Beth - Bear Valley Rescue, Alberta, Canada

'Beth'

We received an urgent message on July 9th, 2014, through a dog rescue that we've worked with in the past, that there was an injured horse needing immediate help. It sounded serious, as she was described to be in very bad condition and having trouble getting up. We quickly met up with the people who had found her and they took us to the last location she had been spotted, not knowing if we'd be able to get close to her or if she was even still alive. We were so thankful to find that she was up and standing but it was apparent right away that she was in very bad shape. We were concerned that she wouldn't be able to get on the trailer and make the trip back to the Rescue, but with a little help she was loaded and we were on our way. On the one hour drive back to the Rescue we stopped often to check on her, making sure she was standing and doing okay.

We estimated Beth to be 2 years old. We believe she had been hit by a car, in addition to having deformities to her face from where a halter had grown into it. She had damage to her pelvis, either a fracture or torn muscles. Back at the Rescue, Beth would lay down at night in her stall but she couldn't get up by herself so we had to hoist her with a sling twice during the night, every night - it is very hard on horses to be lying down for extended periods of time. Beth was so accepting of all we needed to do to help her. And the timing had to be just right as to when I'd go down to the barn to lift her. If I went down to early she wouldn't want to get up yet, not helping at all while I was trying to hoist her up. If I went down a little too late she'd have gotten impatient and would have started trying to get up herself, without success, and if left to struggle she could open up the wounds on her hips and fetlocks that had developed from her efforts to get up, prior to coming to the Rescue. Gradually Beth gained weight and strength and the swelling in her pelvis started to go down. In addition for proper nutrition and pain management, she got regular acupuncture treatments as well, but she still had a long road to recovery ahead of her.

By the end of 2014 Beth had improved a lot. She still couldn't get up by herself when she lay down at night but she wasn't laying down as early so even though I would check on her, often I only has to hoist her once a night now, and she needed a little less 'lift' each time. We'd even seen a few steps of a trot and lope from her when she was turned out during the day. In January, 2015, almost 6 months to the day from when she joined us, Beth was well enough to stay outside overnight with the seniors and she could usually get up by herself when she lay down, AND I finally got to sleep through the night (until the arrival of Filly the orphan foal, that is!).

By summer 2015, and the one year anniversary of her arrival at the Rescue, Beth was able to join the other horses out on pasture. She is now healthy and happy, able to just be a horse.