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Description
Event: 2023 Loshenka Makeover
Phase Number: Phase 1
Horse ID#: 6458
Design Link: 6458
- Issues: Hoof Abscesses, Poor Coat Condition, Malnourished
- Description: This horse was found wandering on the side of the road with several hoof abscesses and a poor coat condition. It was severely malnourished and dehydrated, and it's suspected they had been neglected for several months.
XP Breakdown:
- Fullbody: 9xp
- Full Background: 4xp
- Polished Shading: 3xp
- Fullbody Handler: 2xp
- Literature, 1664 words: 16xp

continued in Loshenka Makeover - Love and Loss

It was a bright, sunny day again in Nevada. A slight chill crept through the air from the mountains, but nothing a cardigan couldn't solve. Harper wrapped the mustardy yellow heavy knit garment a little tighter around her. She volunteered to help at the Sagebrush Sanctuary over the summer, which coincided with an event the sanctuary was hosting. Sadly no amount of volunteers could guarantee enough actual space for the horses to live a happy life, and the Sancturary was struggling to make enough space for the horses who needed it. At this point, Harper had been at the sancturary for a month already, getting pretty used to the everyday happenings at the facility. She collected the wheelbarrel and pitchfork, and walked over to the main pasture. Today was her turn mucking it out, together with a handfull of other volunteers. She rolled the wheelbarrel through the gate and got started, smiling at the few horses who looked up at her. All the horses here had pretty tragic stories and reasons for being here. She had signed up for the makeover project as well, and was waiting for a horse to be assigned to her.

The afternoon slowly crept by when a call was made to pick up a horse. Harper heard something about a horse being abandoned and potentially in a life threathening situations as the ones responding to the call walked past. She was doing a round of feeding, distributing hay between all the horses in the smaller pens, the make-over horses. They would soon be picked up, but for today they were allowed to just enjoy the nice weather in a safe location. The horse wasn't far away it seemed as Harper was just putting the hay wheelbarrel away when the car with the livestock trailer came driving up the gravel road. Harper was curious, and since she was done with her chores for today there would be no harm taking a look, right?

When the trailer opened the most sad looking mare was walked out. Her gait was stifled and uneven. Her too-long hooves placed carefully and intentionally on the gravel. She moved slowly and painfully, but her face was full of curiosity. Her skin was pulled tight over bone with no muscle underneath it seemed, giving her an eerie look. Piled on the tight skin was a thick coat which seemed to have been stuck in a bad shed. The fur was dull and unhealthy. Her tail, usually soft and flowy in loshenkas, was matted and filled with little stickers stuck deeply in the tangles. Harper rushed to open the fence of the small grass paddock the mare was being led to.

The farrier and the vet were called in swiftly to assess the horse. Her hooves needed to be checked to make sure she didn't have lamnitis and they were in dire need of a trim. The vet also needed to asses the damage on her body before a diet could be put together to get her back up to weight. Harper was tasked with making sure the mare didn't gorge herself on the grass while a sand pen was prepared for her. It felt counter-intuitive, as the mare definitely needed the nourishment. But Harper understood why that was a bad plan. The mare was a sweet thing and seemed happy about the attention she was getting. Harper smiled. The mare being so alert boded well for her, as it would significantly help in her rehabilitation. The fact that she was such a gentle and friendly mare wouldn't hurt either. Harper slowly raised her hand to pet the mare's face. Harper could tell that underneath the bad fur, bald spots and grime was a beautiful golden buckskin mare, but it saddened her to see the horse like this. A call rang through to the pasture and Harper was told to move the horse to the nearest sandpen they had been able to clear for her, making sure she had to walk the smallest distance possible.

