Hershey & Max’s Adventures
Monday, December 25th, 2006This adventure started August 2006 a Thirteen year old small Bay pony now named Hershey was rescued from a killpen at Shipshewana Indiana Livestock auction. No one had bid on him because of an issue with his leg. He was with four other mini’s that were being rescued and the decision was made not to leave Hershey behind, knowing he didn’t stand a chance and would most likely be purchased by the meat buyer. At one point it was suggested euthanasia, the doctor said his recovery would be expensive and he would only have a 50/50 chance. Around the same time a Five year old large Sorrel & Blonde mini now named Max was being repeatedly ran through an auction in Kansas, it was his fourth time though the auction that he was rescued, Max also had a leg issue and wasn’t being bid on by pony friendly people. His future was looking grime and most likely he would have been purchased by a meat buyer. These two boys would soon meet in a South Carolina holding stable and travel the journey to Florida together. Hershey’s wait would last several months; Max would join him shortly before the trip.
The boys made their trip from Honea Path South Carolina to Morriston Florida in November 2006 stopping at Beauty Haven Farm & Equine Rescue. They would be well cared for by the Batchelor family. In the short stay of two weeks, Theresa would care for them, ordering vaccinations, contacting the Farrier repeatedly to have him come to trim Hershey’s badly overgrown hooves. Because it was the week of Thanksgiving the vaccination delivery was delayed and the normal Farrier could not come, calling another Farrier she was successful making a appointment for two days after Thanksgiving the same day we would be picking up both the boys to bring them to our rescue in Mims Florida.
Theresa knew I had been looking for some mini’s to use for trips to schools and nursing homes. I wanted to educate the children on care, respect and responsibility of owning an animal. I had also read articles on the up lifting experience of the elders having contact with animals. Neither pony was ride able but Theresa knew both would bring joy to people if given a chance. With all this in mind she thought they would be perfect for my cause. When she contacted me about them I was more than happy to reply back to her yes I want them.
My plan to drive the two hour trip to pick them up on the weekend before Thanksgiving was revised due to my driver being in another town working and not returning until Thanksgiving. This actually worked out better because the Farrier would be coming the day before we would pick them up. On the 25th when the Farrier trimmed Hershey’s hooves he got an unexpected surprise in his back hoof. Picking out his hoof to trim it the Farrier showed Theresa something she hadn’t seen before, he had a infection in the sole and in the infection there were maggots present. The Farrier trimmed and cleaned the foot trimming out the infected spot.
After some mechanical problems with the horse trailer lights and some road construction on the way to pick up the ponies we were only a few minutes pass our due time.
Both of the boys loaded in the trailer with ease. After all the goodbyes to the ponies and then to the humans we were on our way back home with ponies in tow. After their two hour trip down the highways they seem to see no problem with unloading into the field waiting for them. The first thing on their agenda was to introduce themselves to the other horses across the field from their quarantine field. This of course was done with loud squeals and weenies to inform the others of the new boys in town. This was met with the return of calls and a few running horses showing off their talents to inform the new guys who was boss in these parts. Eventually all settled down and went about grazing for the evening.
On the 11/28/06 I weighed both ponies, looking at him with all his thick curly winter coat it was hard to till Hershey is very thin, boney no fat and less muscle. His weight was 420 pounds and he stands 11.2 hands. Max was 365 pounds at 10 hands he is at good weight for his type of pony. Both had been wormed on the 20th so I would wait to reworm them.
