Hello good people of the world! In this blog post I will be focusing on my horse and pony. For those of you who do not know of them, Willow is a 20-year-old, white and brown, paint mare.
I bought her in October of 2018. She was thin and needed her hooves trimmed upon arrival, but she soon after took a turn for the worse and ended up with stone bruises and an awfully painful abscess in one of her hooves. This made me begin to realize there was more to Willow's story than I had originally thought.
Soon after Willow overcame that struggle, she ended up foundering badly. (For those of you who don't know some of these terms, you can google them for quick explanations). The vet was called and hoof x-rays were done that confirmed hoof bone damage, most likely from a founder experience in her past. Then, her new diet and farrier care plan began. Since then, Willow has moved from living in a stable to our little farm on a flat, one and a half acre pasture with shelter. She loves her retirement home and has thankfully not foundered again. (Quick, knock on wood!) She is now retired from riding because she still has flat and sensitive hooves that are still prone to stone bruising. She also now has some mild arthritis and has a lump forming on her back right hip. I am making plans for another vet visit to address some of these concerns. Willow has always been known as what people in the horse world call a 'hard keeper' because it is hard to keep weight on her, but now, not only that, but I see her older age more clearly than ever before and it hurts my heart. The years are catching up to her. I want to walk the next miles of her life alongside her, in making sure that she is on the right diet for her senior years, and learning if there is more I can do to keep her comfortable.
Onto the next horse! Chewbacca. He is a fun little pony at 40 inches tall. His birthdate is St. Patrick's Day 2010, making him a nice even 10-years-old this year. He is a solid color of dark chocolate brown.
He came to keep Willow company and I picked him because I knew she would purely enjoy him, and so would I! He also came with hoof damage but since I already have a good farrier for Willow who is highly skilled and knowledgeable, I figured Willow and Chewy could be besties. Two pees in a pod.
Sure enough, when Chewy arrived, he was completely unable to bear weight on his left front hoof.
He had home made boots made from Styrofoam and duct tape to help cushion his steps, but it was not just his front left hoof in pain, it was all of them and I truly cried in the beginning because I felt so much hurt for him and wondered if I would be capable of saving him, capable of giving him a life without this horrendous pain.
When we had him vetted and x-rayed, his inside front left hoof damage was the same as Willow's, but overtime, with corrective trimmings, it was looking hopeful that we could bring his other hooves up to par.
Chewy's story is truly more in depth than Willow's. He had no training for farrier work, manners, leading. He did not know the basics so treating him for medical issues when he had never been exposed to any of this made his situation much more complex.
He had horrible, rotten skin conditions that were not responding with the expensive vet shampoo's, so a few months later, I took him back to the vet for bloodwork which confirmed my suspicion.
Chewy has Cushing's Disease. He needs a low sugar, low starch diet, which is what Willow needs and what they have been eating anyway, but with Cushing's, the diet wasn't enough for him so he is now on a half tablet of Prascend once a day and InsulinWise powder sprinkled in his hay twice daily. He is much improved today and Willow adores him!
Next up is getting the vet here to address the concerns I have with Willow. She may need bloodwork done if the vet deems it necessary to clue us in on any underlying issues, and Chewy needs another blood draw so the vet can see his numbers and make sure that his medications are working like they should for him and to check his kidney functions to ensure they are handling the meds well.
So...That's where I'm at at. We have a little white and brown Nigerian Dwarf goat named Clover living in the pasture as well and thankfully she is doing splendidly and they both adore her. My group is gorgeous, colorful, quirky, loving, and fun. They have many friends and admirers.
I am going to create a fundraiser this weekend for this upcoming vet visit, so if you are reading this blog, hopefully you've made it to our 3 Corners Farm page to follow along.
I love working in animal rescue and even though I never anticipated it would be this expensive or hard, I will continue to help one precious animal soul at a time.
They can live happily on our small farm, with our other animals, and with us, knowing they are loved and will never want for anything until the day they decide to move on to their next life beyond the rainbow bridge. I will do for them what others can not.
Thanks for all the donations and love thus far! I am tearing up now thinking back on how extremely emotional and hard this year has been. I almost put Chewy to rest in June because he was still in pain and quite sickly, but donations for his bloodwork that gave us answers powered me through and he is still here today.
I then tried to find a rescue for him when I learned the cost of his medications per month, but the rescues told me I am doing everything they would do and that they are all full. Now I know I can keep Chewy and ensure all his needs are met thanks to so many rooting for him and wanting to help!
Add to it all Covid, wildfires, changes in the school systems and other dilemmas. I thank God daily that my family is healthy and well, and that our little farm is doing good.
This is a long blog post so thanks for reading. Enjoy this fall season and take a gigantic gulp of fresh air whenever you can, and don't forget to admire the rain drops as they fall from the sky.
Feel free to follow along with us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. There are always many adventures on our little farm!
So much love and many blessings to all who are reading this,
Amy Darr
3 Corners Farm
Mosier, Or. U.S.A.
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