Rolling Dog Farm Blog

We’re in Orlando at the annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), which is all the horse vets in the country.  (I don’t know why they call themselves ‘practitioners’ instead of ‘veterinarians.’)  The AAEP also has members from around the world, including about 400 from Canada and about 800 from other countries.  We particpate in the AAEP’s annual convention to promote our BlindHorses.org Web site and hand out our "Top 5 Tips & Myths" brochure.  That’s our exhibit display in the photo above, and with me is Alison James, our development director from Helena.  This was the first day, and the convention runs through Wednesday.

We’ve found over the years that too many equine vets still hold on to the old myths about blind horses — that they can’t have a good quality of life, that you can’t put them out on pasture, that they’re dangerous, etc.  Usually this is just because of a lack of experience and knowledge about these special animals.  As a result, too many equine vets still default to the euthanasia recommendation when a client’s horse goes blind, rather than discussing all the options available to the owner, including keeping the animal.  We want equine vets to be the first line of defense for a blind horse, not the first one saying, "You’d better put it down."  So we’re here to educate about, and advocate for, blind horses. 

It’s always a positive experience coming to the AAEP convention — this is the third year in a row we’ve attended — because there are vets who recognize that blind horses can have a great life, and they come up to share their own blind horse success stories with us.  We also have a lot of vet students who come by to visit, including a group of Mexican vet students this afternoon.  We had several international vets stop by today as well, including from Saudi Arabia, Chile and Malaysia.

Speaking of blind horses, look who arrived in the predawn darkness on Friday morning, just before I left for Florida:

Yes, another blind Appaloosa.  This is Bo, an older (we think probably 15 years old) blind gelding from Oregon.  He was abandoned by his owners at a boarding stable in Eugene.  After months of trying to reach the owners and placing liens on the horse, the folks who run the stable finally gained legal ownership of Bo.  Then they promptly announced that they would take the blind horse to a nearby place called Wildlife Safari for lion food if no one stepped forward to take him. 

At that point a lady named Rachel H., who had cared for Bo after he had been abandoned at the stable, called Whispering Winds Equine Rescue in Roseburg, Oregon.  Susan P., who runs the rescue, then contacted us.  Even after we had agreed to take Bo, the stable owners were still threatening to take Bo to Wildlife Safari, so Susan hurriedly arranged to have Bo trailered out to her place to keep him safe until we could get there.  She also took care of his vet check and Coggins test, and got him ready to travel.  We hired Bob Hubbard Horse Transportation to pick up Bo at Susan’s ranch and bring him out to Montana.  They’re professionals who haul horses all over the country, using the type of big semi vans you see in the photo.

It was a chilly 9 degrees above zero when we unloaded Bo Friday morning.  Dr. Heather Kaese, who had been out the previous day to examine our blind Appaloosas (see previous post), stopped by to examine Bo and take blood samples for the research project.  Heather confirmed that he, too, is blind from uveitis.  (Hello, Appaloosa Horse Club!)

Thanks to Rachel and Susan, Bo will now be safe for the rest of his life … and thanks to our donors, who make it possible for us to provide a sanctuary for a blind animal like Bo.

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When Alison and I arrived at our hotel in Orlando late Friday night, it was a humid 73 degrees.  In the elevator up to our rooms, there was a big poster promoting an ice show at the hotel.  (In Orlando?)  The poster proudly announced that all the ice sculptures had been frozen to … yes, 9 degrees above zero.  We felt right at home.  Sort of.

(Click on photos for larger image.)