It was an intensive afternoon for the horse with professionals walking in and out of her small pen. The vet and the farrier had arrived at the same time and had quickly gone to work. After the vet had put the mare through an extensive health check and it was decided that she had a bodyscore of 1, which was a potentially lifethreathening crisis if not handled immediately. She was put on an IV drip to administer fluids, getting startet on rehydrating the mare. When looking at the hooves, the vet had luckily ruled out lamnitis. She stated that the mare most likely had abcesses in her feet due to poor living conditions. The vet walked off to give the farrier some space to work as she got started on a diet plan for the mare. The mare had a long road ahead of her, having to be started slowly to prevent her developing refeeding syndrome. Harper held the mare as the farrier went to work getting the hooves back into a normal shape and seeing if the mare did indeed have abcesses causing her lameness. Both the farrier, who had worked for the sanctuary over a long period of time, and Harper were shocked by the amount of pus that had built up in the mare's feet. All four of the buckskin's hooves were filled with abcesses.

The vet was called back to assess the damage once more. The woman examined the foot the farrier had just finished up and nodded, mobilizing some of the other volunteers who were watching to get some equipment. When the hoof was drained sufficiently the vet applied antiseptic gauze and explained to the volunteers present that antiseptic bandages would stay on for 48 hours, changed daily, and the wounds should be fully drained by then. Due to the severity of the mare's condition the vet promised to come check up on her after those 48 hours to check her progress. She showed how to bind the hoof and put a hoof boot over it to help keep the would clean. After the boot was on the mare got to set her foot down for the first time, and Harper could have sworn she saw a look of relief pass over the mare, as the pressure was off her hoof for the first time in who knows how long.

The sun was slowly starting to set and the other volunteers had dripped off to bed while Harper still stood with the mare as the ferrier and the vet worked together on the last of her hooves. It was good to see the mare standing normally again now that her hooves were trimmed and drained. It must still have hurt, but you could see the mare was in significantly less pain after this.

As the vet and the farrier wrapped up and got ready to leave again it was already dark, the lamps around the pen lighting the way. The manager of the sanctuary came down to check up on the mare and looked at Harper with a smile. "Thank you for your help here, I heard you really put one in for this mare" she spoke, looking at her clipboard briefly before aiming her gaze at the vet. "I heard you will be back in 48 hours to assess the progess, am I correct?" The vet nodded. "Until then I explained how to wrap the hoof, the wound needs to be redressed every day and when it comes loose. She has shoes on to help the dressing stay secure and clean too, but you'll never know. I have the diet plan here -" the vet pulled a sheet of graph paper from her pocket and handed it to the manager. "and I will send it per email when I get home. She shouldn't be on grass untill marked on the plan. Ofcourse the sand is risky too, but I think the fresh air will do her good so you can leave her out but only feed in a haynet" She stressed. "And a blanket might be a good idea for her for the nights when it gets chilly. You might also want to shave her if it doesn't give her too much stress to get this coat off of her, it isn't a necessity but seeing how..." she took a tuft of the oily, frizzed fur between her fingers. "It might be nice for her to be rid of it. The tail needs fixing too, but it might be least stressful and painful for her to just shave it off as well, sad as that is" she advised. She pulled her hand through her hair, tutting a bit as she thought about what more to say. "I took some blood for testing, just to be sure, and I think Harold did a fantastic job on her hooves, so if she can spare enough resources it should heal up just fine, if not a bit slower than ideal. I also gave her some medication, a dewormer, vaccinations, that kind of stuff, the detailed report will be in the email as well" She promised.
The manager nodded with a smile. "sounds good, thank you so much for your time again today. I have...-" the manager flipped through the papers on her clipboard. "Harper's information here, email and such, if you could keep her in the loop as well that would be fantastic" Harper gave her a puzzled look as the vet took a picture of her information and the manager handed her the clipboard. On it were some neatly stacked papers detailing the horse. "It's not the full folder the other volunteers are getting as she just came in today ofcourse, but congratulations Harper; meet your make-over horse" Harper felt equal parts dread and happiness in getting to work with the mare; she could either turn this animal all the way around, or have this project end in terrible heartbreak.

