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Redwings Horse
Sanctuary - 07-02-2002
Redwings
Horse Sanctuary is a 501 (C) (3) organization that was started in 1991.
Our Non-profit ID number is #77-026941.
Our
Mission: To educate the
public on the plight and care of equines, to improve the environment in
which they exist and to protect them from suffering through proactive
community programs and providing sanctuary.
Redwings
have a large number of geriatric horses. One thing that comes with age is
eye and eyelid disease. The
problems can range from sun burnt pink skin around the eye to damage deep
within the eye. Guardian Fly masks have been critical in our care for our
elders. The masks have been
used in many cases as a prescription for these horses.
We are proud to refer people to Guardian because of the quality of
the masks, their toughness and the ability for the horse’s eyes to be
free from the rubbing caused by other masks that are out there. We use them until they absolutely cannot be used any more.
We wash them and the horses abuse them and take them off each
other, but in the end the masks are wonderful
I would say they hold up at least 90% longer than any other mask we
have tried!
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.
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.
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."
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."
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."
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.
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
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