An all-day vet visit with so much accomplished!
The most important thing we did though, was take care of Toasty.
Some of you may recall when sweet Toasty joined us. He came from Mississippi about 18 months ago. In his former life Toasty had been a tripping horse. I’ll leave you to Google tripping horses as I don’t have the heart to describe it here, but suffice to say, in many states it is illegal. The amount of trauma that Toasty carries with him because if this is immeasurable.
On arrival here Toasty was broken. Physically, certainly, but mentally he was done. I recently saw another rescue (and I apologize that I can’t recall who so cannot give them proper credit) say that ‘his soul had died’ of a similar horse. And I think that describes Toasty exactly. He was just existing on an absolutely base level. Breathing in, breathing out, eating, drinking, but nothing more. Well, nothing more other than fear. He had plenty of that. He still does. He earned it.
For months I tried to make friends with Toasty. Teach him that he was safe. Offer him love, in the form of food, treats, pets, anything he would accept. But after months of trying he made it clear that he did not want to be friends. He was never mean or dangerous. He was afraid. As soon as I walked through the gate he would dart to the back corner of his paddock and shake in fear. So I stopped going into the paddock. I want to be friends, but not at the expense of additional trauma.
As he started to put weight on his skeletal body and began to feel a bit healthier I decided the best thing I could do to help him was to just let him be a horse. So we guided him into a bigger field and for a time he lived happily with Grace. He picked up some weight, made friends with Grace, and slowly he started to relax. When Grace passed, Toasty had gained about 100lbs and we moved him into one of the bigger fields with the geldings. All the boys together in a little herd. Toasty blossomed. He gained about another 100lbs and his soul found new life. He became a horse again. One of my very favorite things is when I look out the window and I see sweet Toasty prancing around in his big field, ears up, tail up, running with his homies. It’s glorious.
But still, we aren’t friends. We have made tiny steps of progress. Tiny steps. I can put his feed in his bucket on the fence and he will not run from me, but he will not step forward to eat until I step away. On a VERY good day, when he’s feeling particularly confident, he will take a treat from my hand. Last week while he was eating he let me pet his head, for a moment. Tiny steps.
I’m fine with glacial progress, in theory. Believe me, there is nothing I want to do more than put a warm blanket on him in the winter, but the last thing I want to do is add trauma by forcing him to accept me. But in practicality, there is care that Toasty needs that has to be done hands on: vaccines, dental work, hoof care, blood tests.
This brings us to yesterday…
Out of necessity we elected to dart Toasty with a tranquilizer so that we could give him the care he needs. This involves shooting a dart into, ideally, a muscle and then Toasty lies down and takes a nap as the medication kicks in. Dr. Linc is a good shot and hit Toasty in the neck on the first try. He was asleep and dreaming in about 15 minutes.
We took that time to float his teeth, which were, as expected, a hot mess (horses need a flat surface to grind their food. When their teeth are not filed to create a flat grinding surface they cannot eat efficiently, which is why his weigh gain had stagnated) Our amazing farrier, Blair, worked on trimming his hooves, he got his vaccines, we drew blood for basic panels and a coggins, and cleaned his sheath. And while he was asleep I got to give him all the hugs. It felt wonderful to be able to put my hands on him and give him cuddles, even if he wasn’t awake to know about it.
After about 45 minutes he slowly woke up. We helped him up and stayed with him while he regained his legs, then he joined his little herd again.
I’ll continue working on his trust, and slowly but surely I’m confident that he will, eventually, realize that he is safe and let me love on him. But for now I’m satisfied that he got dental work done and I look forward to seeing him put on some more weight.
The tranquilizer meds are really expensive, and yesterday we did A LOT of vet care, so if you are in a position to help with the vet bill, we are, as always, humbly grateful for any donation you can give.
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