One step at a time: Carriage horse on the mend after trip to clinic

Apr. 29—BONDVILLE — About five years ago, Beth and Martin Saupe decided to take a trip to Wisconsin — along with their Clydesdale draft horse, Jill.

Beth Saupe recalls that, at the time, their fledgling business, Merrybeth Farm Carriage Service, was getting busy with rides at Curtis Orchard. The couple was hoping to find another Clydesdale that could pull alongside Jill so that they could give their two Morgans a rest.

It just so happened that there was a mare in Wisconsin who had been to the Clydesdale World Show and had plenty of experience pulling alongside other horses, so they decided to see firsthand if the two horses would take to each other.

Fortunately, the trip was not in vain. Saupe said the two horses could practically be sisters, and the second Clydesdale, Lena, "knows her business."

"She goes over grates in the road," she said. "She faces down fire trucks. She lets tractors pass her. She'll walk. She's got a nice, big, pleasant walk. She's the same girl from the beginning of the day to the end of the day. She just keeps walking. And she likes people, she's very sweet."

Since then, Lena has accompanied the Saupes at events such as parades, funerals, orchard rides, proms, quincea?eras, and, in one case, a woman's 100th birthday party.

However, the 16-year-old Clydesdale is taking a break from the business after a recent bout of sickness, and there is the possibility she may have to retire.

"We're guardedly optimistic," Saupe said. "We're going to bring her back on board the carriage service very slowly and not until we're sure that she's up to the work."

She added that they appreciate the care provided by the University of Illinois' large animal clinic and the people who have prayed for Lena's recovery since they shared her condition on social media in early April.

It all started on a Wednesday, Saupe said. The couple had taken Lena out on that morning and she'd done fine, but they started to notice a change that night.

"She was not herself," Saupe said. "She was moving real slow. She wasn't going out with the other horses. She was stopping, not eating."

Saupe's daughter also noticed that something was off about Lena, so they brought her back to the barn and gave her a check-up. Her pulse, respirations and temperature were all high.

They then consulted with a friend who is an equine veterinarian at the University of Illinois. After taking a look, he recommended the Saupes take Lena to the hospital, and they brought her to the university's large animal clinic.

"They worked really hard trying to get her stable and diagnosed and comfortable," Saupe said. "I mean, we're talking a draft horse here. Not a normal size horse. So everything is bigger and harder to hear or harder to see."

Professor of Equine Internal Medicine Dr. Jonathan Foreman, equine surgery resident Dr. Zuzanna Graczyk and equine medicine and surgery intern Dr. Ana Nobrega made up the team that treated Lena, said Clinical Associate Professor of Equine Internal Medicine Scott Austin.

Austin, who oversaw Lena's discharge, said she was diagnosed with anterior enteritis, or "inflammation of the small intestine."

"The normal movement of fluid is interrupted when the small intestine is inflamed, and fluid backs up into the stomach causing anorexia and pain," Austin explained. "Affected horses cannot eat or drink because of the stomach distention."

While the cause of this condition is often unknown, lab work suggests that there may be a "bacterial cause" in Lena's case, he said.

Additionally, the condition can cause fluid to back up to the bile duct and into the liver, since horses do not have gallbladders. This then causes inflammation of the bile duct and liver, resulting in liver damage. Lena experienced a "significant insult" to her liver, Austin said.

"Treatment consists of intravenous fluids, anti-inflammatory medication, continuous decompression of the stomach, and broad-spectrum antibiotics," he said. "Lena responded well, and her enteritis resolved rapidly, leaving laboratory evidence of liver insult that has continued to resolve with some additional antibiotic therapy and time."

He commended Saupe for recognizing something was off and quickly seeking help, as well as her friend for his good advice.

"The less time the bowel is distended and inflamed, the more rapidly it returns to function," Austin said.

"My great-grandfather told my dad, who told me, '90% of good stockmanship is observation,'" Saupe said.

The Saupes shared initial news of Lena's sickness on social media on April 4 and later shared on April 8 that she was back home.

They have begun Lena's occupational therapy and hope to work with her in harness soon, Saupe said on April 26. She added that it will be a couple of weeks before they do follow-up bloodwork.

Upon her initial return to the farm, Lena "was not moving quite normally," but she has since improved. The Saupes still notice a difference in the way she moves, but they don't think a stranger would be able to tell.

In the event that Lena is not able to return to the carriage service, they have a possible retirement home in mind, Saupe said.

"She has to walk 20 miles a day in the fall when we do Curtis Orchard, on one day," she said. "Because we work the Morgans one day, we work the Clydes another day, so nobody has to work two days in a row. It gets hard, pulling a load. So we like to give them a little time off. In the meantime, they get some work during the week just because we don't want them to just sit here all week. They need to keep going."

In discussing possibilities, Saupe said that her friend bought a horse that is able to work with Lena, but Jill "doesn't like him."

Saupe said they'll try again to see if they can get the two horses to get along. They've also considered that they may need to bring on another, younger horse that Jill can pull with.

They're also fostering a Shire horse who might be able to step up.

She said that, despite the sickness, Lena is still the same sweet, obedient horse.

Retiring her would be a "huge loss" to the carriage service, Saupe said, but if they have to do it, they'll find a way to keep going.

"Lena is 16," she said. "She's kind of getting up there. We'd hoped to keep going with her for at least a couple more years. But we're not going to — she's been really good to us. We're not going to abuse the privilege and the blessing that we've had. God brought her to us, and we're very thankful for her, but we're not going to push her past what she's able to do."