Long time!

New Rescues pictured above:
Things have been busy over the past few weeks. We have gained our charitable NYS corp status:

SquirrelWood Equine Sanctuary

Hopefully in the next couple weeks we will have 501c3 status and can start grant writing.

The horses have all been adopted, with help from NBAR. Abe will remain as permanent resident here.
Couple new rescues:
Driftin Ice: Polo mare pulled from Camelot in NJ
Gelding 750: Chestnut Warmblood gelding also pulled from kill pen in Cranbury NJ
Sams Girl Lee: and old TB broodmare pulled from Unadilla Sale

Forgot!

Layla the Belgian yearling filly and Jackman the Clyde colt are getting ready to head to their new homes! Layla is going to WV to live with Pepper and Jackman is going to Oklahoma to Tammy.

B

Spring has Sprung!

Well spring has finally arrived! The trees are budding and the grass is growing. Our Belgian family is doing well. Abe is canker free and will be going to his forever home next month. We have a new addition: Meet Bethesda (Or "Momma Bee", as we call her)



She is a lovely smaller Amish broke Belgian mare. An absolute sweetheart!

More updates to come. B

Too Long!!

Wow...time has been flying. Spring is just starting to peek through the clouds and cold. All the horses are just starting to shed and are normally napping in the sun.

Abe is actually a bit chubby! His feet are doing great!

Sarah is doing very well- she has gained a lot of weight and has started to come out of her shell.

Joseph is looking wonderful. He and Abe are like a matched pair.

Ozzie found a wonderful home in New England. He is doing very well and has started working in the woods with his new family.

Sally is doing very well in her new home. She is taking good care of the gypsy filly she lives with.

We have a new mare who just arrived. I will put some pics up when I get a minute.

B

First Thaw!

Well, the mud has returned. No longer beautiful and white around here. Abe is back to going out in the indoor because of the dry ground. His feet continue to amaze us. We have slowly taken back some of the sole and his feet are becoming more balanced and correct. We could not be happier with his progress.

The new crew has settled in well. Monday will mark 3 weeks and their qt period is close to being over. We have had lots of phone calls about the Belgian boys. Once they are finished with Qt they will be ridden and driven to see how they do. All have gained considerable weight and condition. The good nutrition is starting to show.

Annie, the little Read The Footnotes, TB filly is such a sweet heart. We have learned from her prior owner that she was an orphan foal- Thus the name :). She is a very special type of horse, really tugs at your heart.

The group that is in strict isolation- Jackman, the belgian filly and Sarah (their babysitter) are doing well. Jackman has been steadily improving and no longer has trach or catheter. He is eating and drinking well. No temp for almost a week. He is no longer draining or having discharge from his nose.
The belgian filly is just midway thru the strangles course. She should start to drain over the weekend- or early next week. Her case is running a different course than Jackman. Maybe because she is older? She seems to be fighting it off better than Jackman.

The wonderful news: Jackman has a wonderful home waiting for him in OK. The belgian filly has a new home waiting in WV. I couldn't be happier, both homes are very special.

B

Jackman art fundraiser

We are fundraising to offset Jackman's unexpected vet bills:

Donations of $25 will receive a bail wire horse sculpture




Donations of $100 will receive a




Thanks everyone

Beth

Update

It was been a busy few days. Jackman continues to improve and is looking very well! He has taken to running around the stall when giving him meds.
He is on the mend and has a wonderful home lined up in OK

Beth

Baby Jackman

Been tough getting time to get on and update blog. We have been working with getting little Jackman, the baby clyde pulled from New Holland, over his illness. It has been one heck of a rough road. He stopped eating and drinking, so we had to place a catheter and provide fluids. Soon after he was having a difficult time breathing, we had to have a tracheostomy done. Once he became hydrated and could breath he perked up quite a bit. His abscesses are just starting to drain and I hope, we are headed out of the woods!

Lots of work, sleep deprivation...Worth every second.

Busy Week!

Wow, what a week it has been!
I attended Unadilla NY auction Friday night and New Holland PA on Monday.

