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

From Pony Club to Animal Control

Mr Pony Before:





Mr Pony 25 Days Later:






The CHANGE Program is a non-profit organization that supports Sonoma County Animal Care & Control in handling equine neglect and cruelty cases. CHANGE provides foster care and adoption services to these horses, promising them a second chance. Horses enter the CHANGE Program via Animal Control as the result of a seizure or relinquishment. Ride along with one Sonoma CHANGE Program director as she responds to a call for help and discovers criminal neglect that catapults the case into the domain of Animal Control.

I RECEIVED A CALL from someone about a pony in trouble. He asked me "Are you the lady who does horse rescue?" I hate it when the conversation starts out like that because I then know what's coming next. He told me he knows a pony who is very thin, and asked if I could come. I told him I would come over and evaluate the pony. We made a plan to meet the next day.

Next morning came and I went to the run-down property. We walked into the back yard area and there stood a horrifying sight. This pony stood in front of me, skin and bones. You could count each individual rib; his hip bones stuck up like an old dairy cow's, and his spine was completely visible and stuck up. His neck was so thin it made his head look too big for his body. His head hung low and he didn't even seem to know I was there. He was one of the saddest ponies I've ever seen. His eyes were dead and he didn't want to eat. Looking down in his feed bowl, I discovered why. He was being given alfalfa cubes only, hard as a rock. Being his teeth were deplorable and his state of health so poor, he could not eat this for nutrition even if he wanted to.







I immediately showed the concerned man how easy it was to take the time to break up the cubes and soak them to make it so the pony could eat them. The little pony came over to me once this was done and I showed him the now soft, prepared food. Still very weak and not understanding, he did attempt to eat some in the rubber bowl.

The man had been right to call. This was neglect, and Animal Control needed to be called. I knelt down next to the pony and whispered in his ear that I was leaving, but I would be back the next day with not only help, but to take him out of this hell.

I left the property and immediately contacted Sonoma County Animal Care & Control. They agreed to investigate the pony the following day. I soon find out this won't be their first time there. Less then a year ago, the owner of the pony had been charged and convicted of misdemeanor Animal Cruelty involving not only this pony, but the other horses.

Next morning, I wait at the property for the arrival of Animal Control. A big, white boxy truck comes down the street and into the driveway. To me it reminds me of a white stallion with the prince aboard, coming to save the day. But, this time it was not a prince, but a tall, slender blond woman. Soft-spoken and kind, Officer Shirley is a great diplomat with defensive pet owners and a top horsewoman, too.

She explained to the owner that a complaint would be filed for the neglect and that he could immediately relinquish the pony, whose condition was critical. I couldn't wait to load up "Mr. Pony," as he was called, and transport him to a waiting critical-care foster home. He was led to the trailer, walking very slowly from weakness. I whispered in his ear: I told you I would come back and take you away and here I am, so let's go! For the first time, he had a burst of energy, enough for him to jump into the trailer as to say " Let's get the hell out of here!"






And so we did.

I transported the pony to a CHANGE Program foster barn. In foster care, Mr. Pony immediately thrived on a medically-supervised re-feeding program designed for emaciated horses. His foster home fed him many small meals throughout the day and night, making certain never to overload his starved body with too much feed. He rarely took his head out of his bucket, where a special "old man gruel" made it easy for the dentally-challenged pony to gum his feed. His astonished foster caretaker reported that he literally gained weight by the hour.

At the foster barn, Mr. Pony was surrounded by children, who bathed and brushed and braided him. Thin and weak, he closed his eyes, reminded of happier times when he had been used in Pony Club. After a few days, he felt good enough to trot a few steps. After a week, he was turned out with the resident motherly, one-eyed Shetland pony. Mr. Pony, alone for so long, snuggled happily against her side.

I had been unable to foster Mr. Pony when he was first turned over to Animal Control because I was leaving on a long-awaited vacation. During my vacation, I couldn't seem to get this little pony off my mind. Would he be alive when I came home? I would call his foster home, like checking on your kids when you leave them with a babysitter. I just couldn't help myself. Even though I knew he was in the best of hands, I couldn't stop worrying about him.

Two weeks later, I was back from my trip. Mr. Pony, or "Buddy" as we came to call him because of his companionable nature, had gained a lot of weight and was now becoming bright-eyed again. His critical-care foster home had done a good job with him; now he moved to my barn for long-term rehabilitative foster care. Ultimately, he would be placed for adoption in a loving, permanent home.

Buddy had been chronically neglected, and malnutrition had done its devilish work. Despite his outward improving health, a few days aftermoving to my barn, Buddy developed a fever of 103.8. He was lethargic and wouldn't eat.

Later that day, CHANGE Program volunteer veterinarian Grant Miller delivered the sobering news: "He is one very sick pony" said Dr. Miller, as I listened, my eyes swelling with tears. It all seemed so unfair. The next day, lab results from the pony's bloodwork confirmed our worst fears: Buddy had internal pigeon fever. This is a bacterial infection also called "Dryland Distemper." In its common form, it's relatively benign, but rarely, the bacteria sets up internally, near an organ. Even with the most aggressive antibiotic treatment, the survival rate with the "internal" form is only about 50%.

Thanks to all the people who have supported the Sonoma CHANGE Program, our medical fund is able to shoulder much of the cost of the drugs (which even at cost are expensive). Dr. Miller and I are determined to give Buddy the powerful antibiotics (Naxcel and Rifampin to start) he needs for the best chance of survival. This means that twice a day, I must give Buddy intramuscular injections or shoot red goo down his throat. He is miserable, and soon tries to avoid me.

Poor Buddy, he stands along the fenceline of his paddock, eyeing my pasture horses in a lonely way. He just leaks sadness. He wants to be part of the group so badly.

As sick as he is, I just can't let him out with them. But this presents a problem, as he refuses to budge from the fenceline, in spite of 100 degree heat. I thought what to do. Once I noticed his sun burn pink nose, that was it.

I went and purchased a portable gazebo for him, which in turn fell down in the wind within the hour. Next was the RV tent, which also succumbed to the wind. I thought for awhile and decided to make something just small enough for him. Using green shade cloth, the "Getto Shetto" was born. Buddy loves it. He lives in that thing all day, still able to be along the fence line and next to the other horses. I pack it with shaving in order for him to lay down on. I feed the other horses right next to him as if he was in the group. He is a very happy camper now.

Still, Buddy's condition has its ups and downs. One day no fever, two days later a high fever. He has been on several different antibiotics, but then gets loose stool and we have to deal with that. So the next day another medication is tried and so on and so on. We continue our battle against the internal abscess that Dr. Miller says has set up in Buddy's liver. And we hope for the best.

~Betsy
Sonoma CHANGE Program co-founder, board member, and volunteer

Buddy continues his fight against internal pigeon fever. Please look for updates on Buddy as the weeks progress. To help with Buddy's care, please visit our donation page to see how you can be part of CHANGE!

Once he is (hopefully) recovered, Buddy will need a permanent home where he can lead a gentle life of semi-retirement (with lots of children to braid his mane). He is a gentle 23-year-old Welsh cross, 13.2 hands, sound with clean xrays, and has been used extensively in Pony Club by children and teens. Please contact us at info@changeprogram.com for information about adopting Buddy.

Poor Leah lost her tail!

What a difference 6 days makes! Leah has GAINED about 50 pounds already... but unfortunately, she LOST her tail! The wind knot in her tail was a 2 foot long knarled mess, no doubt years in the making. Not even the most dedicated foster parents, with a whole bottle of mane detangler, could save that tail. Que sera sera- it will grow back! And quickly too, now that she is getting such good nutrition!