The Corolla Wild Horse Fund rescued a young mustang from the beach on the Currituck Outer Banks Sunday after receiving a call that the horse had been standing in the same place, favoring one leg, for more than 24 hours.
After a difficult rescue, Valor — a 2-year-old filly — was brought back to the fund’s rescue farm in Grandy, where it was discovered she’d suffered a snake bit that had become infected.
By Monday morning, Valor was putting weight on the leg, eating and drinking normally, and mad that she was locked in a stall.
“All good signs! She continued to stabilize throughout the day on Monday and we found ourselves becoming cautiously optimistic that she might pull through,” Puckett said. “Staff stayed on site through the night to flush her catheter every couple of hours and make sure that she was still doing ok.”
The fund’s vet checked Valor’s progress Tuesday night, removed the catheter, and cleaned and re-wrapped her leg.
Sadly, Valor can’t return to the beach. After only a few days of treatment she is acclimated for humans and being fed, and she has been vaccinated.
“This is not a decision we take lightly and we only remove horses that are critically ill or injured and would not survive in the wild. Removal is a last resort decision,” Puckett said.
