Windy Hill Farm

09/01/2026

We’re a little late getting this update posted, but there has been A LOT going on since Drifter’s accident last Sunday including another strange discovery here at the farm ❤️‍🩹

First & most importantly… Thank the Lord, most of Drifter’s cuts are superficial & should heal with time! There were, however, two spots Dr. Sweatt was concerned about.

The swelling around his right hock was beginning to develop into cellulitis, a what could be serious bacterial infection of the deeper skin & soft tissues that can progress quickly & cause significant heat, pain & swelling. His vet team thoroughly cleaned everything & decided to sweat the leg by applying medication, wrapping it in plastic & bandaging it to help draw out some of the swelling & fluid.

Then there was the gash just above his hoof. Dr. Sweatt really wanted to suture it, but because of the location & the constant movement in that area, there was a good chance the sutures wouldn’t hold only to pull apart again. Instead, they thoroughly cleaned, treated & wrapped.

Getting all of that done was another adventure entirely 😂

Drifter apparently thought his appointment was a social event & was FAR more interested in making friends with everyone around his exam room than letting anybody touch his owies.

After a few rounds of sleepy juice (turns out our boy can really hold his sedatives) & the help of several extremely patient vet techs, they finally got everything taken care of.

Y’all… When those wraps went on, it was like watching one of those reels of a dog triple in size wearing shoes for the first time 😂 Several VERY dramatic steps later, he realized he could, in fact, still walk & promptly decided he had seen enough of the vet & was READY TO GO HOME!

Friday happened to be Drift’s first recheck, & knowing how easily distracted he is by EVERYTHING, his vet tech decided to close all the doors to his exam room in hopes that keeping things quiet would help prevent his adrenaline from keeping the sleep juice from doing its job.

It worked! Even better the bandages definitely did their job too!

The sweat wrap did exactly what we hoped getting rid of the cellulitis completely, while the other bandage kept dirt, grime & bacteria out of the gash above his hoof.

To keep all of that hard work going in the right direction, his team cleaned & rewrapped everything, topping him off with another round of antibiotics.

Drift will head back for another recheck Thursday at 10AM.

Now… As for the question everyone has been asking: What in the world frightened him bad enough to go through a fence?

After hearing everything that happened, Dr. Sweatt agreed that something major had to have frightened him & felt some type of predator was a very real possibility, with a cougar among the possibilities.

Of course, without a photo, tracks or actually seeing what happened, we simply cannot say for certain what it was.

What makes everything even stranger is that the morning after Drifter’s appointment Tuesday, one of the gates closest to our house broken completely off at the hinges.

We have no idea whether the two incidents are connected, but between Drifter going through a fence, the broken gate & the fact that we’ve also noticed no deer around the property lately… We’re definitely paying very close attention!

It’s HOT. It’s DRY. Water & food sources are becoming scarce, & as miserable as it is for us, can you imagine how hard it is on the wildlife? I know we can’t.

So if you have livestock or pets outside, especially in rural areas, keep that in mind & please stay aware.

For now, though, Drifter is HOME, comfortable, & we’re keeping a very close eye on that leg while continuing his treatment ❤️

We are incredibly thankful his injuries weren’t worse & beyond thankful the cellulitis was caught when it was.

Please continue to keep our sweet boy in your prayers for a smooth, boring & completely uneventful recovery because, as much as we love our vet & everyone there, we have certainly had our share of visits for this year 😂

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder & we are perfectly happy to test that theory out for a while!

To everyone who has reached out asking ways they can help bless our sanctuary, we’ve included a link below with all the ways you can help.

We truly appreciate every prayer, share, donation, message & kind word more than you know.

From all of us at Windy Hill Farm… THANK YOU 💜

Link: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1322333870022418&id=100067374533395&mibextid=wwXIfr

08/25/2026

Keeping everyone affected by the wildfires in our prayers tonight ❤️

May God protect everyone in the path of these fires, give strength to the firefighters & first responders working tirelessly, & watch over every person & animal affected.

