Animals 4Ever: House Calls For Horses‏

KC, Photo by Tony Stromberg

SANCTUARY IS FOREVER

OUR SENIORS AND SPECIAL NEEDS HORSES NEED YOUR HELP!

Dear Friend,

We all grow older, and it’s no different for the horses and burros who have lived with us happily for so long at Return to Freedom.

As a Sanctuary, we are committed to, and responsible for, the life-long well-being of our beloved residents.

Our growing population of aging horses presents increased need for vet visits, as well as demands for special feed and housing. We carefully monitor the health and well-being of all our equine residents.

Right now, we urgently need your help with our veterinary fund. Our projected annual veterinary expenses are $45,000, a big challenge that we can only meet with the support of caring people like you. Every contribution, large and small, helps to assure the healthy and safety of our good friends here at RTF.

Take KC for example.

KC lived most of his life at a stable under a bridge in Brooklyn New York. After decades of giving riding lessons in the city, he had arthritis and was traded in a poker game. RTF donors who knew the horse did everything they could to find him, and we agreed to retire him at Return to Freedom almost 10 years ago. Now thirty, he tore his suspensory ligament this winter. This was causing him so much pain, even our caring vet feared he would have to be mercifully set free. But because of our generous supporters, we had the funds to keep him in a pain management program long enough to see his injury heal. With a lot of daily care, he is now off pain meds and able to move around freely.

Without our loyal supporters, the story would not have had a happy ending.

Lola was diagnosed with ringbone, excess bone growth in the joint. After extensive care and supplements, her last x-rays show that the joint is fusing and her bone density is improving, which we hope will eliminate any pain. Lola needs ongoing supplements and therapy.

Sun, left, one of our longtime friends rescued from slaughter himself in the nick of time, now in his mid- twenties has been a great mentor for the unruly and feisty Sundancer!

Sundancer was injured shortly after birth. He was stepped on by a member of his herd, resulting in a fracture. We feared we would need to euthanize this handsome and alert young colt, but decided to do what we could to give him a chance.

Thanks to regular special trimming and special attention, Sundancer now runs, bucks, and plays as if nothing is wrong!

As he grows we may need to address any further issues, but Sundancer appears to have a bright future here with his best friend Sun.

If you can, please join with our team of supporters to donate to our Veterinary Fundfor all our special needs horses and, importantly, share this request with your friends and on social media! If you can't make a donation at this time please continue to share!