Post by Exceller Fund on Sept 10, 2008 2:48:01 GMT -5
Update originally sent August 12, 2008
Dear Members,
It is my sad duty to let you know that Luckymata had to be humanely euthanized on Friday. I am sending this out since I did not want our new Executive Director, Niki Smith, to have to tell you this news as her first communication to our members.
Robin Hurst, his caregiver at Out2Pasture Farm in Missouri sent me some beautiful photos and I will post them on our message board next week. I have to go out of town starting tomorrow morning and will be back next Tuesday. I will not have computer or e-mail access, but you can send any inquiries to mail@excellerfund.org and another volunteer should be able to answer.
This is very sad for all of us since Luckymata represented a legacy as his dam, Almata, a daughter of Exceller, had been donated to us for retirement back in 2004. Almata continues to do well at the retirement farm in Salvisa, Kentucky. Luckymata also had the same “face” as Exceller with an almost eerily similar blaze to his famous grandsire. He set a course record at Indiana Downs for 8.5 furlongs winning a handicap race as a 4 year old.
“Matt” was donated to us in January of last year by his owner who has been a generous donor as well. I informed him earlier of this, and he responded with a very nice message expressing his gratitude Robin’s and our time and support and for providing a place for Luckymata to retire.
“Matt” had fractured the 5th vertebra in his neck sometime during the last part of his racing career. For awhile, it looked like the vertebra would fuse and not be too much of an issue, but it was not to be. If surgery had been an option, we would have raised the money to do so, but the sad reality is it would have subjected Luckymata to unnecessary pain and trauma, so the decision was made to let him go peacefully.
Our volunteer Leslie Hubbell knows someone who can create jewelry from mane and/or tail hair. We will let you know when the items are done if you would be interested in purchasing a remembrance.
Robin, his caregiver, sent us this report last week:
Since he did not improve, but continued to worsen, the decision was made to let him go before he experienced severe panic and pain by not being able to move at all. Robin forwarded this to us this morning:
Robin took this quite hard as Matt had earned a very special place in her heart. If you would like to send her a card please let her know how much you appreciate the love and care she gave our boy. The address is: Robin Hurst, Out2Pasture Farm, 55694 Hwy P, Jamestown, MO 65046
Bonnie Mizrahi, Treasurer
The Exceller Fund
www.excellerfund.org
Providing a Future Beyond the Finish Line sm
9/10/2008: Post Script - I received a very nice Thank You card for Robin expressing her gratitude for the lovely cards and letters that were sent to her.
Luckymata - final goodbyes
LUCKYMATA IN HAPPIER DAYS:
Dear Members,
It is my sad duty to let you know that Luckymata had to be humanely euthanized on Friday. I am sending this out since I did not want our new Executive Director, Niki Smith, to have to tell you this news as her first communication to our members.
Robin Hurst, his caregiver at Out2Pasture Farm in Missouri sent me some beautiful photos and I will post them on our message board next week. I have to go out of town starting tomorrow morning and will be back next Tuesday. I will not have computer or e-mail access, but you can send any inquiries to mail@excellerfund.org and another volunteer should be able to answer.
This is very sad for all of us since Luckymata represented a legacy as his dam, Almata, a daughter of Exceller, had been donated to us for retirement back in 2004. Almata continues to do well at the retirement farm in Salvisa, Kentucky. Luckymata also had the same “face” as Exceller with an almost eerily similar blaze to his famous grandsire. He set a course record at Indiana Downs for 8.5 furlongs winning a handicap race as a 4 year old.
“Matt” was donated to us in January of last year by his owner who has been a generous donor as well. I informed him earlier of this, and he responded with a very nice message expressing his gratitude Robin’s and our time and support and for providing a place for Luckymata to retire.
“Matt” had fractured the 5th vertebra in his neck sometime during the last part of his racing career. For awhile, it looked like the vertebra would fuse and not be too much of an issue, but it was not to be. If surgery had been an option, we would have raised the money to do so, but the sad reality is it would have subjected Luckymata to unnecessary pain and trauma, so the decision was made to let him go peacefully.
Our volunteer Leslie Hubbell knows someone who can create jewelry from mane and/or tail hair. We will let you know when the items are done if you would be interested in purchasing a remembrance.
