Beautiful Harry battles horrible illness

Harry's eyes have been bright, he has the will to live, Kress says.

Harry’s eyes have been bright, he has the will to live, Kress says.

Horrible Hairy Hog, a darkly beautiful OTTB rescued from the slaughter pipeline in September, has been stricken by an illness that caused him to go down.

The 17-year-old Thoroughbred, who was rescued by a team of caring individuals in a collaborative effort that helped him land safely at Our Farm Equine Rescue in New York, took a sudden turn in late October, says Sharon Kress.

Harry, as he is now named, suddenly and without warning, began to sweat, spiked a fever, and his hind leg ballooned up in size, Kress says, noting the onset of troubles began the night before Halloween.

Emergency veterinary care was immediately brought in and treatment began for colitis as doctors considered the possibility that he may have Potomac Horse Fever, Kress says.

“In a nutshell, for the past week and a half, we’ve been treating him for colitis stemming from what we thought was Potomac Horse Fever, which is curable,” Kress says. “And he seemed to be getting better, but then the fever would spike again.”

And then on Saturday, Nov. 7, Harry went down in his field.

Horrible Hairy Hog
Sire: Blushing Stage
Dam: Doc’s Hope
Foal date: March 6, 1998
“I was riding another horse at the time, and I looked over and I see him lie down in a field. I figured he was tired, but when I went over to his paddock, I could see he wasn’t looking good,” she says. “So I told him to get up and follow me. He got up and walked with me to the ingate, and as I went to attach the lead rope to his halter, he went down.”

He managed to get back up again and get to his stall, where this time he bobbled and went down hard, Kress says.

When he could finally stand again, he was taken back outside, where he simply collapsed to the ground; his eyes glassy and blank, his mouth slightly agape. “The barn owner thought he was taking his last breath … I thought he was having cardiac arrest,” she says. And the vet, who was fortunately en route for a different matter, began treating Harry for colic while more tests were ordered.

Harry started bobble and go down on Nov. 7. Sharon Kress of Our Farm Equine Rescue has worked round-the-clock to help him.

Harry started bobble and go down on Nov. 7. Sharon Kress of Our Farm Equine Rescue has worked round-the-clock to help him.

“By Sunday he looked good, but when I took his temperature, I discovered he had a 104.7,” she says. Veterinarians were again called to Harry’s side, and an ultrasound was done, and blood work taken by a team of top vets in the area.

The sudden episode of dropping, combined with a spiked fever came just as Harry was starting to regain his strength after months of rehabilitation, she says.

Though both vets and Kress were stymied by this sudden turn, they offered hopeful news last night, following an afternoon of tests, Kress says. Vets found no evidence of a cancer or bleeding ulcer, and for the first time since the episode began, Harry’s demeanor had changed.

When Kress visited last night, Harry seemed to be returning to his normal self. “This was the first time he has looked like this since he fell ill a week and a half ago. He didn’t hang his head once!” she says. “To look at him, I would say he still has some years left. He has bright eyes. He wants to stay alive, there’s nothing weak-minded about this horse.”

Harry went down in his stall, with his mouth agape.

Harry went down in his stall, with his mouth agape.

Vets have placed him on a new regimen. He has started on 10 day-course of Baytril, effective for both the intestinal inflammation and for his leg cellulitis, she adds.

Harry’s return to health has been slower than Kress would have liked, even before his latest episode began.

He didn’t gain weight was readily as she would have liked to see.

“He came here with a body score of 1.5 (on the Henneke Body Condition Scale), so he was pretty bad. What we did see, before he got sick, was that he was really enjoying his new life. Right before all this, I had started to lunge him, and he broke into this gorgeous canter he was feeling so good. It was truly stunning. And he was very sound.”

With that glimpse of what could be, Harry has taken his rescuers on a wild, and costly ride.

