Meet Storm.
She looks pretty good, eh?
Storm went from wild and unhandled to … sweet and loving.
She had her very healthy colt, Thunder
Storm loves kids!
HER STORY: WILD, PREGNANT, DUMPED then RESCUED, LOVED – and now very, very sick.
Storm was an unhandled, solid-colored, pregnant 3 year-old mare from a breeding farm. She and 24 of her pregnant solid-colored herd mates were sent to the feedlots to be sold for meat.
Luckily Storm was rescued from slaughter by Shirley Puga and Annette Garcia, of Coachella Valley Mounted Rangers . Annette spent countless hours with Storm, and her kind and quiet training eventually won her over. Now, Storm totally loves kids, can lead, play, trailer, trim, and even RIDE!
Annette has been frantic to find an affordable surgical option, to give Storm the chance she deserves.
Luckily, through the help of National Equine Resource Network’s contacts, UC Davis has agreed to do the surgery for a fraction of the cost Annette was previously quoted ($10k)
Wow! A happy ending, right?…
Wrong.
BUT NOW THIS
She has Fistulous Withers (not Brucellosis). No vet has been able to contain or clear it.
The medical diagnosis for Fistulous Withers: a chronic inflammatory disease of the supraspinous bursa. Swelling of the withers, drainage of pus from an open lesion resulting from inflammation, and infection that spreads from the infected bursa to surrounding tissues are common characteristics.
Fistulous Wither: It gets big like this, pops, drains, but the infection will never resolve. The wound is cleaned and treated daily, but it will never heal. Something inside her (bone chip?) is creating this chronic infection. It will eventually spread and kill her.
This Fistulous Wither cannot heal itself. The filling and draining is continual.
On some days, It looks like it will heal but then it flares again in a few more days… The vets have concluded that this will never heal on its own. There is probably an infectious agent inside the wound – bone chip from her misfortunes? Eventually, the infection will spread and kill her.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
No one knows. Often it is a bone chip that works its way into an infection. Did it happen when she and all of her friends were stuffed into the stock trailer to go to market?
Or when she was in the kill pen squished with all the mares inside pipe corrals?
SHE CANNOT HEAL HERSELF – IT WILL KILL HER EVENTUALLY
This infection will eventually kill her – unless she has surgery to clean it out once and for all.
This kind of surgery is very expensive.
Annette has been frantic to find a surgeon she can afford.
SURGERY GIFT
Luckily, through the help of National Equine Resource Network, UCD (UC Davis) has offered to do the surgery for $4000 (a huge reduction).
The surgery will scrape/cut out all of the dead tissue and find the insulting bone fragments. Drains will be put in and will need to be flushed daily. However, once all the infection and bone fragments (?) are removed, the wound should heal.
CAN WE HELP THIS MARE – WHO HAS COME SO FAR – TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS LIFESAVING GIFT?
Storm is a very young and happy mare who has learned all of her ‘good citizen’ lessons… She loves kids and people.
Can we help her reach the gold ring and have her surgery? Storm is young horse, with a bright future, and worth the effort to save – she has already come such a very long way!
She can survive this.
Thank you so very much for your donations for Storm’s surgery. She is a very special rescue horse and she is a survivor. She was saved from slaughter at 2 years old and gave birth 4 months later to a healthy colt. She had a bone chip broken in her wither. She has a bad infection and because of your generosity she will have her surgery at UC Davis. Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!!!
Prayers were answered tonight! Please pray for a safe trip and a successful surgery and healing for Storm. Another horse has been blessed because of your truly amazing hearts!
Blessings to you!
Just donated $20, hope her surgery goal is met soon.
Every single penny counts! Thank you!!!
I can only afford to give $10 and figured it wouldn’t make a difference. But then it occurred to me that if everyone reading this blog were to give $10, you’d probably have enough.
Just made a donation in honor of Champ and Lil Champ, two former Bucket Fund horses.