Emergency water and food after fire and explosion.

December 29, 2018 I had hoped to get you an update sooner, but I have been down with a bad flu since Christmas. I haven't had the flu or a fever in years and this one had me in bed till today. Feeling better but still moving slow. I guess what they call the Christmas crud is really going around this year. I hope you are all well or if you have this, you get well soon. I do want to bring you all up to date on how our Noel is doing.

Noel, a name I chose for her, arrived late in the afternoon on December 12th, relinquished by her owners because they had tried to sell her and we offered her a safe home if they would give her to us. They had several people look at her but no one would buy her. This is a picture of her back and hips upon her arrival. Sadly they had been riding her like this. She even had recent marks on her hair from being ridden.

Knowing she had no fat to keep warm we blanketed her day and night in the cold temps and got her this special blanket that come farther up her neck to keep her even warmer. Very important since the high today is in the low 20's and tonight is supposed to be 5 degrees, we have also had snow. This picture has the buckles hanging down but that is because I wanted to take a picture before the sun went down. I buckled it right after.

We pulled her blood and ran a CBC to see if there was some medical issue causing her to not gain weight and Dr. Helzer found nothing that indicated she couldn't gain weight, but rather she has had long-term malnutrition. We also did a fecal text to see if a worm load was causing a weight loss issue and that came back negative. We started her on small round-the-clock meals of alfalfa and slowly added in feed, increasing both a little at a time. We also treated her with Ulcergard in case she had ulcers from lack of food. The other thing we noticed is that she drinks lots of water which is excellent, keeping her trough heated makes it easier to drink. The two pictures below were taken 12 days apart, the top one on Dec. 24th and the lower one on her arrival Dec. 12th. She is hydrated and starting to put on a little bit of weight and we couldn't be happier.

We have every confidence that she will regain her health even in the midst of the cold, snowy winter weather and I can tell you her mood is even a little spunky now. Thank you so much to all who have donated to help us get her back on the road to health. The best present she has ever gotten.

Just when you think things should slow down for the year we stepped in this morning to help neighbors whose well house burnt to the ground and in the fire their pressure tank exploded leaving them no well and no water, just a pile of smoldering rubble. The explosion could be heard and felt throughout the neighborhood and was very scary since it was still dark out. Knowing they have one horse and two mules I texted them before the sun came up and let them know we would bring over two of the big water troughs purchased this summer during the drought and fill them with water so they would not need to worry about how they were going to have water for the equine.

Lynn Pace of White Mountain Water Hauling made an emergency trip out here on her day off to fill the troughs for us. She is such a blessing. This is KC, their gelding who is sniffing around the troughs as we are getting ready to fill them. He was very interested in what was going on. All of them were shook up after the explosion, so this was a good distraction and we gave them some special hugs and love too.

Lynn brought 1000 gallons of water to fill the big troughs and we topped off their smaller troughs so there would be plenty of water to last through this storm and cold spell. For the KC, Molly & Jenny the water should last a couple weeks.

Lary placed tank heaters in each of the large ones so the water will not freeze and then hooked up the cords so they can plug them in and they should have nice drinkable water. The tanks can be refilled by Lynn until the well is fixed and running. We are so glad we had the troughs on hand for this emergency and were able to quickly help the neighbors during this time of crisis. Knowing they have many unplanned expenses right now we were able to provide them with six bags of hay pellets for the mules and KC through our emergency equine food fund, and a large bag of dog food for the rescued dogs they care for too.   Now they don't have to worry about food or water for several weeks while the well is fixed.

Hopefully the last few days of 2018 will go without a hitch though a big storm is predicted on December 31st and into the new year. I suspect my hubby, who works on county roads will be out plowing so people can travel safely during the new year holiday. I will be sure he has a hot meal when he is done! As we close out the year I know there are lots of great charities for people to make year end donations and I hope you would consider us if you do. We are small and 100% volunteer run so your funds go to those in need and every dollar is so very much appreciated. Your supports makes a difference in many lives! Wishing you all a wonderful 2019.......Happy New Year from all of us at Equine WellBeing Rescue.