Robin, his caregiver, sent us this report last week:
Lucky is ataxic all over; has difficulty putting one front in front of the other. This came on very suddenly. I noticed he was a little "off" in the front on Friday am. By Friday evening, he was struggling to put one foot in front of the other. I immediately called our lameness expert out; whom had looked at Lucky upon intake and periodically when he came to the farm for routine checks. Dr. Kautsche gave him a physical exam and based upon this exam, strongly believes that Lucky has a vertebrae issue--possibly the 5th one that he had fractured previously: his eyes and head area show normal responses; everything from about the 5th vert back is compromised. Although the vet did draw blood to rule out West Nile and EPM, in his judgment, it is most likely vert involved with extremely poor outlook for Matt.
The vet gave him an IV of the highest dose of cc steroids he could and left oral steroids for the following day to be administered. The vet said the first 24 hours would be critical in the assessment of damage and slim hopes of some kind of recovery...there has been no visible change in Matt's condition to date and I am so sorry to say that I believe we should move forward to letting Matt
go.
This is very emotional for me, Bonnie; as I have grown to love Matt as my own and his presence on our farm will be sorely missed. He has gone through so much and I regret that his retirement life of luxury and happiness that we had planned on cannot continue.
The vet gave him an IV of the highest dose of cc steroids he could and left oral steroids for the following day to be administered. The vet said the first 24 hours would be critical in the assessment of damage and slim hopes of some kind of recovery...there has been no visible change in Matt's condition to date and I am so sorry to say that I believe we should move forward to letting Matt
go.
This is very emotional for me, Bonnie; as I have grown to love Matt as my own and his presence on our farm will be sorely missed. He has gone through so much and I regret that his retirement life of luxury and happiness that we had planned on cannot continue.
Since he did not improve, but continued to worsen, the decision was made to let him go before he experienced severe panic and pain by not being able to move at all. Robin forwarded this to us this morning:
Bonnie, please share this with all whom love Luckymata: After the initial diagnosis of Lucky's condition, and having no response to the course of CC steriods Lucky was placed on, we consulted the Equine Department at UMVMC. It was established that the former fracture had began to calcify in--and as it did, a few, critical millimeters of arthritis, deposits of calcium, had moved the tipping point of closing down Lucky's spinal cord and thus control for the 5th vert back.
Surgical intervention was not an option, as arthritis and closing down of the spinal cord would always be an issue. Having exhausted all options, we made arrangements for Lucky to cross over Rainbow Bridge on Friday, Aug. 8 at 8AM. Lucky's final week was spent with his girls (as much as possible) and stalled when he desired. He was bathed daily and fed extra rations of all his favorites (cookies, beet pulp, sweet feed, carrots). Lucky was laid to rest in our cemetery, overlooking the MO river.
I've attached pics of Lucky; some taken the night before he crossed over (sorry, the pictures are not clear, taken at night and I must admit I was crying so hard, that the camera shook all over the place). The other pictures are of how I'd like to remember Lucky; taken this spring.
I collected mane and tail samples of Lucky as remembrances of him that I will forward to Bonnie for distribution. All of Lucky's files will also be forwarded to Bonnie. Love, R
Surgical intervention was not an option, as arthritis and closing down of the spinal cord would always be an issue. Having exhausted all options, we made arrangements for Lucky to cross over Rainbow Bridge on Friday, Aug. 8 at 8AM. Lucky's final week was spent with his girls (as much as possible) and stalled when he desired. He was bathed daily and fed extra rations of all his favorites (cookies, beet pulp, sweet feed, carrots). Lucky was laid to rest in our cemetery, overlooking the MO river.
I've attached pics of Lucky; some taken the night before he crossed over (sorry, the pictures are not clear, taken at night and I must admit I was crying so hard, that the camera shook all over the place). The other pictures are of how I'd like to remember Lucky; taken this spring.
I collected mane and tail samples of Lucky as remembrances of him that I will forward to Bonnie for distribution. All of Lucky's files will also be forwarded to Bonnie. Love, R
Robin took this quite hard as Matt had earned a very special place in her heart. If you would like to send her a card please let her know how much you appreciate the love and care she gave our boy. The address is: Robin Hurst, Out2Pasture Farm, 55694 Hwy P, Jamestown, MO 65046
Bonnie Mizrahi, Treasurer
The Exceller Fund
www.excellerfund.org
Providing a Future Beyond the Finish Line sm
9/10/2008: Post Script - I received a very nice Thank You card for Robin expressing her gratitude for the lovely cards and letters that were sent to her.
Luckymata - final goodbyes
LUCKYMATA IN HAPPIER DAYS: