Layla & Serena were tiny two week old babies that found their way to Kaufman kill pen. They were so tiny and weak, lost....calling out to their mothers who had been stripped away from them, wandering a pen with much bigger horses......Our hearts were aching for them. We knew there was not much time before they would die without moms milk. We put up an "SOS" quickly and our wonderful donors stepped up quickly to help us get them out of there. Because they would require bottles of milk replacer every couple of hours round the clock, and very close monitoring, we chose to forego quarantine and bring them home to our isolation stall and take care of their needs ourselves.
The amount of cruelty we see, really takes a toll, but the ultimate worst for us is seeing newborn foals dumped into the hands of kill buyers who are waiting on baited breath to place a really high price tag on foals they know probably won't survive getting all at one time, the "Kill pen crud" combination of Strangles and other pathogens that have gone unchecked for so long, they have become "Superbugs." Babies have no immunity against disease, so any owner who dumps them at a kill pen or an auction is pretty much signing their death certificate. Those nasty places have no government oversight, no authority figures to make them sterilize or stop them from selling very sick horses that are transported all over the US. I could fill your ears about how angry I am that our government simply looks the other way while horses are being abused and neglected in these places and leave there to infect many more with the "Superbugs" they pick up there, but that is for another place and time.
First Layla succumbed to sickness she picked up from the kill pen, which immediately became pneumonia. We rushed her to the hospital at the first sign of nasal discharge and coughing. Babies die fast, so there is no time to waste. Layla required hospitalization at the equine hospital's ICU for 3 weeks and spent 2 months on heavy duty antibiotics to help clear her lungs. We had hoped that Serena had dodged the bullet and wouldn't get sick, but 3 weeks after Layla became sick, Serena started coughing. We rushed Serena to the hospital and she too had pneumonia. Serena spent 10 days in the ICU and 2 months on heavy duty antibiotics. These poor babies were so sick and weak, they did not even try to play for over 2 months. Diligent care, lots of love and God allowing it to be His WIll, helped these two precious babies pull through. Many are not as fortunate and we lose them. The road to recovery was long, but today we have two very precious, very loved, very special babies who we get the pleasure of caring for every day. We are so grateful they lived! These two are very bonded and will stay together until they start to choose other friends. They share a paddock fence with Lou and Bodie, who are close to their age and all are happy, healthy and thriving.
For about 6 months, Layla and Serena have been sharing a paddock with weanlings Lou and Bodie and all 4 have been getting along wonderfully. They enjoy playing together. Layla has drifted from Serena and is now closer to Lou and Serena have buddied up with Bodie. It is so nice getting to watch them grow together. Now that they are a year old and have become friendly and well adjusted, drifting from their once tight bond, we know it is time to begin searching for their forever homes, but it is going to be really hard letting them go. We are really going to miss them.
We are happy to announce that little Serena has found her forever home with a wonderful family. While it was hard to say goodbye, Serena has a little boy and a little girl who are so very excited to call Serena their own.
donor deserves to see her grow up for a while longer. :)