Our very special R.E.A.S.O.N.S

Meet Willow

Willow was dropped off at R.E.A.S.O.N in June 2003 by her owner. We were shocked when this skinny, black mare was unloaded from the trailer. Her coat was dull and she was about 150 pounds under weight. We noticed that her whole body seemed stiff. Her owner informed us that she kept going down to her front knees when he rode her. At only 14'2 hands and lightly built we couldn't imagine why a large man thought he could ride this tiny horse.

The first few days Willow was here, we fed her normal rations as we were told that she was being fed quite a lot of grain. Willow became colicky which is a sign that she most likely was NOT fed as we had been told.
After being treated for her bellyache, Willow then started having chronic diarrhea. At feeding time one day, we noticed a large growth protruding from her rectum the size of a grapefruit. We immediately called our vet, Dr. Martha Wells who was working late at Pocono Downs and took Willow to see her that night. Our vet didn't know what it was but pushed it back in and showed us how to manipulate it in. It would continue to pop out and we would re-insert it in for over 10 days. We had to continuously apply fly ointment to this unknown growth. Our vet suggested we take Willow to a surgeon for the removal of the growth. The surgeon suggested having Willow put down since he too did not know what this growth was. Dr. Wells came again to R.E.A.S.O.N to clean it and found it was full of maggots. We basically tried Preparation H suppositories as a last ditch effort and it miraculously shrunk and disappeared. Dr. Wells did another rectal and nothing was found. It has never returned.

We still had to deal with the issue of stiffness and dealing with her lack of weight. We did regular de-worming and had acupuncture done on Willow to help her stiffness and back problems. After that, Willow made an amazing turn around. She was less sore and she was not standing funny any longer. She has put on about 200 pounds.

We have had Willow with us ever since. For a horse that shouldn't really be alive, Willow has become very strong and active. Willow can never be ridden again and she seems fine with that. Willow stays on here at R.E.A.S.O.N as our sanctuary horse. Along with other's that have come across Willow, we find her to be very special. With her quiet and serene personality, she seems to help calm other horses. Willow is used here as a friend and barn buddy to new or sick horses. There is just something about her.

Willow is looking for sponsors. You can befriend Willow as a sponsor. Find out more here.