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True Innocents Equine Rescue
Be kind to the animals for they are the True Innocents!
Mailing Address: 17130 Van Buren Blvd., #45, Riverside, CA, 92504
Phone: 951-943-0627

 
Virgil
May 2011, Horse was listed on Craigslist as a stray in Perris, CA. Older, thin, shoes on 2 feet (right front & right rear), Left Rear hind hoof has a lot of heel. Nobody seemed to want to help this old man in his Golden Years.

TIER networked with individuals and rescues for a month trying to find him a safe place to land. The person who found him was desperate to get him placed as they are not horse people and cannot keep him.

6/26/2011 - Kristy & Bonnie went to Perris, CA and found Virgil to be an older, very sweet and personable "pocket pony" in need of groceries, dental work, farrier work, etc. He is in dire need of having his sheath cleaned as it is VERY dirty and he has a HUGE Bean! (A firm lump of smegma that has collected and hardened inside the horse's penis).

Virgil....Welcome to TIER.

Updates

2/20/2017 - Virgil has Crossed the Rainbow Bridge

2/20/2017 at 7:45 pm Virgil galloped across the Rainbow Bridge. Although I somewhat expected this to happen due to Virgil's recent illness, I had held out high hopes he would make it through as he always had before. I am at a loss for words right now. He brought much joy, tons of smiles, lots of hair (HA!) and laughter to those that knew him. Virgil was with us for 5 years, 7 months, 26 days. Goodbye to our Big Teddy Bear of a horse. You were a wonderful Gift and will be well remembered.


2/13/2017 - Virgil is still sick

We are still worried about Virgil and his continuing diarrhea.  Spoke to the vet yesterday and he suggested we use a product called Bio-Sponge.  We are hoping that this will solve the problem.   We ordered 12 tubes (2 tubes per day for 6 days) from Inland Vet Supply and Diana P. will be picking those up for us and bringing them out tomorrow. Keeping our fingers, toes and hooves crossed that this will help the old boy.

Picture of Virgil above was taken yesterday (2/12/2017) before we hosed off the diarrhea on his legs, tail & bottom.  Although he is his usual winter wooly self, he has lost a lot weight due to being sick.  We turned him out the other day (before the last set of rains) since most of the mud was dried up.  He was happy to be out and wandered all around visiting his buddies, basking in the sun...usual Virgil behavior.  When it came time to return him to his corral, he led us a merry chase...as usual!  HA!  He remains bright eyed, sassy and interested in all that goes on around him. 

4/1/2016 - We lost a lot of Virgil today

We lost a lot of Virgil today.

Thanks to Stephanie McGregor and the WONDERFUL SleekEZ Grooming Tool (Thank you SleekEZ) Virgil is no longer his 30 year old Wooly Mammoth self.   

The SleekEZ made this so much easier and Virgil loved it.

9/11/2015 - He's still got it!

VIRGIL may be an 'old soldier', but he's still got it! Thank you Stephanie McGregor for puttin around on TIER's golden oldie.

12/14/2014 - Oiling Up!

Dr. Hoyme was out to help Virgil. This sweet appx. 30 yr. old (or older!) Buckskin boy was off his feed during the rains. Yesterday I noticed that his manure output was not normal and what he did pass was pretty dry. Dr. Hoyme. pumped him full of mineral oil to help him out. He was doing much better in the late afternoon. Yay!

7/27/2013 - The Vet has come & gone....

7/27/2013-Vet Visit update

Results from Virgil's CBC (complete blood count) & SMA (chemistry profile or screening. It includes liver/kidney function (like creatinine), and a few other basic chemistries) indicate the following are increased:

White Blood Count Nutrophils, BUN (blood urea nitrogen) & Creatnine (kidney function).

Basically, Virgil's kidneys are not functioning properly and he has an infection of some sort. 

Our vet tranquilized Virgil, did dental work and gave him 2 injections (one on either side of his neck) of Excede (antibiotic).  If Virgil is still off his feed, etc. after 3 days, the vet will administer another round of antibiotics.

