LIZETTE

Welcomed to the Sanctuary — April 2018
Across the Rainbow Bridge — April 2022

“Trust Makes Miracles”

Lizette was a beautiful brown and white pinto mare, and appeared to be a Quarab, which is a mix of two breeds, a Quarter Horse and an Arabian. She was either the mother or sister of Dustin, and arrived at Rosemary Farm as part of the 'April Fool's Five'. They all joined Rosemary Farm together, surrendered to The Sanctuary after local law enforcement called for assistance on April 1, 2018.

Lizette was very sick upon arriving, with extreme breathing issues, called Heaves, similar to Asthma in humans. In fact, it is treated with the same medicine as humans use, but in order to care for a horse, one must be able to TOUCH the horse, which was a challenge with all the members of this group. Lizette was the most suspicious of humans, and took the longest to warm up to being handled, but it was critical to saving her life. Quite simply, Lizette had to learn to trust, and receive care, or she was going to die.

The team at The Sanctuary used all their skill and patience, long hours with Lizette, bringing her around, and nursing her through each new surge of her illness. In her first year at The Sanctuary, she was hospitalized five times, each time with pneumonia as an extension of her painful heaves, and her overall poor health. Her breathing attacks were triggered by mold spores in the air, generally during warm spells, so winter was a relief. By her second year, 2020, Lizette was an expert at all of her medical care, and had fewer attacks, only requiring hospitalization once. In the meantime, with all of her special care in the Medical Wing, she made some other horse friends and learned to trust.

Lizette was truly one of the miracles galloping about Rosemary Farm, and in addition to visits with her family, enjoyed time with her BFF Christine and her shadow Audrey, until she was helped across the Rainbow Bridge in 2022, when the accumulated damage to her lungs, after years of no care, was too much for us all to overcome. While Lizette’s illness could not be 'cured', the journey she made here and the happiness she found were worth every ounce of effort. We are grateful for the time we shared and honored to have been her caregivers, right up to and including the last gift of setting her free.

Fare thee well Lizette, until we meet again.