TROOPER'S STORY
On Sunday 14 September 2008, we got a frantic call in begging us to go and
pick up a severely starved horse that had been abandoned on a major highway
(441). Apparently, this terrified horse had been there for a couple of
weeks. People drove blindly by and not ONE person stopped to take action.
Should any of you ignorant and heartless motorists ever read this page and
remember driving by this horse without calling for help .. SHAME ON YOU! Let us
hope you are never stranded roadside and have to become a victim of other
equally selfish passers-by.
I hate to start this story with such anger and frustration, but as usual -
Team Harmony has to pick up the broken pieces of a emotionally and physically
beaten up horse because of human ignorance and cruelty. How can any heart
be so hard as not to be moved by the shocking images below? I digress ...
Immediately upon receiving the call for help, we hooked up our rig and rushed
on over to pick up Trooper. From minute one, he was a champ! He
happily walked into the trailer and began greedily munching on the alfafa hay we
had ready for him. When we arrived at the farm, he patiently and quietly
walked off the trailer and stood still to have a little look around.
As we had no health records on this little chap, we put him
into a fresh, well-ventilated quarantine stall. With a deep bed of fresh
shavings, a pound of alfafa hay, a handful of Seminole Senior Feed, 2 buckets of
fresh water .. and we gave him a gram of bute to keep him out of any pain he
might be in. We gave him a fan to keep him cool and his body visibly
relaxed as he knew that he was safe and there was peace at last.
Click
HERE for the video of Trooper's first day
at Harmony!
The very next day, we had our vet come out. We asked the
vet for a complete examination and evaluation. We also asked that he was
fully vaccinated, tested for coggins, had a fecal to test for worms and
finally, a CBC Level 1 to determine any abnormalities in his blood count.
We knew the vet looked at this horse and probably felt that we were wasting our
money in treating and vaccinating him. It would have been cheaper and faster to
put him to sleep. However, at Harmony, we believe in miracles .. and death
is not an option! Trooper has a spark in his eye, and like Ghost before -
he is a survivor and a fighter. If he is not going to give up, then
neither will we. The vet informed us that Trooper has a Scale 4 heart
murmur and also felt that this will contribute to us never being able to put
weight on him, even if he was "fed 40lbs of feed a day". Again, I will not
accept this without trying!
In the meantime, Trooper was given 3 x anti-bacterial baths to
work on the fungus growing on his skin. He was then given a full body clip
as he had a full winter coat despite the blistering hot August temperatures.
He was a perfect gentleman for the body clip, although it was extremely
difficult trying to manoeuvre heavy duty clippers around all of the protruding
bones. However, he obviously felt a thousand times more comfortable when
the heavy coat came off. I also pulled his mane to make him look better,
too!
Two days later, we were informed that Trooper was all clear as
far as coggins, his blood count was not too bad - we just needed to add some Red
Cell supplements. The fecal was better than the vet expected. We
will now begin his 10 straight days of Panacur wormer, followed by a dose of
Ivermectin. This should eliminate any worms.
We also had Trooper's feet trimmed by a farrier - he stood for
the farrier and was as good as gold! As he always is.
We are re-introducing food very gradually. The first ten
days of re-introducing food are the most dangerous. He is getting 1-2 lbs
of alfafa hay every couple of hours. In addition, he gets a handful of
Seminole Senior Feed every couple of hours. We also add corn oil to his feed.
He is very thirsty and he gets unlimited fresh water throughout the day. He also
has a salt and mineral block on the wall, so he can enjoy those at his leisure.
When he is strong enough, he will be able to eat as much hay as he would like
and his grain intake will increase significantly.
Trooper is very reluctant to come out of his stall... and
really, it is little wonder. Here he is with a peaceful, safe, quiet and
enclosed stall. He can watch the loving staff and visitors walk by and say
"hi", but there is no roar of traffic, there is no unrelenting sun beating down
on his sore back, there is no scorching hot tarmac under his feet, his mouth is
no longer dry with thirst and his belly no long hurts from starvation. He
is not alone, he is no longer scared. Because of the security the safe
haven of his stall offers, it would take three of us to practically lift him and
pull him out of the stall ...lol
Now that he is clear of quarantine, we are ready to introduce
him to the pleasure of 20 acres of green grass. By day 2 of unlimited
grazing, Trooper is much more willing to come out of his stall on his own
accord. He knows that he can go back in at any time.
CLICK "HERE"
FOR A SLIDESHOW SHOWING TROOPER'S PROGRESS FROM DAY 1 - DAY 7!
Click On Image Below To See A
Slideshow of Trooper and Faith!
Click On Image Below To See A
Slideshow of Trooper's Progress By Week 3!
Click On Image Below To See A
Slideshow of Trooper's Progress By Week 4!
Click On Image Below To See A
Slideshow of Trooper's Progress By Week 5-6!
Click On Image Below To See A
Slideshow of Trooper's Progress By Month 3!
Trooper is now ready for adoption to
APPROVED home ONLY!
Every single week, we will be taking updated photos and adding
progress reports for you to follow! If you have any comments or questions,
please do not hesitate to
EMAIL me!
Thanks for caring and reading our story! Please share this
page with others in order that we might be able to prevent more horses being
abused and neglected in the future!
We would like to thank Laura Ohlrich, our neighbor and friend
in Eustis, for dropping off some bones for our rescue dogs and a huge bag of
horse treats for Trooper! Thanks so much, Laura --- you are an angel!
The "kids" loved your treats :-)
Thanks!
