Where Life
Begins Again!

*Photos may not  be copied without permission.

Just a quick update on Baby Ray tonight.  It's been a long day and I've much to do before the day is over', and I need to be up early in the morning to do chores before Dr. Porter arrives.

Baby Ray and his mom spent much of today outside.  It was overcast much of the day, but there really wasn't any breeze; it was hot and miserably humid.  Sunshine is doing really well.  She's learning she can trust humans here and isn't nearly as skittish.  When I looked at her and Baby Ray once today, she had her head lying on his little neck; it was really cute.  Of course by the time I got the camera out of my pocket, she'd gone back to eating. 

Auntie Blodwyn, like the rest of us, loves to spoil Baby Ray.  He ate all of his first three meals today but wasn't too interested in the fourth.  But he'll get another before bedtime, which is very soon as soon as I get this update out.

Thanks, Auntie Blodwyn, for talking to me while I eat.  Do you know Dr. is coming all the way from UF in the morning to do tests on my eyes?  I'm so happy I don't have to get in a trailer to make the trip there and back.  I don't think I'm strong enough for that -- but I will be soon.  I want to get strong so the doctors can work on my eyes so I can see.  My mommy keeps telling me I'm going to love seeing the sky, grass, birds, and other horses.  I want to see the faces of all of the people that take care of me and my mommy.  And most of all, I want to see my mommy.  She loves me, you know.  I'm trying to forget about all those weeks I was without her I was afraid.  But she's with me now and I know were both safe and don't have to worry.  My human mommy tells me many times a day how much we are loved.  Can I tell you a secret, Auntie Blodwyn?  I'm a little afraid of the tests tomorrow and the surgery they are going to do on my eyes.  I'm afraid it might hurt; I'm afraid of the unknown.  I keep reminding myself what mommy Theresa tells me many times a day:  to keep the faith and think positive.  We say prayers and do you know that we include you and Uncle Bill in them, too?  We do!  And we thank God for all of the people that care and we also pray for all of the horses that need help.  Thank you, Auntie Blodwyn, for caring about me and my mommy and for holding my feed bucket -- I think I'm full now!

I hear you, mommy Theresa!  I know you're using that camera thingy again.  After my surgery, when I can see, will you show me all the pictures that you've taken of me?  I know you must take a hundred a day!  My mommy says they tell a story, over time.  I like stories especially ones that have good endings like the one you told me of Aaleyah Belle.  She was a very lucky baby, too.  And don't forget to tell me Silver Belle's story, OK?  And what about Amadeus -- does he have a story?  He told me that he has a four-month-old birthday coming up this week.  I have one coming up, too, on Sept 10 -- then I'll be four months old!

We had a ceiling fan installed in Baby Ray's stall this evening.  The flies are horrible, and the overhead fan helps a lot.  Sunshine likes to stick her head out into the aisle way where there is a cool breeze at times.  The temps/humidity are still horrible during the day, but the nights are getting cooler.  Baby Ray must have realized the new fan; it didn't take him long after it was installed to lay down under it and take a nap.

We're anxiously waiting tomorrow morning's visit by Dr. Porter.  I'll post as soon as I can after he is gone.  He said the appointment will be either at 8:30 or at 10:30.

Princess had to come in for the day -- the no-see-ums irritated her eye again.  I gave her some Banamine and tonight the swelling was much better.  If it gets worse, Dr. Ryan will have to come out.

Thanks, everyone, for all you do.  I wish you could all experience, first hand, how special this little boy is and how good he makes you feel inside.  Watching him is something I could do all day long.  If you're ever in the Ocala area, give us a call and come visit meet the horses you help.  We couldn't do it without you.  God bless you all!

We had quite a surprise today -- Diane brought Father Godinez out to meet Baby Ray!  She'd told him all about Baby Ray, so he knows that Baby Ray has cataracts and can't see.  He also knows that we are praying for a miracle of sight for him soon.  Father Godinez prayed for Baby Ray -- it was a very special time.  Thank you, Diane and Jessica!

