Sandhills Horse Rescue - A Story of Faith

01/03/2024

Final Resting Place

All who loved Faith understand what a heartbreaking and devastating decision it was for us to let her cross over.

We know her team made the right decision on her behalf based on her future quality of life resulting from the unfortunate cards she was dealt for the first few months of her life. We all take comfort in knowing her last months were filled with lots of attention, the best food, top notch medical care to give her the best chance at recovery, daily scratches, and nothing but love. We only hope she knew how her life should have been from the start and how humans should have treated her and hope her last months of love overruled her first months of torture.

We had pretty much determined that, much like her predecessor Hope the Wonderhorse at Sandhills Horse Rescue, she most likely would not leave the SHR family and would be a symbol of resilience and will to survive…however that just wasn’t the case for her.
Although not in body, Faith will forever be with the SHR and Foundation Equine Clinic family as her cremains have been returned and will serve in memory of her.

From the day she was removed from her hell on Earth via transport by 4Hooves Large Animal Services, she was transported every single time by 4HLAS…Cumberland County Animal Services to Foundation Equine Clinic, from Foundation to Rollins Diagnostic Laboratory (for necropsy purposes as evidence in the pending cruelty case), from Rollins to Agape Pet Services for cremation, and finally from Agape to Foundation Equine Clinic and 4Hooves Farm (home of SHR and Justin Mcleod and Tori Miller McLeod) for her final resting place.

We truly are humbled and greatly appreciate all of the love and support shared with Faith and her team. We will continue our mission in memory of Faith.

If you would like to continue to support our mission to help other critical cases like Hope, Rocky, and Faith donations can be made to Sandhills Horse Rescue which is a 501c3 non-profit organization.

14/02/2024

It is extremely heartbreaking for us to share this news from Foundation Equine Clinic relating to Faith’s journey and its untimely end.
Many people have rallied in her corner and have done everything humanly possible to see to it that she had the best chance at recovery from the abuse that she endured.

Unfortunately after lots of diagnostics, medical treatment, and consultations with experts in the field it was just not in the cards for Faith to be able to live a relatively pain free, semi-normal quality of life.
As you can read in FEC post she had been progressing well but with growth comes changes in the body and she had a setback and started to show some lameness. With this change, specialists were consulted to see if surgery was an option for the slightest chance at a semi-normal life to which the consensus was unfortunately not what we had hoped to hear. The effects caused by the initial damage done to her shoulder would, over time, only worsen with no remedy and as her body grew it would only bear more weight and subject her to increasing pain.
We had set a manageable goal for Faith to achieve in order to sustain a quality of life we believe to be in her best interest from a welfare standpoint and she will never be able to reach that goal…a goal that was only to be able to walk and occasionally trot comfortably enough to live her years being a horse with herdmates and a well thought out pain management or physical therapy program when necessary.
We will be by her side as she is laid to rest and she will forever be a cherished memory of Sandhills Horse Rescue.

We only pray for her abusers to receive the justice they deserve and we are comforted in knowing that Faith spent months knowing how good life could be and how to be loved by those who entered her life after her removal from hell on Earth.

💔An open letter to all of Faith’s fans and followers, from Dr. Kivett:

It is with tremendous sadness that I have to let everyone know that we’ve had to make the agonizing decision to stop our journey with Faith.

As everyone knows, we had very good success with the recent injection of her shoulder joint, and Faith was walking almost normally two weeks after the procedure. We had all become wildly optimistic, not that she would have a particularly long life, but that she would have some life, and we had made all the arrangements for her to join a small herd of special-needs ponies at an experienced local farm for her foster care.

To be perfectly honest, I’d made the decision to bring her back to Foundation Equine Clinic after her time there. I planned to let her live her days in the retirement pasture, to be a beacon of hope for other patients who have a long journey against steep odds. Devastatingly, this will not be her outcome.

About two weeks ago, her lameness began to worsen again, and within about a week, she’d lost most of the progress we’d gained with the injection. We repeated x-rays of her entire leg, and confirmed that the arthritis in her shoulder had worsened, badly. This arthritis is from the damage to her tendons and soft tissues that would normally keep the joint stable. Without this stability, her shoulder joint moves too much, and the cartilage is damaged in the process. We consulted with many surgeons, prominent sports medicine doctors, and joint therapy researchers, to see if we could find any options for Faith. Every single specialist is in agreement – there are no options for this joint, and even in humans, this joint would be beyond repair.

