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Impact on the Horses: Adele
WARNING: There are graphic images, some are downright repulsive.
Each of the three horses suffered as a result of the wildfire. They all were starved nearly to death, and developed skin infections. Additionally, Solly's illness was exacerbated to the point he is now on daily medication, and sustained an injury to his foot. Nutmeg, however, never recovered fully. But this is Adele's story.
The woman who owns the third facility where the horses evacuated, for some reason developed a hatred for Adele in particular. We saw her demonstrate this on at least two of our visits there.
Click to open full image.
2018 with Jolene
Despite being a red-headed Arabian mare, she's a good girl :-) I bought her because I wanted Jolene to have a horse when she visited us during her cancer journey.
7-21-20 Seven weeks pre-fire
Trying to get the girls to use the newly-cleared area in back. In retrospect, this "training" may be what saved their lives, as this is the area they retreated to during the fire. If it hadn't been there, they surely would have perished and we would have found four corpses instead of one.
7-24-20 in back pasture
The "girls" finally got used to the idyllic setting ... in less than seven weeks, everything would change.
10-4-20 Second refuge
They sure enjoyed this second evacuation location, with their new friend Ducky! Private home in Rose Lodge. Somehow our hosts got the idea that we were just bringing one horse for a few days. I don't know if our mutual friend didn't make it clear, or if they weren't paying attention.
12-11-20 Evicted at 10 weeks
A *very* rainy day to move from Rose Lodge to the "full-care" facility in Cloverdale/Pacific City. Wish we could have stayed there, but after 10 weeks, we wore out our welcome. Truth be told, I couldn't sustain it. If only we knew this would be her last unstressful meal for a very, very long time.
12-22-20 Third refuge
In the arena at Green Acres. I wish I had been as suspicious as Adele looked. I was just so grateful that they were now in "full-care," freeing me up to work on our wildfire recovery. Or so I thought :(
1-24-21 Dangerous facility
Deplorable conditions, with visible broken sections of concrete under mud and it was going to get worse. There wasn't a damn thing we could do about it.
2-24-21 Clearly in rough shape
After just 10 weeks in the "care" of Green Acres. By now it was clear that something was very wrong over there, and we had to make all efforts to get the horses home as soon as possible. But we had just been able to move back to the property ourselves, still had to clear land, put up fencing, etc.
3-29-21 Where the hell is Adele?!
I was getting frantic - I couldn't find Adele anywhere. Finally one guy showed up but he was no help at all, just ignored me while unloading hay. I was sure at this point that she had died and they just didn't want to tell me that her carcass was out there.
3-29-21 What is that dot?!
OMG, I found her! After searching throughout the facility for 45 minutes. But because of the severely treacherous conditions, I still couldn't get to her :'(
4-14-21 Jim points to wound
Very zoomed in - I couldn't get to her (I have trouble with my legs) and Jim couldn't bring her in due to unsafe conditions. From what I could see, it looked like rain rot, and Jim didn't know any better.
5-2-21 (screenshot) Homecoming
Finally home. "We have medicine for her owie." That was some understatement! Full video on Horses page.
5-2-21 This is criminal
Now that the excitement of their homecoming is over, we can get a good look at Adele. It's appalling.
5-2-21 Back home, just in time
I don't think they would have survived starvation for another week ... maybe days. I decided to let Adele decompress for a full day before tending to her wound.
5-8-21 Just six days later
It's amazing what can happen when they don't have to compete for every scrap of food.
5-16-21 Two weeks at home
Still very weak. All of the horses would just collapse at times - sometimes from exhaustion, other times just walking along.
5-16-21 another angle
Quite a contrast between May 2nd, this, and Aug. 23rd.
5-20-21 Life-threatening wound
Link to wound page below. The withers are a very difficult place to heal and treat, but I came up with a clever system :)
5-27-21 Breakfast hay in the pen
Three weeks home. Still thin and wound isn't healed, but it's now clear they'll survive.
8-23-21 Lunch in the circle
Amazing what three months of "groceries" can do. Per the vet's recommendations, they were fed grain and supplements three times a day instead of their usual two, until they were back to a normal weight. Except for Nutmeg, who never regained adequately.
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