Tullycrine Turtle...: Hope - a very special horse rescue story

Hope was rescued in December 2014. Her body condition score was at a 1, if that, and nobody expected her to live....but she did!!!!

This is my brief blurb about how Hope touched my mind, my heart and my soul...

I have been a part of Old Glory Legacy Foundation for over a year and half now (with the exception of a temporary hiatus due to a stress fracture in my leg and falling into a deep dark hole for a while). When I returned in Dec 2014, Hope had recently just arrived and her survival status was literally an hour by hour situation. She was frail, lethargic and hanging onto life one moment at a time. But, there was a look in her eyes...one of hope!

I was immediately drawn to her and intrigued by her story. At that time, I had no idea how much this pretty girl would teach me and how much love and hope she would selflessly give, not just to me, but to thousands of people within our community and to those tracking her story from around the world.

As her journey with us began, everyone was skeptical of her surviving. But miraculously, her status was upgraded from an hour by hour situation to a day by day scenario. As she continued to get stronger, her status then became a week by week situation. And THEN, she shocked everyone by beating all the odds and was living life to the fullest month by month. Her wounds began to heal, she gained strength and was putting on weight. The infection she was battling cleared up and her all her levels, temps, BP, etc. started to fall within normal range. Aside from her withers which still need lots of care and time to heal (but have drastically improved in the past few weeks), she has transformed into a healthy, beautiful girl and is enjoying life outside of a stall among a pasture full of freedom with her horse mates.
(Please Note: I could blog for days about the specific details of Hope's story and her rehab. But I opted to blog a nutshell version b/c I could never put into words just how amazing the countless hours of time & love that were given to this horse by the vet, the owners of the farm where she was housed and cared for, the NC EAST team and all the volunteers & donations that supported her care. It was absolutely an experience that words can't do justice.)

When she was with us, the paddock she and "Momma Maggie" (a companion horse who looked after her with great care) were in was located just as you come through the main gate onto the farm. Every time I arrived (even if it was raining), I'd stop, roll down my window and say "hi girls"....they would both cease snacking on their hay and raise their heads to look at me as if to say hello back. Sometimes Hope would trot over to the fence line. I of course would hop out and give her a pet and then she would nudge me as perform a full body search on me in hopes of finding a cookie. She LOVES her some cookies!!

Having the opportunity to be a part of this innocent, frail filly's life and watch her heal was amazing. She gave everyone who knew her, or knew of her story, "Hope". She will always have a special place in my heart as I learned so much from her and her experience. She is the one who taught me that I have a gift & passion for working with rescue horses. She reminded me each day that I visited with her to stay strong and push through another day just like she was doing. She taught me to stop, breathe, connect and be present. She reminded me to maintain my sass by expressing her own (and boy can she be sassy). She reminded me to live life!

Below are some pics of Hope. The first few may be too graphic for some of you to handle, but the latter pics are some of my favorites of her that make me smile every time I look at them. I hope they'll bring a smile to your face and put a warm feeling in your heart.

If you'd like to support our rescue, you can do so by visiting
Sandhills Horse Rescue. https://www.sandhillshorserescue.org/
We're currently caring for two mares who both just had babies!!!