Community comes together to help equine rescue
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — In October, the call went out to the community to help save a horse that needed a surgery to fix a painful condition.
Comi, a 12-year-old polo mare who played in the Argentine and U.S. Open, was imported from South America. Eventually, she was played down due to her behavior since she started throwing riders. That’s when she made her way to Elite Equine Rescue in Colorado Springs, and given a new name — “Nuevo Comienzo,” or Comi.
She was surrendered due to being “dangerous”, but x-rays later revealed she had a severe case of “Kissing Spine.”
“The tops of all of their vertebrae have spines of bone that stick up,” said Dr. Melanie Robinson, the rescue’s farm veterinarian. “You’ll get bone that will form on the fronts and the backs of those and they’ll start to rub together. So it’s bone-on-bone pain.”
The pain was also thought to be responsible for Comi’s behavior.
“Anybody who has back pain knows that it’s all you can think about. And then you put 175-200-pound person on you and then ask you to go be an athlete on top of that, where you’re galloping and stopping and turning… all she could focus on was her pain,” Dr. Robinson said.
Courtesy of FOX21 reporter Rachel Saurer Courtesy of FOX21 reporter Rachel Saurer Courtesy of FOX21 reporter Rachel Saurer Courtesy of FOX21 reporter Rachel Saurer
In November, the rescue hosted a fundraising concert to raise money for an expensive surgery to help Comi, which could cost anywhere from $6,000 to $8,000.
The Petty Nicks Experience, Comi’s Comeback fundraiser concert, was a huge hit. The concert sold out and they raised $7,849, after concert expenses, to get Comi into surgery.
“We’re just so grateful,” said Liesl Ross, a trainer at Elite Equine Rescue. “We can’t do it. We’re a nonprofit. We can’t do it without the help of the community and our supporters.”
On Jan. 4, Comi made the trek to Texas for the kissing spine surgery. Now, she is in the beginning stages of rehab, and her handlers say they are already noticing a difference in her personality.
“The veterinary clinic in Texas noticed a change too, like immediately,” Ross said. “There was some relief. You know, she had some post-surgical pain and stuff that we’re dealing with now, but it’s completely different. I mean, she’s just so sweet now. And you can tell she knows that we’re trying to help her.”
Comi has a long road ahead, but those at Elite Equine Rescue say they are thrilled with her results, and are ready to stand by her every step of the way.
“It’s just going to be a lot of ground-based exercise, building her back muscles back up, getting her flexibility back and then eventually she’ll have a rider again and she should be much happier about it,” Dr. Robinson said.
Elite Equine Rescue specializes in rescuing, rehabbing, and rehoming injured, abused, or neglected performance horses. Once rehabilitation is complete, horses are placed with qualified adopters in forever homes.
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