KELSEYVILLE – Fifty-eight days in foster care today, Soda Bay the horse is reportedly in much better condition than when he was surrendered to Animal Care and Control in May.
“Now he”s actually eating like a horse,” said Valarie Sullivan, who is fostering Soda Bay at Pikes Peak Appaloosas in Kelseyville. Sullivan, who has rescued her share of horses, explained that it takes a while for a malnourished horse to get to the point where it eats what is considered a full meal for a horse.
Over the past two months, Sullivan noted that Soda Bay has gone from eating mouthfulls to bucketfulls to feeders full of the food recommended for an older horse by a local veterinarian brought in to examine him when he was surrendered.
The approximately 20-year-old bay Appaloosa gelding was starving and could barely walk because of abscesses on his hooves when he was first surrendered to Lake County Animal Care and Control on May 24. According to Director Denise Johnson, the owner handed over Soda Bay hoping Animal Care and Control could help find him a home.
Whether or not Soda Bay”s previous owner will face neglect charges will be up to the Lake County District Attorney”s Office, according to Animal Care and Control Director Denise Johnson. “I”m sending case to the D.A., and they will make the determination based on the evidence I give them,” said Johnson. She said she”s preparing evidence that includes witness statements expected to arrive via mail.
Veterinarian Susan Cannon with Wasson Memorial Veterinary Clinic examined Soda Bay when he was surrendered earlier this year. “We weren”t certain when he was brought in whether there was a medical reason he was so skinny or if the owner was at fault,” said Cannon.
Tests showed the horse”s blood count was normal, said Cannon. “A horse can have normal blood work and still have something internally wrong keeping it from gaining weight,” Cannon Explained.
The acid test, she said, is whether or not a malnourished horse puts on weight when fed properly. She said for Soda Bay, she would expect to see about a 100-pound weight gain in a month”s time.
“If the horse gains weight, I would feel that the owner was negligent,” said Cannon. While she hasn”t seen the horse recently, Cannon noted that when she first examined Soda Bay he was at least 200 pounds underweight. She explained that the Henneke scale ranks nutritional health on a scale of one to nine, with one being life-threatening emaciation and nine being gross obesity to the point of morbidity. Cannon said Soda Bay was a one when she first examined him.
A Tuesday measurement showed that Soda Bay had gained more than 100 pounds over the last month, said Sullivan.
“It took two months to see a difference, and it”s a miraculous difference,” said Sullivan. “To me he appears to be twice the horse that he was,” she added.
Volunteers and donations are still needed to help with the cost of Soda Bay”s care, which includes a diet Sullivan agreed upon with Animal Care and Control when she decided to foster him.
A recent fundraiser garnered more than $1,100, only part of the estimated $6,000 that one year of care would cost. For more information about visiting Soda Bay or making a donation, contact Sullivan at (719) 661-0306. Sullivan said more fundraisers may be forthcoming.
“It”s expensive to maintain horses,” noted Cannon. “Unfortunately, not everyone in Lake County is as careful as they need to be to take care of old horses.”
An older horse like Soda Bay needs pelleted seed or chopped hay to accommodate their teeth wearing out with age, said Cannon. Horses may live to be 30 years old, occasionally more. “Age alone should not cause a horse to be that thin. A common problem here is that as a horse gets older people don”t change their feeding patterns,” said Cannon.
Sullivan said Soda Bay has come a long way, but still has a long way to go. She said he”s a very thankful horse, indicated by the way he responds when spoken to or when he hears his name, how attentive he is, and how gentle he is with anyone who enters his stall. “Sometimes misunderstood horses get angry, but he”s never done that,” said Sullivan.
“He”s made great leaps and bounds, but he”s only a portion of the way there,” she added.
