By Angie Alspaugh | Project Leader
Sunny came to Easy R Equine Rescue in late February in dire condition. She was extremely underweight and malnourished. She lived in a rural town about an hour away, and luckily for her, a concerned citizen repeatedly addressed her condition with her owner until he agreed to relinquish custody. She was accepted into a local boarding and training barn as a foster. We rely heavily on foster placements for the Easy R horses, and we are so grateful to have ones that will say "yes" when we have need for placement.
We started Sunny on a regimented refeeding program of very small amounts of alfalfa hay several times a day. It is very important to use a safe refeeding approach with such underweight and malnourished horses; otherwise, it could be deadly for them. A veterinarian examined her shortly after arrival and determined she is approximately 4 years old. And bloodwork revealed her organs are all functioning properly--about which we are very relieved. Oftentimes, very underweight horses can already be in organ dysfunction or failure as a result of the malnutrition.
Sunny has become a favorite at the barn. Everyone loves grooming and petting her and taking her out for daily short walks around the property. At this time she has progressed to eating a normal amount of hay--and boy does she love it!! She is slowly putting on weight, shedding her long winter hair, and getting a little gleam in her eyes. We don't think we will have a difficult time at all finding a wonderful adoptive family for this girl.
When we receive horses like Sunny, it is tempting to focus on the cruelty of some human beings. But it is also a great reminder of all the wonderful people in the world. Such as the man who was determined to get Sunny into a safe place; the barn owner who immediately said yes to fostering her; all the people who stop by her pen to love on her and take her for walks; and people like you who give of your financial resources so we can say yes when we get a call about horses like Sunny. We are optimistic about her future and pray there will be no more bad days for Sunny.
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