A touching story and introduction to our Clydesdale Rescue Mare Ladybug…
Clydesdale Rescue – First Meeting
We went to a Rescue Center for horses to talk to the owner to see how we could help with some of her existing rescues and to see some of her horses. We talked a little and eventually came upon a 13 year old Clydesdale Mare that had been through some traumatic experiences in her life. She was so severely emaciated that you could count every rib and vertebrae with jutting hip bones that resembled more of a cow than a horse. She was rescued from the meat market after being a broodmare apparently for many years, and had just recently lost her foal adding to her depression and grave condition. She was scared and not very trusting of people. When we first saw her she was not only very thin but also had fluid built up in all four legs. She looked very sad. We wanted to help and thought we could do something for her at the facility she was at, however she took a turn for the worse a few days later.
Back to see how she is doing
When we went back a couple days later to see her, we both had to keep ourselves from crying. This poor Clydesdale Rescue stood in a paddock head low to the ground with at least 10 other much larger horses, sweating profusely and struggling to breathe. Half her face including her nose had grossly swelled up and she had copious mucous and fluid running from her mouth and nose in gobs. She gurgled and wheezed with each breath and looked at me very pitifully. With all that she could muster she walked clumsily to us to the gate and wanted to come inside. The owner of the Rescue was very discouraged with her condition and felt very helpless. She was contemplating putting her down that day. We saw this horses’ will to live and determination and couldn’t let her be put down, especially when we knew we had some more tools available to us than traditional medicine and we owed it to her to try.
Short video of how bad her breathing really is prior to adoption, and poor swollen face…
Decision is Made to Adopt her
We brought her into her stall and Ivana started administering Homeopathic medicines based on the symptoms see was seeing. Within 15 minutes her breathing started to improve and within 2 hours she was significantly better. Ivana knew in order to really help this mare see had to take her home. It was then we made the final decision, and had her on a trailer that afternoon.
Clydesdale Rescue “Ladybug” Arrives at the Farm
Ivana continued to administer the Homeopathic medicines and we put her out on pasture where she could eat to her heart’s content. She could not believe her eyes to see so much grass. She gets organic feed 4 x daily along with her free choice grass and hay and plenty of fresh clean water. We bathed her and tried to clean her up a bit. This is when we discovered many skin infections from rain rot to greasy heel. Once we clipped some of her hair from her feet we even found maggots in her wounds. As repulsive as it sounds these nasty little creatures have kept her from getting severe infections and for that we are sure she was very thankful. Maggots only eat dead flesh so in a way they were helping her. But now it was our turn so we’ve been cleaning her legs and giving her Homeopathic medicines for the severe infections she has well.
Start of her Recovery
It was only 3 days after writing this that she made such wonderful strides that we decided to document her progress. Ladybug (as we have affectionately named her) had a long way to go but she’s a very strong fighting spirit, with eyes that look right through you and a gentleness that surprises you after all that she has been through.
Short video of Ladybug getting used to eating grass again and walking around “daddy”, notice her breathing has improved in just a couple days
To date 95% of her edematous swelling has gone down, her nasal discharge is 85% gone and improving. She breathes quite clearly with the odd mucous plugs draining here and there. She’s eating and drinking and is picking up her feet more when she walks. Today she even allowed us to pick up one foot and feed her carrots from the hand. This is a big step for her as she doesn’t trust very well.
Even though she’s badly under-weight I could swear I’m starting to see her putting on a couple of pounds which is nice to see. She currently weighs approx. 1100 lbs and for her size she should be approx. 1800 lbs so she has a lot of eating to do. Like I said we are a long way off but she is making wonderful progress. Good for you Ladybug – good for you!!!
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Donations/Sponsors – Ladybug Thanks You!
Thank you Mike!