When Tinkerbell arrived everyone was aghast at her condition. Despite the starvation she seemed to have so much energy. She was even a little hard to handle and was pushing her handlers around a bit. Once the veterinarian completed his entrance exam she was put in a clean stall, deeply bedded with shavings and some hay, water and salt. It was only minutes before we had to remove the salt as she continued to chew on the block with an intensity we rarely see. She is so depleted and obviously infested with parasites, some so bold as to crawl out onto her skin. After short notice… she laid down to rest. She seemed so peaceful resting….then she tried to get up! She became frantic when she could not stand, even her energy was not enough to give her what she needed to stand. She had lost not only her fat but muscle as well.

It took a team of 10 staff members to roll and strap Tinkerbell onto the rescue glide. As soon as we began working with her, she stopped struggling and let us proceed as though she knew help had arrived. We had to drag the glide and Tinkerbell from her stall into the indoor arena so the disaster team could place her in our Anderson sling. Even then she waited for us to pull on her leg to let her know she had to put her feet down and hold herself up….and she did!

TINKERBELL RECOVERS Tinkerbell spent more than a month recovering in the sling. She was immediately placed on the critical care feeding program and ate every three hours, around the clock with barn staff sleeping on the floor next to her to attend to her middle of the night meals. The mare became quite the prima donna with her human slave routine; we came and cleaned her stall; refilled her water, fed her and took her out of the sling for short walks.   Moving on Up Parade Tinkerbell survived because she clearly wanted to live. Today, she is a feisty girl who absolutely adores the spotlight.She was the star of our April 2008 Moving Parade and The Washington Post, Howard County Times and Country Folk all printed photos of her prancing down the road that took her from our old property to Days End’s new 58 acre farm.   Spring Carnival Always willing an able now that she is healthy, Tinkerbell was also a star at our 2008 Spring Carnival where she captured the eye of all the many children wanting pony rides at this event.

Howard County Fair

She was also a star at the Howard County Fair in August of 2008 where she was ridden in a show and entered many fun events including the spoon race!

For more information call:
301/854-5037 or 410/442-1564
E-Mail: info@defhr.org

Physical Address:
1372 Woodbine Road
Woodbine, MD 21797

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 309
Lisbon, Maryland 21765

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