Dreamhorse

Ci Ci is like the horse you dreamed about as a child: Gentle, kind, white, soft, fuzzy and sweet. She floats along when she trots, her feet scarely touching the ground. Ci Ci will stand for hours while you brush her or braid her mane. Ci Ci loves people and loves attention.

She is just a wonderful, wonderful horse!



Ci Ci lunges well. When you say "whoa" she comes to a stop, and turns to look at you quizzically. She is giving walk/trot lessons to 7 and 8-year-old girls, both of whom adore her. Ci Ci is safe for beginners but also fun for more advanced riders.



Cheryl Krug, a local riding instructor and trainer, has been kind enough to donate full board and training to Ci Ci. Cheryl trailers Ci Ci out on trail rides and says that Ci Ci loads easily into the trailer, rides quietly, and is calm when they unload at the park.

Ci Ci, although not yet very fit, takes a 2-mile flat loop around the lake with Cheryl. She is calm with bikes, strollers, hikers, and dogs. She likes to go on trail rides and will be a wonderful trail, dressage and pleasure horse for a petite adult to youth up to 130 pounds.



Although she is 21 years old, Ci Ci is sound and healthy and looks to have many years of good riding time ahead of her. Her knees and hocks have very good flexion, her legs are clean, she has GREAT feet and is currently barefoot. Ci Ci is nicely put together and will look ever better once she has more muscling on her topline and more weight. That will take time; Ci Ci was very thin when she came to the CHANGE Program in June 2009.





Here is Ci Ci with her trainer, Cheryl. Ci Ci is about 14.2 hands and a petite build. She's very calm and obedient under saddle, and she tries hard to do what you ask. Ci Ci has three lovely gaits with good suspension. She would also excel in lower level dressage.

This dear, sweet little mare is ready for a forever home with someone who will love, cherish and enjoy her. We can't say enough good things about Ci Ci! For information on adopting Ci Ci and other CHANGE Program foster horses, please contact Katie Moore at (707) 544-7584 or email katie@sonomachangeprogram.com

Crystal Home at Last!

Well, it has been a long and difficult couple of days, not only for Crystal, but also for the CHANGE board and Crystal's foster parents. As you can read below, Crystal was able to go to UC Davis to have laser surgery to remove melanomas on her tail region thanks to a generous private donation from Bev Palm. This act of gratitude motivated Dr. Michael O'Connor or Sonoma Marin Veterinary Service to donate money for a second trip up to UC Davis. Dr. O'Connor has also overseen Crystal's rehabilitation free of charge.

Yesterday, Crystal was trailered up to UC Davis to be seen by Dr. Melinda MacDonald for laser treatment. Dr. MacDonald did an amazing job, and kept costs incredibly low to help the program. Unfortunately, later that day, Crystal began to show signs of colic.

Strictly defined, “colic” is described as any episode of abdominal pain. About 95% of the time in horses, the abdominal pain is coming from the gastrointestinal tract. There are many types of gastrointestinal colic. The most common is impaction colic. With impaction colic, feces get lodged at a tight turn in the large colon. The feces cannot proceed forward, and the result of the back up is distention and pain in the gut. Colic is life threatening in horses because they are unable to vomit. Because they cannot vomit, they cannot relieve the pressure of the backed up digesta. The potential result of this inability to relieve the distention is rupture of the gut inside the body. COLIC IS ALWAYS AN EMERGENCY.

Early signs of colic include some, but not necessarily all of the following:

1. Horse will not eat
2. Horse is laying down
3. Horse is quiet or lethargic and does not seem like himself
4. Horse is standing alone away from others and is reluctant to move
5. Horse turns its head around and looks at its stomach.
6. Horse has not defecated within the past few hours
7. Horse stands in a “rocking horse” posture and appears to be stretching out its abdominal muscles.

Signs of advanced colic include:

1. Horse is getting up and laying down incessantly
2. Horse is rolling and thrashing on the ground violently
3. Horse has shivers and muscle twitching all over its body
4. Horse is sweating excessively
5. Horse is pawing at the ground violently and repeatedly
6. Horse is biting at its abdomen

You can probably imagine how all of our stomachs fell when we got the call... Crystal was down and laying flat out in her stall. Dr. MacDonald admitted Crystal into the ICU and treated her aggressively with fluid therapy and IV medication. She had ups and downs throughout last night, and at moments things looked like they were going to be ok. But this morning, she was still showing signs of pain.

After dozens of phone calls back and forth, criss-crossed and sideways, the CHANGE Board decided that it would be best to let UC Davis keep Crystal for the day today and then plan to pick her up tonight if she was comfortable. Luckily, Crystal made good progress throughout the day today and was able to make the trailer ride home.

Late tonight, I met Crystal back at her foster home as she got off the trailer. She looked exhausted and could not stop yawning when she got into her stall. I made everyone leave the stall and shut off all the lights to give her some peace and quiet! Her loving foster mom is going to check on her all night tonight and feed her handfuls of green grass every 2 hours! What dedication!! We are not out of the woods yet, but we are headed in the right direction.

We are all so relieved that Crystal is home again... and I think that she is the most relieved of all!

Leah's Forever Home

The Sonoma CHANGE Program congratulates our sweet, people-lovin' foster horse Leah on her recent adoption. Read Leah's story here.

