Penelope

On a bitter cold morning in late December of 2005, Gretchen received a phone call from her veterinarian, Dana Bridges DVM. Dr. Bridges had recently visited a weanling filly that had been injured in a pasture accident. Apparently, the filly had been playing and running around with the other horses and slipped sliding into the pasture fence. In the midst of excitement, the filly got herself caught in the New Zealand wire and managed to severe her left hind tendon. Dr. Bridges went to work on the filly?s leg as soon as she arrived at the farm. After getting everything cleaned up and bandaged, it was accessed that this would be an injury that would take several months to heal, if in fact it would heal at all. With this new knowledge of the filly’s situation, the owners discussed this and decided to then asked Dr. Bridges to euthanize the young horse. It would be too much work with no recovery guarantee. Ten to twelve months was a long time in their minds to not know an end result. But for any of us that know Dr. Bridges, you can only imagine the thoughts that were surrounding her mind. This is when she asked the owners to hold off on their decision and allow her a few days to find the filly a good home. That is when Dr. Bridges contacted People Helping Horses (PHH). Of course, Gretchen agreed to go with Dr. Bridges and pick up the filly the next morning. The instant Gretchen saw the horse, she knew that there was something special about her. The filly, who had before been so timid and afraid of new people, must have seen the same comforting gesture in Gretchen, as she came right up to her and without hesitation, loaded in the trailer and was ready to make the venture to her new home at Black Raven Stables. Penelope-once in the care of PHH, the filly was handled, groomed and hand walked daily. Her bandages were changed every other day and Dr. Bridges made sure that she was current on all of her vaccinations and Gretchen had her farrier trim her feet as well. It wasn’t any time at all before people started hearing about the new arrival and came to visit her. This was the first foal that PHH had aided in the program; and we all know how people respond to babies. Volunteers swooned over her and many potential adoptive parents came to spent time with her. Gretchen had several people apply to adopt the filly, so many that it was going to be a difficult decision to make. In her mind, she knew that she had at least another week to make the decision, as she wanted to insure that the foal was ready to be moved to a new home. The first week had passed and they were headed into the second, when Gretchen felt confident in the new home that she had picked for the filly; however, she had not told anyone of this yet. And it was a good thing. Arriving back from a Paint Horse show in Tucson, Arizona was one of Gretchen’s employees who trains and shows Quarter horses and Paints. Brandon, her employee, had been talking with Gretchen for several months about purchasing a new baby in the spring. This hadn’t even crossed her mind; in fact she didn’t even mention the filly to him, not thinking that he would be interested. When he made his walk through the barn his first morning back to work, he peered through the iron bars of her stall and found himself in awe of the filly that stood before him. He described her to Gretchen as the “most eye catching and adorable foal that he had ever laid his sights on.” He immediately went to her office and demanded the to see the information on this filly. She says that he stood there by her desk just staring at the file. This filly is bred very well. She had everything going for her. He wanted to speak to the vet who had done her work, so he and Dr. Bridges discussed the conditions that same day. Brandon, being the type of person that he is, had a second vet look at the filly as well that day. He was moving fast-he loved this horse and he wanted to know what the exact conditions were. To his liking, both veterinarians agreed, the filly would heal just fine. With a year of heal time and proper care and attention, she would be expected to be at 100% by December of 2006. Brandon adopted the filly by the week’s end. Three months have past and Brandon and his new filly, Penelope, are waiting to see the veterinarian for her first ultrasound. This will determine whether she has healed enough to get minimal turnout each day or if she needs to remain in her stall for a short period longer. They are expecting to see that the leg had built up enough scar tissue that the tendon will hold the leg in form without the toe dragging and causing a stress on the leg. We will know soon how things are progressing. Brandon keeps us updated on how she is doing daily. He is a very proud papa.
Gretchen, Dana, Keith and Volunteers:
I am so grateful to each and every one of you for taking the chance and saving my sweet Penelope. Without your organization and kind hearts, I do not know where she would be today, but I am thankful that she is with me now. She brings joy to my days and laughter into my life. It has made a big difference in my day-to-day existence having her to be around and share my time with. I know that you all worked very hard to keep her faith up while she was in the initial stages of her recovery. You have made an impact on both of us. It is because of people like you that horses like mine are given a second chance at life. I can never repay you, but I hope that I can help by volunteering myself in your program. Thank you and I will keep you all posted on how she is doing.?
Sincerely, Brandon & Penelope