Every horse has a story, here is mine.
Astro's Story
I am Astro I was born at the stable, my mother is Kizzy a thoroughbred and my dad was Sonny Dee Bar a registered Quarter horse. I was born April 28 2002. In May 2002 I was lame on my right leg. A vet looked at me and said I should be put to sleep didn’t know of anything to do for me. So Darlene called another vet and put my mom and me on the trailer and hauled us away, my first trailer experience. This vet said I had a septic infection in my right stifle she injected it and I took antibiotics at home for several days. Had to go back in couple weeks for another injection. I turned out to be fine and sound. In May 2003 I was gelded so I could be turned out with the other horses to grow. Darlene had plans for me to be her next barrel racing horse, so she named me” Kiss My Astro”as my registered name. In the summer of 2006 I was turned out with the other horses that didn’t work the stable for the summer. Some kids with four wheelers were on the farm chasing us. They got caught by a neighbor hunting and were told on. [Probably didn’t do any good because on July 03, 2006 I found him in a meadow all by himself and he couldn’t walk. Took trailer on hill and brought him home. Checked to see how he got there and didn’t find anything wrong with the fence. So I figured something chased him and he fell going over it. He was very thin from pain and lame in back end.]
This time I saw our regular vet she left pain medicine, recommended TLC and flat ground and take me to Ohio State University for horses,[OSU]. July 12 2006 I was loaded again and hauled on the highway for hours to a big building where I had x-rays/ blood work/ all kinds of testing they weren’t sure what was wrong maybe a fractured pelvis or stifle, recommended stall rest. I spent a lot of time lying around and resting, seemed better so I was put back with some of the other horses. In the fall I went downhill again getting thin and depressed again. [So by this time I was so upset with
not being able to help Astro that I decided to put him to sleep. Then an article in Equus magazine about (PSSM) muscle problem called polysaccharide storage myopathy came out and the horse looked like Astro and the story sounded like him. So again I tried. He was put in field with a mare and foal (Koltn, his forever friend) and I changed his feed to high fat and
low protein. For the next year he gained weight was sound and seemed healthy.
In the fall of 2008 my blacksmith could not believe the change in him thought I would be able to start riding him. Then January 1 2009 everything changed for the worse, a bump came on his but was just sore and hair rough overnight it swelled a large and painful abscess. Our vets said with his history take him back to OSU. So on January 8, 2009 we went back to Ohio with him. They lanced and drained the abscess they was amazed at the size of it, they tried to tell me it was a bite wound , but I knew this had been brewing for a very long time. After checking further the hole was deeper than they expected so he went to exploratory surgery they flushed the wound and put a drain in it. At this time they agreed with me that it was going on for a while and was no end to the hole of drainage. He was sent home and we flushed and cleaned area and kept in the stall for weeks. It never stopped draining very thick yellow pus. I had come too far now to stop trying so I
consulted different vets and tried all kinds of solutions, flushed and treated every day with something. In June 2009 we went back to OSU again they done exploratory surgery and flushed wound and they said the bone felt healthy and
the hole didn’t seem as deep this time. They put some kind of PMMA beads in the wound to try and packed it with gauze, more antibiotics, flushing and packing at home care. I am still not giving up on him I will beat this with determination
and lots of prayers. For the rest of 2009 I was still caring for him.
In April 2010 I asked a couple of vets that was staying up to date with me on him should I give up and everybody that knows Astro said no take him back to OSU one more time don’t stop now. So here we go again credit card in hand one more time. Thank God my husband is an understanding horse caring person. We get there by this time everybody knows Astro and his bizarre case. I told them do whatever it takes I am not coming back, this is his last chance I can’t do this anymore the expense and my time treating him every day is too much. They told me they would be more aggressive and that he may die on the operating table so as I watched thru the glass window as always but this time I was crying and praying he would be okay. They x-rayed /explored/flushed all over again. Sent him home with very expensive and strong antibiotic Rx from a compounding pharmacy. Again we have a drain to deal with and a larger hole to keep covered and clean. The drug was a paste he was to have three times a day I did it when I could but most of the time it was only two times, sometimes my girlfriend wound stop and give him his midday dose. Finally it was slowing down on the drainage. He was so good to take the paste. We kept him on this drug for a month and a half. Then my vet put him on a cheaper drug and one to put in the wound. Finally the end of July 2010 the hole was getting smaller and closing in from bottom up. YEH!!!! Kept after it then in October 2010 the vet said it looked good. Just keep the hole wiped out and clean and hope it doesn’t open back up. It was looking good then January 2011 it was matted around the scar and smelled bad. The vet said possible staph infection from all the wet weather. I cleaned and sprayed it with Vetericyn a new treatment out which is great.
