TIER Success Stories

Sugar Bear

Lying down in a soft spot due to the pain from injuries.

TIER & Falconridge Equine Rescue are working together to help this mare. We have named her Sugar Bear.

3-2-10 Late in the evening, we received information about a QH mare, approximately 14 years old that was injured and lying down. We need your help!

Original listing on Craigslist:

Free Approx 14 year old , Mare.. my ex-boyfriend left this horse with me and I don't know alot about them.. she is lame and underwieght. I have been feeding her 2 flakes of hay in morning, afternoon and night to try to help her weight issue, cause I feel bad for her, I took her to my sisters house to put her in a stall to be out of the rain. My sister told me to try and have her rescued or put down, I don't want her put down.. please help this mare..

After phone calls by TIER & Falconridge, we got the following information:

Mare had been with a horse trader (ex-boyfriend)...mare was ridden in the sand at the riverbottom and the horse was sound...but came back shaking and has been lying down a lot since. Off on the front and back leg swollen so sounds like she pulled or injured something in the sand she said. She’s very thin. This woman who has had her for 4 days now (sister to the gal who rode her in the sand in the riverbottom) said the mare will get up to eat, but thats it! Of course a vet has not been called since this occurred 4 days ago.

We are making arrangements for the mare to initially go to TIER. The vet has been contacted and once he has evaluated her, we will know more about what we are dealing with. If a chiropractor is needed, Dr. Don Moore will be contacted. Once we have more information about her condition and she has stabilized (depending on vet recommendation) she will then go to Falconridge Equine Rescue.

We need your help! We are in need of funds to pay the vet, purchase medications, chiropractor (if needed), feed, & eventual transport to Falconridge, etc. This mare has been suffering for days and days! We were told that she was being given 1 scoop of bute per day. That is equivalent to 1 bute tablet.....not near enough for an injury that causes a horse to lie down frequently. Horses do not lie down that much or that often unless they are in great pain!

You can see she is “sucked up” and stiff in the hind end.


Sores on front legs	Right hind leg swollen from ankle to stifle.	Another view of right hind leg

Right side-prominent backbone

The initial evaluation by the vet: 3/4/10
Vet's Invoice Reads: Lame behind; stay apparatus breaking down < angulation at stifle & hock - hocks full; Left stifle full (synvonitus?); ankles (hind) enlarged; suspensories inflamed and enlarged.

When the vet was first out for the evaluation, our first and foremost concern was quality of life. The vet recommended we give it some time, administer pain meds and monitor for the first few days. He was back out Saturday to do x-rays. Although she is getting up more for longer periods of time, we will see what the x-rays reveal.

Update 3-7-10 - I talked to my vet about the DLSD/ESPA and doing ultrasounds. He stated that if he were to do the ultrasounds all it would do would tell him that it was there (which he believes to be true) and that there is no cure. At her age, he would not recommed surgery, casting, etc.

He was mostly concerned with the recent injuries which occurred because she was run in sand and up hill when she was not in condition/shape. Not that ANY horse should be run in sand, etc. whether they are in shape or not!

The x-rays were done late yesterday afternoon and the results should be in by Monday. Vet will be quite busy Sunday at the track vetting horses from early to late and won't have time to read them. I spoke to him at 6:15 pm Saturday when he was still on the road and hadn't had time to read the x-rays.

Our FIRST concern is the recent injuries and treatment. Quality of Life is the uppermost thought in our minds for this 20 yr. old (more or less) mare. We will follow the recommendations given to us by our veterinarian.

Today she was up for an hour at least. To me, this indicates that the pain medication is doing it's job. For the past 2 days she has eaten all of her hay and pellets. The first few days she was hurting so bad that she didn't finish her hay. I moved her into a smaller stall with shavings and cover due to the rains.

She's a good girl. Doesn't want to be bothered and tends to avoid you when you move around the stall unless you have cookies! I can understand not wanting to be bothered since she is sore. But, when you bring a halter with you, she stops and allows you to put it on with no fuss and will go wherever you ask. Such a strong hearted girl with good manners.

Update 3/8/10 - Spoke to the vet this morning regarding the x-rays. NO FRACTURES! Whew!

She is on 2 bute tablets 2 x day for 7 days and then 1 bute tablet 2 x day. I am giving her joint supplements, vitamins & Prebiotic. She is in a 12' x 24' stall to restrict movement for at least 60 days per the vet. Vet feels it will be a long recovery and at that, she will be pasture sound. She is probably in her 20's.

Update 3/17/2010 - Our Vet was out to recheck Sugar Bear today. He said she is healing and doing well. He said it will take a couple of months for her to heal and to expect that she will be lying down during this time.