Harry’s care has climbed to thousands of dollars. Donations to help defray costs can be made via the charity’s general veterinary care fund via a Go Fund Me Account, or through Pay Pal: donations@ourfarmequinerescue.org, says Kress.

Kress adds that she is fully prepared to decide when the cost is too high, or when Harry is not ready to go on.

She explains that there is a fundraiser in place to cover the costs already incurred. And if tests were to show the animal requires a very expensive surgery, that the rescue is prepared to call a halt, as he is “not a good surgical candidate.”

“Right now, we still don’t know” what’s wrong. “Obviously for him to be sick this long is not great, but nobody’s ruling out a full recovery either. He sailed through quarantine” after his rescue from a Pennsylvania kill pen “and he was a healthy horse who needed to gain weight. He was on the road to recovery, when he took a turn.”

Harry was rescued in September, with tremendous help from Alice Fulton and Dawn Deams, both of whom gave hours of their time to network and fundraise for the former racehorse.

12 responses to “Beautiful Harry battles horrible illness”

  1. Sandy Carr

    Prayers and positivity for Harry and his care-givers!

  2. Karla De Jesus

    This horse has been through so much. I hope he pulls through and is not in any pain. Prayers for Harry. ????????????

  3. robin

    Dont give up on Harry. I think someone out there will help u guys raise money for harry for a long time. god bless u all for helping him.my god bless the hands the care for harry so he may live a happy ending of his life.

  4. Nancy

    I do hope Harry makes a full recovery. One thing I’d like to bring up is how odd, and out of the blue his symptoms, sickness, and timing of said sickness have been. Regardless of Harry’s destiny, I hope his plight is well documented so as to learn and gain knowledge as it seems he does not have a specific diagnosis. Good luck Harry.

  5. l mel

    Stay strong, Harry!

  6. Crystal

    OMG! I almost went to look at this horse back in the spring but decided on another horse! He was in Vermont at the time, I believe at a hack stable? He was on Craig’s list for quite a while. Prayers for you Harry I am sorry!

    1. Sharon

      Crystal — any information you have on Harry would be very helpful putting the pieces of his life together! Please send any details to me at sharon@ourfarmequinerescue.org! How did he look? etc. Thank you so much.

      1. Sharon

        We also rescued a TB-cross mare from the same kill buyer the same week… thinking she came from the same auction or sales pipeline… please check out her on Our Farm Equine Rescue’s Facebook page to see if you recognize her too! For some reason I feel she came from the same sales cycle as Harry. They seem to have the same type of training… while I hadn’t yet gotten to ride Harry yet due to his body condition — when I got on Rella — her mouth was like butter and she readily accepted the bit. I just jumped her for the first time a few days ago and she was a pro. She has been definitely been bred in the past but also has had some great professional training for sure. She knows her job and enjoys it! True pleasure to ride. We still can’t fathome why she ended up going to slaughter. Other than grossly under muscled, she is healthy and very sound. We are trying to figure out her history as well.

  7. Leslie M. Bliman-Kuretzky

    What a brave horse. Bless all those who are helping him

  8. Sara

    Hi! Praying for Harry! Please have your vet look into pituitary tumors. I managed a barn and we had a horse that would randomly act colicky and would sweat profusely (literally sweat pouring off his body) and had random bouts of cellulitis/lymphangitis. During the 2nd time (6 months later) the sweaty colic episode happened, we sent him in for colic surgery. They opened him up and found he had badly twisted. He was put down on the table. They then found he had a large pituitary tumor. It is apparently extremely rare in horses so any time I hear of an odd unexplained illness that sounds similar, I try to share the experience. I hope Harry continues to improve.

    1. Sharon

      Thank you! We are trying everything possible first to avoid any type of surgery. We are still hoping it is infectious and will respond better on a different antibiotic. It is so difficult having no health history on these rescue horses. Harry is also very stoic with showing signs of pain.

  9. Kitster

    Get well soon Harry!! He is so lucky to have found you guys.

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