Behind All That Glitter
CharliK was about 10 years old when seized by the Sheriff’s Department after her owner died. The officers found her alone in a dark, dank stable, extremely underweight. Her feet and legs were deep in feces and urine. Pooping sand and wood, an indication of terrible starvation. Wood chewing can also be an abnormal behavior from lack of socialization. Her hooves were bandaged with duct tape. She came to the rescue organization smelling of decay.
So, what happened in her life to bring her to such sordid conditions? When law enforcement confiscated the horse, they claimed to know that at one time she had won quite a lot money amid the glitter and pageantry of racing in Ruidoso. They said her racing career ended abruptly when she reared up and flipped over on her back. The rescue group will look for a possible tattoo inside her upper lip which would be linked to her registration papers. The tattoo would confirm her registered name and the history of her racing career.
We can only surmise that CharliK’s training as a race horse probably began when she was separated from her mother at six months of age. She likely suffered through a harsh and cruel training regime. The foal will be broken! It will be made to obey commands through fear and pain. As a result of this harsh training regime, many young horses suffer various injuries well before their first race. Tremendous stress is placed on their immature skeleton which causes limb fractures, pulled ligaments and tendons that are strained. Most of these foals have short lives. Thousands of them are sold to slaughter plants in Mexico and Canada every year.
Running long distances at high speed is not natural for a horse; therefore, it will rebel at this ruthless training. Various devices and methods are used that give the horse no other recourse other than to submit to the conditioning imposed on him by its trainer. To force the horse into submission, harsh and cruel treatment is often part of these traditional and barbaric training practices.
The day after the horse was brought to the rescue organization, the vet paid her a visit. This poor horse was enjoying the sunlight for the first time in several months when he arrived! He estimated that she was easily 300 pounds underweight and severely dehydrated. She is a tall horse at 16.2 hands. The vet removed the tape covering her hooves. Someone had butchered them by cutting off too much of the hooves. Both front hooves have large holes draining pus and parts of her hooves have fallen off. The vet cleaned, packed the holes with an antibiotic ointment and bandaged her feet.
She will require dressing changes every ten days for the next ten weeks. It will take about six weeks before her feet begin to heal. She has whip marks everywhere on her body from her days on the racetrack. She is losing her coat because of a fungus, a form of sweat rot and has sores everywhere on her body from insect stings. Her skin is raw underneath the halter she came with which has since been removed. Her condition is guarded, but she is fighting hard to stay alive. It will take six to seven months for this horse to regain her health, if she survives.
For now, she is fed either oat hay, grass hay or wheat hay with Total Equine, a high calorie feed, but in small quantities every 3 hours. She is given antibiotics and pain medication twice daily. She has been dewormed. Her teeth will be floated soon and she is sprayed with a fly repellant called – War Paint! She is scared, stressed, confused and exhausted!
Her foster mother has fallen in love with her because she is so sweet and gentle. As CharliK was fed her last meal of the day, late on her second evening at the rescue, her foster mom told her how beautiful she is and how much she loves her. CharliK just looked at her with her big, soft brown eyes, as if to say thank you, thank you, thank you for rescuing me.
What has been done to CharliK is beyond inhumane! No animal should ever experience this sort of brutal treatment or abusive neglect from owners. But for now, she will receive the love and attention she deserves, and her health will be monitored closely.
The cost of caring for such an emaciated, starving horse will be significant. There is no guarantee CharliK will recover, but this rescue group has made great progress bringing her back to robust health and the stunning appearance she once enjoyed. I invite you to be part of this humanitarian transformation. Please help us pay for those emergency and recovery costs by making your generous donation to Animals Abused & Abandoned here.