Justin's Story of Rescue and Thriving

Cascade Animal Connection E-Barks! January 2005

Justin's Story...

Oklahoma can have some severe weather, but the Winter of 2000 was particularly challenging with snow, ice, and wind chill temperatures in the single digits. One afternoon just before Christmas we got a call from some friends who said they had found a young colt partially lying in a creek, apparently starving and nearly frozen to death. He was part of a large herd of 80 or so horses who had basically been left to fend for themselves without food, water, or shelter. Our friends asked if we wanted a "free" horse! (This is a big clue you are about to spend more money than you ever imagined)! At first look, he was one of the most horrific examples of neglect I had ever seen. Emaciated, with several large open wounds covering his body, he was too weak to move. My first thought was that it would have been a blessing to quickly end his suffering. None of us standing around him seemed able to make that decision however, and in spite of his horrible condition, he still had a spark of life in his eyes. At that moment we committed to doing everything we could to save his life.

After struggling to basically drag him into the trailer, we got the colt to a nearby vet clinic. I am sure the Vet thought we were all a bit off in the head, but without sugar coating the colt's chances he went into action. The first thing we did was create a shelter of tarps to break the wind (as there was no barn or stalls available), and covered every square inch of the colt's body with blankets and towel wraps. His core body temperature was 10 degrees below normal at that point. The Vet also started the first of what would be several liters of IV fluids to slowly rehydrate and warm him. I did what I knew, which was to work his ears and do Phython Lifts on his legs...for hours! As the little guy could barely lift his head, we also had to organize ourselves as a team to turn him every 30 minutes. After about three hours of fluids, TTouch, and our insistence that he live, the colt started raising his head and looking around. That was progress! We offered him some grain and were estatic when he started eating. We spent the next 24 hours alternately turning him, feeding him, ttouching him, and cleaning his wounds. (I would like to say that I did this without complaint, but it would be a lie! I was miserably cold and tired).

By the next afternoon, the little guy was much more active and we decided to try and stand him. It took four people, but we managed to get him on his feet and he was able to take a few steps! This was great news, as I really didn't want to spend another night camping outside in the cold. With the first victory in hand, the vet said we could take him home, so we left the clinic with our "free" horse, now named Justin, for Just-In-Time, and a $1,200.00 vet bill!

For the next week, Justin lived in our friend's garage where we could keep him warm and protected. He still couldn't get up on his own power due to the extreme muscle atrophy and weakness in his legs, so we had to continue the four person lifts. I took him on short walks several times a day to build his strength, and continued his wound care. TTouch was really important during this stage, as I didn't want him to associate human touch with only the unpleasant aspects of cleaning wounds and removing ticks. Using TTouch certainly helped me to gain his trust and establish a bond. Of course, I was also the person who showed up with food every few hours! Day by day he grew stronger, and finally, after several nights of interrupted sleep for the human "lifters", Justin managed to get up by himself. It was then time to move him home. You really know who your friends are when they willing to keep your horse in their garage for a week, and we certainly didn't want to overstay our welcome.

Once we got Justin settled into his new surroundings, I still had to slowly increase the distance of our walks, and monitor him closely. He tired easily and spent quite a bit of time lying down. I used groundwork to make things more interesting for him, getting him to step over objects, and learning the wand cues. He desperately wanted to get out and run with the other horses in the pasture, but he was still so uncoordinated and easily lost his balance. We introduced him to each of our other four geldings individually, and eventually allowed him out with them for short periods. As he got stonger, he just pestered them to play. I have to say, they were all very patient with him, and did indulge him with the bite and chase game. It was fun and heart warming to watch him start to enjoy life. Justin continued to gain strength and muscle mass over the next few months, and we thought we were in the clear. Unfortunately he foundered, which required yet more rest and monitoring, but it didn't hold him back for long. So many times you read about a horse with a special spirit, and his seemed bigger than his scrawny little body!

It has been four years since we made that decision to help a nearly frozen colt fight for his life. The story has a very happy ending, as you can see from the picture recently taken. Justin continues to thrive and I have even started riding him! There is also a not so happy ending to the story, as four other young horses who were taken out of that herd at the same time didn't make it. It took another year to convince the authorities to seize the rest of the horses from the owner. I like to think that TTouch had something to do with Justin's survival, and at the least, it gave me a wonderful way to communicate with him throughout his recovery. By the way, if someone offers you a "free" horse, walk the other way as fast as you can!