Big brown beastie with the big brown face.
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 11:03 am
It's funny how attached you get to animals.
I'm a little nervous around horses. A few years ago I gained two into my life and slowly got over my nervousness and fell in love with Edith our retired horsey. She was beaten as a foal by the previous owners until she was rescued by Ginny 26 years ago. She was a difficult young horse and only Ginny could ride her. Edith was also scared of men largely as a reuslt of her beatings. She's been retired for a few years and she's now just a big pet. She's old, a bit stiff (she broke her pelvis as a foal 'somehow') but in good condition overall. We love her dearly as she is a real character and oddly I'm the first bloke she's allowed near her.
We keep her stabled nearby at a local farm in the village as our own paddock won't be ready until next summer. On Monday we got a knock at the door at 5am from the farmer where we keep the horses. He said, Edith was on the ground and despite trying to stand back up she couldn't. We raced down there and it was evident she'd be trying to get up for a while but had gotten too tired. We called the vet who arrived quicker than an ambulance. She checked Edith over and said she couldn't see anything obviously wrong and it was more likely that Edith had deadened her leg from lying on it all night (Edith regularly lies down to sleep)
We tried for 2 hours to get her up by flipping her over onto the opposite side which isn't easy with a 550kg horse. Each time we tried she got more distressed and more tired. Ginny was in tears as was Geoff the farmer as he's an old softy really. I lay beside Edith and whispered in her ear she needed to try one more time to get up, that we would let her rest a bit longer then she had to really try and get up. The vet and Ginny were talking about letting her go but somehow I knew she hadn't given up just yet, she just needed a bit of time and a lot of help. We fed her and watered her. The vet gave her some drugs, pain relief and steroids. We mustered up all the farm hands and I gently spoke to Edith telling her it was now or never and she had to try. I know nothing about horses but they have a sensitivity about them like no other animal I've known. We readied everyone and then gave it a final go, and we got her up. She was a little unsteady on her feet but managed to stay up. For the rest of the day Ginny and I took it in turns to stay with her, gently walking her round the paddock to get the blood flowing back into her muscles and she seemed fine. On Monday night she took a turn for the worse as her heart was pounding and she was very unsteady on her feet. We called the vet again who came straight out. Edith's heart was racing and she clearly wanted to lie down again which we were scared to let her do as we didn't want to put her through the trauma of getting back up again if she couldn't do it on her own. The vet gave her some drugs to calm her as she figured that it was mostly the stress from earlier and the fact that she was really tired. The three of us agreed the best thing to do was to let her lie down if she wanted to and see what happens when she tries to get back up. If she can do it on her own then fine if not, we would take the hard decision to let her go.
Ginny and I took it in turns to stay with her all through the night and at mid-night she lay down again. I eventually dragged Ginny home telling her she needed to get a good nights sleep for the next day. We woke at half five and were dreading going to see her as if she was still on the ground with obvious signs of her struggling to stand up then we'd need to put her to sleep. We drove into the farmyard and there she was standing at the end of the field looking at the sheep (her favourite thing) As soon as she saw us she ran over and couldn't eat her breakfast quick enough lashing out at her little pony companion, Spicey, so everything was back to normal.
The vet came and checked her over and everything is fine again. No damage, heart normal, digestion working fine. We don't know quite what happened and we might not be out of the woods yet with her and will do the right thing by Edith if and when the time comes. Animals in your life are a tremendously inspiring thing but they are heartbreaking too.
This was us yesterday with Edith looking as if nothing had happened.
I'm a little nervous around horses. A few years ago I gained two into my life and slowly got over my nervousness and fell in love with Edith our retired horsey. She was beaten as a foal by the previous owners until she was rescued by Ginny 26 years ago. She was a difficult young horse and only Ginny could ride her. Edith was also scared of men largely as a reuslt of her beatings. She's been retired for a few years and she's now just a big pet. She's old, a bit stiff (she broke her pelvis as a foal 'somehow') but in good condition overall. We love her dearly as she is a real character and oddly I'm the first bloke she's allowed near her.
We keep her stabled nearby at a local farm in the village as our own paddock won't be ready until next summer. On Monday we got a knock at the door at 5am from the farmer where we keep the horses. He said, Edith was on the ground and despite trying to stand back up she couldn't. We raced down there and it was evident she'd be trying to get up for a while but had gotten too tired. We called the vet who arrived quicker than an ambulance. She checked Edith over and said she couldn't see anything obviously wrong and it was more likely that Edith had deadened her leg from lying on it all night (Edith regularly lies down to sleep)
We tried for 2 hours to get her up by flipping her over onto the opposite side which isn't easy with a 550kg horse. Each time we tried she got more distressed and more tired. Ginny was in tears as was Geoff the farmer as he's an old softy really. I lay beside Edith and whispered in her ear she needed to try one more time to get up, that we would let her rest a bit longer then she had to really try and get up. The vet and Ginny were talking about letting her go but somehow I knew she hadn't given up just yet, she just needed a bit of time and a lot of help. We fed her and watered her. The vet gave her some drugs, pain relief and steroids. We mustered up all the farm hands and I gently spoke to Edith telling her it was now or never and she had to try. I know nothing about horses but they have a sensitivity about them like no other animal I've known. We readied everyone and then gave it a final go, and we got her up. She was a little unsteady on her feet but managed to stay up. For the rest of the day Ginny and I took it in turns to stay with her, gently walking her round the paddock to get the blood flowing back into her muscles and she seemed fine. On Monday night she took a turn for the worse as her heart was pounding and she was very unsteady on her feet. We called the vet again who came straight out. Edith's heart was racing and she clearly wanted to lie down again which we were scared to let her do as we didn't want to put her through the trauma of getting back up again if she couldn't do it on her own. The vet gave her some drugs to calm her as she figured that it was mostly the stress from earlier and the fact that she was really tired. The three of us agreed the best thing to do was to let her lie down if she wanted to and see what happens when she tries to get back up. If she can do it on her own then fine if not, we would take the hard decision to let her go.
Ginny and I took it in turns to stay with her all through the night and at mid-night she lay down again. I eventually dragged Ginny home telling her she needed to get a good nights sleep for the next day. We woke at half five and were dreading going to see her as if she was still on the ground with obvious signs of her struggling to stand up then we'd need to put her to sleep. We drove into the farmyard and there she was standing at the end of the field looking at the sheep (her favourite thing) As soon as she saw us she ran over and couldn't eat her breakfast quick enough lashing out at her little pony companion, Spicey, so everything was back to normal.
The vet came and checked her over and everything is fine again. No damage, heart normal, digestion working fine. We don't know quite what happened and we might not be out of the woods yet with her and will do the right thing by Edith if and when the time comes. Animals in your life are a tremendously inspiring thing but they are heartbreaking too.
This was us yesterday with Edith looking as if nothing had happened.
