On your feet!

continued from... The Nightmare Begins


There have been a few occasions when I felt helpless. The first was when my newborn son was yanked out of my arms by a frantic nurse and turned into a pin cushion with IV's sticking in every direction. He had blood poisoning; the result of a careless Army medic who removed his umbilical clip too early. The second time occurred in the middle of the Iraqi desert, wearing a gas mask and anticipating a Scud missile attack that never happened. The third time came when I saw my big beautiful horse laying on the ground looking as if she were near death.

It was July, and it was hot, but luckily she had walked to the shade of the feed shelter before she collapsed. I just looked at the ballooned hock in disbelief; possible culprits racing through my head. An insect bite? Some nasty plant in the pasture? The heat?

The critical part would be getting her on her feet. If we couldn't do that, then it was game over. Pulling and tugging didn't work, so finally I just spanked her hard on her hind quarters with the lead rope. "On your feet now!" I shouted , almost too harsh. She reacted to the prodding and we jumped out of the way right quick. She hoisted herself up on all fours, and walked a few meters. To my relief, there was little in the way of visible lameness.

Still, her head hung low, and she refused a slice of apple. Tamara never refused an apple or anything else from my hand. We managed to get her back to the stable and I immediately called my Vet. She had a low fever, and still no appitite. My Vet's assistant arrived, took a look at the hock and shook her head. She gave Tamara a shot for antibiotics, pain killer, and a fluid sample was taken from the hock. We were told the results would take a couple of days and to meanwhile we should not turn her out. Like I really needed to be told that.

Within the two day period, Tamara began to improve. Her appetite was back, the fever was gone, and there was no sign of lameness. The hock, however, was still swollen.

My Vet called two days later. "The test results are positive, " he said. "You must transport her here to the clinic. And I must tell you now. It will be very expensive." To be continued...