Frankie and Brandy...

From Jim: Frankie is a big ole Warmblood-Oldenberg-17-2, white and a real character. When his loving owner retired him here at a pretty young age he had ruptured a stifle and the repair surgery had saved his life, but ended his working days. More than that, he had a tumor on his neck which was growing aggressively and putting pressure on the carotid artery and jugular vein, right side. He was beginning to show the signs of diminished blood flow to his brain. Dr. Darling opted for surgery to remove the mass. Well, it turned out there were two tumors. One was the size of my fist, the other a little smaller but involving some lymph nodes. They were melanomas. They don't internalize very often in equines, but they had with Frankie. After several hours of extremely complex surgery, the tumors were out. I've never seen finer surgical work in my life. Frankie has no recurrence and is healthy as can be. Brandy is a Quarab-one of those Arabian/Quarterhorse crosses. The Quarterhorse side had a lot of Thoroughbred. She's tall-16-1 or so. She's a beautiful liver bay. She had been trained up as a reining horse and was on the way to some championships when her hock became arthritic. Her competitive career was over, but she became a wonderful saddle horse. Brian loves her a bunch. She has always been a loner. Due in part, I'm sure, to being stalled alone during her reining days. Well, on the sanctuary, there are no barn queens. We had her in with the lower herd, but they're a pretty spirited group and Brandy was somewhat overwhelmed. She lost some weight as her teeth had gotten sharp and needed a float. After her dental work, we stalled her for awhile to get her some extra sack feed and hay. She put her weight back on and when we turned her out, it was with the Backyard Bunch. She and Frankie have become really close friends. First time we've ever seen Brandy show so much affection for another critter. We like that. They're about the same age and make a very pretty couple-tall and stately. The way of these animals is always an interesting study. They are such unique, special individuals with personalities that give them very definite identities. So, Frankie and Brandy have found one another. Very Nice!