11/29/06 The vet came and both ponies received their Encephalitis/Tetanus/Influenza/Rhino vaccinations. Max needed x-rays of his leg to find the problem. Dr Roberts needed an electric outlet to plug the x-ray machine into so I had to lead Max to the back yard as the vet lugged her large yellow box containing the x-ray machine all the way to the back yard. This would be a three person job. Grady got to hold Max’s lead rope, I got to put on heavy metal lined gloves and hold both the x-ray plate and Max’s leg in the right position as the vet lined up the red light beam on his leg to get the x-ray’s of his hock. She shot 4 x-rays of his hock to make sure they would be able to see the problem. The x-rays were $120 and the shots were $74, $40 farm call charge, the total being $234 (no discount for assisting). Max was an excellent patient he didn’t fight his leg being twisting and turned, just stood there like a little gentleman.11/30/06 Dr. Roberts of Central Florida Equine Hospital called to give me the results of the x-rays. They showed an old injury in which Max’s hock has been broken and now was rehealed from Calcifications. It had refused in the wrong position this being the reason it looked deformed and him not being able to use the leg correctly. The Dr. was going to send the x-rays to Peterson & Smith to see if there was any thing that could be done, telling me most likely there wasn’t. Since Max seems to feel no pain and can run, kick and manage to function very well even with this old injury. When I say he feels no pain now, I do know he had to had a great degree of pain when the hock was broken, must likely a long period of pain following that. Another point I would like to make is I ask the vet if this injury would have been treated at the time it happen would it have made a different. Her answer was yes the leg would have healed correctly if set at the time of injury. This is a very upsetting part of rescue, most physical problems from injuries could have been corrected if treated at the time of the injury. The owners not choosing to but choosing to neglect the problem causing permanent damage to the animal.
What was thought to be soreness in Hershey’s hooves because of his trimming wasn’t going away so the vet returned with her big yellow x-ray box in hand. This time we ran extension cords out to the field where Hershey was so he wouldn’t have to walk all the way to the backyard. Dr Roberts placed a plastic platform under Hershey’s right hoof to lift his hoof out of the dirt. She then placed a block of wood under the left hoof. I should say she try to place them under his hooves, Hershey suddenly became a comedian each time she would move to get the x-ray plate Hershey would so gracefully move his right leg across his left in a crossed leg position, the vet repeatedly replacing it into position only for Hershey to returned to the crossed leg position. Finally he stood in the correct position. As I held his lead rope and the x-ray plate in front of his hoof he took his nose and forcefully pushed me. Correcting him verbally he continued to try to shove me away. The vet took several shots of each hoof at different views. This visit cost $160 for the farm call and x-rays. The vet had to go to Ocala the next morning and wouldn’t be able to review the x-ray until the next day. I basically knew what she would have to say just not the degrees of damage or if it was too bad to treat. When she called the report was not good, there was signs of repeated founder from the past beside the bow in his leg. He had rotation of 25 degrees in his left hoof and 35 degrees in his right hoof. His sole was still very thick which was good news. With a special diet and aggressive trimmings we could stop the progress of the founder and Hershey could live out his life comfortably. Our Farrier came on the 18th I thought doing Max’s back hoof might be difficult because of him not baring all of his weight on his injury back leg but it wasn’t a problem at all for him. He did very well with the whole process. Hershey was a much longer and detailed process. Amy the Farrier had talked to the vet and had instructions on the degrees and amount the vet wanted trimmed. She had to trim large amounts of hoof to get the right angle and then finished the trim with a grinder, rounding the toes to get a rocker edge on them. Hershey stood still most of the time but did use his nose to try and shove Amy away a few times, I think he was getting impatient due to the amount of time it was taking. He would have to get regular trims every threes weeks to change the angles of the hoof completely. Amy gave me a discount on the trimming knowing it was a rescued horse, it was $35. The vet also wanted Hershey on a hoof supplement to make the hooves grow faster so the trims could correct the problem at a faster rate. We ordered Nu-Foot from Jeffers this would cost another $40. He also is on a special low carb diet, Seminole Lite for ponies only a cup and a half a day with two cups of soaked beet pulp, hoof supplement, coastal hay with a small amount of Timothy hay. The supplement is a bit of a problem he gets three scoops which is more supplement than feed. He doesn’t like the smell or the taste maybe both. Hershey at first would turn his bucket over on the ground and dig at the pile of supplement and feed. But he has final started eating it, I have to divide the supplement into the two feedings and stir it up well into the soaked beet pulp to hide the smell and taste. <