Probably the most amazing story I've ever seen.......

A friend sent me this link. I just can't believe what people will do to horses, because they seem to think it will do them good. This has to be the stupidest thing, and this sure is one lucky horse to survive it, let alone be returned to good health and some semblance of sanity!

So without further ado, please meet Tullie.

Now, I can hear your thoughts already - WTF happened to her?! Well, her owners did this. Apparently she had rainscald, which they believed was mange (like dogs get) so used their own remedy of lime mixed with automatic transmission fluid to get rid of it!!!!! I am speechless. When I first read that, I just sat and stared, I could not believe that people are so stupid. That is not an appropriate treatment FOR ANY ANIMAL, let alone a horse with already compromised skin from rainscald. What do we do when our horse is sick and we don't know how to fix it? We GET THE VET. Oh wait.....vets cost money, don't they? Apparently motor oil is used as an old-fashioned remedy for dogs with mange, but while I don't believe in that either, transmission fluid is a different product to motor oil, far more acidic, and to think they mixed it with lime just appalls me!!! What sort of fool does that? I'd like to pour that concoction all over them.

Anyway, after passing through an auction and several sets of hands, Tullie finally ended up at a rescue organisation, and was immediately rushed into veterinary care. She had burns to 70% of her body, her albumin was at 2 (normal is 30), she was about 200kg underweight, and had lost the tips of her ears. Not to mention she was in severe pain that it was difficult to relieve adequately. She was on death's door, no question. She could not stand - but she wanted to live! She ate and drank while she was down, and just kept on going.

Her treatment was not nice. Her wounds had to be debrided, which, as any burns victim will tell you, is incredibly painful. Tullie had to be held up by 3 or 4 people to do this, as she couldn't stand for long herself. She had NO SEDATION for the process. She then had aloe gel and anaesthetic applied to the burned areas, to numb it and assist healing. Anything that could be cleaned was treated with Tea Tree oil and chlorhex. The whole process took months and months, and I'm sure the "quality of life" discussion would have been hanging over the heads of all involved. At what point is it too much?

But Tullie never gave up, so neither did her carers. She continued to eat, drink and fight. She fought through the immense pain and endless treatments. Eventually, she was able to graze.

But her next hurdle stood before her - Tullie was not gaining weight. Her low albumin interfered with fat absorption from her feed, so a good fat supplement was needed. Add to this the immense energy her body needed to heal those awful wounds, and there would be nothing left for Tullie to use for weight gain. It took dozens of products to hit on the right one, but eventually it was found, and she began to gain weight.

These days, Tullie lives the life of luxury, being aunty to new babies and generally enjoying life as boss of the paddock. She isn't fond of strangers, but who can blame her! Her recovery took THREE YEARS! Can you believe it?! A few moments of human stupidity caused so much torment, and fixed  onlyby the incredible devotion of other humans.....and the amazing spirit of one little mare.