Leah's new mom, who uses natural horsemanship techniques in her training, spent many hours visiting with Leah at her foster home. Once she got to know this sweet mare, she was 100% committed to providing Leah with the training she needs. Leah is enjoying "playing" Parelli games and learning essential ground skills.

Leah joins her new 'brother,' a 2-year-old Mustang gelding. This is the most beautiful mustang we have ever seen! Besides being incredibly sweet and people-oriented, his coat shines so much, it makes your eyes hurt!

Big thanks go to the many supporters of the Sonoma CHANGE Program. Your help and donations fund our foster care program, which helped Leah go from a thin, neglected, unwanted horse in June, to a shiny, loved and wanted horse with a forever home in September.

Thank you, and congratulations to Leah's new family!

Please read about other Sonoma CHANGE Program horses (and a cute little pony!) who need loving, permanent homes.

Crystal Thanks Her "Moms"

Crystal gave big kisses to Bev Palm and Dee today (pictured here.) Bev Palm is her fairy godmother who donated money for her laser surgery at UC Davis, and Dee is her foster mom. Dee has worked hard to keep her surgery site clean and to administer her post-op medications. Crystal is doing great, she has not looked back... literally!

Team Effort Helps Crystal

Crystal is a 15-year-old Arabian mare who entered CHANGE Program foster care last June. Crystal has impressed us all with her intelligent, sweet nature and graceful movement. She floats along the ground like a dancer.

Crystal, like more than 80% of all grey horses age 15 and over, has non-malignant melanomas. Only rarely are melanomas on grey horses malignant, but when they are present in sensitive areas (Crystal's are around her anus and vulva), they can cause discomfort.

Bev Palm of the Sonoma County Fair Board was inspired by Crystal's story and was determined to help CHANGE address Crystal's melanomas surgically in order to give Crystal a better chance at adoption. Ms. Palm held a special fundraiser, where she raised 100% of the funds for Crystal's $540 procedure at UC Davis.

On September 28, two members of the CHANGE Board of Directors transported Crystal to UC Davis for her day-long procedure to debulk the tumors with laser surgery and to determine the extent of the melanomas in Crystal's back end. Happily, the growths were considered superficial, and surgeon Dr. Mindy McDonald was successful in removing about 50% of the mass. She is truly an excellent surgeon! Many thanks to Dr. McDonald and the compassionate group of staff and veterinary students (pictured, above) for their capable care of Crystal.

CHANGE co-founder and board member Betsy, who trailered Crystal to Davis, was touched by the day's events: Well... all went well today....[We] took Crystal up to Davis for her Surgery Day. She was a trooper. This horse is the kindest, sweetest horse you want to meet. Her personality can win over anyone. Even the vet techs fell in love with her. Dr. McDonald....expects a full recovery [from the surgery.] Dr. McDonald said she is available to talk to potential adopters who have questions about melanomas in grey horses. Check out the photos of her surgery day. Dr. McDonald was very pleased that she could help out and was very proud of Dr. Grant Miller for starting the CHANGE Program and helping horses in need.

Crystal is healthy, sound and has been ridden in the past. For information about adopting her or other CHANGE Program horses (including Crystal's "twin," her gentle 21-year-old mother, Ci Ci), please visit the CHANGE Program website or contact CHANGE adoption coordinator Katie Moore at katie@sonomachangeprogram.com or (707) 544-7584.

Cici is a happy girl!

I visited Cici today- the 21 year old Arabian mare taken into the program 3 weeks ago. I was so pleased to see that the foster care center has taken such great care of her! She has gained at least 100 pounds and she is almost up to an ideal body weight! She has a sheen to her coat and she is so proud to come out of her stall and have people pay attention to her. She LOVES attention! This horse has the most gentle soul- she just sits and waits for someone to give her attention, but she never oversteps her bounds. A true lady!

~Grant Miller, DVM
CHANGE Program volunteer and co-founder

The Survivor

I have to admit the phone call kind of put a damper on my vacation.

"I need to talk to you about Buddy," began Dr. Grant Miller, at once apologizing for rousing me lakeside, where I reluctantly fished my cell phone out of my beach bag and sighed when I saw RESTRICTED come up on my phone. My heart sank. The vet. This could not be good news.

Like other members of the governing board of the Sonoma CHANGE Program, I was being called upon for direction with Buddy the pony (aka "Mr. Pony"), who seemed on all fronts to be fading away. Dr. Miller sounded resigned and practical, his normal spark of hope a dim glow.

We discussed euthanasia, whether Buddy was suffering, hope for recovery and continued treatment. We discussed cost, as treating internal pigeon fever is an expensive proposition, and CHANGE has a policy against providing extreme and expensive life-saving care for horses with little hope for recovery. The vet reminded me that, even in the best circumstances, a pony with internal pigeon fever has at best a 50% chance of survival. Perhaps Buddy, who came to us emaciated and loaded with parasites, the victim of long-term neglect, did not even have that.

But we'd come so far with this little guy. He deserved another go.

The board voted to continue treating Buddy with the powerful antibiotics Naxcel and Rifampin, neither of which are fun for either horse or human to administer. Buddy's plucky foster mom was game to keep trying.





Seventeen days later, thanks to dedicated care, an anonymous $400 donation to cover the continued medication, and some powerful antibiotics, Buddy is still with us, except he's now running and bucking and showing signs of recovery. His foster mom and vet remain cautiously optimistic. Buddy is not out of the woods by any stretch, but we can see a break in the trees.

~Katie
CHANGE volunteer and governing board member