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Chief

 

This Appaloosa horse came to Redwings Horse Sanctuary with little history.  Chief’s owner could no longer financially care for a needy aged horse.  Appaloosa horses are a breed predisposed to E.R.U. Chief does not have any significant eye problems, but does have the characteristic white sclera and pale pink conjunctiva.  When Redwings moved to Lockwood, California, it soon became apparent that the bright sun reflection off the light ground even affected the eyes even while in the shade.  The white and pink part of the eyes turned significantly pinker, almost red. 

 

The Guardian fly mask with the smallest 95%  UV protection was all that was needed.  Within a few days, the eyes were significantly reduced in redness.  He will wear his mask from now on. 

 

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Chip

 

Chip was rescued from a pasture along the side of a highway.  He was in awful shape when we found him. He was truly a horse that was skin and bones.   He had been trying to exist on pasture grass with poor teeth.  He got goat food every once and awhile.  We rescued him and reconditioned him.  Much to our dismay, Chief turned out to have E.R.U. and has since lost his sight.  He did wear the Guardian mask throughout his disease and it helped his comfort level significantly. 

 

At this point, Chip actually wears his mask as a bumper to protect him from bumping his eyes into things.  Chip is not the most graceful horse. It really helps.

 

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Taffy

 

Taffy is the oldest horse at Redwings Horse Sanctuary.  She was brought to Redwings as a friend to a horse that we had been helping over the years.  The owner could no longer care for them.  Taffy has used the Guardian Fly Mask for nearly 5 years.  She suffers from Recurrent Equine Uveitis, also commonly known as Moonblindness.  Her veterinarian and the Redwings staff did some reading on the disease and found out about the Guardian masks.  The mask helps keep the glare and UV radiation of the sun from doing more damage to her eyes.  She is also on a prescribed treatment to keep the eyes from getting worse.  Taffy gets around wonderfully and wears her mask in the herd she lives with. 

 

"The mask has decreased the recurrence of the eye problem significantly."

 

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Moonbeam 

She is our smallest Guardian Mask wearer.  She came to redwings with a vague history that showed that she had been significantly abused.  She used to kick and bite and not let anyone touch her feet.  She arrived at redwings and our veterinarian diagnosed her as having E.R.U. that had been barely treated. 

 

We started a Veterinarian approved treatment that reversed some of the damage done to her eyes.  "Moonie" was also placed in a very small and very cute Guardian mask.  She has improved her overall attitude and we can now at least trim her front feet.  We don’t know if we’ll ever do those back feet, but she wears them off really well.  We feel her comfort with people has increased due to her comfort with her eyes, thanks to the mask and the medication she so clearly needed. 

 

"Moonbeam is now completely blind, but her eyes are still sensitive to light, so she continues to wear the Guardian mask."

 

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Desert Dancer 

Desert came to us in a very unusual way.  He had damage done to his front feet from his career as a jumping horse and possibly some inherited conformation problems.  His owner decided to retire him rather than just keep on jumping as many owners do.  Desert had been eager to work even with his foot injuries, but his owner cared enough to retire him while he was sound. His owner arranged to have Desert come live at Redwings Horse Sanctuary as a representative of the jumping class horse. 

 

Redwings Horse Sanctuary reminds people that nature did not design the horse to jump repeatedly.  The hoof and leg structures of the horse are stressed beyond belief each time the horse lands.  We recommend that people who jump their horses work with trainers and veterinarians.  They can give advice on how to prevent serious damage before it happens.  Desert wears a mask because of his pale inner eyelid. The eyelid had become pre-cancerous from exposure to UV rays.  Desert wears only one side of the Guardian mask eyepiece, because his other eye is completely normal. 

 

"The high UV protection and daily eye medication has significantly decreased the chance of Desert’s eyelid turning cancerous."

 

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Jester 

Jester came to us because he was built very wrong.  A popular breed of horse, the paint, has become subject to indiscriminant breeding.  Many people get into the business of breeding and really don’t know what to do.  They don’t know what type of conformation and characteristics to look for or avoid.  They just want the money.  This leads to horse breeding that can cause serious birth defects. Jester’s legs turn significantly outward. 

 

He can do most anything that any other horse can do, but will be subject to joint problems due to the un-natural angles at which his legs fit together.  Along with his leg problem, Jester has a white eyelid and inner eyelid that is pink.  This greatly raises his chance of getting squamous cell carcinoma.  This would lead to his losing his eye if it were not for his mask.  He wears one UV (90 UV) protectant eye patch on his guardian mask because the other is normal.  The improvement with the mask is significant.

 

 

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Thank  you to all the hard working individuals working for all these needy horses and thank you for sharing the stories of each of them as well.

 

Redwings encourages you to visit their website to learn of their programs, where they are and more about what they do.   

 

Redwings

Guardian Mask