Faith

June 2004 Update: new photos of Faith, letter from The Netherlands

Lovely Faith is a stunningly gorgeous, but permanently crippled horse. The story of how Eye of the Storm saved Faith is best told in the words of Nina Arbella:

Saving Faith

by Nina Arbella April 2002

Whoever said there are no more heroes? I found lots of heroes on August 22, 2001 when we had to lift a crippled horse from an eleven-ton crane in a last-ditch effort to save her life. It is an extraordinary story, and I'm going to do my best to tell it to you here.

The Initial Injury
It all started when the mare, Faith, stepped on a nail at a barn in New Hampshire. Because of the rubbery structure called a frog in the sole of the hoof, the nail became embedded. Faith became very lame, but the nail was not visible, even to the farrier who removed her shoes. So, there the nail stayed for two weeks. When it was finally discovered, Faith was brought to the Rochester Veterinary Clinic where the infected wound was operated on.

The wound healed beautifully after stall rest and "big-gun" antibiotics at Eye of the Storm, where she was brought to recuperate. Faith was finally ready to be turned out for a few minutes. In those few minutes, without doing anything foolish like bucking or leaping into the air, she ruptured her deep flexor tendon and came back to her stall on three legs. We suspect the tendon let go where it passes over the navicular bone deep inside the heel of her hoof. It is a very serious injury. This beautiful, loving friend, who is only eight years old, will probably never be sound enough to be ridden again.

A Death Sentence
According to the vets and the MSPCA team, Roger Lauze and Joe Silva, the prognosis was so poor that they all advised us to put her down. Her owner, as well as the rest of us were convinced that that was probably the best thing to do.

Keeping her alive meant stall rest for at least a year and no guarantees that she would ever bear weight on that leg again. The chances were good that her weight-bearing leg would break down and her quality of life would be poor. Putting her down seemed like the only option -- at the time.

Lindsey Robbins, our vet, was going away for a week and there was no hurry to put Faith down. That gave us time to say good-bye. We had placed a soft cast on Faith that helped stabilize her leg. We had originally ordered a device called a Kimsey splint when the tendon injury had first occurred but were advised not to use it as the vets did not feel that it would help.

A Ray of Hope
After watching Faith's wretched hoof flop around for a whole day after her "appointment with destiny" had been scheduled, I decided that I could not sit there and do nothing. I put on the Kimsey splint. And it worked! The toe still pointed up somewhat, but she was bearing weight on that leg and the hoof was held firmly in place. It would not heal properly in that position, but it could not get any worse, either. I had seven days to prove to everyone that this horse needed to live, that she wanted to live. Steve, my right-hand man, got on the Internet until the wee hours of the morning searching for someone who had successfully treated this kind of injury. He contacted Dr. Bramlage from the Rood and Riddle Veterinary hospital in Kentucky, where the doctor treats race horses with incredible leg injuries. Dr. Bramlage sent back a letter of hope. Just a teeny hope, but it was all we needed. He said it was possible for that kind of injury to heal enough that a horse wander around in a pasture as a companion, but would probably never be sound again. But that was all we needed!

The hamster in my brain began running in his little wheel and the ideas began to flow. We needed to try one more thing. In the meantime, oblivious to the fact that she had only days to live, Faith vacuumed up every morsel of food we fed her and hollered for more. She got a little bit spoiled that week when we all thought she was going to die. Poor Vanessa, Faith's young owner, was emotionally exhausted from the strain. She had bought Faith to be her best friend and companion for many years to come, only to have this awful tragedy take place. In her heart she had already said good-bye to Faith and had been trying hard to stick with her own decision. My heart aches for her; I know how she felt. It's a terrible thing to have to make this decision. But I could no longer support it. One by one, everyone else started to see things my way. We had one last chance.

I always tell people that miracles happen at Eye of the Storm. We had seven days to find one. It is very difficult for people who don't own their own barn to be able to afford to keep an unrideable horse. Board is expensive, and when you have to board a horse with permanent injuries like Faith's, it can be financially devastating. A considerable amount of money was spent at Rochester Veterinary Clinic for Faith's surgery and she would need to continue to be boarded somewhere. After her tendon ruptured this became a very real problem, as it was obvious that her riding days were over. The situation was rapidly becoming a terrible financial burden. Our miracle arrived in the form of a $2,000 anonymous donation for the purpose of saving Faith.

