At New Bolton for reconstruction surgery.  Their facilty was amazing.  
First time our vet tried stitching her inside and outside - everything re-opened after 1 week so reconsturctive surgery is needed and will happen on the 31st at New Bolton with the best surgeons on the east coast.  









“My doctrine is this, that if we see
cruelty or wrong that we have the
power to stop, and do nothing, we
make ourselves sharers in the guilt.”
― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

My friend recently asked me what Eye Appeal's barn name will be and I said Eye Appeal.  That might not make sense now but later it will.  Eye Appeal is a 2002 Florida bred mare.  I met Eye Appeal at one of the racing facilities I worked at years ago and she sure was Eye Appeal.  This mare had size and sense that she passed on to all of her foals.  Anyone that knew the mare there knew she was exceptional.  It doesn't stop there.  I am not a "thoroughbred person" by any means but Eye Appeal and her foals that I worked with made such a good impression for the breed.  They are the definition of heart horses, you know the ones that gracefully touch your heart and soul.  Eventually Eye Appeal was sold to be used as a broodmare and a couple years later her face had shown up on my facebook timeline.  This time she was in the kill lot.  Horses in this kill lot have one week to have their bail paid before they leave for Canada or Mexico to be slaughtered for human consumption.  This is more time then most lots give and I am forever thankful as she was so lucky to be posted on a bail site.  After seeing this my heart, gut, and head all agreed that she was coming home to stay.  Eye Appeal is a horse that loves to love.  To see Eye Appeal now is just sad.  She is thin, her winter coat hides every rib that shows.  There is a difference between a fit horse where you can see a portion of two to three ribs compared to a horse with no top line, tail bone and spine protruding as well as every rib being visible.  She lacks all of the thick muscle this horse was blessed with years ago.  Looking past her weight there are her other maintainence issues including dental care as well as hoof care that have been neglected for quite some time.  After all of that there are many minor issues to deal with such as vitamin mineral absorption, worms, skin issues, and ulcers.  Eye Appeal is currently lame- more so in the hind end.  It will take various testing to pin point where the lameness is coming from and then we will have a plan as to how to get this girl sound again.  She may never be sound again if it is permanent damage done and in that case we will follow our vet's guidance as to what to do from then on for Eye Appeal.  She was a magnificient beast, one that was built to be perfect in every way.  Eye Appeal deserves to be the horse she once was and that is why her name will not change.   I did not have a plan when I saw her in the Kill Buyers hands.  I just knew that she had to get out of there.  We will be picking her up on tuesday and bringing her to quarantine for 30 days.  During this time we will have all evaluated that is possible as her current strength level is low so we do not want to push her too much or we may lose her fragile system in the first few weeks.  Luckily we can start the healing process right here at home but there will be testing to be done at vet clinics as well as her body rehabilitation that will be taken place at other locations.  I want to say to new visitors a year from now "That is Eye Appeal" and have them feel what I felt when I first met this beautiful horse.  Now I am asking for help.  Her bills are going to pile up fast.  If you would like to donate to a good cause take a look at this mare.  I will be adding a link to this site as well for more follow up photos and  for her recent care.  Thank you all!!! 

As Tom Smith said "You know, you don't throw a whole life away just 'cause he's banged up a little."

UPDATE: Ok- first off I am thankful for honest vets. Eye Appeal has a very bad upper res. infection which we have started treatment for.  We will closely monitor her since her lungs are damaged now and may have permanent damage.  She will start ulcer treatment tomorrow. The wounds she has should have been stitched when they happened, obviously no one ever looked at them before we got her. Those have good prognosis for healing- they just won't look cosmetically right on the outside- who cares I don't! Its what is on the inside that counts anyways. When she was thoroughly examined our vet found that her genital area is deeply infected. Some damage was apparent because she had been sewn by previous vets most likely while tissue was still infected and the stitches tore out multiple times. Further inside this girl is really torn up. This can happen from having foaling issues. Our vet said right away to never breed this mare ever again.  Her ripped up insides were never taken care of so the dead and infected tissue all needs to be removed from inside of her.  As is right now she is dropping manure back into her body because of the above issues which can cause blood toxicity and keep the infection spreading.  At no time did our vet ever say Eye Appeal should be put down.  She gave us step by step directions on how to deal with these issues. Currently she is being kept on antibiotics and pain medication to help with the inflammation. She was given banamine, iv antibiotics, electrolytes, tetnis, and rhino today.

. Blood was pulled for a thorough examination of everything we can test for blood wise to help find out what is going on with her that we cannot see. The inside work needing done for this girl is surgery. She has to be in better physical shape to go through this so we have to wait 2 weeks before her first one. Next wednesday our vet will be back out to iv this momma again with some heavy meds to keep helping her out. She perked up after everything started working in her system as far as meds- she is eating drinking and loving to be loved right now.

UPDATE: Eye Appeal's first surgery went very well.  She is now allowed to turn out for 20 minutes a day supervised :) So proud of this girl! 

UPDATE: EYE APPEAL'S surgery ended up failing :( She will be going to New Bolton for complete reconstructive tissue surgery in March. 

The time is finally here. We will be hauling Eye Appeal to have reconstructive surgery at New Bolton on March 31st at 10:00 am. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, share her story, and send those good vibes this way!