About a year ago, our family bought a ranch and soon after we got a go-cart. I was driving my mom and we saw a horse next to some cows by a tree through the neighbor’s fence. My mom said,“WAIT STOP!”  At first I didn’t see the horse. Then I pressed the go pedal a little bit and I saw the horse. My mom said, “Maybe next time we come on the go-cart we could bring the horse an apple.” Later that month my mom and dad talked to the neighbors and they sold their ranch to us and let us keep the horse who was named Dancer. But they told us she was being fed once a week and that she was in the pasture full time just eating grass. When I finally got close to her she was so skinny I could see her ribs, her hair was matted and she walked like she was in pain. Just looking at her made me want to cry.

After we met Dancer up close, my mom talked to an equine vet while I was riding at Chantilly stables. Dr. Adcock said that he would come to the ranch in three weeks. When he arrived I had her halter off so he put that on. When he inspected Dancer he said that she had laminitis (lam-on-ite-us) , sore feet mostly in her front feet from not getting them clipped. To cure laminitis we need to put medication on her feet once a day but we can’t do that until we find someone to live on the property. We need a ranch hand because we can only go out once a week  due to the long drive.

Dancer also has a cist under her tail and Dr. Adcock said that it doesn’t hurt her. The shots she got were: Eastern and Western encephalitis. This is one shot for both diseases and you will usually inject this shot on the side of the horse’s neck. West Nile is a shot that was also given. Rabies is a disease that can spread to humans and this was given to her. Dancer also got a deworming liquid inserted  in her mouth. Dr. Adcock vaccinated Dancer for tetanus by putting the shot in the other side of her neck. 

Dancer was fine with the grass after it had rained because it was so green but we still gave her a senior feed mix just to get her something special that she liked and to hopefully help with putting on some weight. Dr. Adcock said she did not need baths. Dancer had a bunch of flies on her back, so he recommended Equi Spot for the flies. It is a cream you rub on her back and it lasts for multiple days.

Dr. Adcock said that Dancer has a lot of fight left in her and that she would make it through the winter! This made me so happy and overall I loved having this experience. It was so fun to meet Dr. Adcock and I am very happy that he came to check on her!