Baby Ray was a good boy, as expected, and stayed in one spot and listened the whole time while munching on his alfalpha.  I have to admit I shed a tear or two.  All of us here have faith and know that, if God means for Baby Ray to see, he will.  If not, there is a reason; and we will accept that and help him adapt as he grows and we'll protect him.

Mommy, I feel good:  I have a full tummy and feel relaxed.  A very special Father came to visit me today.  He said very nice things to me and to mommy Theresa.  I hope I can see him someday -- do you think he'll come back to visit with me after my surgery?  I hope he knows I appreciate his taking the time to come.  It was nice to meet Auntie Grandma, too, Auntie Diane's mom.  I know you're a bit leery of humans, mommy, but here they are all good, I know it because I feel it in my heart.  Mommy Theresa and our Aunties wouldn't let any bad human near us. 

You're very special baby and, yes, I do think Father will come back to visit with you.  I've got many years of not so very good experiences with humans to work past.  I know we're safe here; it will just take me some time.  I was in our stall with my head sticking out -- watching you and listening the entire time.  And I lowered my head and said prayers, too.  I thank God for you everyday, baby, you're very special to many humans and to me.  I think we'll both sleep good tonight, don't you?

After everyone left, Sunshine came back up by Baby Ray; and they both seemed very relaxed.  He stood taller, I think, and held his head higher.  Don't you think?  Just look at that beautiful and peaceful face!  I'm so glad he is here.  I can't help but wonder what Sunshine felt when she saw Baby Ray here for the first time.  To think of what he has been through, as well as his mom, makes me sad.  But we are going to look to the future:  Tuesday is only two days away!!!

It was a big day at the rescue:  Baby Ray got his first bath!  He was such a good boy -- he's always a good boy!  He had more energy today than he's had since he arrived and seemed interested in everything going on around him.  This evening his momma had a hard time keeping up with him!

My mommy said this would almost be like standing in the rain, but I think I like this better!  Please scrub a little lower, Auntie Jessica!  Is mommy Theresa around to take pictures of baby's first bath?  That's important, you know -- I want to show my kids the pictures someday!

Between the loss of some of his unhealthy coat and with him being wet, you can better see how thin he still is.  He's got a ways to go, but I'm happy to report that his poop is looking better today finally!  It's amazing how much poop means to us when we have horses.




Look, mommy!  I can pick my feet up to be cleaned out, too!  I'm balancing on three legs -- I can do it!  Yahoo!  I told you I'm getting stronger each day!  Does this mean I'm growing up?




Ouchie, Auntie Diane!  There's a little tangle there!  I have natural curls there, you know.  Maybe you can put some of that Cowboy Magic good smelly stuff on my mane to get out the tangles?  My mommy had some in her mane the other day, and she smelled so nice!





I don't know about this, my forelock and my tail at the same time?  I'm still a little bit, and I'm new at this -- can't you aunties do just one end of me at a time until I get to understand what is going on a bit better?  Mommy, is this allowed?  This is a lot to learn about all at once!


Baby Ray felt so special, and so tired, after his bath he went out and lay down in the warm sun.  It was the most peaceful sleep you could witness -- he's a little angel.  His mom was nearby the whole time.  Sunshine is a very good mom.



Mommy!  Mommy!  I'm awake now!  Look at me, am I handsome?  Aunties Diane and Jessica say I am!  I liked getting a bath -- it felt really good, and the nap made me feel even better!  Can we go find some alfalpha now?  Oh and mommy Theresa said she took lots of pictures to share with all my other aunties and uncles.  She said I'm going to be the talk of the town tonight on the Internet, whatever that is!  Are you proud of me?


It didn't take long for Baby Ray and Sunshine to find the alfalpha.  His nose does a great job!

Shhh, please!  Baby Ray has a tummy full, and now he wants to take another nap.  He had a busy day and is a bit more tired then usual.  I'm so proud of him.  He's learned his way all around the barn and hardly bumps into anything anymore.  He tilts his cute little head and tunes in with his ears to help him sense where he is and where others are -- isn't that smart?  I'm so glad he's my little boy and that I get to watch him grow up, thanks to all of you humans that gave us a chance.  We haven't had anyone care about us before like our new human family does.  It feels good to be loved and cared about.  I wish all horses could be as blessed as we are.  Baby Ray and I say our prayers every night and thank God for all of you.  I'm tired - I think I'm going to join Baby Ray and take a nap, too!