Description
Event: 2023 Loshenka Makeover
Phase Number: Phase 1
Horse ID#: 6458
Design Link: 6458
- Issues: Hoof Abscesses, Poor Coat Condition, Malnourished
- Description: This horse was found wandering on the side of the road with several hoof abscesses and a poor coat condition. It was severely malnourished and dehydrated, and it's suspected they had been neglected for several months.
XP Breakdown:
- Fullbody: 9xp
- Full Background: 4xp
- Polished Shading: 3xp
- Fullbody Handler: 2xp
- Literature, 1664 words: 16xp

continued in Loshenka Makeover - Love and Loss

It was a bright, sunny day again in Nevada. A slight chill crept through the air from the mountains, but nothing a cardigan couldn't solve. Harper wrapped the mustardy yellow heavy knit garment a little tighter around her. She volunteered to help at the Sagebrush Sanctuary over the summer, which coincided with an event the sanctuary was hosting. Sadly no amount of volunteers could guarantee enough actual space for the horses to live a happy life, and the Sancturary was struggling to make enough space for the horses who needed it. At this point, Harper had been at the sancturary for a month already, getting pretty used to the everyday happenings at the facility. She collected the wheelbarrel and pitchfork, and walked over to the main pasture. Today was her turn mucking it out, together with a handfull of other volunteers. She rolled the wheelbarrel through the gate and got started, smiling at the few horses who looked up at her. All the horses here had pretty tragic stories and reasons for being here. She had signed up for the makeover project as well, and was waiting for a horse to be assigned to her.

The afternoon slowly crept by when a call was made to pick up a horse. Harper heard something about a horse being abandoned and potentially in a life threathening situations as the ones responding to the call walked past. She was doing a round of feeding, distributing hay between all the horses in the smaller pens, the make-over horses. They would soon be picked up, but for today they were allowed to just enjoy the nice weather in a safe location. The horse wasn't far away it seemed as Harper was just putting the hay wheelbarrel away when the car with the livestock trailer came driving up the gravel road. Harper was curious, and since she was done with her chores for today there would be no harm taking a look, right?

When the trailer opened the most sad looking mare was walked out. Her gait was stifled and uneven. Her too-long hooves placed carefully and intentionally on the gravel. She moved slowly and painfully, but her face was full of curiosity. Her skin was pulled tight over bone with no muscle underneath it seemed, giving her an eerie look. Piled on the tight skin was a thick coat which seemed to have been stuck in a bad shed. The fur was dull and unhealthy. Her tail, usually soft and flowy in loshenkas, was matted and filled with little stickers stuck deeply in the tangles. Harper rushed to open the fence of the small grass paddock the mare was being led to.

The farrier and the vet were called in swiftly to assess the horse. Her hooves needed to be checked to make sure she didn't have lamnitis and they were in dire need of a trim. The vet also needed to asses the damage on her body before a diet could be put together to get her back up to weight. Harper was tasked with making sure the mare didn't gorge herself on the grass while a sand pen was prepared for her. It felt counter-intuitive, as the mare definitely needed the nourishment. But Harper understood why that was a bad plan. The mare was a sweet thing and seemed happy about the attention she was getting. Harper smiled. The mare being so alert boded well for her, as it would significantly help in her rehabilitation. The fact that she was such a gentle and friendly mare wouldn't hurt either. Harper slowly raised her hand to pet the mare's face. Harper could tell that underneath the bad fur, bald spots and grime was a beautiful golden buckskin mare, but it saddened her to see the horse like this. A call rang through to the pasture and Harper was told to move the horse to the nearest sandpen they had been able to clear for her, making sure she had to walk the smallest distance possible.

