HONEY'S STORY
We were contacted in September of 2021 about a senior mare that had been abandoned at her home farm when her owners moved away. She had breathing issues that needed to be addressed and she needed a place to sanctuary. We agreed to take her in and have her evaluated for suspected laryngeal hemiplegia (roaring) or heaves. After arriving at the rescue, Honey was seen by our veterinarian and was diagnosed with seasonal asthma. She was prescribed an albuterol inhaler and equine puffer mask and recommended to be placed on a breathing supplement. That seemed to do the trick and she began feeling much better and was able to breathe with ease. She does tend to develop some nasty hoof abscesses and has had one bout of laminitis, so we keep her on a strict diet as well as limit her grass intake in the Spring and summer with a grazing muzzle.
Honey is a beautiful bright chestnut, with a sweet disposition. However, you would not know that to look at her when she first arrived at the rescue, as she had perpetual resting mare face, with pinned ears and furrowed eyebrows. To look at her, you would believe that she was calculating how best to destroy you. But that could not have been further from the truth. She was, in fact, a wonderful mare with a heart of gold. She developed the habit of making herself appear scary to ward off anyone who might not be kind to her. She began to soften over time, when she realized that nobody at the rescue was going to harm her, and in fact we were there to see to her every comfort. During Christmas of 2021, we discovered that Honey has a love of wearing headbands. We had bought some Christmas headbands with reindeer antlers to use for some Christmas photos. While working with another horse, Honey approached us and was nosing the headbands in our hands. We put one on her, assuming she would quickly want to knock it off, as we generally only were able to keep them on long enough for photos. Well, to our surprise, Honey LOVED wearing headbands. Not only did she not take them off, but her ears were perked, and she looked absolutely delighted to be wearing it. From that point on, we bought her a new headband for each holiday so she can be the pretty pretty princess that she longs to be.