Hope
Photo By: Kaiti Elliot Photography
This is Hope. J&M Acres rescued Hope and her dam, Lucy, when Hope was only 4 weeks old from the auction. Every month J and M Acres would make the trip to the Fraser Vally Auction, tour the stall area in the back and select the horses that they would be bidding on.
This day in 2002 a healthy chestnut Quarter Horse mare and her severely crippled 8 week old filly waited their turn in front of the auctioneer and Julie was ready to start bidding. The first bid was made by the meat man for $500 for mom and baby. Julie quickly bid a little higher and the meat man stopped his bidding. If another person then bid Julie would have stopped too, but no one else bid.
The duo was saved by Julie and J &M Acres. Just for a moment Julie thought of taking the foal and having her euthanized knowing that she was probably in pain and would not survive much longer the way she was.
Via Hope's Adoptee:
Julie brought her home and called us to come and see her new addition to the farm. OH MY GOSH this little filly was so adorable. She looked like a little Charlie Chaplan with her little front legs flying everywhere. Julie still not sure what to do decided to have some X-rays done on the baby since she definitely was not in pain maybe see if there was something that could be done.
At that time we decided that we would adopt Hope and help with trying to find a vet to perform the surgery. Once the X-Rays were confirmed that Hope (a name that Julie gave her as she was driving down the road and saw the sign for Hope BC) was in need of some major surgery the search began to find a Vet that could repair her little deformed legs.
Six different vets were consulted and the response was everything from "save your money" to "she can not be fixed" to "I have never seen anything like this before" to one of the final vets Dr Nick Kleider said well I can give it a try but can not guarantee it will work. That is all we had to hear . GIVE IT A TRY. The potential costs never crossed either Julie's or our minds. We just had to give this little filly a chance.
The Fundraising started! A kindergarten Class from Meadowridge Private School read a story about Hope in the Local paper and decided to help. The little ones came to visit and brought pictures that they had painted of Hope and her Mom Willow (NOW LUCY) and brought donations that they had received from the children's families.
We also held a Santa and his Elves photo session and people that came would also visit with Hope. We had numerous Private Donations from family and friends and several local businesses made donations of cash, services and raffle prizes.
With all these wonderfully generous donations we were on our way to being able to help Hope. We thought a couple of surgeries and she would be GREAT
This day in 2002 a healthy chestnut Quarter Horse mare and her severely crippled 8 week old filly waited their turn in front of the auctioneer and Julie was ready to start bidding. The first bid was made by the meat man for $500 for mom and baby. Julie quickly bid a little higher and the meat man stopped his bidding. If another person then bid Julie would have stopped too, but no one else bid.
The duo was saved by Julie and J &M Acres. Just for a moment Julie thought of taking the foal and having her euthanized knowing that she was probably in pain and would not survive much longer the way she was.
Via Hope's Adoptee:
Julie brought her home and called us to come and see her new addition to the farm. OH MY GOSH this little filly was so adorable. She looked like a little Charlie Chaplan with her little front legs flying everywhere. Julie still not sure what to do decided to have some X-rays done on the baby since she definitely was not in pain maybe see if there was something that could be done.
At that time we decided that we would adopt Hope and help with trying to find a vet to perform the surgery. Once the X-Rays were confirmed that Hope (a name that Julie gave her as she was driving down the road and saw the sign for Hope BC) was in need of some major surgery the search began to find a Vet that could repair her little deformed legs.
Six different vets were consulted and the response was everything from "save your money" to "she can not be fixed" to "I have never seen anything like this before" to one of the final vets Dr Nick Kleider said well I can give it a try but can not guarantee it will work. That is all we had to hear . GIVE IT A TRY. The potential costs never crossed either Julie's or our minds. We just had to give this little filly a chance.
The Fundraising started! A kindergarten Class from Meadowridge Private School read a story about Hope in the Local paper and decided to help. The little ones came to visit and brought pictures that they had painted of Hope and her Mom Willow (NOW LUCY) and brought donations that they had received from the children's families.
We also held a Santa and his Elves photo session and people that came would also visit with Hope. We had numerous Private Donations from family and friends and several local businesses made donations of cash, services and raffle prizes.
With all these wonderfully generous donations we were on our way to being able to help Hope. We thought a couple of surgeries and she would be GREAT
Hope before her surgeries.
WELL:
Surgery number 1 was scheduled where orthopedic implants were inserted into the inside of both knees and also into the inside of both fetlocks. This consisted of
inserting screws above and below the joints and connecting surgical wire to each.
Surgery number 2 was scheduled 2 weeks later to remove the screws and wires from the right fetlock due to a severe infection. Dr Kleider was still optimistic about
her recovery. They decided to have Dalrick Extension shoes fitted by Nick Spencer (specialized farrier) to help correct the right fetlock
Surgery number 3 was scheduled to remove the screws and wires from the left knee and fetlock since the correction was complete and the left leg was as straight
as any other horse in the barn. The leg had straightened so well we could not have asked for any better results. Dr Kleider was extremely please with the results so far and was very optimistic for continued success.
