Wednesday morning and afternoon Zoe was fine. Around 5:00 p.m. I noticed she had lost her balance and would turn or spin to right throuh the pasture. Yellow discharge in right nostril. She went down and I gave her 9 cc's of Banamine IM. Before the banamine had time to take effect, she was up and walking like nothing happened. Eating and Drinking fine, but her balance was way off. I spent Thursday waiting for our regular vet to come out as he had an emergency surgery (young show horse/trailer accident/eye removed). I did give her a dose of banamine paste Thursday morning (per vet), yet she was still quite unsteady

The vet came out and checked vitals, temperature, gut sounds, etc., etc. All were within the norm. By the time vet arrived, there was no longer any nasal discharge. I had been giving her bute to reduce inflammation and pain as she was an older mare with arthritis (all that spinning had to take it's toll on those old old joints)and she had stepped on her left ankle so many times as she spun that she had cut herself. I wrapped the wound. I also tried a shipping boot, but it made it more difficult for her when she would spin and her right foot would hit the boot.

The Vet had me TRY to walk her in a straight line. Poor gal gave it her all but just could not do it. She was propping herself on the fence to keep from losing her blance and thus going into circles. In a short time, the hair was being removed from her rump where she rested against the fence. Soon it would have turned into a sore.

Neurological testing was done by our vet and he found a section about two hand widths from her withers toward her head that were unresponsive. Also, along her hip line there was no response. Vet does not think it was West Nile. Perhaps it was a stroke, a lesion in her neck or it could have been a number of things. Although the Bute & Banamine seemed to help a bit, she was still very unsteady and I fed her along the fence line as she propped herself up. Sigh......I felt so bad for this old girl who had at one time been a show horse and was then left in field without food or water to starve and was covered in rain rot when she came to us. Once she had gained weight, she was adopted to a family that fell in love with her kindness and beauty. She taught the husband of the family and their 7 year old to ride. As their skills increased, they wanted to ride the trails and riverbeds in the area but Zoe was not suited to this as she had very arthritic knees in the front. She was returned to TIER and it was hoped that she would be able to teach another youngster to ride, groom and hug horses. She did help novice volunteers and visitors learn to lead a horse, to pick up and clean hooves, how to groom and how to feed the much needed carrots. To come so far from the bad times and then to experience this was absolutely heartbreaking.

We could have had cultures run, x-rays, etc. but it was doubtful that whatever was going on would be treatable at her age and in her arthritic condition. We made the decision to let her go. We could have sent her body to the State lab for a full necropsy, but funds are so low that we chose not to and the vet was quite sure her condition was not something that was communicable.

Other than the unsteadiness, she was bright-eyed, alert had a good appetite and wanted to be back with the other horses. She nickered everytime I went to check on her. We miss this beauty so very much!

Hi! I'm finally getting on this computer to tell you all the news about Zoe and her new home. We brought Zoe home on 3/10/02, Sunday afternoon without any problems at all. She smelled the hay in the trailer and walked right in, saying good-bye loudly to her friends next to Foster Mom Lynn's house and shaking the whole trailer with her whinnies. She rode quiet all the way home and was welcomed by the nearest horses to her new home by a whole lot of "who are you?" calls. Zoe was led excitedly into the backyard to meet her stable companion Maggie, a 10 year old Morgan mare, who was anxiously pacing and calling out to her from the time we pulled up out front. The two of them got along so great! It was better than anything I could have imagined. Within a few moments, the two of them couldn't be led away from the other. There was none of the nastiness that we had expected and talked about that could occur with new horses. The two mares had been alone for so long that they both seemed excited just to have a pal around. Only a few squeals from Zoe, and Maggie was just eager to get close to her. No bites or kicks yet.

Then on Monday, when I let Zoe out of her pen to cruise around and work out her joints, she would only go about 5 feet before immediately returning to Maggie to touch noses. After about 10 minutes of this, I decided to let Maggie out. I was amazed! They were glued at the hip. Zoe actually started trotting to catch up to Maggie and stay right at her side. For the rest of the afternoon until feeding time, they grazed side by side and should one of them move a little too far away, the other would quickly catch up before relaxing and returning to graze.

On Tuesday afternoon, I decided to take Zoe out for a walk and start getting her use to her new environment. I found out that she needs a little refresher on being led and stopping. She's eager to please and learns fast. Within only 15 minutes she was leading pretty well. The water in the gutters scared her a little at first too, but a few times over the curb and she was going quietly like she's done it all her life. (probably has to) As I was leading her out, Maggie and Zoe consistently called out to each other, and when I returned Zoe to her pen, Maggie was covered in sweat! After only 2 days! I now have a great pair of girls, and I can't wait to keep working with them both, because I just know the trail rides with these to mares are going to be the best!

Thank you Gail for all your help in finding us a good match. And for your patience and kindness with my impatience. I will have those pictures by the end of the week and I will drop them off to you. I truly believe in what you are accomplishing and someday hope to be able to help a lot more than just Zoe. But for now, she's a helluva girl!

Will you you look at this girl now? Zoe's foster mom has done a terrific job of caring for this lovely lady. Foster Mom Lynne has had her teeth done, several visits from the farrier and loaded her up with hugs! Zoe has a kind nature and gets along well with dogs. Because the main concern for Zoe was to bring her back to health, she has not been evaluated as to riding abilities yet. From the looks of her.....she is quite healthy indeed! HA! Once she has been evaluated, Zoe will be up for adoption in the near near future.

Since TIER does not have any openings at our facility, we contacted a lady who had offered to foster horses and lives close by. Zoe (her new name and prounouned Zoey) is rehabilitating at a wonderful home nearby. She has a loving personality and does not like bermuda! HA! She is getting 3 small meals a day of bermuda and Timothy/bermuda pellets. She loves the pellets! We do not want to feed her alfalfa at this point because it is too rich for her starved system. Once Zoe has been restored to health and evaluated she will be available for adoption.