Autumn is finally out of the hospital!!
If you have ever had a horse in intensive care, you know how good it feels when they are home!
She is so tiny! And those ears!!
BRINGING HOME BABY!
Bringing a horse home from the hospital has it’s downside, too. It can be scary – you watch them like an egg. But you also know that the meter isn’t running anymore and that is such a relief. (At least it was for me when Aladdin finally came home from ICU…)
Luckily, Hope for Horses has wonderful volunteers who will sit with Autumn 24/7. So everyone can take a shift on watching the fuzzy, milk moustached egg.
I love this bankie an Auntie sent to Autumn! Too cute. And, she has no IV lines or any medical devices. She's free!!
HER NEW TOWNSTALL
When you think of housing a sick baby and a nurse mare who doesn’t really like the sick baby, you have to put on your thinking cap because both need to be safe, inside and together without being in the same stall. So, HFH decided to create a mini-stall inside of a large stall through straw bale stackitecture. It is kinda like an equine Townhouse. Tiny Autumn lives in the smaller section and Bizzy (the milk mare) lives in the larger section.
Sadly, HFH had to oust their old, blind mare from that (her) large stall. From what I hear, the blind mare is quite upset with her new digs and unfamiliar new routine. I hope having a baby around eases her pain.
Look at those ears! Clearly Autumn has an opinion about the volunteer moving her bucket backwards to make her walk forwards. HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH MYYYY FOOD!!!
AUTUMN
In case you have missed Autumn’s Bucket Fund Story, click here. In short, she was born in an auction yard out of an emaciated mare who was dumped off without anyone realizing she would foal that night – or that she was pregnant at all. The dam died sometime after foaling. Many hours later, yard workers noticed the orphaned foal. It took 18 hours for this filly to have her first meal. But, it wasn’t enough. Hope for Horses rescued her and brought her to ICU.
With the help of all who donated as well as the Bucket Fun, Hope for Horses was confident to pull out the stops and help this little girl survive.
This was Autumn when she arrived in ICU. IV lines, feeding tube, no strength...
AUTUMN IS KICKING UP HER HEELS!
It was determined that Autumn was a preemie. Since most preemie horses don’t survive, Autumn’s will to live was nothing short of miraculous. It is quite remarkable that she survived the first hours let alone her ordeal. Amazing filly, eh?
Today, even though she is down on her pasterns (normal for a preemie), she is gobbling up as much mare’s milk as available and runnybuckysnorting like any normal (tiny) newbie baby! Wahoo!
As far as anyone can predict, all bets are on her survival.
THANKS TO ALL WHO MADE THIS POSSIBLE
Amazing efforts by all.
“AttaBoys” to everyone from the Auction yard workers, the Humane Societies, the volunteers, the gifts of strangers, the donations, the products, the doctors, the nurse mare acquisition team, the techs, the good will/prayers and the financial help given have all created a WIN for this Autumn.
Bravo!
If feels good to make a difference.
Trotting towards camera in her stylin' blankie
BIZZY THE MILK MARE
Poor Bizzy cannot keep up with the milk demands of little Autumn. This filly is drinking so much, they have to supplement the mare’s milk with goat’s milk. Luckily, Autumns GI tract has healed enough so she can accept goat’s milk again. Yay!
Bizzy is very willing to be milked but really doesn’t have much desire to raise another foal. So, the ‘socialization’ part of the Bizzy Experiment isn’t going so well. In fact, Bizzy doesn’t want Autumn anywhere near her food.
Oh well… so it goes. At least there is fresh, warm milk for Autumn. That’s good. Everything is one step at a time. Socialization will happen another way. So, for now, the two are separated. They can see each other and that suits them both just fine.
Bizzy relaxing in the other half of the gigantic stall (which used to be the safe haven for HFH elderly blind mare - poor girl)
MOVING FORWARD
From this day forward, it is around the clock volunteers, mare’s milk and foal pellets. Hopefully she will continue to catch up with life and grow like a little Arab-type baby should!
Autumn is full of herself and totally ready to grab life by the horns.
Here is a very cute video of her moving about like a real baby horse!
CLICK IMAGE to watch the video of her kicking up her heels.
What a patootey! Yes, she is down in the pasterns which is typical for a preemie. But look at her wavy tail and mane! They say she is Arab-type but no one knows for sure.
OMG.
Yup, the OMG is the vet bill from the hospital. I have a copy of the invoice from before she was even released and it is over $7500. The final bill was upwards of $8500 – and that doesn’t include the vets who were helping her before she ended up in ICU…
Many of you have given already and that is HUGE and greatly appreciated. If you’d like to continue to help, please do! Hope for Horses would love the support.
WATCHOUT WORLD! I'M BACK!
Copyright
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This is wonderful news.
Tuesday morning and sleep deprivation is setting in. We milk and feed every 3 hours because that’s as often as we can manage. Things have stabilized in the barn. The donkeys are curious but only for a moment. Windy the boss gelding watches everything from the next stall and approves of nothing. Josie our blind horse still needs more quiet than we normally can provide but she is getting used to the change and has been eating close to normal for 24 hrs now. Now that things are slightly more stable we need to be moving toward trying Bizzy and Autumn together for short stretches. We still need people willing to try their hand at milking and feeding in the off hours. Visit our site (hopeforhorses.net) to volunteer. Thank you so much to all that have donated to her care. We of course will continue to need donations and support for the next 4 months when she could be weaned and adopted. Thank you also to those that have asked about adoption, still very early but we have your contact info and will be getting back to you.
We had a surprise foal born to a blind mare 4 years ago and had to find creative ways to adapt too. The very nervous mare stepped on and injured baby’s leg and would not let him sleep (when he got quiet, she got frantic). We removed the lower boards from the adjacent stall and created a ‘doorway’ for the foal so that he could go there to rest, and we ‘supervised’ feedings. We also had 24/7 volunteers sleeping with him. It was a very special and rewarding time with a wonderful ending.