Strawberry Mountain Mustangs, Inc.
Contact us by email: troy-darla@softhome.net
REHABILITATION
DUSTY'S STORY
(OUR HEARTFELT THANKS AND GRATITUDE TO DR. JOE ROBERTS AND DR. MIKE MARTIN OF BAILEY VET IN ROSEBURG, OR)
Dusty is a 9 year old Quarter Horse gelding that came to us in January 2005. As he stepped out of the trailer, you couldn't help but notice the huge lumps around his withers. Because he had already been through a couple of owners, there was really no way to tell for sure what happened to him. All we knew was that he had taken some sort of tumble back in August of 2004.
Our vets immediately drew fluid from the pockets and, with Dusty's patience and willingness, Dr. Joe and Dr. Mike were able to take some creative x-rays of his withers. We then went on a regimen of penicillin injections. 25cc's twice a day, every day. Neck, chest, rear, you name it - it had a needle in it. By day 8, Dusty was so sore he didn't want to put his head down to eat. You could practically wring penicillin out of his tail, but the lumps weren't shrinking.
When the x-rays came back from Corvallis, they verified what we had suspected. The vertebrae in his withers had been fractured, (it appears he rolled off a bank and possibly over a rock or ?) but the bones had seemed to heal ok. Now if we could only get rid of the infection. We had stopped the penicillin by now so that Dr. Joe could take cultures of the fluid in the pockets. They all came back sterile, which meant it wasn't brucellosis. At this point, we were spending hours and hours reading vet books and surfing the net for "fractured withers" and "fistulous withers".
On February 24th, with three of our top vets (and a student from Corvallis) by his side, Dusty went 'under the knife'. The surgery took about two hours. The pockets were flushed and cleaned and drains were inserted so we could flush them morning and night with a betadine solution. The goal was 10 days, with 30 days of powdered antibiotic.
10 days came and went. Many empty tubes of banamine came and went. . . .
On day 14, we finally felt comfortable enough to take out one drain. On day 23, out came another drain. Many cold dark mornings have been spent with us AND Dusty soaked with betadine, trying to see by the headlights of the truck. If Dusty didn't have a heart of gold, we would ALL surely be in more pain! I do believe a 'lesser horse' would have been beaten down with almost 7 months of infection in his body. His courage is what keeps us going.
UPDATE March 31st...
Well, we've been slowing down on our website - so Dusty's update is a little over due! Many people are fascinated by his story and have asked for updates - so here we go...During the week of March 21st, Dusty took a turn for the worse. By this time, we had 2 of the 3 drains removed and, although slow, we thought we were at least making some 'forward' progress. This week, however, Dusty's swelling started increasing again. We started seeing a new lump forming, along with significant drainage. We only make it a few days at a time without the Banamine before he makes it very clear that he will not cooperate without some kind of pain medication. Some days he seemed to be in more pain than ever. We started to become very discouraged at this point. We were approaching 30 days of treatment and all of a sudden seemed to be going backwards. Dusty was begging us to stop. He would drop his head down and push lightly against my legs. Other times he was crabby and tried to get away before we could halter him. Other days, he just plain tried to run over the top of us. I couldn't blame him... I wanted to run away screaming too....
Here are some pictures taken during that week....
On March 30th, (day 34) Dusty was back at Bailey's for follow up surgery. Like a car with an irritating noise that goes away when the mechanic shows up, Dusty's new lump had shrunken quite a bit. The night of the 29th and morning of the 30th - there was less drainage than we had seen over the last two weeks. Still, we were downhearted and discouraged when we showed up for his appointment. Amazingly, one of the first things Dr. Martin said was "Wow he looks great!" I think our response was an incredulous "He does?!" Dr. Joe (Roberts) and Dr. Downey both poked their heads in to see how the patient was doing. All three remarked that he had improved dramatically since they had seen him a month earlier.
(**ADVANCED WARNING: The next series of pictures are quite bloody - so stop scrolling now if you are squeamish!)
Dusty again tried the 'hide behind mom' routine. He hasn't yet figured out that my 115 lb body can't quite camouflage his 1000 lb frame. Silly boy! The mean guy in the vet suit found him pretty easily and he was soon sedated. Dr. Mike scanned the area with the ultrasound, removed the last drain from the 1st surgery and placed 2 new drains in and around the new swelling. We were amazed to see no pus come from the new holes. Instead, we seemed to get buckets of thin watery blood that may have been pooling in the deep pockets. Here are some pictures taken during Dusty's surgery. You've been warned...
All in all, it was a pretty exhausting day. In a sense, it feels like we're back to square one with two new drains. Vet bills have probably surpassed the thousand dollar limit I had self imposed. On the other hand, after some encouragement and praise from the vets, we do realize he IS looking better. So we keep going. More flushing, more Banamine, and more antibiotics. I'm sure it wasn't the last thing Dr. Mike said, but the last thing I remember HEARING was "You're gonna ride this horse". Wishful thinking? Maybe. Maybe not.
UPDATED 4/13/05….
LOOK-ing good! We are now 14 days after his second surgery and 48 long days from the first. The front drain came out a little too soon but we seem to still be on track. Days 46 through 48 have so far been the best ever with very little swelling and drainage. No pain killers in over a week - YEAH! But boy are we craaannnkky!! (Good thing Dusty still has a good attitude!) If all goes well, the last drain will be removed this Saturday, April 16th. Cross your fingers for us……..
UPDATED 4/24/05….
