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For your enjoyment...Help me, it's like the walls are caving in
Sometimes I feel like giving up
But I just can't
It isn't in my bloodB a s i c----I n f o
username; whisky
name; Diamond in the Rough // Albatraoz
sex; Sterile female
halter colour; Black with golden clasps with white 'diamonds' on the halter, please !
Laying on the bathroom floor, feeling nothing
I'm overwhelmed and insecure, give me something
I could take to ease my mind slowly
Just have a drink and you'll feel better
Just take her home and you'll feel better
Keep telling me that it gets better
Does it ever?
So----Why----The----Name----?
Show Name Meaning...
I chose Diamond in the Rough as their show name because even though this tolter might look a little rough, they truly are one heck of a diamond on the inside. Beauty truly does stem from ones personality, and this tolter is alive and well enough to prove it !
Barn Name Meaning...
Albatraoz refers to the slang for a strong willed woman or to be a confident person with great stamina and perseverance. I thought that this would be a perfectly fitting name for a tolter that has been drug through hell and back. To still be alive in such a condition this tolter would have to be a very strong willed individual ! The emotional and mental strain during such abandonment would initially take it's toll, and only a strong individual would be able to overcome that. <3
Help me, it's like the walls are caving in
Sometimes I feel like giving up
No medicine is strong enough
Someone help me
I'm crawling in my skin
Sometimes I feel like giving up
But I just can't
It isn't in my blood
Special----Accommodation----?
Upon Albatraoz entering our farm, Concecuh Ridge Farm, we began to notice her consistent colicking because of her heat cycle, and had a very dangerous (and feared to be deadly) amount of gas built up within her systems. We has suspicion that this was due to very sore ovaries when a egg was released since we noticed that she colicked every 3 weeks just in time for her cycles.
The only way to tell if hormones/ovaries were playing a role in her colics was to complete a ultrasound. To test if the ovaries releasing the egg was causing the issue, we did a ultrasound within a day or two of the colic. Our suspicious about her colicking was confirmed and we began discussing all of our options.
Now having identified that the issue was hormonal, Banamine worked at first, but her colicking got progressively worse. Our vet suggested that regumate will likely help. Although it is quiet expensive, we had decided that it would be worth a try. It seemed to help quiet a bit, but it was difficult to handle since regumate contains powerful hormones that can be absorbed easily through your skin and can cause serious issues in women. I do most of the handling on the farms when it comes to feeding, the three handlers we do have clean, exercise, and do whatever else is needed around the farm a couple of days out of the week, but specifically asking the two male handlers we have to make sure she is fed the regumate and knowing I couldn't feed my own horse was something that undoubtedly made me a little anxious. This is also something that she would have to be on permanently, so we decided to try a different route- using a marble.
My on hand veterinarian and I decided to try to insert a marble into her uterus, a fairly common practice that "tricks" the mare's body into thinking that it's having a baby developing inside the body and can have good results. Albatroaz was cycle-free for about three months and really seemed to have decided that working wasn't so bad. But eventually her body understood the marble was not a baby and rejected it out into her stall. All in all, the test was a success. But I decided that replacing the marble every time she lost it was too much to ask her to go through. Onto the next step..
Although Albatroaz was a very well-tempered mare, and she was very beautiful, at the end of the day this poor mare had already been through so much in her life that I would never want to breed her. Even if she had no history of mistreatment, she was still a rescue whom we had no papers on or any idea of her breeding background, so it only made since to do the only thing we knew to do to keep our sweet girl out of pain. Spay her.
We decided to pursue spaying her through a laparoscopic oviarectomy. It was done at a hospital, but performed standing in stocks. They made a 5-6" incision on each side of her flank, went in with the laparoscope, and cut and pulled the ovaries out. She was in the hospital for 3 days, on stall rest for 2 weeks, and paddock rest after that. I was allowed to start bringing her back into light work after a month and full work at 6-8 weeks.
Now that Albatroaz is no longer colicking, and overall feeling much better due to no longer being in pain because of her ovaries she is one happy, healthy tolter ! We've never been more ecstatic about a procedure gone so well. The outcome for our sweet mare was better than we ever could have hoped, and we almost wish that this was the route we would've taken much sooner if we had any idea that the results would be so well. She was already very well-tempered and well-mannered before, but now she is the calmest mare you had ever laid eyes on.
