Blood was gushing from her nose or mouth and wouldn't stop. We couldn't tell if she was wounded, or what was causing it. Elskling, our beloved Belgian Draft horse, Elskling, who has suffered unspeakable loss and pain in her life yet still loves with soft golden eyes, Elskling, whose name means Beloved in Norwegian, and she is deeply deeply beloved, Elskling was bleeding and it wasn't stopping. She was calm, but the blood kept pouring out of her nose. When we quickly applied pressure and saw no change, we called our equine vet. It usually takes him about an hour to get to us. But by some incredible luck, he was already in our town, and rushed over. It wasn't comfortable for Elskling to be examined but she was completely trusting and calm, and allowed the vet to do what he needed to do. She looked at us with her soft eyes, so calm, her lips even quivering as we touched her. She did not make a sound. The only sound was blood hitting the floor. The vet determined quickly that this could be caused by a potentially fatal condition and she needed the hospital to know more and to possibly have life-saving surgery. Another piece of incredible luck: we had already hitched up the trailer that day, and had just filled the truck with gas, so we loaded Elskling up and drove the 90 minute trip to Cornell. We called them again when we were 30 minutes away to let their emergency team know. They were ready and waiting. We were so scared Elskling would collapse in the trailer on the way from blood loss. Then how would we get her out? She weighs 2,000 pounds. But incredible Elskling stayed standing for the entire trip. When we went around to the back of the trailer to open the door to let her out, blood was running out of the trailer. She had bled for the entire trip. Elskling was still calm and trusting, and when Cornell's team rushed out to meet her, she walked gently inside with them. The Cornell doctor confirmed that Elskling had arrived in bad shape. Her blood loss was significant, and if it did not stop, she would possibly need a blood transfusion. They needed the bleeding to stop in order to put a scope up her nose and determine if this was being caused by a tear in the guttural pouch, which would require emergency surgery. There was nothing we could do at this point but wait. We drove home in quiet. Elskling is the heart of Skanda, the love of Skanda, the wisdom of Skanda. We know she suffered tremendously before coming to Skanda, injured and barely able to stand, tied to the outside of a barn, unable to graze on grass, all alone without companionship or love. When Marion found her, and her owner released her from being tied up to show her to Marion, Elskling dropped to the ground and had a hard time getting back up. Marion brought Elskling to Skanda, and the moment she stepped out of the trailer and onto Skanda, Skanda grew, and breathed and loved even more than before, seeming to shine with possibilities. Because Elskling holds possibilities, and offers possibilities. Her life had been misery. Yet she loved and loved, and stayed soft in her loving. She is so so incredibly intelligent, and with Elskling at Skanda, anything is possible. Her love has become the heart of Skanda. Although she is the biggest horse at Skanda by far, Elskling is the gentlest with the children who attend our programs, who often have trauma themselves. She gentle reaches her face down so they can touch her and look into her eyes, and they fall in love. They fall in love with Elskling's gentle love, and all the possibilities she holds open for them. As of this writing, Elskling has been at Cornell for five days. She has received IV therapy, two exploratory scopes to try to determine the cause of the bleeding, a lot of antibiotics and treatment for her swollen leg, a secondary condition, and while Cornell has been able to slow and temporarily stop the bleeding, they do not yet know the cause of it. They have determined, thankfully, that the cause is not the potentially fatal condition that would require surgery. And while we are relieved to know this, at the same time it is almost worse to still not know the cause, since the bleeding itself can be fatal. Elskling's treatment is expensive. The fluids and medications she is receiving are costly, as are the tests. Right now, her care is estimated to be at least $8,000, but that could rise in the coming days. We will update this as we learn more about her medical condition, treatments, and cost. 100% of donations will go to cover Elskling's medical care, to save her life. Please give if you can. Every amount helps. And please share. Together we can give back to Elskling just a tiny drop of the love she has given all of us.   <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/57920205_1624365677836176_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" alt="57920205_1624365677836176_r.jpeg" />   <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/57920205_1624365759623000_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" alt="57920205_1624365759623000_r.jpeg" /><img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/57920205_1624365791362463_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" alt="57920205_1624365791362463_r.jpeg" /> <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/57920205_1624365832453681_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" alt="57920205_1624365832453681_r.jpeg" /> <iframe media_type="0" media_id="1nNwIKL-d2Y" class="youtube-replace" title="YouTube video player" style="margin-bottom:20px;width:560px;height:315px;" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1nNwIKL-d2Y/?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="1"></iframe>

Mark DeLaney

Anonymous

catherine kellogg

JOANN PUTNEY

Wendy Appleby

Anna Marchant

Terri Groves

Amy Ives

Tia Rubadeau

Michele Maier

Julia Jones

Alison Frost

Eva Lawrence

Christine Cadaret

Marisa Canuso-Reiner-Yaddow 

Thomas Parker

Suzanne Lang

Lifesaving care for Elskling the horse

Lifesaving care for Elskling the horse

Still $4,791 to go. Help us build momentum.