Ninety Six East

What makes a good story, what makes it interesting enough to have others take the time to read it? So many questions and not enough answers. I think everyone and everything can present a good story if told the right way. I am not a writer by trade nor do I profess to be great at grammar, but I can put together words that will hopefully touch your heart and keep you long enough to read the story.

My story is about Easy, Ninety Six East is his registered name.  He was born to be a race horse. His father was something to behold in the racing industry.  I can’t exactly explain why or how Easy ended up with us, but I can tell you what he means to us here at the center.

Easy is just that easy, easy to handle, easy on the eyes, and easy to fall in love with. What he is not is easy to care for. Keeping weight on him is very hard. His 16.2 hh frame is being deteriorated by a disease called EPM (Equine Protozoa  Myeloencephalitis). EPM is an infection of the central nervous system of horses.  The neurologic signs that it causes are most commonly asymmetric in-coordination weakness and spasticity, and can mimic almost any neurologic condition.

Easy came to us as a 5 year old, said to have some wobbling problems. Our vets diagnosed him with EPM and hence began his life of doom.  Well, I hate to say we have not put in a lot of money to try different types treatments.   What we need to do is provide him with a new  type of treatment.  However this is very expensive.

The most exciting new development in the area of EPM research is the advent of new and different alternatives for treating EPM. There are no FDA approved drugs for the treatment of this disease, but a number of drugs have been used off-label, or imported from other countries for treating EPM.                                                                                                                                                             

This is the culprit that caused all the problems for Easy.

Horses should remain on both drugs for the duration of treatment, because protozoa have been shown to become resistant to pyrimethamine in the absence of sulfas. Trimethoprim is not recommended, and probably should be avoided, if possible, because it is likely to add to the toxicity of the pyrimethamine, without adding to the efficacy The most common treatment is still a combination therapy of pyrimethamine (1.0 mg/kg daily), in combination with sulfadiazine (20 mg/kg daily), most commonly available from compounding pharmacies . Horses should remain on both drugs for the duration of treatment, because protozoa have been shown to become resistant to pyrimethamine in the absence of sulfas. Trimethoprim is not recommended, and probably should be avoided, if possible, because it is likely to add to the toxicity of the pyrimethamine, without adding to the efficacy.

Back to Easy, a big dark bay Thoroughbred with the gentle soul deserves our best for him before giving up totally and just waiting for him to waste away.  When you are grooming him, he loves the attention of the ladies. He purrs like a cat when the brush is running down his back.  He doesn’t like being enclosed into a stall. Maybe our stalls are a little small for his gigantic size or maybe he was always an outdoor kind of guy. Either way he prefers to be out in the open, yet come in for all the attention he can get.

When you walk up to him in a field he lowers his head to let you halter him, he leads without trying to run off or pull out of your hands.  He gets along so well with other horses and asks for so little. You can watch him play with the other horses out in the open, it’s in confine areas that he does not do well. He has trouble turning his massive frame around in tight places, he has trouble picking up his feet for the farrier, and standing still for bathing.  He tries - he tries so hard it hurts to watch him, trying.  We need your help to help him. I believe he will make a wonderful pet, and if we can slow his process and maybe revert some of it, he might even be ride- able in some distant future. But, right now Easy needs attention, attention that cost money, money we don’t have. We can give him a comfortable for a while, but he deserves so much more. He deserves a fair chance.  Being such a young horse if we don’t find an alternative for him no one will want to adopt him. It would be too hard to take on a pasture pet not knowing how long you have to care for him. It could be a year to 10 years depending on how fast he deteriorates.  We are looking for sponsors for Easy – He will not be adopted out – but put on medication and will later require a bigger stall to be build to keep him out of the cold. Won’t you please help – just 5.00 a month is the cost of a coffee and sandwich at McDonalds. Come on folks one small donation a month can not hurt you, or one annually for 60.00. Your coffee and sandwich will go a long way to saving a helpless animal in need of your good heart and help.

Send donations payable to:

Hugs2Horses Rescue Inc.

P.O. Box 71

Fowlerville MI, 48836

Submitted by Joanna Goodall / Director