Rescue Blog: Manitukala (Guardian Angel)
Mike and I (Susan) have a business, Hauling for Hay, which is a local horse transport service where we haul horses in order to try to earn much needed money to help feed the rescues here currently numbering over 85 including the sheep and goats, but not the dogs, cats, and birds...
We hauled to Fallon Feedlot, a 14 hour trip to transport horses "ransomed" out of the feedlot and into either rescues or adopters. We do this for 
minimal money, usually only making a couple of hundred dollars for 4 or 5-day trips - but we do it to save the lives of these animals awaiting transport to slaughter.
Wednesday night (07-01-09) we left Arizona at 10 p.m. and drove to Fallon where we loaded three mares and their three month-old foals. Yes, foals are slaughtered, mares are slaughtered, pregnant mares are slaughtered -- and unsavory breeders actually breed so they can SEND horses to slaughter for the almighty dollar.
We loaded the three mares and their foals, one mare and foal per compartment, on Thursday late afternoon, and began the return trip Arizona. We ran into a vicious thunderstorm and had to pull off the road during the early morning hours.
We continued on when we could and arrived at Dreamchaser at about 3 in the afternoon on Friday. It took an hour to get the wild black mare out of the trailer with her baby, and we truly got a look at her condition in the daylight hours. She was totally emaciated and obviously had pneumonia. Her colt was coughing as well. She looked as though she wanted to lie down and die right then, but three of us got her into a clean, bedded down end stall in the upper barn.
Mike and I headed to deliver the other two mares and foals, an additional 6 hour trip (one-way), but we were anxious to get them off the trailer and at their new, safe, facility. We delivered them at 10:30 Friday night (07-03-09).
Jamie, my daughter, noted that the black mare (who had no name), was up and eating when she finished the final feeding at 10:30 p.m. By 7:00 the next morning, the mare was dead, and thus, the baby was an orphan. The condition of this mare would have broken anyone's heart. The fact that she was starved before going to the auction and being 'bought' by the killers is a travesty. It is ALL a travesty.
We are now pulling out all the stops to try to save this foal's life. We have him on immune boosters and antibiotic shots for the cold. We met Doctor Tryon at his church this morning so he could put an IV catheter in the colt for hydration. We stood in the horse trailer until the fluid was in him, and we will continue to hydrate him. We are trying to get him to eat mare and foal pellets and alfalfa.
The vet bills for this little guy will be huge, as he also has a hernia with a pretty big hole into his abdomen and will need surgery and castration as soon as he is healthy enough.
We are hoping that spreading this story will bring in donations to help save this foal. -Susan
UPDATES
08/10/09: The orphan's name is Manitukala, meaning "guardian angel." He has had two emergencies with abscesses, above and below his catheter. He has a good sized hernia which will require surgery - we hope to be able to do that surgery and a castration at one time, when he is stronger.
11/20/09: Manitukala had his hernia and castration surgery, and made it through the critical weeks just fine. He is getting taller and spending more time with Dreamer and Sunday, and we are thrilled, of course. He is almost 6 months old now, is frisky, happy and doing great!
