UPDATE: A Tribute to Orion

Its five thirty a.m., Thursday, August 16 and Orion is found limping in the pasture.  Not understanding what was going on the vet was immediately called.  When the vet arrived Orion was on the ground and I knew he would not be getting back up.  After a full exam it is determined Orion has broken his leg.  How it happened still remains a mystery, but it is decided at that point that Orion must be relieved of his suffering.  This is a tremendous loss to Forever Free Horse Rescue.  Orion was a very personable and loving fellow.  He came to us after being rescued from a rental string in Hollywood, California.  This is his story…
            On February 27, 2007 I received the following email alert regarding Orion from a dear friend;
            “Orion is about 20 years old and has been in the rental string for many years.  A month or so ago he got caught in some wire in the overcrowded pen and severed his leg.  He was put in the darkest, dingiest stall in that old barn to get better, but instead he got worse (no surprise) and stopped eating.  My friend paid her vet to come out and look at him, so he has been getting medical treatment for a couple of weeks.  The vet says that it is hard to say how much damage the wire did to his tendons, but he is recovering nicely form this awful infection.  He is eating a little bit, but he is still painfully thin and muscle wasted; can’t walk properly, and is very depressed.  Please let me know your thoughts as soon as possible as this little guy really needs to get out of Sunset Ranch.”
            As you can imagine, my heart ached seeing this poor thing in this kind of shape.  Having rescued another horse from Sunset Ranch and actually seeing the conditions these horses live in I said yes to taking him in without hesitation.  Orion was taken immediately to our vet, and when he was unloaded I thought how very sad and cruel that anyone let this horse deteriorate to this condition.  He was unable to shift any weight onto his injured leg and it was obvious he was not eating because he was so thin.  My vet helped Orion on his road to recovery and even put special shoes on his back feet to help him balance and stand properly.  We kept his legs wrapped and he really thrived.  We had a few occasions where he would lay down, and he had a terrible time trying to get up.  Once he was up he trembled so badly that it scared the life out of me.  The vet said he gets stressed because he can’t get up easily and that is why he’s trembling.  Many times he did just fine getting up, but I believe on the morning of August 16, he may have been fighting to get up and caught his bad leg under the fence and somehow ended up breaking it.  This was devastating, complete devastation, my boy who had gone from picture number 1 to what you see in picture number 2 while under our care.  He was our morning greeter and just a love in every way.  It has taken me over a month to try to write this story.  I am still grieving greatly for my Orion.  So sudden, so sad, and still so very painful.  I was with Orion at the end.  I held him and told him “its okay boy, its okay” as I lovingly stroked him.  I love you Orion and I will see you again one day!