Virgil is now on a low protein diet.  This means he is now on low protein Senior Feed, 4-way (One 3 lb. can a day to start) and either O&M or A&M.

He did have some loose molars, but no abcessed teeth..Thank Goodness!  He is also missing some teeth in the back so he was not getting what he needed from his hay. 

Early this morning Virgil had only pooped once (small/dry amount) and he hadn't urinated as much as he normally does.  His water consumption was normal and he had eaten all his Purina Senior and quite a bit of the A&M.  By midmorning he had urinated more and had normal sized poop piles.  I guess it took time for the feed to make it's exit!  The vet was pleased that Virgil seemed to be bouncing back a bit.

We will continue to monitor the old man and giving him all he wants to eat.

AND...he did get a couple bites of sliced apple supplied by VolunTIER (DJ).  He wanted more of course, but there are several other horses & donkeys that needed apple bites too!

Thank you for your positive thoughts, prayers and well wishes.  They are working.  If you have time during the day, please keep sending all that goodness to Virgil so that he can recover and get back to his sweet, sweet self. 

7/26/2013 - Colic .....
Friday midafternoon:  Virgil is colicking. Vet is on the way. Banamine administered. Will update later this evening. Please send positive thoughts for Virgil.

Friday afternoon UPDATE so far: 

VIRGIL UPDATE: Our vet examined Virgil and found good gut sounds even though he had not pooped all day! His hay from the evening before looked untouched and his pelleted feed was also barely gone. So, he hadn't eaten a full mean since yesterday.

Wh
en speaking to the vet prior to his arrival, he thought it was a mild colic and suggested trying to get him to eat A&M. Thanks to PURINA, we had free coupons for Senior Feed which we tried without much success. So.........I made a trip to the feed store and picked up a couple of bags of A&M. Virgil seemed interested and ate a bit then went and stood in the corner. (Of course this was after he'd been given Banamine).

Vet examined his teeth and said it looked like he had recently lost some teeth. Vet drew blood to test for kidney and/or liver problems and we should know the results tomorrow.

Vet wanted to hold off on doing anything with his teeth until the blood results come back. Poor Virgil had been losing weight and it is thought that dental problems might be the culprit. We will keep himon the A&M for now and wait for test results to see what we need to do to help this Dear Old Boy.


11/30/2012 - New Photo by Linda Lyons East!

4/28/2012 - Grooming Effect!

2 of our VolunTIERs spent time grooming Dear Virgil. From his expression, I think he enjoyed every minute!

4/12/2012 - Lettin His Hair Down!

In late February, Virgil was sporting an impressive winter coat that rivaled that of a Wooly Mammoth!

4/12/2012, Virgil was thinking that if felt SO GOOD to finally get rid of his Winter Coat! Of course, that was before the weather turned cold and rainy again.

It felt good to kick up his heels and show off.

Naturally, Pablo the Donkey was not impressed...Nor was Pablo fooled by the nice weather. He is determined to keep HIS fuzzy coat!

1/7/2012 - Just Brush me All Over!

Volunteers Audrie & Diana took time after a full day of cleaning pens & scrubbing water buckets to give Virgil a good brushing. We don't know who enjoyed it more...Virgil? or Diana & Audrie?

1/1/2012 - Virgil gets a new smile!

Virgil was none too pleased to see Phillip R. (Equine Dental). It had probably been many years since anyone had his teeth taken care of. Thanks to our supporters, Virgil will now be able to chew his hay and "Old Man Food" easier. (Even though he stuck his tongue out at Phillip--More Than Once!).

Just as we thought, Phillip estimated Virgil's age to be 28 - 30 yrs. old!!! Although he is the oldest horse at TIER, he is full of himself and quite energetic. Once all those sharp edges were removed and he was turned out in the round pen, he gave a few bucks and trotted away. He is looking so much better than when he first arrived!

7/27/2011 - Chiropractic Adjustment for Virgil

Virgil & Dr. Don Moore had a pleasant visit during his chiropractic adjustment. Virgil seemed to like what Dr. Don did for him. In the beginning, Virgil's back was very tight/locked up.

