DreamCatchers
Equine Rescue Inc.

I wish I were the eloquent writer my sister is or the professional writer like my friend Jan.  Then I might be able to put into words the feelings I have surrounding the events of last Thursday better...it was supposed to be just another day the vet visited to float teeth, geld one of our colts and do a few rechecks on previously treated patients like Rio, who we were trying to stabilize his cushings syndrome.

I asked her to bring shots for my personal horses for the spring.  We are still waiting on the shots for the rescue horses being donated by AAEP but I wanted to get my kids out of the way.  I told her she didn't need to give the vaccines, I could do it as I have for many years without incident.

I gave Raven hers first, rabies, 5 way and west nile with no incident, same with Beau and then Pistol.  I had brought Little Bit up to have her teeth checked so she was next in line for her vaccines.  I gave them in the same order as the others, she didn't flinch, what a good girl...I then proceeded to dispose of the sharps and pack up the other 5 shots to take to the fridge til I could bring the others up for their turn. 

As I rounded the corner of the barn, I saw Little Bit struggling against her lead tied to the fence next to Beau.  At first I thought she had had an altercation with Beau and was pulling back in response trying to get away...I rushed to her, untied her lead and got her back on her feet.  She stood there trembling for just seconds, whinnying to the others in a tone that said she was in a panic, her eyes were wide open with terror...I immediately realized something was very wrong and I yelled to the Vet,"Judy, she is having a reaction".  Judy immediately drew a shot of epinephrine to counteract the anaphylactic reaction but before she could inject her, Little Bit went down again and this time she couldn't get up, she was having a seizure, her eyes rolled back in her head...Judy injected her with the first shot intra muscular and then drew another shot and while Little Bit lay there with her legs jerking back and forth moving her whole body, somehow,  Judy managed to find her vein and give her another injection intravenously...I held her head on my lap waiting for the shots to work....it seemed like hours but it was literally seconds, she jerked one last time and lay still...I looked at Judy and she at me, we felt for pulse and respirations but there were none, she was gone....I straddled her chest trying to give her chest compressions and get her heart started again, all with no effect.  She was gone, in just a matter of minutes...I cried and hugged her, held her head in disbelief...how could this have happened...she had received her shots regularly every year for 5 years now with no reaction.  The other 3 who had received their shots were fine, no reaction. 

There is no rhyme or reason for this...there was no warning, I miss her terribly, try not to think about it, it hurts too much right now.  Was this my fault somehow.. everyone who witnessed the tragedy said it was not but I still feel responsible...she was my baby, I have loved her since the day she arrived at my pasture when she was 7 months old.  I saw her the day she was born on July 4, 2004. How could she be gone in the blink of an eye.

We have said it all along, there is a special human for every horse and vice versa but this week at the rescue it was more true than ever.  Candice and her husband John came looking for a companion for their older gelding so he would not be lonely when their youngster was sent out for training.  They thought a mule or donkey would fit the bill so they came to visit Lily and see if she was the one.  While visiting Lily, I decided to introduce Candice to one of our horses that has had a hard time fitting in with new families.

Santana was "donated" to DreamCatchers in September of 2008 and was instantly adopted by Glenda.  She had him for nearly a year and when financial hardship befell her, she asked if she could return him as she couldn't afford to keep him so back he came in July of 2009.

No sooner had he settled in again here than a nice lady named Connie from Kansas came looking for the perfect horse for herself and also a horse for her children to learn on.  She rode Santana and instantly decided on him for herself and a few weeks later, Baby Doll came to the rescue.  She was the perfect older QH mare for the kids to learn with so Connie and her husband made the trip and picked her up and took her home to join Santana and their herd was complete, or so they thought.

Santana, being a 7 yr old Arab at the time, can have a lot of sass.  He is georgeous and he knows it but in a very sweet way.  He is also a horse that will challenge you and make you earn his respect and cooperation.  Connie works very hard as an xray tech at a local hospital in her community and only had a limited amount of time to spend with Santana so she needed him to be more automatic and less of a challenge.  After struggling with this for a month or so, she made the hard decision that he was not for her and she returned him to the rescue in September 2009.

Well, that revolving door was not about to stop for Santana, he was just too good looking to not be noticed and desired, which is exactly what happened when Brooke of Colorado Springs spied him.  Her family owns Arabians and though she was somewhat of a novice rider, she wanted him and was willing to do whatever her parents thought necessary to have him, riding lessons, working with a trainer, extra hours at the stable etc.

Well, being a teenager, we all know how long the attention span is and when Santana continued to challenge her, Brooke grew frustrated and decided he was not for her and asked us to pick him up, which we did just about 2 weeks ago.

When Candice met Santana, the attraction was something to behold...John knew he was screwed and that Candice would have this horse, so he relunctantly said goodbye to Lily and his dream of owning a cute little mule and hello to his wife's new soulmate (of the horse persuasion...John is the human soulmate)  Candice has visited and ridden Santana twice now since their initial visit last Friday (2/26) and they are a perfect match.  Santana balks occasionally but Candice works him through it and if you could see the two of them together, they are like two peas in a pod...

Santana will have his vet check on Thursday but I don't think it matters to Candice, she loves him no matter what.  He will remain at DreamCatchers for the next month while they have their barn finished at home and then he will be going home to join the others Noir the 4 yr old paint (soon to be going to the trainer) and Tucks the 20 something Morgan Gelding who has been Candices best steed since he was about 2 yrs old.  Tucks is retired now due to health concerns but will live with Candice and John til his time comes to cross the rainbow bridge.

I suspect we will be seeing a lot of Candice over the next month while Santana stays with us.  She found it very hard to say goodbye to him today after our ride and lingered til well after dusk then relunctantly drove away but texted me at least 3 times on her trip home. 

There is really nothing like it when you find the ONE...magical.

I WANT TO SEE NEW PICTURES...STORIES....OF THE RANCH, PEOPLE, HORSES!!!!

I want to see pictures of your improvements, you out feeding, horses in the fields, volunteers working with horses...pictures of your 2 cats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AWWWWW!!!!!!  I am going to scream if there isn't something new to look at and read about on here soon!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, this was an eventful and somewhat stressful week at DreamCatchers...

On Sunday, August 9th, Skylar, one of our babies, suddenly became very ill.  She was discovered in her pasture lying down and when the rest of her young herd came to the fence for treats, she failed to rise and follow.  Skylar was very week and had considerable difficulty getting to her feet.  She was trembling and wobbling...Julie was alerted and Skylar was immediately put into quarantine in the barn and the vet was called.

When the vet arrived, Skylar was a little better, having been given an injection of Banamine to bring down her fever but she was still very wobbly...

Blood samples were drawn and a nasal swab taken to begin testing to try to determine what was wrong with her.  In the meantime, the vet prescribed Pennicillin, Banamine, GastricGuard and an antacid along with probiotics and vitamin E.  All treatments at this point were a stab in the dark but could not hurt and could possibly help her improve.

Based on her symptoms, a myriad of ailments could have befallen her from Herpes to Rabies to a Genetic Defect...we just did not know at that point.

48 hours of nail biting and round the clock monitoring later, the diagnosis was made when her blood work revealed high amounts of lymphocites which could mean only one of two things, Leukimia (not likely) or tick fever...We began to administer the proper antibiotic to treat the tick fever and I am very happy to report that Skylar is feeling much better.  It was also discovered that due to her weakened condition, she had contracted a mild cold as well but that too is under control.  She will remain in the barn to complete her series of antibiotic treatments but will rejoin her herd as soon as this is done.  Thanks to everyone for their concern for our little girl...Julie DeMuesy