Surgery number 4 was ordered to reposition the screws from her right knee. We had taken Hope back to have stitches removed and Nick had noticed that one of the screws in her right knee had shifted. The screw was now in the growth plate and preventing the correction from continuing. This had also caused the lower portion of the leg to twist.
Surgery number 5 was scheduled to remove the repositioned screws and wires from the right knee as it was now as straight as the left. It was also time to remove
the Dalrick Extensions from both feet. This was the first time in her short 6 months of life that all of the hardware was out and off of this energetic little filly
Just 2 days before her final stitches are to be removed and we went out to our barn on a Saturday morning to feed them all. She would not eat her grain, or her hay. Not even her cookies which she loved. As panic set in we called Dr Kleider who instructed us to try and push in her umbilical hernia that we had been doing every day. It was as hard as stone. Her intestine had become lodged in her umbilical hernia and she had to be rushed back to Dr Kleider.
Surgery number 6 was for Emergency Life Saving Colic and Hernia surgery. This poor little filly had been thru so much. But she was a fighter. That was one very long day sitting at the clinic waiting to make sure that she was okay. Nick completed surgery and let us know that it was a wait and see. The intestine was starting to turn black which was not a good sign but he untwisted it all and was hoping for the best. Well she made a full recover from that surgery as well.
After the surgery was complete. Nick decided to then mention to us that he was not a colic vet his specialty was limbs and bones. But because he had done so many surgeries on Hope already he knew the exact amount of Sedation that she needed and she would not have survived having to be taken to another vet . We are truly blessed to have found such an amazing Vet Dr Kleider and His wife Elizabeth who donated so much of their own time to the care of Our Little HOPE
Today Hope is anything but disabled. She is a wonderful addition to our barn. She loves attention, still loves her COOKIES and loves to work. She even JUMPS! We thank everyone that had any part in Hopes life. She is one AMAZING HORSE!
Surgery number 1 was scheduled where orthopedic implants were inserted into the inside of both knees and also into the inside of both fetlocks. This consisted of
inserting screws above and below the joints and connecting surgical wire to each.
Surgery number 2 was scheduled 2 weeks later to remove the screws and wires from the right fetlock due to a severe infection. Dr Kleider was still optimistic about
her recovery. They decided to have Dalrick Extension shoes fitted by Nick Spencer (specialized farrier) to help correct the right fetlock
Surgery number 3 was scheduled to remove the screws and wires from the left knee and fetlock since the correction was complete and the left leg was as straight
as any other horse in the barn. The leg had straightened so well we could not have asked for any better results. Dr Kleider was extremely please with the results so far and was very optimistic for continued success.
Surgery number 4 was ordered to reposition the screws from her right knee. We had taken Hope back to have stitches removed and Nick had noticed that one of the screws in her right knee had shifted. The screw was now in the growth plate and preventing the correction from continuing. This had also caused the lower portion of the leg to twist.
Surgery number 5 was scheduled to remove the repositioned screws and wires from the right knee as it was now as straight as the left. It was also time to remove
the Dalrick Extensions from both feet. This was the first time in her short 6 months of life that all of the hardware was out and off of this energetic little filly
Just 2 days before her final stitches are to be removed and we went out to our barn on a Saturday morning to feed them all. She would not eat her grain, or her hay. Not even her cookies which she loved. As panic set in we called Dr Kleider who instructed us to try and push in her umbilical hernia that we had been doing every day. It was as hard as stone. Her intestine had become lodged in her umbilical hernia and she had to be rushed back to Dr Kleider.
Surgery number 6 was for Emergency Life Saving Colic and Hernia surgery. This poor little filly had been thru so much. But she was a fighter. That was one very long day sitting at the clinic waiting to make sure that she was okay. Nick completed surgery and let us know that it was a wait and see. The intestine was starting to turn black which was not a good sign but he untwisted it all and was hoping for the best. Well she made a full recover from that surgery as well.
After the surgery was complete. Nick decided to then mention to us that he was not a colic vet his specialty was limbs and bones. But because he had done so many surgeries on Hope already he knew the exact amount of Sedation that she needed and she would not have survived having to be taken to another vet . We are truly blessed to have found such an amazing Vet Dr Kleider and His wife Elizabeth who donated so much of their own time to the care of Our Little HOPE
Today Hope is anything but disabled. She is a wonderful addition to our barn. She loves attention, still loves her COOKIES and loves to work. She even JUMPS! We thank everyone that had any part in Hopes life. She is one AMAZING HORSE!
Hope after her surgeries!
Lucy and Hope, 10 Years Later
Lucy (right) and her filly, Hope (left) meeting again for the first time in 10 years.
