Greene County Cruelty Case

May 1, 2010:
As Thoroughbreds were racing for the roses in the Kentucky Derby, 2 horses and 2 donkeys were being loaded for transport off a farm with horrific living conditions for their own race in life. A stallion and jack were transported to USERL - NC Triangle Region for immediate care. All four were surrendered during a cruelty investigation due to poor living conditions. The other horse and donkey were transported to a private farm for re-homing.

The donkey, pictured on the left, has marked overgrowth of his front hooves and severe thrush (see photo below left). At this time, it does not appear to be due to founder (laminitis). However, more diagnostics will need to be done to determine if founder is present. The stallion, pictured on the right, walks painfully on all four hooves. His hooves are not overgrown, but rather are severely infected with thrush so that the frogs are gone or deeply damaged with ulcerations on the soles of his hooves (see photo below right). Founder will also be ruled out for him, but at this time his pain appears to be from the deep ulcerations in his hooves.

The donkeys hooves currently appear to be overgrown with severe thrush. The stallion's hooves are painful due to ulcerations on his sole from severe
Further diagnostics are needed to determine if founder is present as well. They will be soaked daily to remove all the infection.

Both are doing very well in quarantine. Their stalls are cleaned several times a day to keep their environment very dry to help speed the healing of the ulcerations. Their hooves have been soaked several times to remove all the urine, feces and thrush and both are receiving pain medication. The stallion is already walking much more comfortably. Both will require intensive daily care to overcome these issues, as well as further veterinary diagnostics and farrier care.

They both need sponsors to help with these costs. If you are interested in sponsoring one or both, please contact us for more information at info@userltriangle.org.

May 4, 2010:
After daily soaking, both stallion and donkey were ready for trimming and further treatment for their hooves. No signs of founder are evident on either the stallion or the donkey. Apparently, their misfortune was caused by failure to provide farrier care and poor living conditions. The thrush is severe on the stallion and very painful. The donkey's hooves are grossly overgrown with thrush, but otherwise healthy.
Don Vick came by after his regular work hours to donate his time for them. He worked almost 4 hours total on both. Below are the results!

The stallion was more comfortable after daily soakings to remove the thrush and residual feces/urine on his hooves. The ulcerations on the hooves will take time and many more treatments to heal, but he is expected to make a full recovery.
Above left: front left hoof after trimming, showing the deep ulceration in center of hoof.

Above right: Hind right hoof after trimming. His hind heels are still painful from deeply infected thrush.

At Left: All finished! His front hooves were packed with a treatment for the ulcerations and wrapped to keep clean. He looks so much more relaxed and comfortable, no longer hunched up in pain.

May 15, 2010:
Cletus, below, is enjoying turnout in a small roundpen to graze now that he has cleared quarantine. His hooves are doing very well, and although it will take a good year to shape them back up to normal, Cletus is expected to be 100% sound.
Cletus was alittle shy upon arrival, but has some good handling training from his past that came back quickly. He's now very friendly and loves attention from his human visitors. His comical behavior entertains everyone on the farm, including the horses!

The stallion, now named Tuxedo, is doing very well after daily soaks for his hooves. The ulcerations finally began to heal and toughen up during the 3rd week of treatment. He is also expected to completely recover. He does have mild/moderate stringhalt in the rear left leg from an old injury, but it is not expected to deter him from being ridden. Stringhalt is not painful, rather it's a mechanical issue. It is expected that the stringhalt will improve after some turnout and conditioning. Tuxedo has impeccable ground manners (although that's overridden when a mare is his focus). It is hopeful that he has some saddle training and he will be evaluated for riding in a few months. Photos of Tuxedo will be coming soon - he's becoming quite a beautiful boy!

Both Tuxedo and Cletus are scheduled to be castrated next week.

October 4, 2010:
Cletus has been adopted into a wonderful home! The adopter needed an equine to keep her horse company when she took the others off for a trail ride, etc. He has integrated into her group of horses very well and is best buddies with one of them. Yeah for Cletus!

A note from his adopter:
... I just wanted to give you an update on Cletus. I've decided to call him Wyatt, it means brave and strong. He has really fit in well. I wanted him mostly as a buddy for my semi-retired 17yr old gelding Grant. They have hit it off so well, they play everyday. I think Wyatt is going to help keep him young. Grant will even share his grain with him, I usually have to guard all the other horses at mealtimes from Grant b/c he's the alpha but now I'm guarding Grant from Wyatt! Wyatt is really gentle about it but he doesn't need the extra grain. The other two horse like him a lot too.
He's also had plenty of opportunity to go after my dogs but he has no interest. I'm thrilled about that. Surprisingly, he's pretty quiet most of the time. He squeaks when the horses move him around but the only time he brays is occasionally when I take a horse out of the pasture. I'd like to hear him talk more! Anyway, I think he's adorable and I'm so happy it's worked out. I'll try to send you updates from time to time. Thanks again for the wonderful care you've given him.

Cletus is pictured at right with his new equine family.

Tuxedo, the stallion, is doing great also and will be evaluated under saddle soon, when it dries out a bit after the heavy rains. He still has some slight stallion behaviors, but has transitioned to "gelding" life quite easily (it helps that he was well-mannered as a stallion). Tuxedo will be available for adoption after his evaluation.