Here's the rundown on each auction:
Unadilla- ran thru approx 30 head. High price horse 650. Average price around 250. Low price 75
Most of the horses were in good flesh. Only a handful could be said to be in poor condition. Approx 6-10 went to KBs. Two were in attendance. We brought home a yearling TB filly by Read the Footnotes out of Tempted to Touch (Stormy Atlantic-Storm Cat). She is a beautiful youngster.
The other purchase was an teenaged Belgian gelding: Blake. The is the ultimate babysitter and has been caring for the yearling filly. They are home and in quarntine.
Blake:

Blake and his filly Lily





After a very late night and busy weekend settling in the newcomers, I was contacted about one of the Unadilla TB's going to the KB. Through the wonderful Fans of Barbaro, funds were raised to bail out the mare. I offered to foster her until a home could be found. I was scheduled to pick her up Monday at New Holland.

Monday was a long day. Up very early to make the long drive down. The sale was fairly busy in the early part. The riding horses brought decent money: averaging 450 +. It was a light sale though. They were done fairly early. We picked up two new rescues. A weanling Clydesdale colt and a teenage Belgian mare. The little colt had come thru the Harrisburg Pa Draft Sale in Jan. and was turned around sold at NH by the livestock broker. He is a very well bred youngster.
The mare, Sarah, is in very rough shape. About a 2/3 BCS with severe necrotic lesions on her pasterns. She has been living in shit up to her knees for a long time. She is caked with dried manure and her entire belly is one large mat. The other 3 that we brought home were two Belgian geldings bailed by FOBs to come and live here till placed, and the Unadilla Tb mare that they intervened and saved from the KB.
Sarah:

Joseph

Huey & Second Opinion (Tb mare)





It has been a hectic week!

New Crew

I am happy to say we have added a new Belgian gelding to our rescue:

Meet Blake.



He is a teenage gelding pulled from Unadilla auction.

More info in a bit

B

Brrrrrr!

It has been SO COLD!!!

The crew is doing great. Abe continues to amaze us all. I can't begin to describe the difference. We're thrilled.

Looks like 3 new rescues will come in next week. Not sure yet.

B

Late...

Sorry everyone. It has been hectic these past few days and I haven't posted an Abe update.

The big fella is doing very well. His feet are changing so much! Good growth and nice and dry in canker areas. I do not smell the canker odor when working on his feet now. He has his moments, but for the most part, he is a good patient. :)

The rest of the crew if doing terrific. Sally has been adopted and is heading to her new home on Wed or Thurs of this week. She will be a babysitter for a young gypsy cob. Could not be happier!

Ozzie is doing very well. He was driven on the road yesterday in traffic with no issues. He is wonderful to drive. So light, and easy. I haven't had this much fun driving a horse ever.

Chinook is doing well. We are working on the feet, though I think the farrier will need to bring his stocks to trim him.

If all goes well, we will be bringing in 2 new Belgian geldings the end of this week. I'll keep everyone posted.

B

One Month!

We are at the 1 month mark this coming Monday. What a difference 1 month can make. The picture at the top of the blog is from Dec 13th on the feedlot. This is Abe 1 month later on Jan 13th







Abe is doing very well. His front feet are much less painful and he has been allowing us to treat with the metronidazole/DMSO/zinc sulfate mix.

B

Abe

Good News! Yesterday Abe took a short trip to the nearby vet hospital. We did x-rays of his feet, and EKG and bloodwork. We are thrilled that he shows no signs of rotation or sinking in the coffin bones. His bloodwork was good. He is slightly anemic, but otherwise healthy. His EKG showed the A-fib, and confirmed it didn't not involve his ventricles.

So, it was a good day!

B

Late check in

Abe looks super tonight! He is off NSAIDS and appears comfortable and very content. He even ate some carrots. We are thrilled to see him looking so well.

The rest of the crew is doing well. Sally has been great, almost no discharge from her sinus infection. She has another couple weeks of antibiotics. She has been coming for out of her shell more every day. Ozzie is doing well. His skin continues to improve. Most of the lesions are clearing up and he looks excellent.
Chinook continues to bond with his new dad. He has been trying to leap up on his back from the ground in the paddock. Funny to watch :)

