Cali the Guide horse’s emergency vet bills

Cali, a 28 inch tall miniature horse, has been guiding her owner, Mona Ramouni, for more than a decade now. A very sudden onset, life-threatening illness has her in the hospital and fighting for her life, and she could really use your help.

Mona And Cali‘s story

Born prematurely and exposed to high levels of oxygen in an incubator as an infant, Mona has been completely blind her entire life. She is absolutely no stranger to finding adaptations and work-arounds to the limitations that society puts on her.

Wanting to increase her independence, Mona decided she wanted a guide horse. They appealed to her in large part because of their lifespan. The idea of becoming bonded at the hip with a dog just to have to replace them every eight or 10 years seemed like too much heartbreak to Mona.

Not only that, but horses are actually extremely well suited to service work. Think about everything that they are capable of. Police horses, therapy horses, Pulling wagons in teams of six, competing in huge stadiums with noisy crowds, racing, and of course cavalry in the days before machinery. Why not guiding a blind person?

Horses are intelligent animals with excellent memory. They have excellent eyesight, especially at night. They can see 360° around them at all times and are keenly aware of even small changes in the environment.

All of these reasons made them very appealing to Mona as a guide. Unlike Dogs however, there aren’t any programs that raise them, train them, and match them with people. So, Mona set out to get this accomplished herself.

Finding the right horse

Of course, not just any old horse is suitable for service work. They need to be calm, level-headed, able to think for themselves, enjoy working with people, and be very, very tiny.

Dolores Arste, The professional trainer that Mona was working with, found a breeder near her by the name of Becky Montano.

Becky had a young mare who went by the name Cali. She was three years old at the time, and had been a very successful halter horse. Even after looking at a number of other candidates, Dolores kept coming back to Cali. Her instincts were spot on, because Cali has become a truly incredible guide.

After six months of training, Mona and Cali began to work together. Cali gave Mona a level of independence she had not yet experienced. This independence allowed her to pursue a degree at Michigan State University. Cali will travel by bus, guide Mona through shopping centers and grocery stores, and even fly on planes.

Cali is completely house trained, so bringing her indoors is not an issue. She frequently goes above and beyond what many Guide animals will do, turning back to show Mona when she’s forgotten her purse on the bus seat.

When the garage serving as their barn caught fire, Cali herded the other two horses to the end of the yard and kept them there so they wouldn’t run back into the burning garage, which most panicked horses will do.

Cali has been by Mona‘s side as she met her husband, got married, and had two daughters. Cali herself had a daughter, who Mona trained and placed with a family to be their service horse for a young girl with a myriad of challenges. And she’s not the only one.

Having Cali has been such a life changer for Mona, she wants to be able to help other people who are interested in service horses.

She has trained several horses as guides for other people. She is working to start a foundation to do it officially, as opposed to doing everything on her own time and dollar.

Cali is an absolutely incredible little horse, and truly life-changing for Mona. The bond that they have is truly inspiring. She is absolutely a part of their family, and to lose her at such a young age would be beyond devastating.

So what happened?

As a part of her mission to place more guide horses with other people, Mona recently sent Cali to be bred. True to her principles of always respecting a horses choice, Mona even changed what stallion she was going to have Cali bred too. Cali really took to one of the stallions at the farm and, since he was smaller than her, well-built, petite, and gentle, she opted to have him breed Cali instead.

Cali was happy and well cared for at the farm – Mona wasn’t about to give her to just any old breeder. She even befriended a mostly blind miniature horse. I guess it’s just in her nature.

On Sunday, September 4, the Breeder found that Cali wasn’t right, and called out the veterinarian. The thought was that she was colicing, but the vet realized that that was not the case. Something was extremely wrong and Cali was bleeding profusely into her abdomen. The breeder and her husband immediately loaded Callie into their truck and drove as fast as they could to the Cornell Equine hospital. Things were so dire that their personal veterinarian didn’t think she would make it there.

As soon as they heard the news, Mona and her husband dropped everything to drive from Michigan to be with Cali. The bleeding was so severe that the veterinarians at Cornell really didn’t think she was going to pull through.

She lost so much blood that her temperature dropped to just 92°. She received supplemental oxygen, IV fluids, and three blood transfusions.

And she held on.

The staff kept reiterating that they couldn’t believe she was still alive. Cali is one heck of a fighter though.

By Wednesday her vitals began to improve, and her prognosis was upgraded, though still very guarded. Cali was acting much more like herself, and fast becoming a favorite patient of the staff.

Her fight isn’t over yet though. On Saturday she had a bit of a setback. She spiked a fever and lost her appetite. She was started on intravenous fluids and antibiotics again. Her fever was much improved by Sunday the 11th, but she’s far from out of the woods.

Callie has no intention of giving up. If Cali still wants to fight, Mona Will be with her every step of the way. Mona is absolutely exhausted and just wants to be home with her husband, her daughters, and Cali healthy and safe. And who can blame her?

So I humbly ask you:

Will you please help Cali and Mona?

As one might imagine, this much intensive care does not come cheap.

Cali‘s current vet bill stands at over 9000 dollars.

Of course, depending on how long she has to stay in the hospital, this has the potential to change quite a lot.

Cali may be worth every penny, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a whole lot of money. I am asking that you please consider helping this outstanding woman and her incredible mini. I cannot overstate just how much this would mean to Mona.

sincerely

Teagan Russ, a friend of Mona and Cali’s.

So how can you help?

First, please share this far and wide. There is something to be said for the power of prayer and intentions. Cali needs all the help she can get, and all of the people sending their love, healing energy, and prayers is helping to give her the strength that she needs.

Consider sharing this with the hashtag #HelpCaliTheGuideHorse.

If you would like to donate directly towards the bill, you can do so.

The number for the Cornell Equine hospital is: 1(607)253-3100. if you tell them you would like to donate towards Cali‘s bill, you can pay with a credit card right over the phone. If not using a credit card, please ask them for donation instructions.

And of course, you can donate to this fundraiser. Everything is going towards Cali‘s bill.

Thank you so much.

Mona and Cali in the news

Mona has been an advocate for service horses ever since her and Cali became partners. Here are just a few examples of her advocacy work, and of their partnership.

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