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Sandy Bolinger has been taking care of Buddy since last year. The horse was one about 80 rescued from a defunct large animal sanctuary at Niarada last year.
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By PERRY BACKUS Ravalli Republic | Posted: Thursday, December 22, 2011 10:30 pm
STEVENSVILLE - Last January, Sandy Bolinger planned to spend a few hours helping volunteers care for horses rescued from a defunct large animal sanctuary at Niarada.
She certainly had no plans to bring home another animal to add to her herd just southwest of Stevensville.
One of the first horses she saw at the Corvallis facility where the horses had been transported was a Morgan named Buddy.
He was standing on hooves grown so long that they looked like miniature skis. He was skinny and his teeth were bad.
He didn't look like he much cared if he lived or died.
"Buddy was standing there in the snow with a pile of hay just a little ways in front of him," Bolinger remembers. "It hurt so bad for him to walk that he wouldn't take a step so he could eat."
As she walked up to him, Buddy looked up at her and nickered.
"I knew I shouldn't have gone," she said.
Bolinger was part of the four-person crew who spent 20 minutes encouraging Buddy to walk 25 feet into the barn where a medical team waited. She comforted him as the veterinarian used a Sawzall to cut off the excess hoof and cared for his teeth.
And when all the medical work was done, Bolinger put a blanket on Buddy's back and loaded him into her trailer before taking him home.
The care didn't stop there.
His hooves were so malformed that the damage could never be reversed. She puts therapeutic boots on him every day that are lined with special pads that soothe his hooves.
She soaks Buddy's hay in water to remove most of the sugars from the feed. He is resistant to insulin - a malady similar to diabetes in humans. And each day, she gives him medication to control the Cushing's disease that threatens his overall health.
"He's a horse with amazing heart," Bolinger said, as she reached up and put a halter around his head. "A lot of horses would have just given up and died."
Buddy was one of nearly 100 horses and donkeys that were transported to Ravalli County last year following the closure of a large animal sanctuary in Niarada.
Shannon Alexander of Western Montana Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation of Corvallis said the animals all seem to be faring well in their new homes.
"I think they are all doing really well," Alexander said.
Some of the animals needed more medical attention than others.
"It was really heartbreaking when you think about what happened there," Bolinger said. "It was all so unnecessary. People would have helped if they would have just been asked."
Buddy's previous owner left a five-page note with the sanctuary owners that outlined the horses' needs. All of that care appeared to have been disregarded when the sanctuary fell on hard times.
The veterinarian told Bolinger that nothing had been done with Buddy's feet for up to two years for it to get as bad as it was.
"It really was awful," she said. "There was a Fjord who came with feet that were as bad as Buddy's. It ended up having abscesses and had to be put down.
"Buddy has been lucky all the way around. He still has good days and bad days, but he's a lot better than he was. He's just such a sweet guy.
"I don't regret at all that I took him. I've learned so much from him. He's such an amazing horse."
Reporter Perry Backus can be reached at 363-3300 or at
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Read more: http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/woman-continues-to-aid-horse-rescued-from-niarada-animal-sanctuary/article_6d3ad9ba-2d13-11e1-a3bf-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1hNtlZFOk
