TREES Mention in "The Post"

Visit the Spring 2010 issue of The Post:

See the article on Page 4, "Mechanicsville Dentist a Firm Believer in Preventative Care" for a mention of TREES! (bottom of page 4, top of page 5) 

Side Note - "Delphi," mentioned in the opening paragraph, is a TREES resident, owned by the Sanctuary, not by Mike and Chris Smith. (Common misconception is that nonprofit organizations are "owned" by one or more individuals in the same way for-profit businesses have owners. They are not.)

Some of the photos we took that day:

Waiting for Delphi's sedative to take affect.

Mona being floated (not mentioned in article)

Two of Sherman's extracted teeth, showing how much feed was pack in under the teeth themselves.

Loose Teeth Be Gone!

Today was Dentist Day for a few of TREES' residents.  The team of Dr. Tracy Brown and Meredith Barlow, C/EqDT, paid a visit to Sherman, Mona, Nate, Delphi and Fitz.

Both Nate and Fitz need some attention, but will require a little advance planning.  More on them as we get them taken care of.

Delphi and Mona both had "routine" floats.  (In quotes because every horse is different, but meaning all they required was the removal of sharp points.)

Here, Mona is being "floated."  Note that the speculum is open only wide enough to allow Meredith to work.  It is not cranked all the way to its widest position.

Delphi had to give her opinion of the idea before even getting started.

But Sherman........Sherm needed a little extra attention.  Not surprisingly, Sherman had a few loose teeth.  We've heard from some owners of senior horses who were told to leave loose teeth in the mouth because the horse had so few to spare.  Aside from the discomfort that must cause, here is an excellent illustration of why that may not be a good idea.

These two teeth are shown exactly the way they came out of Sherman's mouth with little to no effort.  You can see no blood, no tissue, nothing that would indicate these teeth had any kind of physical attachment to the gum.  They were, more or less, just sitting in the socket.

The teeth are shown sitting on their chewing surfaces, roots pointing up.  Notice the green-ish material packed between what is left of the roots?  That is food that had worked its way under the tooth, between the tooth and gum.  This can cause irritation and enlargement of the pocket around the loose tooth.  If something as large as food particles can become lodged under the tooth, so can something as small as bacteria, leading to infection.  Untreated infection under and around a tooth can eventually lead or contribute to infection in the jaw bone itself, or even in the sinuses.

With all this in mind, our rule is "If its loose, its gone."

Annual Torture the Big Dun Mare Day

In honor of setting our clocks back tonight, we'd like to rerun Delphi's post from last October:

Today's post is courtesy of Delphi, one of TREES alpha horses.

"What gives? For 28 years now, I have been wondering what's up with Annual Torture Your Horse At Mealtimes Day. What? You suddenly forgot when the sun comes up in the morning? You are surprised when it sets in the evening?

OK. Yesterday, the chow wagon started its rounds before the sun was above the eastern tree line. Today, no chow wagon until well after the sun was totally visible to all. Helloooo? Did you not notice us lined up along the fence staring at the house an hour ago?

We knew this would happen. You just forgot, didn't you? Once a year, every year, like clockwork, you forget the schedule. Of course by this time we should know to expect it, but when it didn't happen in October as usual, we thought the you were finally out of that annoying rut.

I suppose one good thing is that now supper comes half an hour "earlier" (By the human clock.... by the horse clock, its still half an hour late) because you have "less time" to finish the outdoor chores before it gets dark.

Which brings us to another issue..........dark, schmark! If you grew some decent whiskers, you wouldn't have to depend so heavily on daylight.

Sometimes I think the wrong species became the care givers!"

The Universe must love old horses.

In the very early days of Traveller’s Rest, we asked our vet how people would know we were here. How should we go about letting people know we were here to help with elder care issues?

Doc laughed. “If you build it,” she said,” they will come.”

Very funny.

But she was right.

At first those who came were almost entirely people wanting to “donate” their older horses to TREES. (At some later date, we may post about why we don’t consider our residents “donations.”)

Gradually, as the community became aware of “the place that takes old horses,” other people began to visit. One here, one there. Then, a few years ago, a visitor got out of her car and commented “Oh! I’m so glad to see a horse rescue that’s not completely depressing.”

That took us by surprise. We’ve never thought of horse rescue in general as “depressing,” and we certainly don’t see TREES as depressing. We started asking all new visitors what they expected to see when they got here. About half answered that they expected to see a bunch of old horses, basically standing around waiting to die.

Whoa! First of all, why would anyone even consider visiting a place he or she expected to be that sad? But more than that, how could we begin to break down that misconception of an Elders Sanctuary?

Simple. Tell the Elders’ stories. These horses are spirited and vivacious. Dynamic, interesting and gregarious. They form friendships and other herd relationships just as younger horses do. They roll in the mud, play in the water, rear, crowhop, prance and scamper. They cuddle, present themselves for scratching, and demand attention on their own schedules. Not at all models of “waiting to die.”

In other words, the Elders speak for themselves. And as they speak, they draw more people to them. When Doc first said “If you build it, they will come,” we assumed she meant that horses would come. Horses have come, obviously, with more always waiting in the wings, but more than that, people are coming. People who are interested in giving elder horses better lives, both in sanctuaries and at their own farms.