It is June 2011 and all is well so far with him, just have to keep the dent that is left in his but wiped out once in a while to be safe from causing any problems. One of the vets said she would do cosmetic surgery to fill the hole in so I won’t have to worry about it so much. Maybe if he stays well a while I will consider it but I think I will leave closed while it is closed
scared to mess with it after all we have been thru. He is also ready for training if he stays sound. If I never get him broke I will be happy to have a sweet, healthy, expensive, lovable lawn ornament. He has always been sweet and affectionate all the time that I have been treating him, he has never offered to kick or bite. Don’t even have to put a halter on him to do anything with him he is great that is why I could not give up on him. When I am in the barn working he continually watches me while the other horses just want to eat hay and ignore me. Some people say I am stupid for putting so much time and money in him and that nobody else would have been that dedicated to him, but they don’t know him. He is not the first one I have done this with but his problem was the longest one.
This time I saw our regular vet she left pain medicine, recommended TLC and flat ground and take me to Ohio State University for horses,[OSU]. July 12 2006 I was loaded again and hauled on the highway for hours to a big building where I had x-rays/ blood work/ all kinds of testing they weren’t sure what was wrong maybe a fractured pelvis or stifle, recommended stall rest. I spent a lot of time lying around and resting, seemed better so I was put back with some of the other horses. In the fall I went downhill again getting thin and depressed again. [So by this time I was so upset with
not being able to help Astro that I decided to put him to sleep. Then an article in Equus magazine about (PSSM) muscle problem called polysaccharide storage myopathy came out and the horse looked like Astro and the story sounded like him. So again I tried. He was put in field with a mare and foal (Koltn, his forever friend) and I changed his feed to high fat and
low protein. For the next year he gained weight was sound and seemed healthy.
In the fall of 2008 my blacksmith could not believe the change in him thought I would be able to start riding him. Then January 1 2009 everything changed for the worse, a bump came on his but was just sore and hair rough overnight it swelled a large and painful abscess. Our vets said with his history take him back to OSU. So on January 8, 2009 we went back to Ohio with him. They lanced and drained the abscess they was amazed at the size of it, they tried to tell me it was a bite wound , but I knew this had been brewing for a very long time. After checking further the hole was deeper than they expected so he went to exploratory surgery they flushed the wound and put a drain in it. At this time they agreed with me that it was going on for a while and was no end to the hole of drainage. He was sent home and we flushed and cleaned area and kept in the stall for weeks. It never stopped draining very thick yellow pus. I had come too far now to stop trying so I
consulted different vets and tried all kinds of solutions, flushed and treated every day with something. In June 2009 we went back to OSU again they done exploratory surgery and flushed wound and they said the bone felt healthy and
the hole didn’t seem as deep this time. They put some kind of PMMA beads in the wound to try and packed it with gauze, more antibiotics, flushing and packing at home care. I am still not giving up on him I will beat this with determination
and lots of prayers. For the rest of 2009 I was still caring for him.
In April 2010 I asked a couple of vets that was staying up to date with me on him should I give up and everybody that knows Astro said no take him back to OSU one more time don’t stop now. So here we go again credit card in hand one more time. Thank God my husband is an understanding horse caring person. We get there by this time everybody knows Astro and his bizarre case. I told them do whatever it takes I am not coming back, this is his last chance I can’t do this anymore the expense and my time treating him every day is too much. They told me they would be more aggressive and that he may die on the operating table so as I watched thru the glass window as always but this time I was crying and praying he would be okay. They x-rayed /explored/flushed all over again. Sent him home with very expensive and strong antibiotic Rx from a compounding pharmacy. Again we have a drain to deal with and a larger hole to keep covered and clean. The drug was a paste he was to have three times a day I did it when I could but most of the time it was only two times, sometimes my girlfriend wound stop and give him his midday dose. Finally it was slowing down on the drainage. He was so good to take the paste. We kept him on this drug for a month and a half. Then my vet put him on a cheaper drug and one to put in the wound. Finally the end of July 2010 the hole was getting smaller and closing in from bottom up. YEH!!!! Kept after it then in October 2010 the vet said it looked good. Just keep the hole wiped out and clean and hope it doesn’t open back up. It was looking good then January 2011 it was matted around the scar and smelled bad. The vet said possible staph infection from all the wet weather. I cleaned and sprayed it with Vetericyn a new treatment out which is great.
