06/06/2026
Bishop
[o4.26.26-o5.26.26]
The story of Bishops short time earth side.
Even in short form its a longer read.
Regardless of whether he were a c**t or filly, Bishop, this cross, was going to be a keeper for me.
The day finally came when my most anticipated foal of the year arrived! My excitement quickly turned to worry as I knew something wasn't right.
Bishop was born with extremely bloodshot eyes, his pupils wouldnt dilate, and his vision was extremely impaired if he could even see at all. After notifying my vet team his symptoms were deemed a non emergency as he was nursing, alert, pooping, resting, and doing all the things a healthy foal would. The only recommendation I got at the time was to treat him like a dummy foal, maybe there had been some trauma during birth that caused these symptoms. So, we squeezed him. There was no change in his eyes. They remained like this for just over a week. He had multiple PEMF treatments to help reduce any pain or swelling as we worked to heal him.
We had no way of knowing he was fighting a much larger problem.
Bishop was on TMS, vitamins D3, and E supplements to help with swelling and any possible infection that could have been causing his issues.
Thankfully, his eyes returned to normal and full vision was regained! We continued the meds and vitamin supplementation for the recommended time period.
His medical treatments ended on the Monday and by Thursday he was visibly going downhill.
We brought him in and did all the things - temp check, heart rate, made sure he was nursing, pooping, peeing, etc.
He was still doing everything he was supposed to do, had no fever, no elevated heart rate, and seemed fine... just... kind of blah. We were in the middle of a heat wave so we kept him and his dam inside to monitor and wait for something to be a red flag. The red flag never came. He just stayed blah.
By day 3 of him being blah I decided to haul him in anyway and have him checked out. His dams milk production was declining so I had wondered if it was her that was the problem (thats how ok he seemed).
Turns out, she already knew.
Upon arriving at our vet clinic the team immediately jumped into action pulling blood, fecals, ultrasounds, xrays, nothing was skipped or spared.
I was SHOCKED when his white blood cell count came back at 41,000! It should ideally be 10,000 give or take. He was severely ill - SEVERELY! Yet, he was still nursing, still running around, still no temp, still Bishop.
Immediately I knew he'd be staying at the clinic for further testing to find the cause of the infection *SPOILER - we never found a cause* as nothing showed up on his naval ultrasound or other initial in clinic tests.
Bishop was started on IV antibiotics right away and we attacked whatever was fighting with him as best we knew how without knowing what we were up against.
Cultures were taken and sent away, swabs were collected, more blood was drawn, more ultrasounds, more xrays, additional vets called in, samples sent to outside labs, whatever was suggested I okayed.
Sadly, when they tested his joints he came back septic. Severely septic. His joints werent swollen, his legs werent hot, he was still nursing and didnt seem off enough to physically be at deaths doorstep.
Surgery to flush the joints was suggested. I said go ahead.
At the team debrief and further testing on his other joints he was heartbreakingly determined to not be a good candidate for surgery in his condition. He wasnt responding to antibiotics, we still didnt have answers as to what was actually causing any of this to happen so we were all just trying anything at this point.
Another phone call to discuss and talk everything out I chose to have him humanely euthaized and a necropsy completed to hopefully get answers and ensure my remaining foals at home werent at risk.
We had already pulled blood samples from the foals at home before Bishop was euthanized and everyone was fine. F***l samples were run on the mares and health checks completed as well. Again, everyone was fine.
Ive now received all the testing results back (I think, there were a lot) and everything basically comes back to he shouldnt have been alive at all. Its believed the treatments I started immediately for his eyes and sight held the infection/bacteria that was already present at bay long enough for him to survive as long as he did. When those treatments stopped, his already depleted immune system just couldn't keep up. He was physically strong enough, which is why he physically seemed OK.
I'll never have complete answers but knowing it was most likely an in utero thing or just plain bad luck and not something that can affect the rest of my herd puts me at ease. Also knowing there was never anything we could've done but he still had an amazing month of life anyway!
Run free my sweet Bishop!
I didnt let my dream for you die with you though.
Some day.
Maybe some day sooner then one thinks ❤️🩹
Thankful for my amazing veterinary team and all the staff at Delaney Veterinary Services Ltd. .
What should've been one of the hardest decisions of my breeding career was laid out in black and white, honest and transparent. I was able to feel confident that we did everything we could and everything that was best for Bishop in the end.
Thank you to Wainwright Veterinary Services for taking and running the blood samples on my foals to get the results to Delaneys as quickly as possible!
Thank you Elite Performance Equine Therapy for treating Bishop multiple times with PEMF. Always making sure he was comfortable and as pain free as possible.
Thank you to my barn family here at home for stepping in and helping to keep things going. We're full on into breeding season, outside mares coming and going, plus our boarding clients, training clients, and our own herd. Its a mad house this time of year and Im truly grateful I can confidently leave in an emergency and not worry about things.
Thank you to Bishops sires owner, Fleetwood Quarter Horses, for talking everything through with me. Your knowledge and professionalism are unmatched and so much appreciated!
Thank you to all of our clients that allowed me to take a step back for a couple days to mentally reset. You guys are the reason we're here and able to do what Im so pationate about.
Thank you everyone for the kind thoughts and words and anyone else Ive missed (I have no doubt theres multiple) 💖
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