Is it just because we tell their stories? Or is something bigger at work? Sometimes it feels as if we – the humans managing the sanctuary – are only here to keep a foot on the gas pedal, but something larger is doing the steering. There seems to be no other explanation for some of the things that happen.

The Universe just seems to love these old horses. And who are we to argue with the Universe?

Fitz, 26, and Josh, 38-ish

Freddy, 26

Lucy, 30-ish, and Delphi, 29

Fitz, 26

If you would like to meet TREES' exceptional elders, please shoot us an email at info@equineelders.org !

Delphi + One Year

With all the hubbub concerning Nathan and, more recently, Mona, some of our other residents are feeling a little left out. To remedy that situation, we're going to attempt to provide updates on everyone over the coming days/weeks.

Remember Delphi?

Delphi arrived one year ago, in August 2008. Her owner repeated again and again that Delph must be in "organ failure" since she could not get her to gain weight.

Guess what? A horse must be fed, and fed an appropriate ration, in order to gain or maintain weight. The majority of horses that arrive at Traveller's Rest in this condition are in this condition because they are not being fed an appropriate diet. The second most common reason for this condition on arrival is insufficient quantities of an appropriate diet. In Delphi's case, dental insufficiency is not an issue (yet,) so we can only conclude she was not being given enough food for a mare of her size. She is not a "hard keeper" and is currently maintaining this weight on only 3 quarts of Triple Crown Senior each day and free choice grazing/hay.

Delphi, Age 29, August 2, 2009

As herd matriarch of her band, Delphi rules the roost in the "outback" field.

Happy Anniversary, Delph!

Hey, Good Lookin'!

We are so thrilled with this beautiful mare's recovery, we wanted to share:

Remember.....don't dwell on the memory of this:

Delphi - August 9, 2008 - Age 28

Instead, celebrate this!

Delphi - March 16, 2009 - Age 29

What IS an “Equine Elder?”

After working past the annoyance of removing a number of overnight “spam” comments, it became obvious that many people have no idea what this blog is about. Or maybe they don’t care and are posting on any and every site that receives hits in searches for “elder,””senior,” or geriatric.”

So, to begin, what is “equine?”

equine e·quine (ē'kwīn', ěk'wīn') adj.
1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a horse.
2. Of or belonging to
the family Equidae, which includes the horses, asses, and
zebras.

While Traveller’s Rest is not equipped to handle zebra or a few other species, we welcome horses, ponies, donkeys and all hybrids thereof.

Next, what does “Elder” mean?

That’s a more subjective definition. Some people consider a horse to be “aged” when it passes the ten year mark. In TREES terms, ten year old horses are still babies. As a matter of fact, in the TREES herd, twenty year olds are thought of as “whippersnappers.” Mid to late twenties and early thirties = Middle Age. The true elders are those approaching their mid-thirties and beyond.

Now back to the spam often posted in the blog comments:

Most recently we received several ads for handbags. Gucci handbags. Dior handbags. Miu handbags. Calvin Klein handbags. You name it. We’re picturing Emma and Betty sashaying around the field with designer bags hanging from their shoulders.

We also get advertisements for vacation cruises. The visuals here are more than a little funny. Wade, with his Bermuda shorts, Hawaiian shirt, white socks and sandals, accompanied by Marye in an enormous flowered hat and one-piece skirted bathing suit.

Then there is the costume jewelry. Delphi, sporting strands and strand of giant pearls as she naps in the sun on the poop deck.

Of course, there are ads for Viagra. We don’t even want to go there.

And so, while we welcome comments related to elder horses, Traveller’s Rest, or horse care in general, don’t be alarmed to see a number of “post deleted” notes. There are merely remnants of an entrepreneurial faux pas, entered by an enthusiastic business owner who didn’t know he was directing his advertising to Equine Elders.

Horses are not interested in "Eastern Standard Time."

Today's post is courtesy of Delphi, one of TREES alpha horses.

"What gives? For 28 years now, I have been wondering what's up with Annual Torture Your Horse At Mealtimes Day. What? You suddenly forgot when the sun comes up in the morning? You are surprised when it sets in the evening?

OK. Yesterday, the chow wagon started its rounds before the sun was above the eastern tree line. Today, no chow wagon until well after the sun was totally visible to all. Helloooo? Did you not notice us lined up along the fence staring at the house an hour ago?

We knew this would happen. You just forgot, didn't you? Once a year, every year, like clockwork, you forget the schedule. Of course by this time we should know to expect it, but when it didn't happen in October as usual, we thought the you were finally out of that annoying rut.

I suppose one good thing is that now supper comes half an hour "earlier" (By the human clock.... by the horse clock, its still half an hour late) because you have "less time" to finish the outdoor chores before it gets dark.

Which brings us to another issue..........dark, schmark! If you grew some decent whiskers, you wouldn't have to depend so heavily on daylight.

Sometimes I think the wrong species became the care givers!"

The Resilience of a Horse - Delphi update

No matter how many times we watch this happen, each case seems almost miraculous.

This was Delphi on August 9, 2008

And this is Delphi today, August 27, 2008, less than three weeks later:

This mare was not ill, did not have organ damage, did not have a lurking infection, was not "skinny because she's old," is not dentally challenged. All she needed was appropriate food.

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This is Why we do it, folks.

Delphi arrived yesterday. Horses like Delphi and Marye are the reason Traveller's Rest exists - we're here to make their Golden Years golden. After years of service, don't they deserve that?

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