Help Diamond Heal

Say hello to Diamond Mine! A beautiful son of Diamond Hit, this horse is one in a million. He is a giant teddy bear in horse form. Everyone who meets him can't help but love him, and now he needs support more than ever.
Nine months ago, Diamond was turned out into a new field and came in three-legged lame, unable to bear weight on his right hind leg. There was no external injury apart from swelling and pain, so after examination he was treated with paddock rest, wrapping, cold hosing and bute. Six weeks later all seemed much improved and he was cleared to go out into a small pasture with quiet horses. He was still very slightly off but the swelling had entirely resolved and he was upbeat again.

For the next few months he remained ever so slightly off in the hind
end. He was imaged and examined multiple times, and baffled the vets who saw him. One day at around the 6 month mark, after exhaustive testing and vet visits to no avail, he blew what appeared to be a very large abscess (the size of a golf ball) from his coronary band. He also had a blowout in the bar below the coronary exit hole. Hoping this had been the issue all along, we drained and treated the abscess, which healed for three or four weeks steadily, despite him remaining somewhat lame.

The abscess swelled up and blew out again the fifth week. Assuming it just didn't all get out the first time given the size of the abscess, we continued to treat it. The process repeated itself, with a short period of healing followed by a new blowout. Images were repeated to look for a sequestrum, fracture, or other obvious cause and none was found.


Diamond was then taken to UGA Equine Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a rare and serious condition called "quittor." Rarely seen today, it was common in plowhorses who stepped on one another's coronary areas during work. It occurs when the collateral cartilage - which, being cartilage, already has poor blood flow - suffers trauma that interrupts or stops blood flow. As a result an isolated area of necrotic infection develops, worsening steadily as the lack of blood flow does not allow for medication to be effectively delivered and the geography of the area does not allow for good drainage. Quittor is not only extremely rare but also extremely difficult to treat, with a less than favorable prognosis if surgery is not performed. 

In an effort to save his hoof, Diamond stayed at the hospital for a week receiving a maggot treatment which unfortunately failed. Upon discharge he was doing very badly and he was taken to Tryon Equine Hospital the Monday following the Friday he was discharged, where euthanasia was discussed if things were not gotten under control. He remained at Tryon for another week, where he received three limb perfusions (directly delivering antibiotics to an area), and where a wound deep in the soft tissue that had been missed was discovered. He was also on oral antibiotics at this time. He returned home to complete another three weeks of oral antibiotics coupled with box rest and topical ointment. He has recently completed this treatment and it also seems to have failed.

He is now left with the options of another round of limb perfusion/oral medications (likely to fail), surgery, or euthanasia. After nine months of paying for exams, tests, paddock board, medications, hospital stays, bandaging supplies, and extra feed and hay, I am left without the funds to save this boy. I do not wish to put this wonderful horse down at the age of 14 because I cannot afford to help him. He has been more than a trooper throughout all of this and deserves, at the very least, a wonderful retirement if he cannot be returned to soundness. He has been in pain for almost a year now and I have done everything I can think of to get the best outcome for him. I sold my trailer, extra tack, etc to cover his hospital visits but I am out of things to sell and he is out of time to wait. He is wearing a 5 layer bandage from hock to hoof 24/7, and the bandaging expenses alone are immense. He is a big boy at almost 17 hands and takes multiple rolls of bandage to wrap each time. 

Diamond is an amazing horse and has had an amazing support team. He is on the final stretch and we are at the end of our options. Please donate whatever you can to help give this boy his last shot. If I can afford to do surgery he will be on the road to recovery at last. I have done all I could to avoid this outcome for him and save as much of his hoof and soundness as possible but it has come to this and I owe it to him to get him well.

Donations of materials are also greatly greatly appreciated. These include:
 - Elastikon
- Vetrap
- Rolled Gauze
- Wound pads
- Tomorrow Antibiotic Ointment
- Seminole Wellness Herbal Blend
- Salt/Mineral licks for stall
- Stall toys
- Shavings (I use pelleted to reduce dust but will accept any kind)

Material donations may be dropped off or mailed to Scott Hills Equestrian Center at 115 Scott Cir Pendleton, SC

Thank you to everyone who has helped this guy and to anyone who donates to us in any way.