It was an intensive afternoon for the horse with professionals walking in and out of her small pen. The vet and the farrier had arrived at the same time and had quickly gone to work. After the vet had put the mare through an extensive health check and it was decided that she had a bodyscore of 1, which was a potentially lifethreathening crisis if not handled immediately. She was put on an IV drip to administer fluids, getting startet on rehydrating the mare. When looking at the hooves, the vet had luckily ruled out lamnitis. She stated that the mare most likely had abcesses in her feet due to poor living conditions. The vet walked off to give the farrier some space to work as she got started on a diet plan for the mare. The mare had a long road ahead of her, having to be started slowly to prevent her developing refeeding syndrome. Harper held the mare as the farrier went to work getting the hooves back into a normal shape and seeing if the mare did indeed have abcesses causing her lameness. Both the farrier, who had worked for the sanctuary over a long period of time, and Harper were shocked by the amount of pus that had built up in the mare's feet. All four of the buckskin's hooves were filled with abcesses.

The vet was called back to assess the damage once more. The woman examined the foot the farrier had just finished up and nodded, mobilizing some of the other volunteers who were watching to get some equipment. When the hoof was drained sufficiently the vet applied antiseptic gauze and explained to the volunteers present that antiseptic bandages would stay on for 48 hours, changed daily, and the wounds should be fully drained by then. Due to the severity of the mare's condition the vet promised to come check up on her after those 48 hours to check her progress. She showed how to bind the hoof and put a hoof boot over it to help keep the would clean. After the boot was on the mare got to set her foot down for the first time, and Harper could have sworn she saw a look of relief pass over the mare, as the pressure was off her hoof for the first time in who knows how long.

The sun was slowly starting to set and the other volunteers had dripped off to bed while Harper still stood with the mare as the ferrier and the vet worked together on the last of her hooves. It was good to see the mare standing normally again now that her hooves were trimmed and drained. It must still have hurt, but you could see the mare was in significantly less pain after this.

As the vet and the farrier wrapped up and got ready to leave again it was already dark, the lamps around the pen lighting the way. The manager of the sanctuary came down to check up on the mare and looked at Harper with a smile. "Thank you for your help here, I heard you really put one in for this mare" she spoke, looking at her clipboard briefly before aiming her gaze at the vet. "I heard you will be back in 48 hours to assess the progess, am I correct?" The vet nodded. "Until then I explained how to wrap the hoof, the wound needs to be redressed every day and when it comes loose. She has shoes on to help the dressing stay secure and clean too, but you'll never know. I have the diet plan here -" the vet pulled a sheet of graph paper from her pocket and handed it to the manager. "and I will send it per email when I get home. She shouldn't be on grass untill marked on the plan. Ofcourse the sand is risky too, but I think the fresh air will do her good so you can leave her out but only feed in a haynet" She stressed. "And a blanket might be a good idea for her for the nights when it gets chilly. You might also want to shave her if it doesn't give her too much stress to get this coat off of her, it isn't a necessity but seeing how..." she took a tuft of the oily, frizzed fur between her fingers. "It might be nice for her to be rid of it. The tail needs fixing too, but it might be least stressful and painful for her to just shave it off as well, sad as that is" she advised. She pulled her hand through her hair, tutting a bit as she thought about what more to say. "I took some blood for testing, just to be sure, and I think Harold did a fantastic job on her hooves, so if she can spare enough resources it should heal up just fine, if not a bit slower than ideal. I also gave her some medication, a dewormer, vaccinations, that kind of stuff, the detailed report will be in the email as well" She promised.
The manager nodded with a smile. "sounds good, thank you so much for your time again today. I have...-" the manager flipped through the papers on her clipboard. "Harper's information here, email and such, if you could keep her in the loop as well that would be fantastic" Harper gave her a puzzled look as the vet took a picture of her information and the manager handed her the clipboard. On it were some neatly stacked papers detailing the horse. "It's not the full folder the other volunteers are getting as she just came in today ofcourse, but congratulations Harper; meet your make-over horse" Harper felt equal parts dread and happiness in getting to work with the mare; she could either turn this animal all the way around, or have this project end in terrible heartbreak.