Pie

age: 30+ years old
sex: gelding
breed: Quarter Horse
color: chestnut
height: 15 hh

Surrendered to SAFE by his owners on January 7, 2008
Passed away from old age/lymphoma on May 12, 2008

Pie is a older gelding who was surrendered to SAFE by his owner who told us that she was hired to transport the old horse to a big game farm to be put down, but couldn't bear to do it, so she took him home instead. In the seven months she owned him, she had difficulty keeping his weight up. Pie is severely underweight with rain rot on his back. He is a bright-eyed and friendly horse, in spite of his condition, and it is our feeling that at one time he was well loved and well cared for.

His exact age is unknown, but we believe he is anywhere from 28-35+ years old. He is 15 HH, chestnut, with a small star and one white foot. His front molars are worn down to nubs, possibly due to his age. He has some rainrot and scratches that are now being treated.

Pie was rescued along with his friend and companion Isabelle: a 13 year old Appendix mare who was in even worse shape than he was. The two horses are currently in rehabiliation with a very knowledgable horsewoman who has brought many neglected horses back from the brink of death. Upon arriving at her farm, the two horses were led into large stalls, deeply bedded with clean shavings and given small amounts of grass hay to eat. Pie has been eating with great gusto, and we were happy to discover that in spite of the appearance of his front teeth, he is quite able to chew his hay! Both horses are being fed small amounts of food every two hours: a small serving of bran & hay mush in warm water, sprinkled liberally with probios powder & baby carrots. By his second feeding, Pie was already nickering to greet his caretakers, who say he is a well mannered and polite guy who devotes himself to eating every last blade of hay he can find. His prognosis is good, but we have to allow him to regain his strength before he can have his teeth worked on or his feet examined.

Foster update (1/8/08):
I am pleased to report that Pie and Isabelle are happily tucked into their spa suites tonight, warm, comfy, with full bellies, and smiling. They seemed thrilled with our every 2 hour room service feeding schedule. By the second feeding, Pie was already whickering to Melanie with eager anticipation. Both are very well-mannered and polite. And GREAT news! Pie is QUITE capable of chewing up his hay with no problem, and boy does he.....whoopee! And both horses are really chowing down on the pelleted hay mush and loving it, too. Neither one has a problem with a poor appetite! Given a little luck, I expect that the red guy will recover in a timely manner with care & calories.. but the little mare might be in for a tougher time. She seems a lot more fragile and worn down, both physically and emotionally. Still, they both arrived with bright eyes and a look of anticipation for a better life, and are eating, drinking, pooping like normal horses.... LIFE IS GOOD!! Tomorrow, their spa day will include their first treatment to start clearing up the rain rot, then removal of the last of the mud and muck from their legs, tails, and faces, and, next, (yikes), clean and treat their feet with a special medicinal pedicure, and finally, a brief turnout to refresh their vitamin D levels before they saunter back to their suites for a quick nap and several more meals. That’s all for now...

Click here to watch a video of Pie and Isabelle shortly after their rescue.

Vet update (1/10/08):
What was found, (to no one’s surprise) is both Isabelle and Pie have nasty pointy hooks on their teeth, and the mare has sores in her mouth from both the sharp edges...and possibly from trying to live off tree branches and twigs. She is healing quickly enough, though, and thank heavens for the mushed, pelleted feeds to give them easy to eat nutrition! Neither horse is having any problem chewing up their hay. Even at his advanced age, Pie has sufficient teeth and will power to get the job done. It was determined that at this point they are still much too weak and fragile to go thru the stress of getting their teeth floated... they are able to live and thrive on the mush & soaked hay just fine for now. Pie also has fairly limited vision in both eyes, although when he is introduced carefully into a new area, he is able to adapt well enough, but worries a lot if his pasture pal leaves him. Neither horse has lice, and we have already started treatment for the rain rot, and it has improved already. Their feet are pretty good, all things considered. In fact, on the plus side for Pie, there is no evidence of any current or previous founder. But the vet did notice that Pie had yellow gums and his eyes were quite yellow, too, which was very bad sign, and he was pretty concerned that both horses had compromised immune systems due to malnutrition, so he did a blood draw on both, to screen for infections and see what they have to face next. We all fretted thru the night, worrying about “what ifs”.

The results came back from the lab today and it was much more positive than we dared hope...Pie has a probable urinary tract infection and some inflammation, but his liver and kidney functions are normal...what a relief! (He has already won all our hearts with his personality...he is such a clown! And to lose him now would be wretched.) And Isabella needs antibiotics to help clear up the mouth sores. So the treatment at this point is that both Pie and Isabella have been started on sulfa drugs , and we have upped the probios to help offset any problems. Since Pie also needs to be on bute for a brief period, we decided to add an herbal ulcer preventative. So, the GREAT news is that they have both made it over another big hurdle on the way to wellness....so far every problem we have found is very treatable, and while the long term prognosis remains guarded, life is very good today, and that is enough for now. Both horses are improving hourly, physically and emotionally. The vet confirmed what we all suspected..there is little wrong with these horses other than sheer starvation and neglect.

Foster Home update (1/23/08):
As for Mr. Sweetie Pie...well, he believes he has three main jobs in life....eating, sunbathing, and being an entertainer. Although he needs a companion and some supervision outside, his semi-blindness does not stop his sense of humor from bubbling over the minute he thinks there is an audience! He rattles the chain on the pasture gate with his teeth when he has run out of hay, unhooks the feed bucket in his stall and rolls it around to let us know it needs refilling...what a guy! He truly IS a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, and very sociable and chats away with everyone... He just loves attention. He has managed to pick up enough padding in those HUGE hip bones to need a little larger blanket...who would have thought that could happen??!

Update (5/12/08):
We lost a dear old friend today. On this lovely spring day, Pie laid down in the sunshine and passed quietly away. There was no sign of trauma or struggle. Pie was probably in his 30's and had been severely starved and neglected by his previous owners. After he was surrendered to SAFE, he made slow but steady progress back to health, largely due to the care he received from his two foster homes. Pie had recently been diagnosed with lymphoma, and all of us at SAFE were dreading the day when we would have to let him go. Like the gentleman he was, Pie spared us that decision, and left this world peacefully on his own. We will always remember Pie for his gentle good nature, his sense of humor, his will to survive the abuse he suffered, and his incredible dignity in life and in death. Rest in peace, good Pie.

For more information about Pie and Isabelle's rehabilitation, please click here.

If you are interested in sponsoring Pie, click here to learn more about our sponsorship program.

Please read SAFE's adoption policies prior to submitting an adoption application for any SAFE horses listed on this site. SAFE Adoption Policies can be found HERE. SAFE has a strict no-breeding policy.