5/1/07: We do not yet know how this story will end. Lily is a beautiful filly by Don Marco and out of our lovely Imara. At first glance, Lily looked normal but upon closer inspection, it was obvious that something was terribly wrong. Her leg was severely broken, apparently while still in her mother's womb (based on the xrays). She has multiple fractures on her cannon bone, fetlock, pastern, and coffin bone. This is such a rare occurence, none of the vets and surgeons who consulted on this case had ever seen it in a newborn.

The general consensus is that 99% of people would have euthanized Lily immediately, but she is so bright and strong - seems to be in NO pain at all - and has such a will to live...we had to give her a chance. She has impressed everyone who has met her with her beautiful spirit and I feel strongly that she is here to teach us all a lesson.

On Day 2, I was sure we were going to lose Lily. She seemed weak and wobbly and lethargic and I felt totally helpless (and hopeless!). But she rebounded on Day 3 and seemed to gain 10 pounds and grow an inch. We are at the end of Day 4 as I write this, and she is flourishing and acting like any other youngster...playing and rearing and carrying on, pestering her mother to no end, and she has adapted very well to her "peg leg," which our wonderful equine repro vet, Dr. Michelle Kutzler of Oregon State University, showed us how to make. It was Michelle and her assistant Jen who responded to my frantic call early Saturday morning and rushed out to help us.

Although she has a devastating handicap for one so young, Lily's young age may actually be to her benefit during the healing process (if we can get her to heal), since her bones are so soft and she is growing so rapidly at this time of her life. It is the optimum time for the fractures to fuse. Her splint must be removed and re-set every other day in order to accommodate her growth, and already Lily is getting the hang of things (and so are we!). The first day, it took 6 of us to get her splint on. The second time, we did it with two people (only out of necessity, and it wasn't easy!). The third time, we did it with 3 people and no one got kicked. That's progress in my book.

This entire situation has been an emotional roller coaster for all of us, but none more so than Lily's mom-to-be, Dawn Anderson, who has waited a long time for Lily's arrival. In a gesture of great compassion, Dawn has agreed to entrust Lily to our care and will now be setting her sites on a full sibling to Lily in 2008.

Our hope is that Lily's leg will fuse, and although it may never be (or look) completely normal, many horses can lead healthy, happy lives with handicaps and we will accommodate hers as necessary. She is as stunning (possibly even more so) as her big brother Milan, who we retained for our breeding program. Although we never would have wished for such a tragedy, we are also delighted that - if we are able to get her through this - Lily will be a permanent part of our family like her brother.

My reason for posting this story is to (hopefully) give others hope for their foals with injuries at a young age, and the courage to try even when the situation seems hopeless. Again, we have no way of knowing how this will end...it could very well end VERY badly...but that is part of the life we've all chosen when we decide to own a horse (or 20).

We ask that all of you send as many well wishes and positive thoughts as possible for a happy ending to Lily's story. She will need them if she is to win this battle. There is a long, difficult, very expensive road ahead and odds are unquestionably stacked against her...but she has such an indomitable spirit, we think (hope! pray!) that she will prevail.

Stay tuned for regular updates and please include her in your prayers.

5/05/07

Well, we've made it a week. Happy birthday Lily!

Today Lily celebrated her birthday by having her leg re-splinted...twice. This week has been full of ups and downs, the two biggest 'downs' being that 1.) Lily is getting bigger and MUCH stronger and she doesn't take kindly to be laid down and 2.) any sense of accomplishment I felt at the first two splint applications I did this week has gone out the window because the 3rd and 4th splint wraps were terrible and the minute Lily would put weight on them, they would buckle. VERY frustrating since each splint wrap uses an entire roll of Elasticon and half a roll of cotton padding and a roll of Vetwrap...so they are running us around $20 apiece. Since we resplinted her once yesterday and twice today, my budget for the week is pretty much shot...not to mention the absolutely horrifying feeling I get in the pit of my stomach at the idea of Lily's leg not healing properly because I can't get the splint on correctly!

In light of our downward trend in successful splint wrapping, today Meaza and Debby went to Home Depot in search of new splint materials. Our first splints were made of cut up pieces of PVC pipe, but they were too short so we were having to overlap them in order to cover the entire distance from 3" below the hoof to 1" above the knee. The weakness in the splint was obviously being caused by a combination of the overlapping PVC and the bunched up cotton padding which is a nightmare to work with on a foal's legs. It's huge and cumbersome and the splints just slid all over it. So, time to get creative. M and D came home with several pieces of hardwood moulding, which we wrapped with vetwrap to cushion them and keep them from sliding on the cotton. We also modified our cotton application, splitting the cotton in half (thickness-wise) and then cutting it in half as well, so we effectively had 6" wide, half thickness soft cotton wraps, which were much easier to apply to Lily's tiny leg without gaping. Martha Stewart's got nothing on us!

In the end, we have a MUCH sturdier splint/wrap than ever and Lily's leg is completely immobilized from the front and the side. The back is left open to keep the tendons from weakening and to allow her to bend her knee in the correct direction.

Lily is a trouper...no doubt about it. She has the personality of a mischievous puppy, and I almost felt like I was playing with my lab when I was in the stall with her today. She would RUN as fast as she could right at me, slide to a stop, and then do a little half rear and tear back to the other end of the stall...very obviously playing and wanting me to chase her. The more I sat there, the more wound up she got and I just wish we had had a video camera (or ANY camera, for that matter). She's a doll and she has us all wrapped around her hoof. It's as if she has no idea at all that she is anything other than completely normal, and she just wants to go and play. And as she has unfolded this week, she is so stunningly beautiful, I just can't stop looking at her. The thought of us not getting her through this is like someone squeezing my heart with a vice.

Please continue to send your thoughts and prayers. They are appreciated.