For those that do not remember Quinn, what seems special about her to you?
She came to us almost 4 years ago
We had her for 2 full days before our vet came to see her and said she was entirely blind. Sees nothing. Not shadows. Nothing. At the time, her eyes looked more normal.
She is blind due to uveitis. This usually reoccurs. Thankfully, her eyes never re-ulcerated. This is pretty uncommon. Unfortunately, the first time was enough to render her sightless.
Everyone can think of a story of a blinds horse that thrived. That seems sighted. That lived out a normal life much like a sighted horse, but let us tell you, that is usually not what happens.
Those are exceptions. They are beautiful exceptions. They are usually found when a horse had a deep connection to his family, when he was confident and secure and knew where he was. Even then, often, it doesn’t work out that the horse adjusts, but especially in rescue, where a horse started to lose sight and was given away, left in pain from ERU, traded, auctioned and neglected. . .
Usually, they are scared and have no quality of life and no chance of adoption, either.
Yet Quinn came in like a boss, if you will. She came in and said, “Hey, this is so not a big deal, you will not even know I can’t see a lick,” and you know, she was right.
90% of the time you wouldn’t know. But there are times where even as amazing as she is in being adjusted, we are reminded that handling her means you best be on your A game. Now and again.
I guess this post is a celebration of Quinn. That she is one of the lucky blind horses that deals with change, different herds and makes it hard to see her disability. She was adopted back in mid 2013, but she was returned at the start of 2016.
At this time, a long time friend of one of our officers at HOP who recently put down her mare who was in her mid 30’s and had been born and lived her whole life on the same property. . .decided it was not time for her to look outside and not see a horse.
And it looks like Quinn has a home waiting for her in a few short weeks, and if she wasn’t such a strong, confident mare, I’d say she has been waiting 15 years for this, but this gal hasn’t fretted much in her life.
Yet I am sure she will be finally glad to have a person and a home.
(the first 3 photos are today, and the last one is intake in January 2013)
