A Sad, But Good Day

Tue Jan 10, 2006

Let's see...happy news first, or sad news. I guess we'll go with the sad, better to end with Happy.

Quzqo's next-stall neighbor, a young 4 yr old QH Mare, collapsed in her stall around 5 tonight, and began bleeding from her vulva. Course they called the vet right in, she put in a catheter, and I guess bloody urine spilled out everywhere. She took a blood sample and was alarmed that it wasn't clotting at all. She gave the mare a sedative, and hurried back to her office to run labwork
on the blood sample. So by the time I got there around 7, there was basically a death watch going on in the aisleway. The horse's owner, a young 15 yr old girl, was up in the viewing room crying, and her mom was down by the horse along with a bunch of other ladies (boarders). Not much you can do but stand and look and toss around ideas, like the vet hadn't thought of them already. The mare was calm, but awake. She wasn't breathing hard or struggling, just laying in her bedding, her head in the hay, a big bloody stain in the sawdust. Sheesh. The consensus among the armchair veterinarians is she had a preexisting immunity disorder nobody knew about. The girl had only had her for three months. I didn't find out what the final diagnosis was, but Bob got a phone call from the vet, who didn't have to come back out, because the mare basically died on her own...all within 3 hours of collapsing.

Huh.

Gotta give 'em credit...Bob and my farrier (who was there working his young 3 yr old QH) managed to drag her out of the stall using chains and the tractor, then pulled her down the aisle and out the barn door and I assume they parked her somewhere until day light. Temps are in the mid-20's, she'll be fine.

Sure as hellfire makes you want to hug your horse (or other pets or loved ones)...

Kinda put an damper on the evening, but Quzqo was VERY good tonight (okay, yes, I had fun! Though I kept a solemn face the whole evening). He was a WILD MAN when I first got on, he took off before I had my leg over him, the little bugger! Wouldn't stop or stand still so I could tighten the girth, I had to run him into a corner to stop him, LOL! Then we TROTTED...O, did we trot! I thought I was riding Tezlu for a while there...my farrier, (his name is Mike, which is less to type than "my farrier" repeatedly) was jogging his QH around, we lapped him four times easily! Hey, best thing to do is just let the horse go and get it out of his system, which is what I did!

Well, tonight I used the big, FAT eggbutt snaffle on him, his "baby bit", LOL! Haven't used it in weeks, and I think it's Richard Shrake (among others I'm sure) who recommend "going backwards" whenever you run into a roadblock, so I did. I am DElighted to say that while he didn't back like a dream, he WAS tucking his head and I actually got him to back a step or two WITH the head lowered! He did SO good, and he was just tucking and tucking, even at the walk, and at the posting trot a few times! I wasn't hauling on his face either, he just did it!

But that's the way he works...we'll struggle with something and get nowhere, I forget about it for a while, come back to it, and he's like a dream...granted he only had one day off, but must have been enough! Very heartening, I tell ya!

LOL, the little bugger...after riding and untacking/brushing him, I got out my white-handled whip and the clicker, and put him in the arena...before I had a chance to do ANYthing...he picks up his left foreleg and holds it up! Not even waiting for his cue, LOL! No, he didn't get a click and a treat, because I hadn't asked him to do it! What a cutie (It was safe to laugh and praise him, because by that time the grieving family of the mare had left and she'd been dragged outside). Got him to stand with the one leg up and his head tucked down to his knee...all off lead...now to get him to rock back and lower to the bow! Well, we've been at it a week and a half...I might have him doing somersaults by Springtime!

Oh, you bet he got plenty of horse hugs, and warnings to NOT drop dead on me, I don't need that again so soon, LOL. *sigh*, sad sight, that; worse because she was a young horse. Tezlu had no complaints, he lived a very long and full life..that poor little thing didn't have a chance to do much, but at least she had a young owner who loved her for that short time. Could have done worse.