Brynn the blind foal
Little Brynn came to us this past summer when she was only five days old. She had been born blind at a boarding stable in Helena, Montana. Unable to keep her, the owner asked if we could take the tiny foal. Fortunately Brynn's mother came along to nurse until we could wean Brynn in the fall.
We soon realized blindness was the very least of her problems. To begin with, she didn't get enough natural antibodies from her mother at birth, so our equine vet had to give Brynn a plasma infusion. That gave her immune system a jumpstart, which she definitely needed, because she had a lot of significant medical conditions to overcome.
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We found out in her first week here that Brynn has a hole in her heart, one of her kidneys sends urine to her uterus instead of her bladder – the condition is called an ectopic ureter, and she dribbles urine all the time -- and the vertebrae in her neck are malformed. In fact, her neck is so short she can't reach the ground to graze! We feed her hay and pile it high so she can easily eat it.
And yet...despite her many medical disabilities, Brynn is the happiest, sweetest, most affectionate little foal we've ever seen. We don't even need a halter to lead her – we can guide Brynn with an arm around her neck. (Note: This will not work when she's 1,000 pounds, so she IS halter trained!)
She's growing like a weed (except for that neck!) and, as odd as it sounds, she is otherwise very healthy. The biggest risk is that her neck problems could make her a wobbler as she gets older, but so far she's very nimble on her feet. Only time will tell. We do know one thing already: Her neck is long enough for an essential function – she can always reach the carrot in your pocket!
