Our little colt, now nicknamed “Lucky Charm”, was born with contracted tendons in both front legs that made it very difficult for him to stand for any period of time. As a result, his mom was unwilling to let him nurse. In many cases, this little colt would have been put down, but we decided to help.

For more than a week, we milked the mare and bottle-fed Lucky on a ‘round the clock 2-hour schedule, trying to help him get and stay on his feet as best he could. Of course, this time and contact with the little guy had us all fall in love with him and want to see him grow up healthy.

After the week was done, he had enough strength to stand unsteadily in front of a bucket of formula, and we taught him to drink from it, which meant that we could go six hours between feeding times, giving us all a little bit of time to catch up on sleep.

We built stilts for his legs that supported him for long enough to nurse, and were fortunate to get him seen and admitted for surgery at the UGA vet clinic. Lucky did well with the surgery, but has been having complications from the surgery requiring extensive round-the-clock continuous care. The costs are skyrocketing, becoming more than we are able to handle, and again we are faced with a decision to stop treatment. I believe that we are almost there with this little guy and I hate the idea of having to give up on his life because of the cost of the care.

Won’t you please help us get through the next week or two of veterinary costs so he can grow up healthy and strong, rather than needing to be put down.