Mary
Mary
- #77. Blue Roan Draft Mare. Appx. 8-9 yrs. 18 hands. 4
white socks. Thin!
This mare rides and drives, but she is sore in front. Someone
has put a lot of money into her front feet. She has special
shoes (borium? Don't know if that is right.) Also, her left
front has stuff that looks like putty or filler in it. This
mare is one of those gentle giants. She followed me all
around the pen. Sweet, sweet girl. And HUGE!
Presently,
there is a hold on her pending the outcome of a vet check.
Vet was out today (7/17/99) and took x-rays. Depending on
the results, we may have a home for her with a very nice
lady who has gone to the expense to have this lovely mare
checked out by a vet.
This
mare was vet checked. She is foundered and their might be
possible rotation of the coffin bone. From postings to a
"Draft" board, her previous owner was found and
I e-mailed her. The previous owner is the one who said she
had rotation of the coffin bone that could come through
at any time. The previous owner also stated that she is
a registered Clydesdale and is 12 yrs. old. No papers available.
At any rate, we received quite a volume of e-mail on this
wonderful, wonderful girl. If all goes as expected, this
gentle queen of a horse will be going to a wonderful couple.
I have spent some time talking to them and feel that God
is watching over this mare. This couple is sparing no expense
to insure that this mare is comfortable on her ride home!
Lynda and Dan are familiar with drafts, aware of this mare's
foot problems and yet are still willing to give her a safe,
responsible, healthy home. They have already been in contact
with their farrier who has set up a schedule which he believes
will help this mare to be sound in about a year. (I had
heard this from the lady who had the vet check done also.
Her farrier indicated it would take a year.) So, there is
very much hope indeed for this mare! Thank you Lynda
& Dan!
Update
8/23/99 - Mary, who by the way, is a Shire, is
doing very well. Her coat is starting to become glossy,
and we are starting to see her hips filling out. Even though
she was ill when she arrived, it appears her upper respiratory
infection is gone, as is any related stress problems we
were treating her for. She did manage to get in one really
good sneeze, however, on one of our farmhand's head. All
of us found it quite humorous, except for the farmhand,
of course. Mary also seemed pretty pleased with herself.
The
vet has been out to see her twice since she arrived, which
was a week ago this last Saturday. He took exays on his
last visit, and lo and behold, we found out she does not
have a rotated coffin bone nor does she have ringbone! She
does have a spur on one coffin bone which will attribute
to inflamation in the future. Proper hoof care should negate
any problems, however. The vet is of the opinion Mary's
hoof condition is do solely to previous owener's lack of
hoof care. She has chronic founder, so we will be on the
lookout for flareups constantly. He then said she would
be sound by next summer! I had to ask him exactly what he
meant by sound, for we had assumed she would be Auntie Mary
to our weanling and new Fjords. He said she would be sound
for driving and riding!!
The
farrier also agreed with this, although he is thinking closer
to spring. All who have met Mary are in love, and
we are already getting Mary and Fjord visitors! Things are
going quite well, and we could not be happier. Mary is a
doll!
Lynda
and Daniel
Update
9/3/99 - She is doing awesomely well. We bring
her out to pasture a few hours each day, and for about the
last two weeks, all she would do is stand in the corner
closest to the horses/us/barn and gaze mournfully at all
of us. We would give her a tiny flake of hay so she would
not feel "left out", but were hoping evenually
she would graze. Well, yesterday was her big day! Dan went
out to get her and she was grazing up a storm! She even
had pine needles stuck in her forelock. hehe The only way
that could have happened is if she was playing in a small
grove of pine trees in the pasture. We also found shavings
in her forelock this morning, indicating she is finally
starting to lie down in her stall at night.
She
is quite the tear jerker, I must say. No one can enter the
barn without her getting at least a pet from them. She also
is really starting to LOVE her food! She practically drools
now at feeding time, whereas before, she really did not
understand what was going on.
She
is a beauty, got a bath and is quite proud of herself. Hopefully
soon, you will have pics!
Lynda
and Daniel
Update
10/26/99 - Mary is doing exceptionally well. She
is gaining weight well and is one of the friendliest horses
on our farm. She adores the Norwegian Fjords, and we believe
she thinks they are all foals she must watch out for! She
is still in love with her "daddy" and is more
attentive with him then I. She sees me as the "food
bringer", which is a good thing, too. She had another
trim done on her poor feet Saturday, and we are actually
starting to see the real hooves! She is feeling much better,
and is much perkier. I have a funny story to tell you about
this.
The
other day she was coming in from pasture and snuck through
the gate. Well, I should not say snuck, I was standing there
getting her halter on and she decided it was time to go,
so off she went. First, she had to explore all the trees,
grass, and then she decided to go visit the new rescue horses
who were in the round pen. She pranced around the pen, trotting
AND cantering, quite proud of herself. I finally decided
I had had enough of these antics, so went off to try to
lure her with grain. HA. I took the grain bucket, held it
over my head, shook it, and called...MARY!!...from the barn.
All of a sudden, she turned that massive head, perked her
ears, and CHARGED at a full tilt gallop in my direction!
I said in so many words, OH MY, and ran to the barn! She
came roaring around the corner, skidded to a halt, then
very slowly entered the barn and walked into her stall.
She is so funny!
Update
11/2001 - As you know, Mary was doing quite well here,
although her founder was much more extreme than the previous
owner had led all of us to believe. She acted like our Auntie
and adored the foals. Well, you know, you got our emails
about Mary!
In
the fall of 2001, she started to backslide badly. We of
course immediately called out our vet, and he had very sad
news for us. The circulation had stopped in Mary's feet,
something that can happen with founder as severe as hers
was. We did try a new round of medicines, to no avail.
Finally,
in November, we made the decision to euthanize her. This
girl was very popular in our area, everyone knew far and
wide our farm from our Fjords and Mary, who, by the way
was actually a Shire, not a Clyde. One of our neighbors
came over with a backhoe early on a Saturday morning and
started to dig a hole in Mary's pasture. The vet showed
up about an hour later and we led her slowly to the hole.
She could barely walk by then. He put her down very quickly.
Of
course, all of us were in tears and our then 4 year old
son went around the pasture gathering twigs, branches, leaves,
grasses, and old flowers to put in her grave. We went and
got her some flakes of hay and of course her favorite grain
to add to her grave. Asa, our son, said he wanted her to
remember where her home was.
In
the next pasture, our Fjord stallion and two mares stood
and watched the entire thing. Late that night, when we went
out to feed, Engar, our stallion, was still standing vigil
at the fenceline, overlooking Mary's grave.
A
few days later, Asa, while going to bed, said, "Mommy,
listen! Do you hear that?"
I
said, "What, honey?"
He
said, "Mary! I can hear Mary! She is running now, Mommy!"