In the realm of animal welfare, every day is an adventure. In addition to other surrendered animals, on July 5th, 2010 The Oasis Animal Sanctuary took in an extremely emaciated horse.

Our Equine Foster Mom Denise discovered the sad skeleton of a horse at a local farm in Newtonsville. The animal was surrendered and the vet estimates she was 400 pounds underweight(!), and has some serious foot issues. “Ginger” is a 17 year old quarterhorse mare and needs specialized farrier (blacksmith) work, as well as special feed, other medications and supplements to heal her ailments.

According to her former owner, Ginger had “foundered” a while back; her coffin bone rotated and pierced her foot. Since this is such a horribly painful and irreversible situation, horses are generally put down if it occurs; Oasis co-founder Pam Brighton did not quite believe what was being told to her. HOWEVER, x-rays showed that the coffin bone did indeed rotate downward into the foot and that the tip of the bone was literally sheared off. The foot grew a cushion of callous under the bone and the horse is not lame! The vet, as well as all of us at Oasis, were astounded. It is a true testament to her strength and desire to live that she has survived this unbelievable situation. The amount of pain this animal must have suffered is off the charts.

Along with the effects of starvation, Pam and Foster Mom Denise are closely monitoring the horse’s weight gain to ensure that this will not negatively impact Ginger’s foot.

The saddest thing about Ginger is that most of her suffering was completely preventable.   At least she is living a “happily ever after” story.  She seems to understand that the people of Oasis are helping her and she is gentle and sweet with everyone. Getting plenty of tender loving care and medical attention at Oasis has healed her wounds and spirit, and she has recovered enough to be the magnificent creature she was meant to be. She is very content to be turned out with the little herd of Oasis horses.  While she still has some discomfort in her foot (some days worse than others), her farrier is amazed when she trots over to visit with him.  Her very specialized diet consists of hay and crab-free pellets, along with special supplements to ease her discomfort.  As you can see from her latest picture, she has filled out nicely.  Because of her condition, Ginger will most likely stay with Oasis for the rest of her life.