Hope For Horses - Western North Carolina

Reese at UT

What A Champ!

Reese made her first trip to UT for an initial evaluation and according to Whitney and Marvin, she did wonderfully! "Reese loaded and unloaded this morning as if she has been doing so for a year. I was pleasantly surprised. She did very well with the exam, although she did not appreciate having the dilating medication sprayed into her eyes but she handled it well. When it was time to leave she reverted, for a short time, to being reluctant to get back in the trailer.It took some coaxing from both of us and she finally got in. It took nothing to get her out once we were back at the farm, she even walked over to the fence to give Monte a little nose kiss," Marvin said.

David worked hard to fix up the trailer for her trip, a playpen on wheels, Whitney called it. "She was a model patient and that will make the entire process all the more successful for her," Whitney said.

A Model Patient

REESE

Reese is a four-month-old registered quarter horse that came to us in need of eye surgery. This beautiful, sweet filly is out of the famed Zippo line and will make an excellent mount once recovered.

She is 100 percent healthy aside from needing the surgery. Dr. Ann Stuart of Appalachian Equine Mobile Veterinary Service says, "Otherwise healthy, Reese was easy to handle and seemed to enjoy the company of her new humans."

Dr. Stuart found that in both eyes her vision was almost completely blocked by opacities that had formed in both lenses—or cataracts. "By turning her head and working objects into her tiny field of vision she was able to see just enough to keep from injuring herself. It appeared that soon, as the cataracts became complete, she would not even have that little window of sight to count on. I discussed with the owners the few options that the filly had for having any sort of quality of life. As a blind horse she would be doomed to living in a padded enclosure with some level of constant fear being unable to see, let alone run from anything she thought might be dangerous." According to Dr. Stuart, cataract surgery offers a good prognosis for functional vision.

The owners decided to donate the filly to Hope for Horses, which is committed to helping little Reese live a full and complete life. The surgery is complex and requires many visits and extensive aftercare.

"Reese would need to be monitored and treated frequently to prevent severe inflammation from causing further damage to her eye. After weeks of treatment at Hope For Horses every few hours and 4 or 5 trips back to Knoxville for re-evaluations she would be ready to have the other eye treated, essentially starting the whole process over again," said Dr. Stuart.

After careful consideration, Hope For Horses director Whitney Wright, agreed that she and her staff and volunteers would work together to get all of Reese's transportation and treatments covered. The next hurdle is financial since UT has quoted up to $6,000 to fix both eyes—and that is if there are no complications.

So, as we become more attached to the filly and start training her to accept lots of eyedrops, we are committed to fundraising to make the surgery happen for Reese—a filly with a big heart who just wants to see enough to run and play and grow up to fulfill all of her potential.

If you would like to help Reese, contact Hope for Horses and let us know you want to contribute to the Reese Fund.