We hope all of you are having a great weekend.  We're one more day closer to Baby Ray's tests!  Tuesday will be here before we know it, I'm sure.  Good things come to those who wait so, we wait and we pray. 

 

Dr. Das came again today to work on Baby Ray.  He sort of melts in her hands.  He's about the same, but today he only ate two out of four of his meals -- but he is eating hay around the clock.






He's so tiny -- Dr. Das works on him on her knees. 




How was your visit with Dr. Das today baby? 

It was really great, mommy -- Dr. Das knows how to make my body feel better and, before she's done, I'm ready to take a nap!

I'm glad, baby, I know it looked like it felt really good -- just watching made me feel sleepy.  Go ask mommy Theresa to let me out so we can go to take a nap together for a bit.

OK, mommy, I'd like that.  It's nice to have humans that care about us, mommy, that don't just turn us out into a pasture and we have to fend for ourselves.  I like it that I don't have to be afraid of other horses and that you don't have to worry about keeping them away from me.  I love you, mommy, and I love our humans too!

We are very blessed, baby, we'll be OK.  You need not to worry about anything -- just get strong so they can take you to get your eyes fixed.  I want you to see the beautiful sky and grass.

I am calling it a day.  A nice long hot shower is what I'm looking forward to.  Thanks, everyone, for keeping up with Baby Ray and keeping him in your thoughts and prayers and for your donations.  His gut still isn't working normally, but he'll be OK, he will.  He just has to be.  

Dr. Das' summary from today's treatment on Baby Ray:  stressed adrenals, anemic, malabsorbtion syndrome/malnutrition, immune issues, and possibly a low-grade virus.  She wants to come back the week after next (unless he gets worse and she'll come before then) and treat him again.

 

Baby Ray did OK today.  He has a good appetite and so does his mom.  I don't see any improvements from yesterday, but he wasn't worse so that is a good thing.  Dr. Ryan will be out tomorrow to run another blood test on Baby Ray and to palpate Sunshine.  The other mares she was living with are pregnant. and there is a good chance she is. too.  Let's say prayers that she isn't; she has her hands full with Baby Ray and will for a long time to come.  There are so many babies that need homes already.  I don't understand the backyard breeding mentality.  I never will.

It was a very beautiful day clouds off and on and a slight breeze.  Sunshine and Baby Ray love to graze.  They don't wander too far away from each other around the barn.  If Baby Ray gets out of sight from Sunshine, she will whinny and hell whinny back.  It's a good thing to hear, a real blessing.

Sunshine got a bath today, but Baby Ray wanted some of whatever his mom was getting.  I don't know if he was making a face because he liked it or thought he was teasing his mom by getting into the middle of her bath time.

Baby Ray is so glad his mom is back by his side.  He's much more at ease, and he hasn't paced anymore. 

Dr. Das and I just spent almost an hour on the phone this evening going over Baby Ray's blood work.  The readings are all over the place but, to sum it up, he is in a critical state.  He has chronic immune stress syndrome, malnutrition/mal-absorption syndrome, his adrenals are stressed, and the list goes on.  This isn't uncommon for a horse that has been starved, but Baby Ray's readings are to extremes.  His gut is isn't working right, which is about where Tonka was when we got to him -- only with Tonka, his gut had quit working, and there was no turning back.  Sadly, we didn't get to Tonka soon enough.  

In Baby Ray's case, we hope and pray we did.  We don't know how much colostrum he got from his momma after he was born.  We do know he was on his own at only four weeks old.  He doesn't try to nurse, and Sunshine is all dried up anyway.

Based on what we now know, we are making some changes in his feeding program and his supplements.  There has to be a positive balance -- we don't want to cause overload, which could make his organs shut down; and we have been very careful about this since his arrival.  Dr. Das will be back on Wednesday to treat him.  She agrees that he is not ready, and may not be ready for three to four weeks, to even make the trip to UF for the ultrasound to see if he is a candidate for cataract surgery.  First, we have to get him healthy and stable.

