April
Age:
9 years old in 2007
Born:
April 30, 1998
Arrived:
May 1, 1998
Saddlebred/Clydesdale Mare
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One day, Sandy was driving by a paddock and noticed a very skinny horse licking the dirt trying to find something to eat. She stopped and spent time talking to the owner about this horse whose name was Ima. The owner agreed to give this blind and mostly starved mare to her. Sandy opened up the trailer and tried walking Ima in to it. Surprisingly, Ima resisted. Sandy could not understand why a starved horse would resist going into a trailer that had hay and water waiting for her? Nevertheless, Ima would not budge.
Perplexed, Sandy decided to follow Ima back into the paddock where the mare had walked and stood behind a manure pile. Sandy followed and on the manure pile she found a one or two day old filly lying on the ground...just as skinny and weak as her mother. Brokenhearted, Sandy picked up the little baby and carried her into the horse trailer with Ima following right behind her. On that day, Sandy brought two nearly starved horses back to Refuge Farms.
Because of the starvation issues with Ima, she was not producing milk to feed her little filly, who Sandy had named, "April". Within 24 hours of being fed fresh hay and water, Ima began producing milk for April to drink, but because of not having received enough calcium at that young age, April still has problems with her feet and teeth. If you look at her hooves, you will notice that they look different than the other horses. A special farrier has been working on her feet using some special padding and shoes that will help her to adapt to walking pain free. She is healing and doing remarkably well with this rehab program.
April is one of the horses that you will see at most of the Refuge Farms events. She enjoys the attention and affection of humans and is just a very sweet and loving mare. She enjoys being brushed, and will stand patiently no matter how many people are around her. But, we have also learned that since her feet are feeling better, she also has some spunk in her that will surprise you!
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