Posted by Michelle on 2/4/2006, 4:40 pm METHUEN — They arrived at Nevins Farm in late October, 17 foals in heartbreaking condition — badly malnourished, with a skin condition known as rain rot, some with ringworm. They had spent too much time at a Massachusetts facility not capable of caring for them, an especially hazardous fate for a group of colts and fillies facing an already uphill battle. They are Premarin foals, the byproduct of the controversial process that harvests pregnant mares' urine at special farms to make the estrogen therapy drug but has little use for the resulting offspring. The horses left their Canadian farm for the Bay State in good condition, according to Erin O'Bryan, manager of Nevins' Equine and Farm Animal Care and Adoption Center. But Premarin foals "are set up to fail if not cared for very well," she said, and by the time someone placed an SOS call to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the condition of the 4-month-old horses strained the resources of even the state's largest equine care unit. "We had to add some temporary staff; everybody pulls extra hours in this kind of thing," said O'Bryan. "It was huge, it was incredibly costly. It has a huge impact on the shelter, on the staff and the volunteers." And now — after a $10,000 Tufts veterinary hospital bill and countless nursing and training hours — comes the most satisfying part, as the MSPCA searches for some beneficiaries of all that work and money. Those same horses are now healthy, more handler-friendly and ready for foster homes or, ideally, permanent adoption. "It's time for them to leave the schoolyard-pack mentality and get some more one-on-one time," O'Bryan said, "so they can lead the lives most horses lead, being with a human family." Because Premarin mares are typically rebred soon after birth, "these guys didn't have a lot of nursing time on mom," said O'Bryan. Nor, she said, had they had much exposure to human handling. That combination, along with their youth, means veteran horse people are the best option for cargivers. "Many people might consider themselves experienced horse people," said O'Bryan, "but might never have raised a foal from 6 to 8 months old." With that disclaimer out of the way, however, O'Bryan sees no reason people won't find good companion animals or riding horses in Seamus, Shaggy, Patty, Manny, Chester and Ashton Kutcher, to name a few. Their draft horse cross-breeding means they'll be bigger but more docile. They play nicely with others because they've spent so much time in a large group, and they've been trained to stand for the veterinarian and be groomed, she said. "Now they're ready to be treated like adult horses," said O'Bryan, who so far has successfully found foster homes for four of them. Having adopted Premarin foals before, Methuen resident Kathy DeMartini is hoping nobody holds this groups' background against it. She spotted them at the farm during a visit not long after they arrived, and would desperately like to have the mental images of their "horrendous condition" replaced by happy endings. "They actually make excellent horses because of their breeding," said DeMartini, noting that the calm draft mares are needed for the long times spent in narrow stalls on the Premarin farm "pee lines." Her family's own horse recently struck a blow for Premarin prejudice everywhere, she said, by finishing third in the country as a show horse in the American warmblood category. "(Adopting one) is an investment in your time," she said, "that will pay you back tenfold." Preferring to focus on the adoption process, O'Bryan won't discuss the foals' past other than to say that sometimes people will try to purchase Premarin foals for resale, and "somebody took a lot more horses than they should have." Officials at the MSPCA's law enforcement arm — which has special police powers to enforce animal abuse and neglect laws — had no comment on whether there is an investigation. Methuen reporter Leslie Talmadge may be contacted at (978) 373-1000, or ltalmadge@eagletribune.com. Adopting a horse from the MSPCA requires three appointments at Nevins, home and reference checks, and donations range from $500 to $4,000.
205.188.117.72
Farrier Phil Carney files the hooves of one of the horses with the help of Katy Raynor, an animal care and adoption counselor at the MSPCA's Nevins Farm in Methuen.
By Leslie Talmadge
Staff writer
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