Our lovely sanctuary horse, Promise, arrived to us from another rescue with badly fractured withers. While it was clear that Promise’s fractured withers had happened long ago in her past, no other information was known on how Promise fractured her withers. In the summer of 2023, Promise’s withers started to look a bit awry. She had a pocket of ooze and it became clear that her withers required attention. We had our wonderful vet, Abby Atkins, x-ray Promise’s withers. At that time, It became clear that Promise’s withers were infected. At first, Dr. Atkins thought she might be able to debride the pieces of infected bone, but after closer inspection, she recommended a more thorough surgery. While we looked into surgery for Promise, the outcome wasn’t as optimistic as we had hoped. Promise, who enjoys her days living outside 24/7 with her pasture mates, would be required to be on stall rest for almost a year and the prognosis for recovery was not great. We carefully weighed the pros and cons and decided to try a medical and holistic approach first. A culture of Promise’s withers went out and we were able to identify exactly which antibiotic she needed. In addition, we’ve done many alternative therapies such as acupuncture and reiki. Not only that, we started to shockwave Promise’s withers every 1-3 months. After being on antibiotics, receiving alternative therapies, and TLC, we are so thrilled to report that Promise’s withers have been improving! Thankfully this improvement has occurred without invasive surgery. Promise has been able to continue living her best life outside with her pasture buddies. This outcome has been a huge relief to us – and no doubt Promise – and we look forward to continuing to make her the most comfortable and happiest she can be!