Ever wonder what a day at the rescue is like? Here are a few highlights.

Horses get fed, then turned out if the weather isn't too wet. Clay in Georgia is slick and horses horsing around get hurt, so they stay in on days that are too slippery. Stalls get cleaned. At 9 AM, the laser lady, Peggy, comes and lasers, Oscar, a new 4 year old TB with a broken leg. He's in a cast and we are using laser therapy to heal him quicker. He was in a pasture and came in limping. The owner had bought him as an investment. When his leg was broken, Oscar didn't have the investment value and she didn't want to put more money into him, so he was going to be put down. The barn boarders where he was boarded asked me if I'd give him a chance, so he is here. We are going to make him well enough to be pasture sound and maybe even more. Time will tell, so will the x-rays.

Then we lasered, Dino, a TB with an ulcer on his eye and put some medication in his eye. We lasered one of the dwarf mini's, Dickie, to help get blood flow to his crooked little hoofs, then on to Gypsy, a 6 year old QH type mare with a back injury in her back legs. She walks like a little soldier but her muscles are getting better daily. We have no background on her so we are just doing what our gut feeling is to help her get better.

Then it is lunchtime for the older and hard keeper horses. We add some supplements to keep them healthy. A few visitors stop by. Some to see what horses are available for adoption, some people to volunteer, some just curious about the rescue. Then to work on Shimmer.

Shimmer is a QH type white mare. She may be about 11 years old. She had a stillborn baby maybe a few months ago. It may be the cause of her problem. She leaks urine down her legs so they are constantly wet and her white fur is darkened. Her skin is raw in places from the urine dripping - like a diaper rash. The girl that owned her couldn't afford any kind of serious medical bills so they were going to have her put down, perhaps by a gun. A neighbor called and asked if I'd take her. I did. These aren't bad people. They could have taken her to an auction to get what they could for her monetarily. They decided to let her not suffer instead by destroying her, as that was the only option they saw as kind since they couldn't afford anything else. I am glad the neighbor called me. She is a sweet mare. She crossed tied very well and let me run water down her butt and legs for 20 minutes, then I used Ivory soap to wash away all the urine. She sure smelled! I covered her raw skin with Vaseline hoping to prevent anymore irritation. The vet will be out again to do a full exam. When he saw her the other night, he said everything looked normal so it won't be easy to diagnose the problem. It could be a bladder infection, a virus like herpes, a tear in her uterus, a problem with her urethra, we don't know yet. She is a little afraid of what is going on but she is willing to give me a chance to help her. I hope I have good news soon so she can be adopted to a loving person who can take care of her and have a lifelong companion.

Horses come back in, get fed, hay for them and hay for pasture horses. We check out everyone and shut off the lights. Close the gate and check messages, emails, answer what you can, feed yourself, get the grandson to do his homework, feed the husband, do laundry, feed the dogs, pig, sheep, goats, take a shower, and before you know it the sun is up and it's another day in paradise! Some days are good some are bad. Last week we worked on Sugar several times. She's 29, several physical problems and mental as well. She had a few strokes, couldn't stop spinning then she fell. It took 11 people to get her up one night. Another night we knew she would be gone by morning, she was so mentally not in her mind but she fooled us and is now doing well like nothing ever happened. She may have forgotten the 10 days of anxiety she put us through but we humans didn't. We count each day as a blessing, another day to live and appreciate life! Hope I didn't bore you all, just wanted to share a moment with everyone.

Cheryl