Bringing his mom here was a very good thing.  I think that, mentally, he needed her badly.  Before she came, we tried a couple of mares with him; but they scared him by nipping and kicking at him, even Layla.  He seemed mentally, at times, to be shutting down.  He was lethargic and confused.  His mom keeps watch over him, and he now knows that, so that puts him more at ease mentally.

I'm glad you're here, mommy.  Just knowing you're near me makes me feel better.  I love you, mommy.

I love you too, baby.  We're very blessed that so many humans made it possible for us to be together again.  I really never thought I'd see you again, and I was so worried about you.  But everything will be OK now -- the humans have promised us this, and I believe them.




Smile for the camera, Baby Ray -- the humans here sure do like to take pictures!

I've been very worried about Baby Ray since I first saw him -- whether his body could return to a normal function, and if mentally he was on the edge of giving up.  I knew his condition was iffy, and it still is.  He moves very slowly, and he is still weak.  But he does have will and determination, which is how he survived what he has been through.  He gives us hope.  We keep the faith and keep going.  We do whatever we have to in order to help him heal.  And we couldn't do it without help from others -- thank all of you.

I think there is supposed to be something in here.  Mommy what is this thing?  Baby Ray's new flymask is a little big on him, but it serves him well.  He's cute as cute as cute can be!




This morning I asked Jeff, a neighbor, to take June Bug home.  Sadly, she would scare Baby Ray at times because she wanted to play; she'd head-butt him, and a couple of times last night he ran into the wall and hit his head.  His whole body is stressed, and the more stress we can eliminate, the better.  June Bug was fine about it; she walked right to Jeff's truck and climbed in the back seat with his kids. 

Sunshine is a skittish mare but seems more at ease as time goes by.  I don't know if it is from not being handled, or being handled inappropriately.  She's not mean and wants to trust.  She reminds me of Magic in some ways.  We're very glad she is here and has accepted her baby back -- some mares wouldn't have. 

Please keep Baby Ray and Sunshine in your prayers.

Sunshine and Baby Ray had a good day today.  Sunshine let the others know she was the momma and wouldn't tolerate any of them getting too close to her baby unless she felt it was OK.  He truly is Sunshine's Baby Ray!



Mommy I hear someone!  My human mommy said someone named Dr. Das is coming today and is going to help me to feel better.  Maybe this is her -- I can't wait to meet her.  She comes to work on some of the other horses sometimes, and they like her.




June Bug!!!  Get out of there -- Dr. Das does NOT need a pygmy goat to help her!





Dr. Das immediately fell in love with Baby Ray.  Sunshine wasn't comfortable with Baby Ray being out of her sight, so I put her in his stall so she could watch Dr. Das work on him in the aisle way.




Oh, mommy, Dr. Das DOES make me feel good!



Arent they beautiful?  I am so happy that we were able to reunite them; it really is a blessing.  Dr. Das treated Baby Ray with acupuncture and chiropractic.  He got a little B12, and she ran some blood work on him.  He was really good for her and practically fell asleep a couple of times.  He's very trusting, and you just want to hug and hug him.  He has a way of wrapping himself around you like he's hugging you back.


Sunshine is a bit shy of humans and sudden noises.  She had been turned out as a broodmare for I don't know how long, but it is apparent that she needs some time to get used to being handled.  She's already coming around.  Tonight she stood, without a lead, and let me brush her all over.  Tomorrow we'd like to give her a bath.

Mommy, I hear another horse close by.

Don't worry, Baby Ray, I'm right here between you and another boy they call Amadeus.  The humans said Amadeus is only a couple of weeks older then you.  Maybe you can be friends and play together someday.

I'd like to have a friend to play with -- I've never had one before, except June Bug, but she's a goat.  I want a horsey friend to play with.

