Update on Helen

Helen, now named Fathom was the filly born with cataracts so severe she was diagnosed as completely blind. She is now 4 years old. Her owner sent this video of her out on the trails of Colorado and writes: Hi Judy! I thought I'd send you a this video of me riding Fathom. This was her first big ride and she did AWESOME! She encountered a lot of new things! A tree blow over 50 feet in front of us. She crossed 6 creeks, almost got snapped by a small sapling, and got tangled up in some branches. Each time she was calm and handled it like a seasoned trail horse! I am so thankful for such an amazing horse! Thanks again for blessing me with her!!

She did great! There were some steep rocky hills and she went right up no trouble or tripping. She trusts me and I trust her!! She is incredibly smart! I am going to save my money this winter and hopefully breed her to Evan in May.

When Helen was born we were thrilled with her beauty, she quickly found Lily's teats and was nursing fine. It wasn't until Amy Koch arrived the next day that the cataracts were discovered. Amy noticed that her eyes were reflecting the light wrong. When Dr. Hoerr arrived for the well baby check up he gave us the bad news that the filly was blind. We made an appointment with the UofI ophthalmologist in hopes we could have the cataracts removed but after they checked her over reported she was not a candidate for surgery and recommended putting her down. I just couldn't do it. She was such a vibrant happy beautiful filly. Her full sister Ayanna who was just one year older was an amazing baby sitter. If Helen got too far from Lily she would neigh, Ayanna would trot right up to her and let her follow her back to her mom. Both Dr. Hoerr and the UofI vets told us at her followup visits that it was amazing how well she was coping. We asked if there was any reason she should not be bred later in life and the answer was "no" she is doing so well with her other senses that they felt she would make a fine brood mare. I am thrilled about Cortney wanting to breed her and hope that works out. Notice in the video how Cortney is riding with just a halter and lead, notice how a slight tug and Fathom instantly turns. These 2 have a special bond that if Fathom is lucky will never be broken. The prayers that went up for this filly have all been realized and more!