I’ve said from the beginning that my goal for Faith was to live relatively pain-free in a field, and have the ability to trot. I can’t conceive of a horse’s life worth living without these basic things (I’ve seen it done and it hurts my heart). I’ve been clear that if it became apparent that she would have no chance of achieving this outcome, we would not keep her here to live in pain.

We’ve made the heartbreaking decision to let her go while she’s still relatively comfortable. We don’t want to prolong the inevitable, but she’s reasonably happy right now on pain medication, so we have time to make arrangements for her to cross the rainbow bridge next week. Until then, she will continue to be pampered, eat the finest hay, have whatever grain she wants, be turned out in her paddock on sunny days, and sleep soundly in her cushioned stall at night. She will pass, surrounded by friends, with no fear, and knowing she is loved.

Please know that this is incredibly hard for all of us, and I, in particular, am taking it quite hard. I’ve grown very attached to her little nose kisses, and will carry forever the bittersweet memories of changing her bandages with my little children holding her and passing me bandage material. I have no regrets, and am incredibly proud of our team for working so hard and overcoming so many obstacles to get her this far. We’ve given her six months of love and kindness, *double* the amount of time she spent anywhere else. I’m also so thankful to everyone in the community for their support, and to everyone who was involved in getting her here.

Please be kind in the comments, and if you could keep this post positive, I’d really appreciate that. I know everyone is angry at her former owners, and there’s plenty of vitriol in the comments of the other posts. I’d love to celebrate this little life, and feel thankful for the time we’ve had.

If you feel called, please consider a donation to Sandhills Horse Rescue in Faith’s memory. Link to donate: https://www.facebook.com/donate/264732989934760/122105164442145468
SHR has a very special and specific mission: to help with cases just like Faith’s- the ones with no options and requiring a level of care that can’t be provided elsewhere. We were able to take Faith because of the remaining funds from donations for other SHR rescues like Hope the Wonderhorse at Sandhills Horse Rescue. When the next one comes along, we’ll have space in our hearts and in our barns, and we want to be ready.

Finally, if you feel a connection to Faith, and want to meet her before next week, please email us at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to accommodate. I know how much she means to so many, and I don’t want to keep her from you. You’ll have to deal with my tears, but if it’s ok with you it’s ok with me.
Thanks again to everyone for the outpouring of love and support for Faith over the last six months.

-Lisa Kivett

15/01/2024

14/01/2024

LATEST FAITH UPDATE FROM Foundation Equine Clinic!

05/01/2024

This weeks Faith update from Foundation Equine Clinic where she still resides receiving the best care for the best chance at a good recovery from her ordeal and the damage it did to her body.

16/12/2023

15/12/2023

🎄🎄🎁🎁HAPPY HOLIDAYS 🎁🎁🎄🎄
Love, Faith

15/12/2023

Update from November 17th @ Foundation Equine Clinic

🎂 Faith's 6 month "birthday" was this week! For her birthday she got a hay ball - a mobile slow feeder that will give her enrichment, encourage a little more movement/exercise, and help slow down her voracious appetite! 🤣 We definitely don't want Faith getting overweight, since that would be too hard on her joints and tendons right now.
🩹 Her bandaging routine had to be tweaked several times this week. She's most comfortable with her knee splinted, but she started to get a little sore in one area so we had to alternate with periods of "naked" time, and periods in a soft bandage. We also increased her exercise with some walks around the clinic, but her enthusiasm was a bit too much too soon, and we had to dial it back a little!
🫁 A lung ultrasound showed that the abscess in her left lung is about 50% smaller, so she's responding well to the antibiotics. She'll need to stay on them for a few more weeks most likely.
🍂 Our vet tech Emma made Faith a beautiful handmade wreath to wear for a mini photoshoot (we'll share the results next week)! We were extra careful to introduce it to her in a non-threatening way, and she happily volunteered to put her head through it for a food reward! We really weren't surprised that she enjoyed it- she is incredibly social, easy, and trusting!
📢 Next week holds a big event for Faith - a transfer of ownership! Don't worry, she's not going anywhere just yet (she's still too medically labor-intensive to leave the clinic). Faith's legal ownership will transfer from Cumberland County Animal Services to Sandhills Horse Rescue!
🏇 Sandhills Horse Rescue is a small 501c3 with the dedicated purpose of acting as a "halfway" for horses seized by or surrendered to local animal control agencies. Dr. Kivett is a founding board member, along with Tori McLeod of 4Hooves Large Animal Services, LLC. Local folks might remember Hope the Wonderhorse at Sandhills Horse Rescue as the inspiration for the founding of the rescue, and the first horse taken into the program! SHR is also the organization that helped fund the rescue of Hattie, Faith's best friend!
🩻 Faith's care will continue uninterrupted, and we'll post next week with some information on how all of Faith's fans can help! We're also putting together a plan to allow some of you to come and MEET FAITH! 😁 We know you are all dying to pet her little nose!
Stay tuned!