Sunshine and Baby Ray like to graze around the barn.  We leave his stall door open, and he wanders in there at times.  Sunshine is never far away.  And if he gets out of her sight, she whinnies and he whinnies back.  At night Baby Ray stays in his stall, and we put hay in the aisle way outside of his stall door for his mom. 

Such a sweet and innocent face.  Baby Ray has been through too much in his short life.  I did a lot of research on him today and learned much that I need to think over and pray on.  I will have to share tomorrow -- I'm beat, but here are some pictures from today.





Baby Ray was a very good patient for Dr. Ryan today.





Such a beautiful blue eye -- it's too bad it isn't just the color of his eyes.  Congenital cataracts.  I spoke with UF this afternoon, and I'm expecting a phone call back in the morning.  I'll update then.  He's too weak for surgery right now but, the sooner both eyes are done, the better his chances are.  He's  really small and weak, and his system is vulnerable.  He looks bigger in pictures than he is for some reason.  I'll post a video on YouTube tomorrow so you can see how he moves.


Dr. Ryan got no reaction from Baby Ray's eyes when he held light to them.  Baby Ray was so good, he made us all proud.  Surgery is the only way Baby Ray stands a chance of ever seeing.

I will share this tonight.  From research today, I learned that Baby Ray is four months old.  I confirmed this after Dr. Ryan examined him.  I pointed out to Dr. Ryan Baby Ray's feet.  If you look at his hooves, they tell a story.  The bottom half of his foot is clearly consistent and about two months of growth.  Then you can see the many rings.  Believe it or not, this baby has been to five other homes before he found his way here.  You can see that the top half of his hoof has four other rings (about two months worth), likely one for each home.  How sad is this?  God bless him.


Dr. Ryan also examined Layla's ear today, and it is healing great.  She can start going out for short periods of time.




We laid another pallet of sod today.  We filled in some ruts in the days before and, if we hadn't put the sod down, it all would have washed away again.  Diane and Jessica surprised us with dinner, and it was SO good!  Jenny sings silly made up songs while work is going on that makes everyone laugh, which is a good thing. 

I'll update more tomorrow after I speak with the folks at UF.  Please pray for Baby Ray.  He's not out of the woods yet.  He isn't drinking much, and I'm giving him water via syringe.  He is getting electrolytes.  His appetite is good.  When he is out and about, he paces back and forth a lot.  We put him back in his stall every few hours so he will lie down and rest, which he does.  He has never lain down outside once.  If I go out and sit with him, he will stop pacing and graze around me.  You can't help but love this little guy.  He's embedded himself in our hearts.

Thanks, everyone, have a good night.

Baby Ray has congenital cataracts with possible lens luxation.  Surgery is the only answer.  Dr. Ryan will be speaking with Dr. Brooks from UF and his team at Peterson & Smith and will get back to me, today I hope, with a course of action and cost estimate.  I am working on a grant to help pay for the surgery.  It won't pay all, but every bit will help.

Before Baby Ray can have his surgery, he must be stronger and healthier.  He's still weak and should weigh quite a bit more then 90 lbs.  The younger a foal is at the time of surgery, the better the chances of success.

I'll update once I get more info from UF or Dr. Ryan.  I'll post pictures later, too.

“OK, I have a full tummy and I wanna go outside!  Can someone please move this thing out of my way?  Please?”







“I’ve never had so many hugs and scratches – I could get used to this!”






His backend is weak, but he’s on the way to being a much healthier baby.  I’m anxious for tomorrow to come so Dr. Ryan can examine him.




“Wow!  Bright light ahead –- I wanna go check it out!  I hear horses out there!  Maybe they’ll be my friends.  My new human mom says they are all nice horses, and each one of them has a story about how they came to be here, too.  I’m looking forward to meeting them.”




Baby Ray enjoyed his first walk outside.  He is such a doll.  So petite and innocent –- you can’t help but to love him.



“I think I’m glad to be here.  I hear that I have lots of humans that care about me.  A doctor is going to see me tomorrow, and my new mom says my eyes maybe can be fixed -– then I’d be able to see the faces of all of the humans that care!  Please pray that this will be –- I want to see the grass, sky, and the faces of my new human and horse friends.  Thank you all for caring!”