His shoulders, ankles, stifles, knees, neck and poll were all adjusted and Virgil breathed a huge sigh of relief.

When Dr. Moore was finished we left him in the arena overnight with BG to move around and limber up those old tight muscles. The halter was taken off and we asked Virgil to move out a bit. Amazingly, he took off and "gallumped" (old man phrase for galloped) down the arena. It was great to see and he appeared to be having a good time as he kept it up for a bit. He was given 1 Bute for soreness that night and another the next morning.

7/9/2011 - Virgil 2 Week Update

7/8/2011 The farrier made a surprise visit yesterday. He had been out of town on family matters and we did not expect him out until this weekend. Virgil was more than ready to have those awful feet done!

Virgil only had shoes on his right side. When the farrier trimmed the hooves on his left side he was mystified because there were no old nail holes in hooves to indicate there had ever been shoes on that side. The bars and frog on all his feet were terribly overgrown and curled under. The left rear hoof was the worst and his ankle was really jacked up because of it.

The right rear shoe only had 3 nails in it, right front shoe had 4 nails. Right front shoe had come loose at one point and the nails folded over into his foot from the pressure of walking. Frogs and bars were curled under on these feet too! Poor guy must have been in a lot of discomfort.

Farrier felt that it had been a year or more since his last trim. The shoes that were removed were paper thin. Farrier said Virgil's feet have been pretty neglected for several years...if not his lifetime. He did not want to trim him down too much as he will probably be pretty sore for a bit.

Virgil was turned out today (7/9/2011) so that his feet could adjust and also so that his body could adjust to not having one side higher than the other. We hope to have Dr. Don Moore, Chiropractor, out soon to adjust Virgil's body and address that left rear ankle situation.

Of course it has only been 2 wks since his arrival. He still needs to gain weight and tone up those old muscles. Oddly, he is already getting some dapples on his hindquarters. Thanks to Wendi N. for her purchase of fly masks from Ballard's Saddlery in Norco. We love these masks!

We hope to be able to have his teeth floated soon and expect to see a big difference in weight gain. Virgil is just the sweetest old man and absolutely loves his morning feeding of soaked pellets, PAWIER vitamins, beet pulp and a bit of Senior Feed. He starts talking as soon as he sees the bucket and every morning we have a conversation about waiting until we have dumped his feed into his tub before he starts eating. He gets really excited about breakfast!

6/27/2011 - A note from Virgil's Original Savior

(ABOVE:Virgil when he was found wandering the streets)

Received this note from the lady who found Virgil on the street in front of her home. She saw he needed help and offered what she could.

Hi Gail,

Thank you so much for helping me finding him a good home and keeping me updated on him. I'm so glad you contacted me because I was clueless to what his age and physical condition was. I'm sure that he is in good hands and he will never be left behind again.

Yes, he is a very sweet horse, loves hay, pellets, carrots, apples and pears too.... he will eat all day long... trust me... I know.. he would follow me around in the morning when it was time for breakfast or if he saw my kids with something in their hands he would come to see what it was. My kids would give him carrots and fruit and he loved it.

Well thanks again for everything and please keep me posted on him. I like his new name... new name, new life! and this time will be a great one!

6/26/2011 - Virgil Arrives

Virgil was brought to the road in front of the property where he had been staying for the past month. He was found wandering in front of the property trying to eat dried vegetation. He was bright eyed, alert and interested in all that was going on.

He has shoes on his right front and right rear hooves. The hooves on the left side do not have shoes so they have worn down, but have also grown to compensate for the imbalance. His left rear hoof has grown a lot of heel. As a result, the hooves on the right side are longer than on the left and he is horribily imbalanced. This causes him to walk leaning to his left side.

Virgil needs farrier and dental care right away. A call has been put in to our farrier. Dental & Chiro will be scheduled when funds allow. In the meantime he will get plenty of soaked pellets and fine stem hay.

Photos

Coming off the trailer
I don't care where we are going...just let me eat this hay!
 

True Innocents Equine Rescue (T.I.E.R)
17130 Van Buren Blvd., #45
Riverside, CA, 92504
Tel: 951-943-0627
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