With Nipper
(Aust) left and Combo (NZ) – my two Thoroughbred boys
My name is Debbie Webber from Victoria, in the
South East of Australia, a 41-year old mother of two beautiful
little girls aged 2 and 4 (OK – I left it late in life but I know a
lot more now than I did then)! My passion in life is and always has
been horses.
Born and brought up in the UK I never had the
chance to indulge my passion as a youngster – where that passion
came from nobody knows as my family are the least horsey people you
could wish to meet. Nevertheless it is there and ingrained. I had
the good fortune to accompany my wise parents to Australia to seek a
better life and way of living when I was 17.
At 21 I discovered that horse ownership in
Australia was a realistic and achievable dream. Since I purchased my
first horse at 21 – a nightmare that was mis-matched to a novice
such as myself from the onset – I have not lived without horses as a
part of my life since.
As time has gone on, I have endeavoured to
educate myself on all facets of the wonderful and fascinating world
of horses. I am no world beating rider let alone a name anybody
could spout as a matter of course when it comes to all things
equine, however my love for animals is profound and sincere and I
have yet to buy and then sell on any animal in the singular quest
for the almighty gain of wealth. Instead I have battled on to enrich
the life of all those animals that I have taken on except perhaps
for that first mismatched mare that I sold simply because I didn’t
know any better then. I never make the same mistake twice and have
never sold a horse since then, choosing instead to deal with the
circumstances I have myself knowingly encumbered myself with and
then dealing with the pain of ‘the final decision’ when the time was
right. Due to these things, I sleep well at night knowing I am doing
my small part for the equine world.
Without describing every detail of my (for the
most part) uneventful life, I now live in a beautiful part of the
world, with my partner and soul mate John who I also met when all
else seemed hopeless, two beautiful and healthy children and my
horses, dogs, cow and birds. Apart from the introduction of children
recently, and moving to a new property that needed a heck of a lot
of work, life has been a pretty hard road over the last five years
or so and I have learnt more in this time about my animals than I
have since I had my first mare delivered to me when I was 21.
My
eldest daughter Kimberley with her pony Fritz…..and his Guardian
Mask
My penchant for living life a little dangerously
lured me to the Thoroughbreds. My first Thoroughbred was my biggest
challenge and was afflicted with all manner of ‘cons’ one could wish
for from the great list of Pros and Cons. After only a year of
ownership, he ripped a third of his near-fore hoof off on a fence
(the hoof remnants were found hanging on the fence a few days later
– coronet band and neat white hair line intact). Needless to say, in
spite of all the advice on putting him down, what followed were a
few intense years of care and what I refer to as the ‘roller-coaster
factor’! I now challenge any vet worldwide to apply a poultice and
hoof dressing as quickly or as effectively as I can under any
conditions!!! Plus I can spot a very vaguely lame horse at 500
meters at first glance!!!
With this particular horse, who sharply educated
me on all the terrible things a horse could do if he felt the need,
I rose to the challenge, albeit nervously on each occasion and met
that same challenge head on. I learnt a lot and this dear old soul
became a good friend, even if he was a useless one in terms of
joyous returns! After seven years of battling with a crippled foot,
bare hoof care set me on the path to putting things right and things
are presently progressing in an astounding fashion.
BUT THEN… after a few years of weeping eyes and
me thinking the flies were to blame and eventually seeking out an
Ophthalmologist as a last resort, my little friend was diagnosed
with Uveitis in BOTH eyes as well as deep corneal ulcer as well in
the one eye. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to
have the vet out to put him to sleep and a lot cheaper than the
route I decided to take. Trawling the Internet late at night after
punching ‘Uveitis’ into the search engine didn’t really resolve the
anguish I was feeling nor give me much hope with the prognosis.
With an eye condition that held many opinions,
both professional and amateur as to the causes and treatments, I was
left stumped. The ulcer was treatable so long as I upheld the strict
eye drop regimen administered and the price of an operation (HUGE)
avoidable, so I doggedly adhered to these instructions to the letter
until the ulcer cleared. But the Uveitis? I accepted there was no
known cure as yet for this disease so I began to seek alternatives
to simply manage the condition as best I could.
Following link after link that I explored with
all the gusto of a young and eager intern, I finally hit on the
Guardian Mask website. I knew straight way I had found the tool I
required to manage the condition my Thoroughbred had. My sense of
logic tells me that if I had sore eyes, either from an eye infection
or foreign body or (perhaps welding without a welding mask), then
would I go to the toyshop and purchase a children’s pair of
sunglasses for perhaps $2.00 to combat the UV rays that caused
further pain and triggered further discomfort.
No, I’d be off shopping around for sunglasses
that offered the highest form of UV protection I could find. Most
upright people on this planet are well aware of the perils of UV
exposure and we act accordingly to protect ourselves and our
children from it’s harmful effects. Why should our horses not
benefit from this also? I have tried every mask under the sun
(excuse the pun) in my years of owning horses and they have all been
ineffective in design and function but when my Guardian mask
arrived, my first impression was of a quality made and sturdy
product that was functional and served it’s intended purpose
extremely well.
My horse has not been without his mask during
daylight hours since and the effects of his affliction have ceased
to cause concern for the time being. I am in no way advocating that
this is a replacement for good veterinary care – a good vet and
farrier are priceless commodities in our equine world. However it is
effective as an aide in the treatment of eye diseases whatever the
other chosen methods of treatment may be, whether that be veterinary
care, herbal remedies, Witchcraft or Voodoo! The product is well
made, sturdy and functional and the very reason I approached
Guardian to inquire about being a distributor for their product.
With Australia’s harsh climate I felt it was
necessary for horse owners here to have ready access to a quality
product such as this one, for those like myself unfortunate enough
to have horses afflicted with eye problems. It is a perfect tool –
not a cure-all – but definitely a well-designed management solution
and one that I use vigilantly and with confidence. Due to the
distance between Australian and the US I can only hope that by
distributing this wonderful product for Guardian here, I am able to
give Australian horse owners that are struggling to cope with eye
problems, a new avenue to explore in their endeavours to keep their
equine companions comfortable. As horse lovers, that is the very
least we can do for the creatures that quietly and graciously lend
so much joy, beauty and enrichment to our lives.
PS: Who says Guardian Masks
are just for horses anyway?
Debbie Webber
Victoria, Australia
Welcome aboard Debbie!
Thank you so much
for sharing your experiences, your family, and such wonderful information. We
eagerly look forward to helping our Aussie friends and are so pleased to be
working with such a conscientious and loving horse owner, and cow! What a
surprise!
Guardian Mask