Lord, please send North Texas some much needed steady rain & relief from this heat!

08/25/2026

Well… Looks like we’re going to need some more prayers for our Drifter ❤️‍🩹

Sunday morning, my stepdad very kindly gave me the day off & was surprised to find Drifter up front with the rest of the herd instead of in his usual pasture with Pocket.

Once he got closer, he found Drifter covered in cuts & scrapes across several areas of his body, & after investigating, found that a large portion of the fence separating his pasture from our back 40 acres was nearly completely down. Something apparently frightened him bad enough that he went straight through!

What that “something” was, we honestly have no idea. We searched for tracks or anything else that might give us a clue & have asked around, but so far we’ve come up empty handed.

Thankfully, most of his cuts appear fairly superficial & don’t look deep enough for stitches. We are, however, concerned about a deeper gash right above his right hoof & some swelling in his left hock.

We spoke with our vet this afternoon & have started Drifter on Bute to help keep him comfortable until his appointment tomorrow at 3 PM. Until then, we’ll continue treating those cuts with good ol’ Vetericyn & keeping a close eye on him.

Pocket is okay, thank goodness, & is now staying with the rest of the herd while Drifter is on stall rest getting much needed R&R.

We’ve had entirely too many veterinary adventures at Windy Hill Farm this year, so we would certainly appreciate all the prayers we can get for our sweet boy & hopefully some good news tomorrow 💙

For those who have been asking how they can help, our GoFundMe for this year’s unexpected sanctuary emergencies is still open, & every donation or share means more to us than we can say!

GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/cfead5aa0

08/23/2026

08/12/2026

Yesterday was Pearl’s vet appointment to finally get to the bottom of what’s been causing her discomfort. After a lameness exam — which gave us yesterday’s little Forrest Gump moment 😂 — & X-rays, we have some answers!

The issue is coming from both of her stifles, along with an intermittent upward fixation of her right patella. Basically, her right kneecap occasionally catches instead of releasing smoothly like it should. Sadly, stifle issues like this aren’t all that uncommon in miniature horses, with genetics, conformation, muscle development, & environmental factors all potentially playing a role.

Thank the Lord, nothing life threatening or catastrophic was found 🙌🏻 Both stifles were injected to help with the inflammation, & she’ll be on a daily anti-inflammatory to help keep her comfortable moving forward.

As far as we know, this is Pearl’s first flare up. At only four years old, it’s certainly not something we wanted her to already be dealing with, but we’re incredibly thankful we caught it early, now know what we’re dealing with, & have a plan to manage it. Our vet sees no reason she can’t continue living a long, happy life 🩷

Thank you to everyone who has kept Pearl & all of us in your thoughts & prayers! If you’d like to help with Pearl’s vet care or help us continue caring for all the incredible creatures who call Windy Hill Farm home, our GoFundMe is linked below.

GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/586d0975d

08/11/2026

RUN PEARL RUN 💨

08/10/2026

Hello, is it just us or has this year been unusually difficult? 😅

Since September of last year, it has honestly felt nonstop. From random animal emergencies, family emergencies, this breaking to that needing to be replaced, the best way I can describe it is like being out in the ocean — about the time you get your footing to catch your breath, another hurricane comes rolling in.

Lately, we’ve been seeing posts from others asking the same thing — “What is going on?!” If anybody figures it out, please let the rest of us know because I think we’re all ready for things to calm down! As much as we hate knowing that so many seem to be going through it too, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a little comfort in knowing you’re not alone. Sometimes hearing a simple “Yep, us too” from somebody walking through a completely different storm makes your own feel a little easier to weather.

