Excerpt from “Hoofbeats Across My Heart” by Jeannette Parrett
“All of the mares are getting noticed on the SAFE message board but Delilah seems to be stealing hearts left & right. I’m not sure if it’s her maternal status or the fact that she looks like a giant teddy bear. Her photos don’t necessarily show her ravaged body. The pregnant body and long winter fur (or long parasitical evidence?) disguise her neglect at first glance but when you get up close to her the protruding bones and lack of conditioning tell a very different story. In fact, Monica first brought to my attention what appeared to be some kind of growth on her shoulder, until we determined it was actually her shoulder bone. For those of us who have fairly normal horses, you can’t just wrap your fingers around their shoulder bones and hold on to it like you can with this mare.
I’m not sure anything prepares you for this, no matter how many times you see it in different cases. This particular case has it’s own distinctive set of moments that just make you question, “What was that person thinking?” …The only answer we’ll probably ever get is that they weren’t thinking at all! Unfortunately it’s history repeating itself. We see this over and over….”