Day...uh.........325....uh....no.....day 134....no, that’s not right.... ok, so it’s only day ..... 49. “Only” - ha. And 5:00 am at that.....ONLY. Bleary eyed and sleep deprived, we head to Dusty’s stall. Using the headlights of the truck and a small flashilight held delicately between the teeth, I proceed with the morning washing and flushing ritual. Soon my fogged brain realizes that something is different. Have the wounds looked this way for long? Yeah, I’m sure there isn’t much change in the last couple of days, but they ARE looking good. Am I missing something? Am I being too hopeful? The swelling is down and there is less drainage. Hmmmmmmmm.......
Somewhere around day 52, Dusty decided he’s DONE. Done with all of it. He does’t want to be touched, fussed with, bothered. Nothing. Don’t even LOOK AT HIM!!! He won’t stand still, but instead of running off, he decides it’s much more productive to crush ‘mom’ between his body and the panel fence. Great. Sharp elbows and knees do nothing to change his mind, so he gets tied. That only works for a couple of days - then he decides that maybe pulling back is the way to go. (Thank the Lord for new ropes and stout halters.)
By day 55, Dusty has had two good, solid tying lessons, and is again putting up with the ‘procedure’. His “Tying Tantrums” have only shown me how intelligent his really is. I’ve seen many horses panic while tied, thrash around and flip, while Dusty just simply pitched a tantrum and sat down while pulling back. And he sat, and sat, and sat. Even then, he seems to check to see where I am before he steps back.... strange. I would have thought I’d be number one on his list by now?
By day 57, I am convinced that your prayers are working. I’ve had emails from as far away as Arkansas, Colorado and Southern California. Although hesitant, I remove the last drain. We are beyond the “point of no return” by now. We seem to have progressed beyond where we were last time - when we had to take a step back and have another surgery. So we hold our breath......
On the eve of day 60, TWO FULL MONTHS after the first surgery and almost three months since we got Dusty, I have to stop and reflect on all of the help and support we have received. As our home page states, we’re a new ‘non profit’ group - and have only had this website up for a few months. It’s amazing to me that we have reached out to people across the country - and that Dusty’s story has kept people spell-bound, much like a good novel that you can’t put down. People have sent suggestions, ideas, and even just a simple “good job” email here and there. We have received “thank yous” from people who say they just want to thank us for doing what we do (with Dusty and the mustangs). It just takes my breath away. Who WOULDN’T do what we do? Given the chance? It’s a life changing experience, that’s for sure. All of you, who have been following along and sending your praise and encouragement, have helped. Dusty and I thank you for that.....
UPDATE July 10th...
WOW, Dusty must be a celebrity or something. He must get more fan mail than Tom Cruise these days! Everyone wants to know how the Dustin-ator is doing, so here goes.
On the morning of day 60, Dusty had his last ‘flushing’. His surgery was marked only by the shaved area around his withers and the small holes (about the size of your thumb) where the drains had been. The holes were trying to slowly close, so I made the decision to stop flushing and let them heal. Over the following two weeks the holes did just that. They got smaller and smaller and finally closed completely.
Once there were no open wounds to collect dust and dirt, Dusty got to go out in the field to meet Buddy and Indy. Until now, he had been in solitairy confinement in an almost sterile stall and paddock. We only made it part way around the new pasture before he dropped and rolled in the deep green grass. A good roll, and a good sign that his withers were not hurting. A few hours each day with the lush green grass.... and before long... Dusty’s new home was out with Buddy and Indy in a sprawling pasture.
Nothing can quite rejuvinate the spirit like seeing Dusty run. Even now, two months later, you can see his absolute joy at being able to run from one end of the field to the other. This, after all, may be the most important part of his healing. Now he is healing the mind, learning to be a horse again. He gets caught up to have his feet done, to be wormed and have fly spray applied, but over all - we have decided that “The Dust” gets the summer off. It is taking him some time to put all the weight back on, but after the raging infection he fought off and all the antibiotics introduced to his sensitive stomach, it’s no wonder.
Buddy and Indy have since been moved to another pasture. Dusty is now my “pony horse” for Ardie, a yearling mustang from last years batch from Sheldon. Dusty shows him the ropes, teaches him respect, and teaches him that the two-leggeds bring good stuff like grain - so-when-they-call-you’d-better-hurry-it-up!! No, they’re not tied together, but you couldn’t tell that by watching them. Ardie is stuck to the boy like glue! And Dusty seems to enjoy having the youngster around.
Here are some pictures of Dusty - summer of 2005.
Stay tuned for Dusty's update…….. INDY'S STORY (OUR NEVER ENDING DEVOTION AND LOVE
TO OUR WORLD CLASS FARRIER, DWIGHT DOWNING OF TRIPLE D LIVESTOCK, INC. IN ROSEBURG,
OR) We adopted Indy (Cute Lil Lass) from a rescue in
March of 2004. She was a 9 year old Thoroughbred mare who was malnourished,
wormy, and, had feet chipped and splayed so bad that it was a miracle she
wasn't lame. Even with huge chunks missing from her front feet, our farrier managed
to get shoes to hold for 9 weeks! That, and a healthy dose of biotin helped
to bring her feet back into shape. Add to that a steady worming program and
all the green grass she could eat, Indy has now become the awesome mare her
bloodlines told us she could be! LINK TO TRIPLE D LIVESTOCK, INC. AND DWIGHT DOWNING HORSESHOEING:
http://tdlinc.tripod.com PEPPY'S STORY Peppy is a mini donkey, about 11 years old. He came to us from an owner
that couldn't take care of him and his pony friend. Pony had a history of
founder, so that also put Peppy on a pretty strict diet. In fact, Peppy was
losing weight fast. Closer inspection of his mouth proved that he had never
had any dental work done, and the severe hooks on his teeth actually prevented
his front teeth from even making contact! Our vet used a Dremel tool to chip
away at the teeth until he could actually float and level them. Peppy is
now one fat and sassy (although we don't know if he will ever truly be 'peppy')
miniature donkey! 
