(Please note this story is a work in progress - more details and photos are added as our time permits! Thanks for your understanding!) 

A call came in from an Amish farmer in Applecreek, Ohio. He had heard about our Amish Horse Retirement Program through a friend of his who had already retired several horses through this unique program that Happy Trails has set up for retiring Amish buggy and plow horses. Could we please take his 10 week old baby mini who was born the day after Easter?  She never did walk quite right, and was always walking on her pasterns (ankles). She deteriorated to the point where she needed help just to stand up. Of course we would take her! 

After a call to OSU (Ohio State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital), the vet helped us think through what needed to be done. At 10 weeks old, she was normally not yet old enough to be weaned. The family was not seeking to voluntarily give up the mother mini horse, so a decision had to be made. What would be the least amount of stress on the baby? The vet suggested that we wean her and bring her back to the sanctuary immediately, and give her a few days to settle in. He didn't want her to experience the stress of being taken away from mom, going on a two hour car ride to Columbus, and then being poked and prodded and having x-rays taken all in one day. So, arrangements were made, and Cheri Rider, Board Member, her son Cory, and myself (Annette), piled into Cheri's truck and began our journey to Applecreek to meet our newest little equine resident. She was to be the youngest horse ever to grace our Amish Horse Retirement Program!

She was precious. Absolutely precious. She immediately stole the hearts of everyone who met her. At ten weeks old with crippled back legs, it was obvious that she had a great deal of difficulty walking, and if she were laying down, could not stand herself up on her own. She needed a very special name — a name that would dictate what she would be able to do someday. I turned to my Native American names to see if anything fit. That's when I discovered the name...Kachina. It was from the Hopi language, and it meant "Sacred Dancer". It was perfect — we wanted her to not only be able to walk, but we wanted her to be able to dance.  I recognized that my dream for her might not fit the reality of the situation, but, I decided, that was to be our goal.

After a weekend of getting settled in at Happy Trails, we prepared for the vet visit. We set Kachina in the back of Kevin Bragg's car for a trip to OSU in Columbus on Monday, June 29th.  We didn't get more than a block down the street when I turned around to see that the baby had rolled over upside down. Good grief. "Kevin, pull over!"  I crawled in the back to try to right the baby. She didn't have a good sense of balance, and it appeared that the only decision was for me to crawl onto the uneven folded down seats and hold onto her for the two hour and fifteen minute journey. How fun and uncomfortable this was going to be...

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. The thoughts that crossed our minds were trying to stay positive, though we both knew that there was a chance that nothing could be done to repair the damage done to the baby's legs. I decided not to think about that, and just concentrated on the fact that she could someday dance her way down the barn aisle and across the yard.

We LOVE the vets at OSU . They are always wonderful to us — very patient, kind, and always explaining things in such a way that we can all understand the circumstances and are on the same page together. After a lengthy examination and a series of radiographs to show what was going on with her bones, Dr. Elce declared that we could try a few things for Kachina and that her prognosis would be "gaurded". I decided that I would call her prognosis "hopeful"!

Kachina needed some hoof extenders. From using only her front legs to walk and holding her back legs up in the air, her hooves turned dramatically inward and gave her no solid platform to push off when she would try to take a step. Kachina was the best horse patient of all time. She allowed us to lay her down on her side with no anesthesia, and she actually laid there very quietly and calmly. It was as though she instinctively knew that we were trying to help her. Dr. Elce mixed up a bondo-like substance and began to form the little baby new hooves on her back feet. The new hooves were a dirty yellow color, and the vet extended her hooves more to the outside of her legs. We were supposed to keep the baby calm and resting until the new hooves dried. Would she lay still that long? There was still one more procedure to do.

Steroid injections of cortizone needed to be inserted into her stifle area (her knees), where they seemed to be inflamed and painful. She took the injections like a champ, showing complete trust and faith in her human caretakers.

The new hooves hardened in a short amount of time, and we stood her up to let her try them out. In mere seconds, she took off down the corridor as though she had places to go. "Just try to keep up with me," she seemed to say! We had to laugh at her as she practiced walking. She was now able to actually put weight on her back legs — something she could not do before. 

We were thrilled that we were going to bringing a live baby back to the sanctuary, and that we could at least give her the chance that she deserves. I tell her many times a day, ever since the minute she set hoof back on the grassy yard at Happy Trails, that with every step she takes she is becoming stronger and healthier. And that truly is the case! 

Once back at Happy Trails, we began massage therapy with Kachina, massaging her spine, her legs and her neck. Good blood flow and healthy circulation always seems to help promote healing. Whenever Kachina needed to stand up, we would help stand her up and encourage her to try as hard as she could on her own. Every day Kachina walks better, further, steadier, and more confidently. She is developing quite an extraordinary personality, and is a young lady who knows exactly what she wants and when she wants it. She is extremely attached to us, probably because of the young age at which she was weaned. She will walk right up to us and demand our full attention. Of course she gets it from anyone in sight.

We are now taking one day at a time, knowing that she is not out of the woods. Her ankles are still somewhat weak, but her stifles are strengthening with every move she makes. She can now jump up from a laying down position and spring into action if she thinks she needs to be moving somewhere else. She can hold her neck up higher as her back continues to get stronger. 

In Kachina's mind she is a big horse. She wants so badly to be around the much-larger horse residents at Happy Trails, and doesn't understand the consequences of her tiny, frail size if she were to be in with the herd. The very best that we can do to humor her, is to allow her to graze next to them on the other (and safer) side of the fences. Barney, my personal horse who is a rather chubby and opinionated Standardbred, likes to look down at the baby over the fence. He was originally puzzed at what the small, noisy creature was. Once I held her up for him to sniff, and after a whiff of the baby, he jumped quickly away as though he were afraid I'd ask him to babysit! He likes keeping an eye on her, though, from a safe distance and on the other side of the fence. Even the big draft boys, Red and Tony, will graze next to the baby on their side of the fence. She may be small in stature, but she is a giant in mind and in confidence!

In several weeks we need to once again make the journey to Ohio State in Columbus, where Kachina will have updated radiographs taken to see if her un-formed bones are still continued to grow and form. Original x-rays of her spine showed that there were edges that had not completely finished forming, and the same with her knee joints. Dr. Elce was hopeful that the bones would continue to develop in the baby as time went on and she was provided with good, healthy nutrition. Kachina can still stretch her back legs into a perfectly straight line — something that horses should be not be able to do if they have strong muscles around their knees and hocks! Her ankles are also a bit wobbly, but seem to be getting stronger and more useful to her every day.

One day when I was watching her eat the grassy clover in the middle yard at Happy Trails, she suddenly raised her head spun around. She decided it was time to head back to the barn for whatever reason. She began walking very quickly. I held my breath — would she fall? Not even close! Her quick walk suddenly turned into a trot! She was pushing off using her back legs and and going as fast as her little body could go! I felt the tears. It had been over a week since the visit to OSU, and it's been as if we've been watching a miracle happen right before our eyes. Kachina was making progress daily, and we were blessed to be allowed to witness her recovery.

Kachina, now 12 weeks old, made her debut last Wednesday with a group of senior citizens who arrived for a visit at Happy Trails from Pebble Creek Nursing Home. Kachina politely stood in the middle of a group of wheelchairs and was pleased as punch to have everyone reach out to pet her. She was sure that she was a good representative of Happy Trails, and we made sure to praise her with more hugs and smooches for her patience and kindness toward our guests.

PHOTOS AND COMPLETE STORY TO COME! It's time to go feed the baby horse that you are reading about! Thanks for your patience!