exhibit this behavior because they are afraid that if they lay down again, even though their mind and body tell them that is what they need to do, they don’t for fear of not being able to get up. They are inherently prey animals and must be able to instinctively get up and run to save their life should a predator attack. The veterinarian arrived for his initial evaluation and prescribed some antibiotics and a feeding plan until a plan for his continued sheltering and healthcare management was in place.
Animal Control contacted Sandhills Horse Rescue after the veterinarian left. We instructed them not to feed him anything other than just a few handfuls of hay, plenty of water, and to get him a winter blanket if possible because the area he was being sheltered in was open-sided with corral panels and a roof. Animal Control, knowing very little about horses, contacted some local resources to find some hay and a blanket. They even sent us a text message with a picture of him wearing the blanket to make sure it fit right. We arrived the following morning to transport him the 2-hours back to our Advisory Veterinarians practice, Foundation Equine Clinic, where he would be managed for the first few critical weeks of his rehabilitation.
He is currently being evaluated, treated, monitored, and cared for at the veterinary clinic by many from the same group of friends who rescued and rehabilitated Hope, including Dr. Lisa Kivett. Dr. Kivett, had given Hope upon arrival about a 2% chance of survival at best...Rocky, while not much different than Hope, was given a cautiously optimistic 50/50 chance. Even with a 50/50 chance, the odds are not totally in his favor as he fights a lot of the same battles that Hope fought. Upon his arrival, Rocky had been standing for about 36-hours and endured a 2-hour trailer ride and still was able to walk into the barn on his own. We knew this would be short lived though… he was running on what little fuel he had left and the sheer will to survive.
Upon initial evaluation Rocky was a Body Condition Score of 1 (skin over bones, walking skeleton) and had sores on his head, hip bones and front and rear left legs from laying on his side with his bones digging into the dirt as he struggled to get up or just to stay alive. His bloodwork showed he is battling some type of infection, his muscle enzymes were very abnormal, and he was dehydrated…on the plus side, his internal organs did not appear to be severely compromised. His manure was tested for intestinal parasite which some were found under the microscope but not nearly enough to cause his emaciated condition or be at the top of our priority list when it came to his rehabilitation plan. A Thoracic Ultrasound was performed to evaluate his lung function because he was using his abdominal muscles to breathe which was abnormal. The ultrasound found areas of concern which pointed to possible pneumonia or pulmonary edema, most likely the result of him being down on his side for days. His hooves need a trim but again are not at the top of our priority list. What was on the top of our priority list was getting some calories and nutrients into him without shocking his system and causing complete organ failure due to refeeding syndrome.
The past few days he has had his ups and downs…
The first day and night at the clinic, Rocky did not lay down, defecated and urinated very little, but had a veracious appetite. The following day, he finally succumbs to exhaustion from standing and laid down but could not get back up on his own. This was the beginning of a regular occurrence, Rocky would lay down and then members of SHR’s rehab team would be called in to help lift him to a standing position. For the SHR team, this was like the start of Hope’s rehabilitation. There were discussions of slinging him as we did Hope so he could rest without laying down but there was some concern that he would stress more, and it would cause more harm than good. His “fight or flight” response is greater than Hope’s was which, even in his weakened state, he still struggles more when laying down or being handled if he feels fearful, trapped, or just unsure of what is going on. It is easy to assume aside from the neglect that he didn’t have a lot of TLC and attention where he came from and it almost seemed new and scary to him at times to be rubbed on the head or neck.
When he would lay down in the stall and couldn’t get up, he would run with his legs and lift his head and neck up in an effort to stand, only to slam his head back down on the floor and spin himself in a circle all over the stall bumping into walls and moving shavings around. With all of his weight bearing down on his skin, bones, and existing sores, his wounds were beginning to worsen in places and some new abrasions were added. Not only was this all taking a toll on his skin, but it was making it more difficult for him to breathe normally as being on his side without the muscle tone to help expand his chest to take a normal breath his breathing would become labored. A plan was devised by members of the SHR rehab team to have someone “babysit” Rocky when he would lay down to keep him calm and try to move him to a sternal position so that he could still rest but his wounds would not be affected as much. Yesterday, he laid down several times and had to be lifted to stand. The last time he laid down, he rested for a couple of hours then was lifted to stand. A couple of his rehab team members took shifts to watch him in case he laid down again. At the current time, he has not laid down to rest since and has been pretty steady on his hooves and alert. We are still expecting him to lay down at some point again due to exhaustion and his instinct being the only things that will encourage him to continue to stand….and when he does, we will be there to support him and lift him up when he is ready.
Rocky is nowhere near out of the woods yet and still has a lot of hurdles to clear on his road to recovery, but we will continue to do all that we can to make that happen and we will not give up on him until he truly gives up on himself.
If you would like to know more about Rocky and follow his story, as well as get updates on Hope, you can follow “Sandhills Horse Rescue” FaceBook page and visit our website at www.SandhillsHorseRescueNC.com.
If you would like to donate to help SHR help Rocky, monetary donations or donations of Purina Senior Feed and Alfalfa Mix Hay can be made through the following:
* DONATE button on the website homepage (via PayPal)
* Moore Equine Feed and Supply in Southern Pines, NC - (910) 692-2385 - "Sandhills Horse Rescue" account
*Foundation Equine Clinic in Southern Pines, NC - (910) 992-8225 - "Sandhills Horse Rescue" account
*Mail Check or Money Order payable to "Sandhills Horse Rescue" to PO Box 903, Spring Lake, NC 28390
From the hearts and hooves of SHR... We Thank you!