It is June 2011 and all is well so far with him, just have to keep the dent that is left in his but wiped out once in a while to be safe from causing any problems. One of the vets said she would do cosmetic surgery to fill the hole in so I won’t have to worry about it so much. Maybe if he stays well a while I will consider it but I think I will leave closed while it is closed
scared to mess with it after all we have been thru. He is also ready for training if he stays sound. If I never get him broke I will be happy to have a sweet, healthy, expensive, lovable lawn ornament. He has always been sweet and affectionate all the time that I have been treating him, he has never offered to kick or bite. Don’t even have to put a halter on him to do anything with him he is great that is why I could not give up on him. When I am in the barn working he continually watches me while the other horses just want to eat hay and ignore me. Some people say I am stupid for putting so much time and money in him and that nobody else would have been that dedicated to him, but they don’t know him. He is not the first one I have done this with but his problem was the longest one.
Lacy's Story
I am a sorrel mare with a white blaze, my breeding is Belgium & quarter horse cross. I was raised with my mom and then sold to a woman who kept me for a while, she worked on training me to ride, she decided I was too tall for her. She in turn sold me to Save A Horse Stable, they finished my training there. At first I was stubborn & unsure of what I was supposed to do, also had a fear of the saddle when it was coming off my back I had no problem putting it on I just panicked when they took it off, they patiently worked with me on this after a few times I realized it wasn’t a monster, I enjoyed the praise because I was a good girl. After a few times out on the trails I figured it out, just follow the other horses no kicking or biting & at the barn I would get cooled (sponge bathed) & a nice bucket of feed. Sometimes being the biggest horse was hard cause I always got the heavier people, but it was always okay cause when I wanted to stop & rest we did. I got a lot of I’m sorry girl when I carried the heavy people & the ones who
didn’t know how to ride. I am not only big in size I have a big heart, & sweet temperament. All my work at the farm has been great except the one trail ride when I was carrying a heavy guy, he wanted to ride with his friends but he had never rode before. All was going well until something jumped out of the woods & scared me. I thought it was a tiger but low & behold it was the dog that decided to get loose & join us on the ride. When I jumped the man fell off & twisted the saddle down under me I started to panic but when I turned around all I saw was my mom’s face (DARLENE) & I heard her voice telling me easy Lacey which is what reassures us when things are scary. The look I gave mom (Darlene) was what do I do now & was I
bad? She jumped off her horse & came to me & fixed everything along with more reassurance I knew everything would be okay. They put the man back on & I finished the trail & everything was okay.
A few years ago I got lame in my front foot, the blacksmith would trim it at a different angle & it would feel better for a while, I worked as long as it was comfortable. A couple of years ago it got worse & it was just to painful to do the trail rides. I was
loaded on the trailer & rode for several hours to a hospital, there I was x-rayed & had my leg injected. The x-rays showed I have severe ring bone. Then I heard them say she needs to be put down. Lucky for me Darlene doesn’t give up
so easy. I was on pain medicine & rested for the rest of the yr. After the bone made its changes it wasn’t as painful & I became pasture sound. I was even ridden a few more times. Very light work but I was doing something. Now I am older & in retirement when my friends go to the barn to work I still follow. I would like to ask for sponsors to help because everything is so expensive now. I hope to spend a few more years here with my friends.
didn’t know how to ride. I am not only big in size I have a big heart, & sweet temperament. All my work at the farm has been great except the one trail ride when I was carrying a heavy guy, he wanted to ride with his friends but he had never rode before. All was going well until something jumped out of the woods & scared me. I thought it was a tiger but low & behold it was the dog that decided to get loose & join us on the ride. When I jumped the man fell off & twisted the saddle down under me I started to panic but when I turned around all I saw was my mom’s face (DARLENE) & I heard her voice telling me easy Lacey which is what reassures us when things are scary. The look I gave mom (Darlene) was what do I do now & was I
bad? She jumped off her horse & came to me & fixed everything along with more reassurance I knew everything would be okay. They put the man back on & I finished the trail & everything was okay.
A few years ago I got lame in my front foot, the blacksmith would trim it at a different angle & it would feel better for a while, I worked as long as it was comfortable. A couple of years ago it got worse & it was just to painful to do the trail rides. I was
loaded on the trailer & rode for several hours to a hospital, there I was x-rayed & had my leg injected. The x-rays showed I have severe ring bone. Then I heard them say she needs to be put down. Lucky for me Darlene doesn’t give up
so easy. I was on pain medicine & rested for the rest of the yr. After the bone made its changes it wasn’t as painful & I became pasture sound. I was even ridden a few more times. Very light work but I was doing something. Now I am older & in retirement when my friends go to the barn to work I still follow. I would like to ask for sponsors to help because everything is so expensive now. I hope to spend a few more years here with my friends.