Question of the Day: "How's Badge?"

I get asked this question a lot. Sometimes several times a day, but I always answer, “He’s fine.”, or “He’s doing good.”, but in my heart I know he’s just plain, well, FANTASTIC! Here’s what he looks like now, some 46 days after arriving here.

"A horse carries a certain goodness, an inner light from which beauty flows"

He still needs to build up some muscle along his top line and his hindquarters where he lost so much muscle mass causing his spine and hip bones to protrude. When he was picked up by Animal Control in mid-March he had pressure sores on his hip bones. Those scabs are all gone, replaced by a fine layer of healthy fat and shiny coat.

Trust me when I say, feeding Badge is no small chore. It was and still is a defined regiment. Some days in the beginning I felt like lab technician measuring his feed and supplements, calculating the input and watching for the output-Boy is there output! Over the next several weeks I’ll move him over to a maintenance diet to ensure that he can maintain the weight and balance it with exercise.

He knows his way to the barn! In fact, he runs to the barn! As I open the pasture gate, Clang! Clang! The two Fat Bottom Girls edge out quickly and he is always behind them. He swings wide to the outside, covers the distance in ground covering strides, tail arched and his head held high, only to come to a screeching halt, because, let’s face it folks, it’s not that far to the barn! Maybe a furlong or so, but what a race! It must make him feel great that he beat those two, old Fat Bottom Girls! Besides every horse here knows that good things happen in the Big Red Barn; it’s called FOOD!

You see? It's a Triple Crown day for Badge when he gets back to the barn! -------------->

My dear friend Linda took these pictures after we used the clippers to clean up his bridle path, trim off his unruly whiskers and beard. Of course, he stood perfectly still as if it were just any other day in his life, which I believe at some point it must have been. All the attention, petting, grooming that he had missed for who knows how long and he was just eating it up-figuratively speaking of course, because we know he eats in the literal sense. Linda also took some amazing videos of him, and as soon as she figures out the technical part of her new phone that takes amazing HD videos, I’ll post them too!

So it looks like Badge is on his way to recovery and looking forward to each “waking-eating” moment and “sleeping-dozing” moment in his big old stall softly bedded down each night.

More to come…

“Horses are so forgiving. ~ Tom Dorrance”

It’s now May,2011. Welcome Spring! – time to post an update on Badge. Flowers blooming, birds busy singing and building nests and weeds growing like crazy, calling out “Neener, Neener, Neener” as you walk by.

We have settled into a peaceful, calm routine-Badge is treated like the royalty he is and I am relegated to the position of stall maid slash valet. Nice routine to have if you are a horse! It gives me great pleasure to clean his stall and watch as his head is in his food bin, eyes slightly shut munching away. I wonder what thoughts he has while eating? Pondering over the days when he would romp next to his mother? Would this be the day he would hear the loud clang of the starting gate or when his next meal would be forthcoming?

Badge now grazes throughout the day with Bea and Promise, and calls out to them when he is in his stall. He still eats his mega meals each morning and night separately. He needs the calories, the Fat Bottom Girls don’t! His left rear leg still shows a slight swelling in the morning, but by afternoon with him walking around, it is normal. I don’t know the extent of the injury he had, but he does walk sound on it and maybe this will be how it is. If he is in a confined area it swells, and when he has the ability to walk around it goes back to normal. Church Lady ankles I suspect. Maybe he needs some orthopedic hose and a straw hat with flowers?

He gets brushed twice a day. I found the Furminator a great tool to remove the bear-like Winter coat he had upon his arrival, along with various brushes, combs and clothes. The supplements he receives have not only helped him on the inside, but his new coat is shiny too. He does have some significant bald patches along his flanks and hindquarters, partly due to rain rot that is being treated with a fungicide. This will help his skin condition and encourage new hair growth. Though for the time being he looks a bit like a Stief bear, circa 1910, he is coming around. I’ve seen the birds carry off the tufts the hair to add to their nest building efforts. Some baby birds are going to really enjoy a soft and comfy bed!

May 3^rd, five days shy of him being here a month, I took these pictures.

See the difference? -------------------->

He still has a ways to go as he lost muscle mass along with being emaciated. This demonstrates that the cause of his weight loss was not due to something physically wrong with him, but sadly, because he was not being fed.

A horse is worth more than riches. ~Spanish Proverb

My guess is that God gave Badge a great heart, not only to run and endure hardship, but to be able to forgive those who have trespassed against his being and soul. Otherwise, how could he possibly look like this?