15/12/2023

Update from November 11th @ Foundation Equine Clinic

This was a fun week for Faith, as she made some great progress with her leg and with her pneumonia!
👠 After last weekend’s splint, Faith seemed a bit more comfortable and we decided it was time to increase her exercise to let her develop strength and flexibility. The increased activity made it impossible to keep her special “heels” on, so Sunday was her last day in them and she hasn’t looked back so far!
💪 As we increased her exercise, we could see her getting stronger each day. On Sunday and Monday, she would willingly take 3-4 steps on her way to the paddock before she needed a short break. By Friday she was walking the whole way with no breaks!
🩹 We tried a few different types of support bandages this week. Without some carpal (knee) support, she tends to keep her leg a little bit bent, which is damaging over time. We made her a new, very short, lightweight pvc knee splint, and she seems to love it!
☀️ Faith is spending her days outside in the sun (except today because the weather is gross) with her best friend Hattie. We rarely hear her cough now, so she’s scheduled for a lung ultrasound this week to see if we are close to being able to stop antibiotics.
💭 While we had a GREAT week, we’re going to reiterate here that we are *cautiously* optimistic about her prognosis for a pasture sound, happy, pain-free life. We acknowledge that her current degree of lameness is unsatisfactory for long-term survival. If she is not able to freely walk and trot in a field by the time she is large enough to begin to experience problems associated with her lameness, she will not be asked to continue a life like this. At this time, she is very delayed in her growth (due to stress and pneumonia), so this does give us extra time in a weird, mixed-blessing kind of way. As long as Faith continues to improve, little by little, we are here for it! ❤️
We are SO thankful that Cumberland County has been able to continue supporting Faith’s care through all of these incredible challenges. Please remember that they need your support as we move Faith toward the next step in her journey! Donation link below!!

15/12/2023

Update from November 3rd @ Foundation Equine Clinic

Faith had a great week this week!
She hit a huge milestone- small paddock turnout! 🤩 We constructed a small paddock inside our larger paddock to allow Faith to spend her days in the sun, eating grass, moving around a little, and getting stronger! She’s not strong enough to be safely turned out in a larger area, but we can slowly expand her area if needed. We found some lightweight corral panels that present less risk for injury, and placed the enclosure inside our larger paddock for added safety AND - a new friend!
Faith and “Hattie” immediately hit it off, and it’s a fitting friendship since Hattie came from an Animal Control seizure / abuse trial in Hoke County eight years ago.
Faith is currently wearing her splint about half the time, which helps keep her leg straight and healing appropriately. Her pneumonia is improving now, and she had normal bloodwork this week!
🤞🙏❤️ Please keep the good vibes, prayers, and contributions to Cumberland County Animal Control coming! There is finally a way to donate to Animal Control’s fund for Faith online!! Link posted in the comments!!

15/12/2023

Update from October 25th @ Foundation Equine Clinic

❤️ Here’s a look at Faith’s daily physical therapy routine! ❤️
Each morning and evening she gets passive range-of motion exercises and stretching to help strengthen her healing muscles and prevent her tendons from contracting.
Faith has spent so much time bandaged and splinted that it’s hard for her to re-learn how to use her right front leg. She still has some discomfort from her torn muscle and fracture, but she seems to enjoy the PT! This is also critical to help prevent her leg from becoming contracted or deformed as she heals.
How cute is she dribbling water on Dr Kivett’s head? 🤣

15/12/2023

This is merely one of the local and national news media stories that were made public about Faiths story.

Just prior to this story being filmed, Faith unfortunately and tragically lost her mother to a severe bought of colic that even with the most aggressive treatment she couldn't recover and had to be euthanized to end her pain and suffering. Faith held strong and although she had some anxiety with the loss of her mother she quickly rebounded and became content in her new world and was introduced to new "babysitters".

Faith, one of several horses taken from Witts End Quarter Horses in September, is continuing to improve. However, her mother, Judy, died on Tuesday night.