Post by schwung on Nov 30, 2005 0:58:22 GMT -5
Monica is a 20 year old, 14.3H reg. very big-bodied QH mare rescued via CBER. She is a sweet, kind, and easy to handle mare. When she arrived in foster care, her coat was shiny and her manners impeccable, you would have thought she had been well cared for if not for her hugely overgrown and cracked feet. She had one enlarged knee but it didn't seem to bother her much.
Monica caused quite a stir when she arrived at my farm to be fostered! She had an udder that would make a milk cow proud and was very big over all (I secretly called her Mack Truck Monica, because she appeared to be as wide as she was tall!). The vet came to evaluate her and we thought it best to have her checked for pregnancy due to her size and the size of her udder. We first did a blood test which came back positive. We did rectal palpation just to be sure, and well, my vet thought she felt a fetus. Given the fact that she had copious milk (that tested at a 40% chance of foaling in 24 hours based on my test strips), one of my horses got kicked out of the barn and I immediately went into full foal watch mode. I hooked up my video camera, bought straw and bedded her down deeply, and settled in on the couch with my alarm set in 2-hour increments to get up and check on her.
We held a baby name contest. "Lewinsky" was my personal favorite for a colt.
Three weeks went by.
Her belly was getting smaller. Her bag was shrinking. Her chance of delivery on basis of the milk test strips was going down, not up. I had my other vet (who was there for other things) do a check on her. He palpated her, felt nothing. Did an ultrasound...nope, definately nothing. False alarm!
Three weeks of lost sleep, but hey, who's counting?
After that, she went back outside (she didn't care, she was happy wherever she was), and she was ridden. She did wonderfully - as it turned out, she was fairly well trained, with the same easy going and willing temperment under saddle as she displayed on the ground.
Monica found her forever home with a 12 year old girl, who plans to use her in 4H. She was donated by a woman who's friend's daughter had recently been killed. The daughter had been in 4H and loved horses, so she wanted to donate Monica to a 4H home. Both girls, although it was not known at the time, were named Tiffany.
Technically, Monica was not a SAFE horse, she was privately sponsored by a woman in Florida. However, as we fostered her, and found her a home, she was kind enough to donate Monica's adoption fee to SAFE, to be used to save other horses in need.
Here is Monica just after arriving in foster care:
And here she is under saddle, isn't she stunning?:
Monica caused quite a stir when she arrived at my farm to be fostered! She had an udder that would make a milk cow proud and was very big over all (I secretly called her Mack Truck Monica, because she appeared to be as wide as she was tall!). The vet came to evaluate her and we thought it best to have her checked for pregnancy due to her size and the size of her udder. We first did a blood test which came back positive. We did rectal palpation just to be sure, and well, my vet thought she felt a fetus. Given the fact that she had copious milk (that tested at a 40% chance of foaling in 24 hours based on my test strips), one of my horses got kicked out of the barn and I immediately went into full foal watch mode. I hooked up my video camera, bought straw and bedded her down deeply, and settled in on the couch with my alarm set in 2-hour increments to get up and check on her.
We held a baby name contest. "Lewinsky" was my personal favorite for a colt.
Three weeks went by.
Her belly was getting smaller. Her bag was shrinking. Her chance of delivery on basis of the milk test strips was going down, not up. I had my other vet (who was there for other things) do a check on her. He palpated her, felt nothing. Did an ultrasound...nope, definately nothing. False alarm!
Three weeks of lost sleep, but hey, who's counting?
After that, she went back outside (she didn't care, she was happy wherever she was), and she was ridden. She did wonderfully - as it turned out, she was fairly well trained, with the same easy going and willing temperment under saddle as she displayed on the ground.
Monica found her forever home with a 12 year old girl, who plans to use her in 4H. She was donated by a woman who's friend's daughter had recently been killed. The daughter had been in 4H and loved horses, so she wanted to donate Monica to a 4H home. Both girls, although it was not known at the time, were named Tiffany.
Technically, Monica was not a SAFE horse, she was privately sponsored by a woman in Florida. However, as we fostered her, and found her a home, she was kind enough to donate Monica's adoption fee to SAFE, to be used to save other horses in need.
Here is Monica just after arriving in foster care:
And here she is under saddle, isn't she stunning?:
.... don't forget her big heart 
