~Gia~

 God's Gracious Gift

In the late afternoon of January 29, 2018, we received an email from a desperate woman, Jenola Johnson, who was at her wit's end. Her neighbor's 11 horses had been coming and going from her property for months, and she had been feeding them hay since December to prevent them from starving. The horses' owner, a chronic animal neglector, refused to take action. Despite calls to the local sheriff's department and the animal welfare agency assigned to her county, no help came. Five days prior to the email to Pegasus, a yearling filly had collapsed in Ms. Johnson's backyard and was unable to rise. With temperatures dipping below freezing each night, Ms. Johnson knew the filly would die if the situation continued. After receiving a photo of the filly, we gathered up the Pegasus rescue team, hooked up the trailer and headed out. With the filly unable to stand, we rolled her onto a blanket, hobbled her feet for our safety, covered her eyes for her safety, and dragged her to our trailer.  We consulted with our veterinarian who gave us instructions for her care. She could not sit up on her own, but with assistance, she could sit up to drink water and eat mash from a bucket. We put her in a warm stall and fed her at four hour intervals throughout the first night. 

The next morning, our vet told us to get her on her feet or she would not survive. It took our entire staff of six to lift her with wide straps under her belly. After standing with her for an hour for stability, we allowed her to stand on her own. We named her Gia, which means God's Gracious Gift. 

Once Gia was standing and walking on her own, we began feeding her a mash four times per day and allowing 24/7 access to high quality alfalfa hay. Alfalfa is highly nutritious and the safest way to re-feed a starving horse. Slowly but surely Gia began to regaining her strength. 

Due to signs of weakness in her hindquarters, we tested her for the neurological disease EPM, and unfortunately the results were positive. We began treatment on February 12th. We also began working to heal her right eye, which she severely injured from banging her head on the ground in her efforts to get up over those five days prior to coming to Pegasus. Dr. Adam Byrd determined it was time for intensive treatment of her injured right eye. By February 20th, she was strong and stable enough to make the hour-long trailer ride to Dr. Rob Thoni's clinic in Kilgore. After consulting with an equine ophthalmologist, the decision was made to place a lavage to provide round-the-clock antibiotics and anti-fungal medications directly into Gia's right eye. 

Gia proved to be brave and confident, and she took the trailer ride and the new clinic surroundings in stride. Gia remained in good spirits and continued to eat well. Our goal was to save the eyeball and as much vision as possible. Under Dr. Thoni's care, much of the cloudiness cleared, and on March 2nd he released her. We continued to administer antibiotic ointment to her eye twice per day. Miraculously, her eye mostly healed! She has a white spot of scar tissue in the center that will likely remain, but over time, it has continued to shrink. She has vision, and we fully expect that her eye will remain viable.

Regrettably, Gia's first 30 days of treatment for EPM was not effective. When we retested her blood, the titers for EPM were still quite high. We changed medications and administered another 30 days of treatment. She appears symptom-free, and so we remain optimistic regarding her prognosis. Gia moves about freely and loves trotting and cantering around her paddock. She is now sharing space with our kind, 20-year-old mare, Bailey. All of Gia's wounds are healed, and she's shedding her matted, unhealthy coat. Gia has gained about 100 pounds and is eating solid feed and all the coastal Bermuda hay and alfalfa hay she wants. Her recovery has been remarkable. Within the next few months, we are hoping all sings of her terrible neglect will be undetectable. 

One of Gia's Facebook fans called her a "warrior princess" with a strong will to live. She is indeed a fighter. We are optimistic that Gia will make a full recovery, keep her eye, and clear all EPM symptoms. Gia returns to Dr. Thoni May 3rd for follow up evaluation. Please follow Gia on our Facebook page and in future versions of this e-newsletter for developments!

Please click HERE to view Gia's full photo album.