The sores from lying down are pretty much healing except for the ones on her hip and shoulder. I put RedKote & Derma Gel on them every day. Most of them are drying up, but the ones on her shoulder & hip continue to be rubbed/irritated because she is lying down on them.

We need to get another pair of bell boots to protect her ankles. We put them on upside down. The ones we have are displaying signs of mileage.

Farrier will be out tomorrow. Vet suggested pulling the shoes as they aren't really giving her any special support and to trim the hinds up.

Update 3/18/2010 - The Farrier was out today and we were able to have 9 horses trimmed. Hopefully, within the next couple of weeks we will have enough funds that we can have teeth floated. Moses, Sammy, & Tsan Tsant really need to have their teeth attended to.

Sugar Bear had her front shoes pulled and her hind feet were trimmed. I let her out to work out the stiffness & because she was getting antsy/hollering about Annabelle (donkey and new found friend) being out without her. Annabelle went to visit Paco (the OTHER donkey) and Sugar Bear started herding her away. This really made Annabelle upset. Nobody TELLS Annabelle what to do.....you need to ASK her to do things! Sigh, I had to put the Bear back in her cage so she wouldn't hurt herself trying to move the crotchety old donkey around.

Update 4/14/10 - Sugar Bear continues to improve! Since her arrival on 3-3-10 (Almost 1 ½ months ago), she has definitely improved. From that suffering little mare who could only find some relief from her pain by lying down 80% of the time, she has progressed to only lying down at night! Woo Hoo!

VolunTIER, Catherine came out today to groom some of the TIER residents and Sugar Bear got a thorough grooming session. She is losing her winter coat and some of that unhealthy/dull hair. She is still somewhat “sucked up” and is too thin for my liking, but according to the vet she is doing fine. The vet insisted that we not put too much weight on her as the healing process will take several months and the added weight would just add strain to the compromised ligaments. Of course, we will follow his advise.

Sugar Bear’s “bedsores” from lying down so much previously are healing nicely. I do keep one bell boot on her left ankle to help keep abrasion from lying down to a minimum. It has helped quite a bit. The sores are on her left hip, shoulder & hocks and are decreasing in size. We have been using Vetricyn & Red Coat for the sores. Her left ankle continues to be puffy, but the vet said to expect that as it was her left side that sustained the most damage. Sometimes, both ankles will be puffy.

She finishes all her hay and the soaked pellets that we supplement with Pawier Vitamins, a Joint Supplement & MSM. She is turned out every day to mow weeds, etc. and when I let her out today she broke into a little trot! We have moved her from her 12 x 24’ pen to a 24’ x 24’ pen since she is getting so much better. We continue to provide her with shavings & drystall for her comfort and to decrease the rubbing/abrasion process when she lies down/gets up.

3/4/10	Shavings-Stall Dry	($90.00
3/4/10	Vet - Evaluation	($50.00)
3/5/10	Vet - X-Rays	($200.00)
3/10/10	Chiropractor	($90.00)
3/18/10	Farrier	($30.00)
3/25/10	Shavings, Dry Stall, Pine Pellets, STB Pellets	($64.60)
4/4/10	Shavings, Dry Stall, Red Kote, STB Pellets	($70.44)
3-3-10 to 4-14-9	Supplements (Vitamins, Joint Supplement, MSM)	($130.00)
3-3-10 to 4-14-10	2 Bales Hay Per Week @ $11.00 a bale x 6 weeks (includes tax)	($132.00)
	Total to Date	$857.04

Sugar Bear is due for another visit from the farrier and she needs another adjustment from the Chiropractor. We have continued to keep in contact with our vet over the phone, but it is time for him to come out for a follow-up site visit. We are in need of approximately $170.00 to cover these costs. Donations toward Sugar Bear’s continued welfare would be greatly appreciated!

6/1/2010 Vet Visit - doing GOOD! Continue what we are doing for a couple more months. After that she should be as good as she will get. Considering the extent of her injuries, he was pleased with her progress. She won't be able to be ridden for extended periods ever again. But, if she is quiet enough she may be able to pack a calm kid around the ring with short periods of light trotting, but mostly walking. Truthfully, he said she would be better suited as a companion because there are no guarantees that someone won't ask more of her as a riding horse. I am so pleased to hear of her progress. Although I see progress, it's always good to have the vet check her out because he has an unbiased eye!

Update 6/5/2010 - VolunTIERS Suzy, her son Alex and Nephew Noah came out for a marathon poop scooping session today! Thank you for your hard work!

Suzy always brings carrots for the TIER residents but Sugar Bear requested a little more. She wanted her picture taken with these tireless VolunTIERs! And of course, the Bear wanted everyone to see that she is filling out from front to back!