SHADOWS STORY

Shadow was brought to us January 2nd 2006 in horrific condition due to inexcusable neglect. He was born on a large horse farm in northern Wisconsin to an older mare named Nobody". Due to failing health we were told that Nobody was separated from her colt and sold to kill. Shadow was then sold as an early weanling at roughly 6 months of age. Without a good start on hay and grain Shadows' health began to deteriorate rapidly prior to being sold. The new owner lacked the knowledge, time and ambition to properly support the young colts health. This type of neglect nearly cost Shadow his life. On the property where Shadow recently came from, the owner stated that the colt started to fail shortly after she bought him. Her solution was to put him in the barn and give him feed separately. During a frigid northern Wisconsin cold spell, Shadow went down for good inside their barn and remained down for 6 weeks. Minimal bedding was provided and what little shaddow did have to lay on was spun out from underneath his body during the attempts to get up. Due to his advanced emaciation, muscle tissue was quickly disappearing causing Shadow to become weaker by the day. Large sores began to develope on the colts' body in areas such as the hips and shoulders. Soon his hair, hide and muscle tissue was eroded by the concrete flooring and caused holes large enough to expose his bones. The owner provided no medical treatment or antibiotics for these sores, the colt never was seen by a veterinarian during this time. Shadow continued to suffer horribly under these conditions however he still found the strength to eat and drink the food the owners offered. They claimed it was a generous amount of hay and grain, his condition proved without a doubt it was not. As time went on the sores became badly infected and began to emit the odor of rotton flesh. From laying on soiled bedding his underside became red and blistered from urine scald and manure. What caused the owners to call our rescue with concerns of this colt may never be understood, angry neighbors, threats or a guilty concience. I insisted the owner do whatever she had to do to get Shadow, now 11 months old, down to our farm as soon as possible if she believed the colt would die overnight without advanced medical care. It was 1:00 am January 2nd when the owner, a friend and Shadow pulled into our farm. We had been working most of the day to prepare for his arrival, however, we quickly realized that nothing could have prepared us for what we were going to see inside their horse trailer. As the doors were opened on the small two horse trailer, our flashlight beam revealed a sight and stench that casued my emotions to run deeper than they have ever been in ten years of rescue. Lying upside down soaked with urine and sweat against the trailer wall was Shadow. He let out a whinny that sounded like a horses cry for help. Quickly and carefully we pulled him out of the trailer on a blanket and loaded him into a sled. His emaciated body weighed no more than a estimated 250 pounds. With all of our help he was brought into a stall in our barn that had been insulated and bedded deeply with straw, it was then we removed the blanket that covered him...