Which brings us to our latest venture here at Windy Hill Farm…

Wednesday night, Mini Pearl came up for dinner slightly stiff & not acting her usual self. After losing Naomi in January to a broken hock, Jagger to a dislocated hip in March, Little Texas going lame before his unexpected passing last month, & everything else we’ve endured lately… My brain immediately went to the worst case scenario.

PTSD is real, y’all!

We put Pearl on stall rest with George & Karen for moral support, & the next morning she seemed even more stiff. Thinking it could possibly be something hoof related, we called our trusted farrier, who came right over. He hoof tested her, checked her digital pulses, & checked all four legs for heat. Thankfully, nothing alarming showed up, but he was seeing exactly what we were seeing & couldn’t really pinpoint one particular leg either.

Pearl does have stifle issues, so that’s what we think is acting up — possibly from being a little dehydrated thanks to this lovely Texas weather that currently feels like the surface of the sun, or from getting herself into some kind of pickle out in the pasture.

Thankfully, she does seem to be improving with stall rest & is now only slightly stiff.

But… You guessed it.

Yet ANOTHER field trip to the vet at 9AM 🤪

At this point, I’m pretty sure they’re going to start wondering why we don’t just move into the clinic parking lot.

So, fingers crossed tomorrow’s visit is nothing more than a little reassurance, a “keep doing what you’re doing,” & maybe a frequent flyer punch card on our way out 😂 We’d certainly appreciate all the prayers we could get & that whatever is bothering Miss Pearl is nothing serious & she keeps heading in the right direction 🩷

We’ll keep everyone updated, so until then… TTFN — ta-ta for now!

08/09/2026

Hi from Mister Little Bit ❤️

07/30/2026

We were able to get George’s X-rays for those who wanted to see 🩻 Consider this the inside scoop on that cute little nose!

07/29/2026

George, George, George of the farm… Watch out for that fence 😅

Because sometimes, if you aren’t laughing, you’re crying, & after realizing how much worse this could have been, we are incredibly thankful to see our little guy feeling well enough to play with his ball again.

Late Wednesday, we came home to find the gate separating our minis from the big horses standing wide open. We believe the latch malfunctioned, but because the minis had been around the bigs before without any problems, we didn’t think anything terrible had happened.

As we began returning everyone to their proper pastures, George was the last to be rounded up. He was standing alone near our white pipe fence, & it was not until I began putting his halter on that I saw blood dripping from his nose & bite marks across his back.

We brought him to our little barn & contacted two emergency vets, but both were 45 minutes to an hour away handling other emergencies. Thankfully, George’s bleeding stopped, & was eating & drinking, so they felt he would be okay until we could reach our regular vet clinic the following morning.

With Dr. Sweatt away on vacation, Dr. Hutchins was able to see George quickly. A scope revealed a hematoma inside his nose, & X-rays showed that George had fractured it. Dr. Hutchins believes he may have run into the fence during the commotion.

When we asked how often they saw fractured noses, we were shocked when he said they were fairly common — especially in young horses who are not always fully aware of their surroundings.

Thankfully, his airways looked good, so he will not need surgery! Unfortunately, there is nothing left for us to do but give him lots of love & time to heal.

We may never know which of the bigs got after him. It is hard to imagine any of them hurting one another. Even knowing the gate latch malfunctioned, it has been difficult not to feel responsible. As a sanctuary, our promise is to provide the animals in our care with a safe haven, so when something happens — even something beyond our control — that guilt can feel incredibly heavy.

We are extremely grateful for every kind comment, prayer, & word of encouragement we have received. Through a friend, we learned that the unicorn himself, Adios Pantalones, broke his nose while having too much fun in his pasture, crushing an airway, but returned stronger than ever & went on to help Tricia Aldridge earn the 2025 WPRA Reserve World Championship. Hearing stories about other horses who have recovered has been incredibly comforting!

For now, we are choosing to focus on the little horse happily playing with his ball, triple check every gate, & thank God that He was with him that night!

Keep healing, George, & please watch out for that fence ❤️‍🩹