Beth

Rough Evening

Well, it was a rough one. Abe became quite uncomfortable. He was given banamine, but no change was really occurring. In addition, when I checked his heart rate I heard something very odd. I explained to our vet the next morning. She came out and checked him. She said he was in atrial fibrillation. His heart was sending mixed electical signals to his heart muscles. When listened to it would sound like a normal Lub-dub, Lub-dub, Lub-dub followed by a rapid series of beats, then back to lub-dub normal. I had never heard this before. Abe has taught me much in the past 3 weeks. I had never really had any experience with canker either. I guess in the end, we crossed paths for a reason. But, I digress...
Anyhow, as the afternoon wore on Abe became uncomfortable and again the banamine did not help. Our vet came out and examined him. He appeared to be colicking. He was rectaled- nothing really abnormal, and tubed with oil, electrolytes and MofM. He was a good fella for his treatment. He remained uncomfortable and in A-fib for much of the evening. Finally around 9:30 he perked up and looked for food. He has been getting small meals in the form of bran mashes and small amount of alfalfa. He is looking very good today. He has been bright and happy today. Our farrier was out and trimmed his feet. We have a long road ahead of us, but Abe is quite the fighter!

B

Abe progress report

Abe has started the White Lightning protocol from Mike Wildenstein up at Cornell University. He is soaked 3x a day with 1 gallon water/ 1 cup WL/1 cup vinegar. We stand him in bags, pour in solution to just beneath coronary band and seal bags with duct tape. We soak for 45 minutes. He has been a good boy and stands under the heat lamps with his alfalfa. Once the soak is finished we dry his feet and apply QuarterMaster (Pharmacia/Upjohn), an antibiotic product made for cow mastitis treatment. This is the protocol for treatment over the next 6 weeks.
The hind foot will continue to get the DMSO/Metronidazole/Zinc Sulfate treatment and keep a slipper on the hoof.
Our concern now is Abe has a consistenly high respitory rate. Usually around 26.
Today he was given IV Banamine for the first time. I'll check him later once the NSAID is in his system. I think if the pain is driving up his RR, then the Banamine will help us determine that.

More later
Beth

Oh Abe

More worry here. Abe has become sore and is less enthusiastic about eating. He has left grain now and will finish if I go in hand stand with him and hold the bucket. He has been laying down about the same as yesterday.
His hind gets a cleaning and equine slipper. The fronts were treated with white lightning- as per Mike Wildenstein up at Cornell. He seemed much more at ease with this treatment. He claims this treatment works within 2 months. I hope so.
Abe has moved into a new stall and can be loose to wander around in the indoor arena. It is clean and dry. Hopefully the movement will allow some bloodflow to the feet.

I just worry now, more than ever.

B

Fighing on

The vet was out yesterday and we created a new plan for Abe. We have started a deep treatement using a catheter to insert Metronidazole oral suspension and zinc sulfate into the deepest areas. Then a mixture of metronidazole crushed to a powder mixed with zinc sulfate and DMSO gel. This is packed into the foot and all the fissures and crevices. This will be done daily with dressing changes. Today we'll unwrap and see how the canker is responding to the new treatment.

Abe is being a real good fella about the treatment. He had a nice long grooming session last night. He stood halterless in the aisle, content to stand and enjoy the spa treatment. We want to make sure he also has sessions where we do not bother his feet. Hopefully this will offset and unwillingness, if he thinks we only handle him when he needs his feet done. As I was grooming him he kept turning around to nuzzle me. He is enjoying his newfound home and care.

The rest of the crew is doing great. They had their rabies vaccinations yesterday and today will get wormed. Their quarantine period is reaching its end and they can be integrated into the general population.

B

Abe Update

Abe is doing well. He was trimmed more and had his dressings changed. We are treating topically with metronidazole and zinc sulfate. He has moments when he gets stubborn and unhappy when we are working with his feet. The areas of canker are more clearly defined. The demarcation between healthy and canker tissue is very clear now. His feet are wrapped and kept 100% dry at all times. He is going to be rechecked and we plan to x-ray his feet. If there is evidence of infection in the bone, there is nothing we can do, except euthanize him. We will know more in the next few days. He has been napping in the sun during the afternoon, and also continues to lay down at night. He is the only one of the group that will lay down when in the stalls. I think he is very much settled in now. He understands us and is enjoying the care and love.

The rest of the crew is doing great. Ozzie had a very special visitor take him for a drive around the property. He was such a champ. He is coming out of his shell and is a real character.
Sally is still completely bonded with Chinook. The big fella is snorting and spooking less :) He is figuring us out.

Oh, and they are all now officially spoiled! they tried Stud Muffins and all love them.

B