Lily

age: 6 months old
sex: filly
breed: Saddlebred
color: buckskin

Seized by King County Animal Control on Feb 23, 2008
Humanely euthanized on May 24, 2008

Lily was one of 10 horses seized from a Carnation farm, and taken in by SAFE. This tiny filly had a Body Condition Score of 2 on a scale of 1-9. She and her dam, Willow, were living in a barren pasture, separate from other horses on the property. In addition to being emaciated, Lily was suffering from a massive lice infestation, rainrot, internal parasites and her feet do not appear to ever have been trimmed.

Lily was one of the healthier of the 10 horses that SAFE took in, primarily due to the fact that she was still nursing off of her dam. However, being our youngest patient, she was still in fragile condition, and was also on antibiotics for an upper respitory infection that caused her to have a slight fever and a runny nose upon evaluation at SAFE. Weaning after the seizure, even though it would have been beneficial for her emaciated dam, would possibly have caused Lily to crash in her very weakened state, so weaning had to wait. Lily was wearing a halter when she was seized and loaded easily into the trailer. She had a good attitude and a healthy appetite, so we were quite hopeful that she woild make a full recovery.

Update (2/27/08):
Little Lily was a pistol today! I have seen her run before, but usually it is her running AWAY from me as I have to catch her twice a day for her antibiotics. Today, however, she spent 10 minutes or so just playing in the pasture. She was running circles around Willow and Hope, cantering figure eights and swapping leads effortlessly, practicing her bucking skills, and seeing just how fast she could get her little legs to go. It was absolutely wonderful to see her showing such exuberance and feeling so good, I cannot tell you. I wish I had my camera handy, but of course I missed it.

Update (3/3/08):
Photos do not convey just how cute this little filly is. She is just adorable!!!!!!! She is the spitting image of her mother, with classic Saddlebred features, right down to the tips of her ears. She's very little, being the youngest of our charges, but she will come right up to the fence and say hello. She is bright and curious, and does a fair amount of exploring in her new pasture, all the while keeping one eye on her mom. Jaime tells me that Lily is starting to frolic and play; I didn't get a chance to witness this myself, but I did get a chuckle out of seeing her throw a little fit when her mommy tried to walk away while Lily was trying to get in under the blanket to nurse.

She's a scruffy little girl who is going to shed out to be a beautiful buckskin like her mama. Her mane falls on both sides of her neck and floats around her like a cloud. Her sweet face is flawed for now by the noseband of the too-tight halter she was wearing, but before long she will regain her perfect profile. She likes to take naps in the sunshine, and all in all seems pretty happy with the turn her life has taken.

Update (3/4/08):
Lily seemed to show no ill effects of the worming and is doing wonderfully. She is now very easy to catch for her twice a day antibiotics (which she is now finished with), and she has turned into a total lovebug.

Update (4/9/08):
Lily was weaned from her dam Willow on March 21. She was not happy about it, and spent most of the first day running and calling for WIllow, and displaying a great deal of tenacity in her efforts to find her. Within a day, she had calmed down and had taken her place in the herd of foals. She has turned out to be quite the little spitfire, and despite being about a foot shorter than her paddock mate, Kokomo, she will drive him away from the food with ears pinned and teeth bared. She can be difficult to handle, and because of that, she gets less handling than the easier babies...a situation that we are working to remedy (see photos above!) We are waiting for her to shed out, but like the other youngsters she still has a long shaggy coat. However she is free of lice and rainrot, her feet have been trimmed, she has been wormed, and she continues to gain weight.

Update (5/24/08):
We are deeply saddened to tell you that Lily was humanely euthanized today. Two weeks ago, we noticed that Lily wasn't acting her normal fiesty self, and discovered she was running a temperature of 104.5 degrees. Attempts to lower her temperature were unsuccessful and so Lily was admitted to Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital in Snohomish WA. There it was discovered that not only did she have an infection, she also had an alarmingly low platelet count. Lily was suffering from an auto-immune disorder that was preventing her bone marrow from producing blood cells. She was placed in isolation and treated with steroids in an attempt to kickstart her immune system, but her body was just too ravaged from the effects of starvation and parasite infestation. After 8 days with no improvement, it was decided to let Lily go. She enjoyed a walk in the sunshine and a belly full of grass and clover before she was put to sleep. Lily was loved deeply by many people and she will be badly missed. It is heartbreaking to lose a horse this young with so much promise. We can only hope that justice will be served when her abuser goes to trial.

Visit the Horsebytes blog to read more about Lily:
Bubble Filly (about Lily at Pilchuck)
Tonight, Tonight (about Lily's weaning)

Click here to read Lily's remembrances on the SAFE Message Board.