For nearly a year…

For nearly a year the horses at Fort have been ill. What was first believed to be a 10-21 day illness has been a year of caring for 45 horses.

While most of the horses have made significant improvement, there are a handful that continue to show symptoms. Some of those symptoms can cause pneumonia, yet, by the Grace of God, it has not manifested in our horses. Even those non-symptomatic horses can carry this particular sickness for up to four years, then infect other horses.

Generosity paves the way…

After much research and consultation with our veterinarian, who has walked this journey alongside us, it was determined that the only way to make sure the illness is totally out of the horses’ systems was a procedure that requires an endoscope.

This machine runs around $15,000, but it was Fort’s only reasonable treatment for these horses that are used year-round to provide joy, get campers into God’s creation, and even share the gospel through Cowboy Truth.

God provided two donors who covered the cost of the machine, and this week (March 2022) the vet has begun the process of treating each horse. Once treated, the horses will head to pasture to be kept away from any ill horses until, God willing, all horses are well again.

Abounding Generosity – Time and Talent

Generosity of time and expertise has been abundant. Without the veterinarian, the endoscope would be like you or me being handed a fuel injector and not knowing what to do with it when fixing a car. God’s provision included a knowledgeable and generous veterinarian.

The initial understanding of the illness gave us hope that the stables staff would have a couple of hard weeks caring for sick horses. The stables staff has been devoted to equestrian care and spent many extra hours working with the horses for more than nine months. God’s provision included a stables staff willing to give of their time.

Would you join us in praising God for raising up these incredibly generous donors, veterinarian, and stables staff?