Pippin

When Pippin arrived at Sarah’s to foster back at the beginning of the year, she was a small, sickly thing. Her overall affect was flat, and despite her youth, she did not behave in the way that a young horse should. The curious, playful personality that typically accompanies youth was dampened by a rough start to her life, some underlying medical issues, and general lack of care. But to land at Sarah’s place was like landing on a different planet for Pippin, a planet that was designed to meet her needs and cocoon her in all the love and care that she had previously been missing. She was nourished, in more than one way, by Sarah and husband Jeremy, as well as by the other wonderful humans in their life who spent time with and around her. Her medical mystery was cracked open, and the necessary steps to help her were quickly underway. Supplements, antibiotics, bloodwork checks and rechecks, deworming, hoof care, vaccinations — as the days progressed into months, Pippin shed her old coat and her old life, and began to transform into the little mare she was always meant to be.

When the day arrived that our vets gave Pip a clean bill of health, meaning she could come off of medical hold and enter into the category of adoptable, Sarah was the very first one in line. Pippin had become a part of her family long before the paperwork was signed, and for Pippin, Sarah’s was the place where her life had really begun. So to say outright what has been already implied, Pippin has been adopted by Sarah and Jeremy! We could not be happier for little Pip, who spends her happy, healthy days alongside big brother Duke and other farm residents, Etta and alumna Lucca. She is a zippy creature now, a big personality on four miniature legs. She also happens to be one of the cutest horses who has potentially ever existed.

We are eternally grateful to Sarah and Jeremy for opening up their home and their hearts to Pippin, and for helping to give her the best second chance around. This little lady could not have asked for a better place to spend her life, and we are over the moon about this foster fail!

Horses contain multitudes: they can be regal, majestic, brave, goofy, beautiful… the list goes on. But I would argue that most full-size horses don’t usually conjure the word ‘cute.’ Mini horses, on the other hand, are the epitome of ‘cute.’ And if there is an even stronger version of that word, I would argue that Pippin would be the definition.

Pippin, or Pip as she is colloquially known, is a miniature horse filly who came to SAFE as part of an animal control seizure. Well, when I say came to SAFE, I should really clarify and say that while she came under SAFE’s care, she went straight from her first location to our good friend Sarah V’s house to foster. We were full up on horses here at the barn, so were so grateful that we have such an amazing connection who was able to step in and offer plenty of phenomenal TLC to this little sweetie.

And it turned out that Pip was in need of a bit more TLC than most. She came to us not in the best of shape, in need of some calories and generally just quite shut down. At her initial vet visit, our vet felt that she looked a bit ataxic, possibly from lack of nutrition and muscling, or possibly a little neurologic. A vitamin E deficiency could also be a cause. They drew blood, and found that while her selenium and vitamin E levels were in normal range, there were multiple indicators that there was something amiss with her liver. We started her on milk thistle, which was recommended by our vets, and has historically helped increase liver functionality.

After some time on the milk thistle, and with some groceries on board, little Pip got her liver values rechecked. Things were looking better, but still not 100% — some of her chemistry was indicative of strange abnormalities, certain low and high levels that could indicate infection and some muscle damage. While she was physically improving outwardly, brightening up and generally more lively, there was still something going on internally that required further investigation.

So we asked for a second opinion, consulting with an internal medicine specialist, who told us that Pip’s bloodwork showed signs of chronic infection. He said her liver looked like it had improved some, but based on some of her values, it was possible she could still be having some sort of an issue there. He recommended more advanced testing, or ultrasounding the liver to see if more could be discovered. And indeed, a subsequent ultrasound of the liver revealed what looked to be an abscess. There are a number of things that could have caused it: previous parasite migration into the liver, toxicity from something she tried to eat while she was starving, or an ascending infection from the portal vein due to something like a colic episode. He prescribed a course of doxycycline (antibiotic) and a recheck ultrasound in about a month.

It has been nice to get some clarity on what is going on with Pippin, and we are eagerly awaiting her next ultrasound to hopefully reveal positive changes. But in the meantime, Pip is still managing to enjoy what life has to offer now that she is safe, doing all the things a baby horse should do: running around, taking naps in the sun, getting lots of good pets and brushes, and never having to worry about if she will be cared for or loved ever again. Welcome to the SAFE family, Pip!