Edna Pearl – Farewell on April 18, 2017

 

In October 2011 three precious gems, Tri Seoda, arrived at Horses of Tir Na Nog. In this case the three gems are emaciated horses. All three were rescued during an investigation by County of San Diego Department of Animal Services in Spring Valley.

One horse is a 13-year-old grey paint mare with an abscessed shoulder wound that had gone untreated before her rescue. It was the failure to provide this mare with medical attention that allowed Animal Services to rescue all three mares and spare them additional suffering.

Since only one of the mares has a name, Diamond, we needed a way to refer to the three of them until sponsors came forward to name the other two mares. Tri Seoda is Gaelic for three precious gems and we thought that phrase fit these three perfectly. In Buddhist tradition, the Three Gems are potential, teaching, and community. Obviously these three are on a journey to realize their potential. As equine ambassadors at our sanctuary, they will teach people about equine welfare. We were reliant on the San Diego community to help these girls recover, making them our Three Gems, Tri Seoda.

A long-time supporter of Horses of Tir Na Nog heard about these three special horses and wanted to help. Two of her sisters passed away in 2011 and she thought it would be a wonderful tribute to their memory to name the horses in their honor, so our three gems became the three sisters (Edna Pearl, Betty’s Amber, and Edith’s Diamond). All three sisters were born in the heart of horse-county, Kentucky, and chose professions that led to helping people, nursing and teaching. Since one sister was fair, it was easy to identify our gray mare as Edna Pearl, and given the pearl coloring of her coat, this was a perfect fit.

While Edna Pearl’s shoulder was slow to heal, she gained weight and was soon over her target weight. After several months of intensive medical care by Dr. Rand of East County Large Animal Practice, Edna Pearl’s shoulder healed. Now we only have to help Edna Pearl’s feet heal. Prolonged neglect have left her back feet prone to soreness. Fortunately she is receiving the best possible farrier care and we hope to see improvement, slow that it may be, in the months and years ahead.

 

Farewell – April 18, 2017

Amidst all of our preparations for our ASPCA Help A Horse Day Open House events, the reality of caring for our special population of horses is never far away. About a month ago, Edna Pearl exhibited an increase in lameness. Thanks to Dr. Chandler at ECLAP we were able to determine a pain management plan to address not only arthritis, but soft tissue issues. Our plan was based on finding a balance between the risks of increased pain medication and keeping her comfortable.

Last Friday, she experienced an acutely painful episode. On Saturday, Dr. Harlan from ECLAP examined her and identified a new issue, possibly an abscess, that was complicating what had been previously diagnosed. Throughout the Easter weekend we soaked and wrapped her foot, but failed to see any signs of improvement. Monday there was a bit of hope, but by Tuesday that hope had dimmed as she continued to struggle to find comfort on her hind legs. Dr. Harlan offered a very good analogy. Both of her rear legs were pretty badly worn tires. Her right hind was in fact a flat tire. The new issues in her hind left required her to rely 100% on that flat tire, further damaging her right hind. Since Edna Pearl was not responding to extremely high levels of pain medication and was unable to be comfortable, our only option was to let her go.

Edna Pearl was a very special horse. She arrived with her two “sisters” Betty’s Amber and Edith Diamond as part of a neglect case through Animal Services in October 2011. At the time, this was the largest number of horses we had ever received at one time. The three girls became Tri Seoda, a Gaelic term referring to three precious gems. In Buddhist tradition, the Three Gems are potential, teaching, and community. Obviously these three were on a journey to realize their potential when they arrived. As equine ambassadors at our sanctuary, they taught people about equine welfare. We were reliant on the San Diego community to help these girls recover, making them our Three Gems, Tri Seoda.

It was Edna Pearl that saved her sisters. The then 13-year-old grey paint mare had an abscessed shoulder wound that had gone untreated before her rescue. It was the failure to provide this mare with medical attention that allowed Animal Services to rescue all three mares and spare them additional suffering.

So as we said good bye to our beautiful Edna Pearl, we celebrated her freedom from pain and her reunion with her sisters. We also celebrate all of you who, through your support, allowed us to create a place where Edna Pearl and her sisters found care and compassion. Thank you for helping horses EVERY day!

There is no doubt that Betty’s Amber, who left us on December 29, 2015 and Edith’s Diamond who passed away at the end of October 2016, were waiting for Edna Pearl just the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. Our Tri Seoda are together again.