Candys Story
Candy was diagnosed with Chronic Grass Sickness at the start of July 2013. I will never forget it as long as i live. She had been off colour so i called our vet out, 1 of the partners came out, he got out of his car with an apple, we had a chat about how Candy had been, he did all the usual observations, and shared his apple with her. He stood at the side of her stroking her and just said, Im thinking "Grass Sickness" that sentence changed mine and Candys lifes forever. He took bloods to rule out other things, on the Friday my vet rang and gave me the best bit of advice, treat her as if shes got Grass Sickness and just try to keep her eating and drinking. 9.20am on the Monday morning i got the phone call, all her bloods had come back clear, its Grass Sickness, she had the eye drop test in the afternoon which confirmed it.
Then it was the plan of action chat, I wanted Candy to stay at home and i would nurse her, she still had a sparkle in her eye, she was still fighting, so i would support her all the way, she would let me know if she`d had enough.
I supported her 24/7 for 3 months while she fought for her life, she`s a tough little cookie, and she wasnt going to let it beat her. At 4 months we were given the amazing news by our vet that Candy was in recovery, and slowly every day she got a little stronger and the weight returned little by little.
At 6 months i was told i could start bringing her back into work slowly, Candy has been left with a tiny bit of damage with her swallow, sometimes with certain feeds or depending on how she swallows water she can contort.
We had just passed the 18 months mark since Grass Sickness came into our life, and Candy is amazing, shes happy, cheeky, loving and loving life.
We will now dedicate the rest of our lifes to raising awareness about Grass Sickness, raise monies for The Equine Grass Sickness Fund. And helping others.
Last year a group of us organised pleasure rides all over THe UK, and we raised over £7000. This year Candy is going to walk all over Grass Sickness. The walk is about 250 miles and were going to be away for about 4 weeks.
Please feel free to follow us, donate, sponsor us or pop and say hi if we are passing near you on our way to Edinburgh.
You can follow Candy on Twitter And Facebook, were doing this for the horses, the thought of another horse/pony going through what weve been through breaks my heart. Please help us beat this illness. Candy has kicked it butt well and truly now its our turn.
My 5 other ponies are taking part in a Grass Sickness Vaccine Trial, hooves crossed the vaccine is successful and a vile illness thats terrorised equines for over 100 years, will be controlled with an injection. You can follow my ponies as well on Facebook.
