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Success Stories::
Begin Again Farms Equine Shelter |
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 "ISRAEL'S
BLUE WOLF"
by Rhonda Jackson
I want to tell you about one of the
most amazing horses I know. I run a
shelter for abused, abandoned,
neglected and unwanted horses by the
name of Begin Again Farms, Inc. in
Ellerslie, Ga. I got a telephone
call a few years ago from a horse
farm up in Carrollton, Ga. about a
young colt that had been in a
pasture accident. They started
weaning their foals at 3 months of
age and this particular colt had
been running with the rest of the
herd in the pasture and had run
headfirst into a telephone pole.
They found him lying out in the
pasture unable to stand, somehow
they managed to get him to the barn
and placed him in a horse trailer.
They kept him in the trailer for
several weeks, unable to stand and
barely able to eat or drink Finally
he stood but not very well. The vet
said there was nothing that could be
done for the little guy because of
the neurological damage that had
taken place. The woman who owned the
farm had heard of my shelter and
took a chance and called me. She
said her husband wanted to put a
bullet in his head and end it. I
talked to my vet and explained the
situation and was advised to leave
the colt where he was. But when I
looked at this colt my heart went
out to him He was so young and sweet
I had to try. So we padded a trailer
with bales of hay, in case he fell
on the 85-mile trip home and somehow
we managed to get him on it. He rode
like a champion. When we arrived at
the farm and went to take him off he
just tumbled right out onto the
ground. We stood there looking at
this little guy laid out fiat and I
thought to myself what have we
gotten ourselves into. But after a
few minutes he struggled and got
himself up. We managed to get him
into a stall for the night. He soon
learned that instead of having to
throw himself on the ground to lie
down he could slide down the stall
walls and ease himself onto the
ground. Getting up took more effort,
but he also managed that.
I watched this little colt struggle
daily as he bobbed his head and fell
down repeatedly while trying to
walk. I could barely stand to watch
as the other horses ran past the
arena where he was turned out and he
would try to run, somersaulting
across the arena. He looked like a
crippled child trying to walk and
wanting so badly to keep up with the
other children. It was heart
wrenching. We had a wonderful vet
chiropractor who came out and gave
him his first adjustment and also
treated him with some holistic
remedies for neurological damage.
One cold morning I got a call from
the volunteers at the farm and they
were panicked. They told me Izzy,
which had become his barn name, was
down and they thought he was dying.
He had slid down the arena wall and
gotten his head pinned under the
bottom rail during the night and was
unable to get up. It was the first
time we felt that we could leave him
out overnight by himself instead of
putting him in his stall I thought I
had made a really huge mistake. When
I arrived I found that the
volunteers had dragged him out from
under the railing and placed a
blanket on his little body to try to
warm him. One of them was holding
his head in their lap and stroking
him. I walked over to them, Izzy
wasn't moving, I looked at his gums
and to my surprise he had great
color. Everything seemed normal
except for the fact that he wouldn't
attempt to get up. I told the staff
to wait and we would try one more
thing before calling a vet. I went
and got some grain, told them to put
his head down and remove the
blanket. I shook the grain bucket
and called him by name. The little
guy scrambled to his feet came over
and started eating just as if
nothing had happened. He had been
enjoying the attention that was
being lavished on him and took full
advantage of the entire situation.
That is when I knew this guy was a
survivor and we could all learn a
great deal from him and his ability
to cope.
Over the next year we watched as
this colt grew stronger and he
learned to run, buck and rear just
like the rest of the horses. Once he
had accomplished those things it was
time to turn him out with some of
the rest of the herd so that he
could learn how to be a horse. For
the first month he took a lot of
abuse but he learned a lot about
being a horse.
Then when he was about 2 years old,
again we found him down in the
pasture unable to stand. We got him
up and he was dragging his right
front leg. We called our regular vet
and got a new fellow that had never
met Izzy and knew nothing about him.
He told us he had damaged the radial
nerve in his leg and that if it had
been severed we would have to have
him destroyed. He gave him some
steroids and said he would be back
in 2 days to see how he was doing
and we could make a decision at that
time about his future. Well in 2
days time Izzy had learned to swing
his right leg around and forward so
that he could then use it to hop on.
When the vet got there and saw
Izzy's ability to find a way to
compensate for his disability, he
was amazed. Fortunately the nerve
was not severed and he recovered
fully with time.
 Because of his head injury he was
very slow to develop physically. He
had one hip that appeared to be
shorter than the other and because
he is a dun and has a pronounced
stripe down his back it was even
more noticeable. We felt he would
never be rideable but because of his
wonderful bloodlines we felt he may
have a future as a breeding
stallion. First we had to find out
if he was sterile from the injury.
So we decided to place one of our
mares with him in a paddock by
themselves for several months. We
never witnessed any activity other
than the fact that he had become
extremely attached to her. So we
were afraid that maybe he wouldn't
be useful in that area after all. We
then gave the mare an ultrasound
just to see if there had been any
action. Well he must have been a
midnight lover, because the mare
foaled in April 2001 and had the
most beautiful filly. She is perfect
in every way. As soon as we brought
her around for Izzy to see he puffed
himself up and was strutting his
stuff for all the horses.
Since the arrival of his filly, Ruby
Sue, he has again changed physically
in ways we would have never
imagined. His hip seems to be
straightening out and he is building
a chest and hindquarters to die for.
He has a very strong jaw with an
awesome color and markings. We now
believe he may become rideable and
are presently trying to raise funds
to have him sent to a trainer. He
has truly become a walking miracle
and an inspiration for anyone who
may have to overcome insurmountable
odds. I myself look at Izzy as a
role model. I was diagnosed with
Multiple Sclerosis not long after
receiving Izzy and was not given a
very good prognosis. But after
watching Izzy's struggle to survive
I too believe I can overcome
anything. I hope Izzy's story can
help someone else as much as he has
helped me. He is truly my hero. |
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