Bad Blood

Just as my rescue mare Mindi got back on her feet, a tick-borne disease threatened to knock her down again.

- Kim McVeigh

This poor horse,” I muttered to myself while texting my veterinarian about Mindi ---again. The past four months had been a roller coaster ride as we worked to restore my petite mare to health. Our veterinarian, Maral Avetian, VMD, had seen Mindi multiple times for issues related to her previous starvation and neglect. But we had had a month of steady improvement (and zero veterinarian visits), and I truly thought that she was out of the woods.

As I keyed in the message relaying her signs to Avetian, Mindi moved hesitantly and painfully around her pasture. She had been fine when I checked on her the night before, but this morning she had considerable swelling in her hind legs. As most horse owners do, I went through a mental checklist of possible causes and treatments.

I didn’t think it was regular stocking up---a harmless pooling of fluid in a horse’s lower legs related to inactivity ---because Mindi’s swelling was much more severe than any case I had ever seen. Also, stocking up is far more likely to occur in horses confined to stalls rather than on pasture, where they can engage in at least moderate exercise.

Mindi had enjoyed plenty of turnout over the past few days. The weather had been so mild that I had been able to extend my usual autumn 24-hour turnout schedule into the holiday season. So, the previous day, December 22, 2015, she had been turned out all day and all night. I checked her for any cuts or scratches and there were none, nor did I find any bumps or marks. I ran my hands up and down each leg and, although they seemed sensitive, I didn’t notice any sore spots that would have indicated trauma. Without any other options, I brought her into her stall, snapped a picture and waited for Avetian to arrive.

Rehomed and rehabbed