Bambi (Champagne’s Royal Maid)

Arrival Date:  2008

Farewell Date:  August 29, 2025

 

Bambi, a classic champagne Tennessee Walker, is arguably one of the most beautiful horses at the ranch. Bambi is a classic champagne, the rarest of the champagne colors.  What most people first notice about her is her unique coloring, which turns heads.  The other thing that volunteers quickly discover about Bambi is that she is a very talkative girl.  Bambi has an amazing range of vocalizations and spends a lot of time talking to the other members of her herd and to her equine neighbors.

Bambi was born in 1998.  She transferred to our care in 2008 from a woman who was planning to start a rescue, but ended up not doing so.  Bambi came to us with a diagnosis of Equine Polysacchardie Storage Myopathy (EPSM), which is sometimes referred to as “Tying Up Disease.” We carefully monitor her diet, maintaining high levels of fat in her diet. In addition to EPSM, Bambi has lameness in her left rear leg. While we don’t ride Bambi, volunteers love grooming her, doting on her, and “talking” with this lovely girl.

In recent years, she developed significant hock arthritis.   Fortunately, she responded well to steroid injections twice a year and daily pain medication.  Recently, x-rays showed that her hocks were close to fusing, which would have meant they no longer cased her pain.  Unfortunately at the same time, we began to suspect issues with her stifles.

 

Farewell Date:  August 29, 2025

 

During Dr. Harlan’s last appointment with us, he raised concern with her hips and discussed the swelling of her left rear leg. He compared the situation to a Jenga tower. At some point, so many pieces were gone that the tower simply collapses. We were not prepared to say goodbye to our beautiful girl, but we knew we could not risk a collapse where Bambi would be down and unable to get up. We owed our beautiful girl a kinder ending, free of pain and fear.

We are so grateful to our volunteers who loved her over the last seventeen years. These amazing people made Bambi feel like the princess she considered herself to be. We owe a special debt of gratitude to Victoria, who made Bambi her special girl. Every horse at the sanctuary deserves a volunteer like her. Thank you Victoria for giving this special gift to Bambi.

As we told Bambi how much we all loved her and how beautiful she was, our hearts found some peace in knowing that her beloved Sundance would be waiting for her at the Rainbow Bridge. It has been four years since we lost our tall dark and handsome boy. He was the love of Bambi’s life and she loved him dearly. The last photo shows their unbreakable bond. It brings our hearts peace to know that they are once again together, forever.