From hurt to healing

It took me not long at all to realize attempting to walk past Radar’s stall without greeting him, even if I’d just walked past a few minutes ago, was something he wasn’t going to take lightly. I’m not at all ashamed to admit to falling a little in love with the noisy fellow demanding nose rubs from the other side of the stall door when I visited him in early July.“He’s a lover,” said Jo-Claire Corcoran. “He’s not going anywhere. We love him. We adopt out some horses who come to us, but he’s staying. He’s the first to greet you in the pasture and he’ll just talk and talk … JC [her grandson] has really bonded with Radar.”Corcoran and her husband, John, took in Radar, a white donkey, along with Bella, Dixie, Maude, Buster and Goliath, five horses, and, for a time, six goats who were rescued from the unfit conditions of their previous home on North Rush Creek Road in Salem in June. Their Henryville property is home to several more rescued horses and donkeys of all sizes, including a miniature horse named Bree. When they moved to Indiana from West Virginia last summer, the couple had one dog, one cat and one horse. They now have 17 horses and donkeys, two goats, four cats and a dog.“Still just the one dog,” she said, laughing. “Thank goodness.”Corcoran worked as a consultant for the police in West Virginia when horses and other equine animals were involved in cases and now is part of the Heartland Equine Rescue network of foster and recovery homes for abused and neglected horses and donkeys. “People think we want to take the horses away from them,” she said. “We don’t. It’s easier to leave them with people who have made the changes to take care of them.”As she talks about Radar, she pats Buster’s neck. Buster is about eight months old and has gained 32 pounds since arriving at Corcoran’s home. He’s made friends with her nurse foal, Duncan, and his health has improved dramatically. When they arrived, the horses had patches of thick, lighter-colored hair, indicating worms. Their normal hair lacked the luster of a healthy animal and their ribs and hip bones were clearly visible. Now, Buster’s coat shines and the worm hair is nowhere to be seen.“They’ve all been de-wormed and groomed and they’re all gaining weight,” said Corcoran. “It’s amazing what a little food and de-worming will do.”Goliath wasn’t given his name ironically. The gray male stands tall at 17 hands and 3 inches (almost 6 feet from hoof to withers, the last hair of a horse’s mane, around the shoulder). Only one other North Rush Creek horse could come close to his height (Maude, a chestnut brown mare with a thing for the apple treats Corcoran had in her pocket, stands only an inch shorter). He was munching hay in an outside enclosure with the other horses with whom he arrived, his fly mask on to help discourage the winged pests from crawling on his face. His hip bones still jutted out from his lack of food with his previous caretakers, but Corcoran said he is improving as we walked him with a lead from the enclosure to the barn for some SWAT, a cream Corcoran rubs on his face to keep the flies away.“They’re especially attracted to lighter horses,” she said.Like Radar, Goliath is a friendly sort once he gets to know you.“Goliath is just a lover, too,” Corcoran said. “Him and Radar.”He came to Corcoran with a problem in his stifle, the largest joint in a horse’s body located in the upper hind limb that provides flexion and extension of the hind legs and locks the joint to allow a horse to maintain a weight-bearing, straight leg for long periods of time while relaxing the other hind limb, according to TheHorse.com. Goliath has a weak back as well, something Corcoran said will never go away completely, but with proper treatment and therapy, can and will improve. He arrived at her property with a knot for a tail.“His tail was a knot about the size of a volleyball,” said Corcoran, holding her hands up to show the size. “Two people worked on his tail for an hour and a half to two hours before they finally worked it out.”As I held the rope attached to his bridle, Goliath ignored us, going to town on Corcoran’s lawn where we were standing. He and the other horses have been on grass and hay diets for about three weeks and Corcoran said she would start adding grain to their diets in a few days.Returning Goliath to the other horses, Corcoran introduced me to Bella, who still had a bit of the rough hair from the worms under her chin — she and Buster were in the worst condition of the horses from North Rush Creek — but as Corcoran rubbed at the hair, some came off in her hand. It’s a good sign. The wound on her right front leg is healing with the better treatment she’s receiving from Corcoran.“We were really concerned about Bella and Buster when they came here,” she said. “We didn’t know if they would make it. They were very lethargic. We had a vet come out right away and they’ve been doing much better.”Bella is possibly an American Saddlebred mare who enjoys the company of her pen-mates and rolling around on the ground. “Bella loves to roll, so she’s always got something in her hair,” said Corcoran, pulling a bit of straw from Bella’s mane.While the goats have been removed to another rescue home, Corcoran still remembers the change that came over them while in her care.“We had them in an outside pen with a tarp hung over it for shade,” she said. “They hadn’t been outside in six months, maybe as long as a year. Their nails were curved in. We were expecting thrush, but they didn’t have it. They had coccidia [called a “stealth killer” in goats due to it being hard to recognize and the irreversible damage it can cause if not treated promptly, caused by a parasite spread through the fecal matter these goats lived in while at their old home] and could have died. They had terrible lice and their hooves were full of gunk. One had anemia. My husband would stand and watch them. He’d say you could just see the relief in them. They were free, they were clean, they could feel the sun.”Two of those goats are now living with Mark and Michelle Pruitt at Uplands PEAK [People, Earth and Animals in Kinship] Sanctuary in Salem. (Watch the Salem Leader-Democrat for more information on this sanctuary.)Corcoran said situations like this highlight the need for shelters and rescues for animals other than dogs and cats. She has been involved with the Heartland network for about a year.“I love all the animals, but horses have always been my first love,” she said. “That’s my heart. There are so many rescues for dogs or cats, but fewer for horses and livestock.”Corcoran said one of her lifelong goals is to end the practice of horses going to slaughter. She said about 180,000 American horses every year are shipped to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico to be shipped to and eaten in Europe, where horse is considered a meat animal.“They’re not really livestock and we don’t use them for work anymore,” said Corcoran. “They’re companion animals, like dogs or cats.”As for Goliath, Bella, Radar, Buster and the others, they can rest easy no such fate will await them while under Corcoran’s care and they have a new chance for a healthy, happy life with her or an adoptive family thanks to their rescue. As of this June, Equine Rescue League of Southern Indiana merged with Heartland Equine Rescue to form a 501c3 entity, allowing donations to be tax deductible. Those donations are crucial to help these rescued horses and donkeys receive the care they need. Corcoran said those wanting to donate can do so online through PayPal (which accepts credit card payments as well), or can call Hillside Animal Hospital at 812-923-8825, and make a payment toward Heartland Equine Rescue’s account.