And so, with renewed vigor, that's what we did!

Throughout all of this, I had been praying for guidance and wisdom. Steve and I would stand, holding Faith, and pray for a way to save her. God so loves his creation and horses are so special. And so, most of all Jehovah, I thank you. There is no doubt you were with us that day because everything was perfect.

Discussing a Solution
After discussing things with our farrier, Dave, we decided that her original shoes needed to come off as her hooves had grown very long. A special shoe with an extension off the heel might work to support the back of her leg and set the toe back on the ground so the tendon could begin to heal in the proper position.

The idea was good, but we were confronted with the problem of how we could get her to stand on her injured leg while Dave worked on the other one. We knew that the only way was to lift her in a way that took all weight from her feet.

Enter Ricky Marshall, owner of Astro Crane. Some people you can just mention a situation to and they find a solution. Ricky is one of those people. He donated one of his cranes to us for what turned out to be an entire day. Talk about the proper tool for the job!

The Big Day
August 22 was a clear, hot day. Everyone arrived at around 1:00 PM and went to work. The crane was set in place. Roger from the MSPCA set the sling, an impressive array of straps and hardware, out on the ground.

Strangely, my biggest worry was walking Faith out over two six-inch door sills. I lost sleep over it. I wasn't worried that she would be hung unconscious from a crane wearing a very uncomfortable outfit. Not that when her shoes finally came off maybe they couldn't fix her after all. None of that. Only that I needed to get her over the door sills. Perhaps it was because that there, my part would be over, that the last thing I might ever do for her was to get her safely over two door sills. After that she would be in the hands of others much more capable than I. It's funny looking back at our own thoughts. I was prepared to lift her whole rear quarter over the sill and stood waiting But guess what? She did it just fine. The Kimsey splint held her poor foot in place and she stepped right over those sills without my help.

Roger came over and began to put the sling on her. We had done so many awful things to this poor mare for three months yet she never twitched a whisker -- such a brave and beautiful girl.

Lindsey tranquilized her. When the drugs took effect we hooked the sling to the crane. At the controls of the crane, Matt slowly began to lift her off her feet. I held her head and kissed her velvet ears. As I held her head against my chest I felt a very strange energy passing between us. I couldn't tell if it originated from me or her. I only know that I held the weight of her head for a very long time and didn't notice. I have very bad fibromyalgia and my right arm is a mess, but I felt no pain. We have 15 other horses and for three hours not one of them made a single peep. But they were all watching. Possibly the energy I felt came from them as they helped us succeed; they were all with us. I found myself crying. I got Faith's ears very wet as I prayed into them and told her how loved she is. The energy flowed, and we succeeded.

Dave, bless his heart, had the hardest job of all. Horseshoeing is backbreaking work under the best of circumstances. He worked under the hardest conditions possible that day. The sweat poured off him and we wiped his face with wet cloths as he struggled under our broken horse. It was very hot. Roger kept saying "I wish we could do something to help you." But we couldn't. All we could do was wipe the sweat from his eyes.

And so it was done. Our beautiful broken girl was set back on her feet. As she came back to full consciousness she stood firmly on all four feet! Our wonderful farrier saved Faith's life. Dave always believed. When all the vets felt there was no hope, Dave had hope and he saved her life. I will always be grateful, he also believed in me because I also knew we would save her.

This was a terrible injury and we have no idea how things will go. As far as we know, no horse has ever had the exact same problem. I only know that until she tells me she's had enough, I will never give up on her. As of March 2002, she has steadily improved and is now walking firmly without a limp. If anything, she has become a hazard to herself, in that now that she is no longer in pain she wants to leap and buck and play. If we can keep her from reinjuring herself for just a while longer, until the scar tissue hardens up, she will run and play again! She will remain here for the rest of her life. She now belongs to us. Faith and I have become very good friends as we have spent a considerable amount of time together and I don't give up on my friends.

Our ultimate goal is to move to a farm with a field of grass where all our old and unsound horses can spend all of their days hanging out together in peace. We love and honor these beings as our friends here at Eye of the Storm. We love their positive energy and their powerful spirits. We love them. And Faith will be there, in that field of grass with her good friend Noogie (who is probably going to live forever).

And so, the final hero in this story is Faith herself. She is my hero. Thank you Faith!

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