During her colicking we weren't able to further her training as a therapy horse for special needs children, but after her surgery she is able to work pain free. Our regular visiting children were very enthralled to see this horse with such a rough past living life not just healthily, but also happily. We feel that it helped some of the burn victims see that it's not what's on the outside the counts, but the inside. Someone's personality will make them uglier more than an appearance ever will. To see such a happy tolter with such a uplifting personality helped the children in almost a therapeutic way. Albatraoz is now one of the first horses we have that get chosen during therapy sessions ! Because unlike our other horses, she is perceived as 'different' because of her scars, and a lot of children can relate to that quiet easily in some form or another. It sincerely warms our heart that Albatraoz made such a wonderful transition into a therapy horse and can provide such a feeling of security to the children.
I'm looking through my phone again, feeling anxious
Afraid to be alone again, I hate this
I'm trying to find a way to chill, can't breathe, oh
Is there somebody who could
Their----Companion----?
A Spotty Situation // Pongo is Albatraozs best friend ! Although Pongo doesn't have a tragic past, he's definitely one of our more laid-back and relaxed tolters with a great deal of patience. Additionally, it only made sense to try to coax troaz into being friends with another one of the fellow therapy horses we have here. The two hit it off fairly well, even if traoz took awhile to warm up to other horses when she first arrived. It didn't help that she was having so many health issues and had to be isolated from other equines, but she readjusted to socialization very nicely !
She was nervous at first, but pongo was very understanding. He kept his distance and let her come to him at her own pace, and now the two are inseparable ! We've discovered that troaz gets anxious when separated from him, so we keep the two in one large paddock at night and out in the pasture together during the day. Otherwise she starts to chew on the wood of the stable door or whinnying loudly until they're reunited. Luckily, our pongo doesn't mind, and enjoys having her around as well ! He's gotten used to and will get a little worried if she's not following him around like usual.
Help me, it's like the walls are caving in
Sometimes I feel like giving up
No medicine is strong enough
Someone help me
I'm crawling in my skin
Sometimes I feel like giving up
But I just can't
It isn't in my blood
Interesting----Quirk----?
A piece of cloth has made its way into their pasture, and the two have made it a game to play “tag” seemingly. They chase each other around the meadow with their cloth until their little hearts are content and happy. It is quiet a sight to see the two so joyful.
I need somebody now
I need somebody now
Someone to help me out
I need somebody now
Their----Personality----?
Albatraoz contains many fine qualities: musical and artistic ability, good judgment, and a sense of responsibility for the welfare of others. This makes her warm-hearted and understanding in her response to the needs and interests of those around her. She's always ready to help those in less fortunate circumstances. Her insistence on becoming involved in the affairs of others can cause them to regard her as interfering, even though she is only trying to help.
A weakness lies in the fact that she is deeply affected through her feelings for others and could suffer through worry and disturbed thoughts over matters that she can do nothing about. While she has an appreciation for the finer things of life and could be successful along inspirational as well as business or professional lines of endeavor, there is a tendency to become involved in the needs and interests of others to the detriment of her own progress.
Home and family are important to her and she deeply desires to establish a settled home environment where she can enjoy the congenial companionship of friends and family. She's not one for traveling and new environments can cause her to get a little ill tempered.
Mental tension could result through worrying too much over her problems or the problems of others, with an adverse effect on her nervous system. So a lot of the time she just needs some alone time to recharge and ease her mental tension, but it's nothing personal.
Help me, it's like the walls are caving in
Sometimes I feel like giving up
But I just can't
It isn't in my blood
Story----of----Transformation
when they first arrived
received nasal and IV fluids - lactated ringers soultion
day later goes down in stall, sling is built - 3 weeks w/o assistance it is removed
refeeding syndrome-muscle weakness occurs
skin infections due to malnutrition
b-12 shots and wormer wasen't used until strong enough to prevent colicking
hay at eye-level and blanket on at all times
somewhat went downhill, considered humane euthanasia but overcame her struggles and slowly got stronger !
We received a call from Bear Run, very unexpectedly. The voice sounded urgent, and nonetheless important. "Hey, Jay ! We have a filly here in stable, but critical condition. She will need around the clock care to restore to her true form. It may cost a bit in vet bills, but she sure is a diamond in the rough ! She's the sweetest little girl." Me and my vet decided that we would take a chance on her, so we set out to the long trek to Bear Run to meet our hopefully new arrival, depending on her condition. Although she is currently stable, we fear this could change at any moment. I was convinced that we could save this precious girl that we have been informed of, and was rather determined the with her will to live and our vet care she would make it.
After treatment...
Life after treatment here
works as a therapy horse for special needs children
v happy girl
I’m so sorry I didn’t get to finish this story like I wanted.. but this is my completed form. I wish I would’ve had more time to work on my form but I picked up more hours at work and ran out of time :( goodluck everyone. <3
It isn't in my blood
It isn't in my blood
I need somebody now
It isn't in my blood
I need somebody now
It isn't in my blood
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goodluck everyone. <3
