Hi, my name is Shelby, and i am fundraising for my lovely gelding Grizzly who is currently at OVC receiving care.

About Grizzly’s Situation:

The Week of March 16th 2026, Grizzly started to show initial signs of a decline in his comfort. He started with signs of discomfort while being ridden early in the week and progressed by Friday to toe touching lame, very painful, and non-weight bearing in his hind left leg. 

Grizzly was assessed on Friday March 20th at the farm. After a general exam and x-rays, it appeared to be cellulitis (an infection under the skin). We started treating him for cellulitis.

Things started to go well, he was much more comfortable walking and the swelling dropped a lot over the weekend. However… by Tuesday March 24th grizzly began declining again. 

He started to show increased discomfort and pain, and not wanting to fully weight bear his leg again. The swelling throughout his entire leg was gone but instead was now localized to above and below his fetlock (ankle). The Tendons in this area feel very thickened, swollen, and are painful to touch. 

Thursday March 26th Grizzly was re-assessed. We did an on farm SAA (serum amyloid A) blood test and ultra-sounded the leg. The ultrasound was not promising and was pointing towards the possibility of a septic joint, which could be fatal for Grizzly. His SAA was > 1100, supporting an infectious disease. 

Grizzly was transported to OVC on Friday March 27th. He is currently under OVCs care with an IV catheter placed and is receiving antibiotics and painkiller to try and bring down the leg as best as possible. He will be at OVC over the weekend and will be re-assessed on Monday to determine what may need to be done for Grizzly.

I am asking for any help anyone would be willing to provide with the vet expenses… we are currently at ~5000 in expenses and as a full time student I am getting a little in over my head… I truly believe Grizzly deserves all the care in the world though and I am trying to provide him as much as he deserves.

I will keep updating as new information comes about on grizzlies situation.

About Grizzly

Grizzly is a soon to be 17 year old (his birthday is in June), off the track thoroughbred. His registered racing name was Ruvee (you can YouTube some of his races :) ). Grizzly is a large gentle, trusting, and patient soul. Grizzly has helped me re-gain my love for riding after a knock back, he’s taught my partner how to ride, hes taken care of me on hacks and trail rides, and so much more. I’m hoping that when he recovers from this we will be able to build so many more memories together, including having my baby niece learn to ride on him. I truly mean he is gentle when I say it - he has never bit me, kicked me, or done anything nasty. Even when Grizzly is painful or uncomfortable, you can see him actively try to be good and work with you. Any time Grizzly has had a wound, no matter how painful, he will be respectful and try his very best to stay still to be treated. He may lift his leg out or do a mini little slow-mo kick back, but it’s never been directed to be meaningful - I think it’s just his way of communicating “hey that hurts, please stop and be gentle”.

The only time he very much does not want to deal with something is when we are out for a hack and there are bugs. He does not like bugs. But I also don’t like bugs, so we mutually agree that when it is too buggy out we will stay in the arena away from trees or lather up on bug spray. But even when he annoyed at bugs, he is still very good at listening and working through the discomfort with me until we get “to safety”.