MAMA TESS says ‘Goodbye’ to Team Maggot #8 and she TAKES A WALK! plus a small Elsa update…

First off, Elsa is maintaining.

Again, the Dust Devil Ranch Sanctuary FB page is linked here. You can see photos and follow her progress.

Dream Catcher Therapy Center has offered to lend their sling with a rack.

*Are there any equine angels who can transport it from 5814 Hwy 348 Olathe, Colorado 81425 to 3305 S. 6500 W Cedar City, Utah 84720? It is heavy and large. It would fit in the back of a truck or in a horse trailer. If you have the ability to transport the sling, please contact Dream Catcher Therapy Center at 970-323-5400 or email: info@dctc.org

Also, if you’d like to help, the Bucket Fund is collecting for the mounting medical bills and all of the supplies needed to tend to Elsa and Anna. THANK YOU!

MAMA TESS says ‘GOODBYE’ TO TEAM MAGGOT #8!

Well, Team Maggot ate their last morsel today…

I think there might have been a few stragglers hanging on before I washed out her foot. It had been 8 days and that is the longest they have ever survived before becoming too large. So, I’m happy with that.

I think one more round may be the last round. Not sure.

Anyway, I took some photos of the work Team Maggot produced.

You may be able to see that we had created the larger hole, but the maggots were really more interested in their own hole that they created a bit higher up on the hoof.

The reason we are happy to see Team Maggot eating here is because MT has not had any hoof wall attachment here at her coronet band. The hoof is growing, but not attaching. This is because there is too much infection and necrotic tissue caught in that capsule.

However, we hope Team Maggot got in there and cleaned it out…

Another great thing about maggots is that their saliva leaves behind an enzyme that aids in healing. Our hope is that there isn’t too much damage there and that her tissue will once again attach to the hoof wall as it grows.

I did a quick check on Team Maggot and they had created their own hole ABOVE the hole we prepped for them. This is good. They found the bad stuff and dug in! They worked both holes for 7 days!

Today, after I flushed her foot, you can see the top arrow is where the maggots found their own hole as well as the one we dug below.

This is a side view of the hoof. You can see that where they were eating, the hoof wall has sunken. This is good because we hope to have her hoofwall reattach as it grows out – at the coronet band. We have not had attachment there at all. The hoof wall is growing, but not attaching there at the critical point due to all the necrotic tissue that was trapped there. Our goal is to beat the infection and have healthy tissue that can reattach itself as it grows in.

MAMA TESS TAKES A WALK!

After flushing her foot, I wanted to reward MT.

So, as I went about my chores – cleaning up her condo -, I left the barn gate open. I wanted to see what she would do if I was there and not concerned… yet letting her go.

And, no surprise here, off she hobbled! And exactly at that time, my camera died!

So, I ran up to the house to get more batteries.

By the time I came out, she had made it all the way to the grass!

I gave her 10 minutes total from escaping the barn to hobbling past the tree – until we headed back.

On her first solo walk, she made it all the way out to the tree!

Look how far she had gone!!

I’m overly frightened of her eating any grass so after 10 minutes of slight nibbles as she made her way, I put on her halter and coaxed her back.

One foot in front of the other… I saw a glimmer of the National Champion mare deep inside her soul.

She actually tried to ‘park out’ and show off for me. Very sweet.

Back in the barn, she was thirsty and happy! (It took about 5 minutes to get back.)

: Proud of herself, but tuckered out, the Queen wished for a nap…

I TOOK A VIDEO EACH WAY… no editing… THEY ARE LONG.

I also took videos in both directions.

The videos are long (8 mins and 5 mins respectively). But, if you let them run while you do something else, you can go back and fast forward to get the idea.

She was shaky and has lost a lot of muscle tone…

BUT SHE DID IT!

Happy Friday to all!!!

Click the image to watch the video of her march outside! I had gone inside the house to get more batteries for my camera and purposefully left the gate open. When I reappeared outside, she was already on the grass!

Click image to watch her make her way back to the barn – ever so slowly. She is out of shape, her muscles have atrophied and she was a bit shaky. BUT SHE DID IT!