Jessup’s Story:

Jessup is a flea-bitten Arabian gelding who lived in a one acre yard for most of his 27 years. He was given by his owner,  reason unclear, to a coworker about the time he developed a cancerous tumor in his right eye last year.

The new owner took him to a vet who ended up removing the eye entirely.
This did not please the new owner and he wanted Jessup put down because of his “deformity.” Instead, the operating vet got Jessup signed over to the rescue we work with. The rescue folks asked if we had room to take him because he was being chased by the younger, stronger horses they had. He was having a tough time coping with his adjusted vision and was
losing out on hay and grass. We didn’t have an extra place at that time, but we took him anyway. We have not regretted that decision at all.

Jessup arrived here last April fairly underweight. He soon put on the pounds and spent his days, when not eating, trying to make friends with Darcy.   Darcy was a relatively new mare to us and was keeping the other horses at a distance. Eventually his persistence ended in a friendship and they spent their days grazing together. Jessup took on the role of protector
whether Darcy needed it or not. When he first spied Larry on the tractor in the pasture they were grazing in, Jessup galloped to Darcy, head and tail held high, bellowing like an equine Paul Revere. He had never seen the tractor close up before and he decided Darcy needed to be warned. A month later, a pasture gate had been left open and he raced over to alert me to the problem.

His bellow is a familiar greeting every morning when he sees us coming into the barn to start feeding. If we take longer than he
thinks is necessary in food preparation, we also hear about it at a high volume.

Jessup has taken on godfather status to Darcy’s young foal and he is, so far, the only horse Darcy will allow in the same fenced in area with them. He soaks up the attention like a sponge.

Jessup has more personality than any two of our other horses. That makes it all the harder to relay the rest of his story.

Jessup has been here just over four months. Last weekend he wasn’t quite himself and laid down more than usual. He ate just fine and was not rolling but he looked distressed. We took him to the vet who pumped him full of IV liquid and kept him overnight. He was fine for about a day then looked like he was reverting to the condition he was showing earlier. We took him to the vet again and this time more extensive tests were done.

Jessup has lymphoma, an internal cancer for which there is no treatment. We have instructions on what supplements to give him and how to make him comfortable, but there is no cure and it will take his life. He is not in the end stage and may not be for a while. Or it could be next week.

We are going to continue to love Jessup and his wonderful personality for as long as we can. We will not let him suffer but we are not going to push to keep him alive hooked up to machines and IVs if he cannot enjoy being a horse. We hope he is around long enough to impart some of his wisdom to his young friend Lyric.