Worst day of my life

So for the last 5 days I've been up at my trainers place farm sitting for her and her boyfriend while they went to the beach.  I took Boo and Reily up there with me so I could ride them the whole time and utilize her wonderful sand arena to get Reily ready for his show last Saturday.  I got up there Wednesday night and they left Thursday morning.  While they were gone I was taking care of all the animals and also riding several of her horses for her.

Wouldn't you know it, while I was riding the second horse for the day I saw several of her horses in an adjacent pasture come running out of the shade of the woods and it looked like they were just playing and I didn't think much of it.  After finish the horse I was on I took care of him and headed out to his pasture, which happens to be the same one where the horses were running earlier.  I had brought out the halter for the next horse, Cannon, who is this massive 18+ hand warmblood (draft/TB cross) and coincidentally who I was planning to work next.  But when I got out there Cannon was still acting like a maniac and when he finally got close to me and the other horses I saw why and my heart started beating about a million miles an hour... a 2 foot long piece of old barbed wire was wrapped around his right hind leg.  In addition there was one pesky horse fly buzzing around and on the entire farm there is only one horse who absolutely loses it's mind over flies, and of course that's Cannon.  I manage to get his halter on but with his butt going bonkers about the horse fly there was no way I could get the barbed wire.  In a stroke of luck he was stomping and kicking so much that he actually untangled himself and the wire fell off.  I kicked it to the fence so none of the other horses could do anything stupid and tried to keep Cannon under control enough to get him back to the barn.  Now imagine me, all of 5'3" trying to hold a frantic 18+ hand 1,250 lb horse walking across 2 fields back to the barn being chased by a killer horse fly.  I can't jump high to save my life, but my feet grew springs and somehow I managed to jump up high enough to stun that horse fly and finally get Cannon under control.

I knew it was bad but I couldn't really evaluate it until I got him up to the barn and see how extensive the damage was.  Once I got him up I looked all over his legs and he had several minor scrapes and cuts on both hind legs but on his right hind he had a good 3 inch gash straight through the skin to the tendon.  I called Pat right away and she called the vet and explained the situation to them and told them it was an emergency.  After a couple of hours they got there and stitched him up and said it wasn't good, but it wasn't the worst they'd ever had.  We decided to leave him on the farm but if at any point it started to look like something I couldn't or didn't feel comfortable handling I'd haul him up to the VT vet school and they'd take over his care.  He was on a ridiculously large amount of antibiotics 2x/day, I had to change his dressings 1x/day cold hosing for 20 minutes each time then re-wrapping him, he could be hand grazed a couple times a day but only enough to stretch his legs not to the point of exercise, and otherwise he was confined to stall rest.  I was glad that Pat trusted me enough to take care of him, but it was a less than ideal situation.

Well if I thought that was bad, things were about to get much, much worse.  My trainer and her boyfriend got home late Sunday night and on Monday morning I was supposed to go with Pat to look at a pony several hours away.  We were planning to leave around 9, but my phone rang at 7 and it was my boyfriend.  Now, he had been taking care of Scotty and Napoleon for me while I was gone and you always worry when someone taking care of your animals has to call.  I picked up the phone and by his tone of voice I immediately knew something was wrong.  He said, "Hey, I was just feeding Scotty and he's fine, but I'm kinda worried about Napoleon"... instant panic mode
"What do you mean, what's he doing?!"
"Well he's just coughing a lot. I don't know he doesn't seem normal." This is coming from a boy who knows next to nothing about horses so my mind and heart are racing.
"Coughing how, explain it to me"
"I don't know, just coughing and drooling a lot and there's some funky stuff coming out of his nose."
"SHIT!!!! It sounds like he's choking!!! Did he eat anything?!"
"I didn't feed him anything, but there's all these piles of goo or drool or something"
I had already jumped out of bed and was literally throwing everything into my bag.  We hung up and I was running down the stairs and telling Pat I had to leave while I was flying out the door.  They helped me get everything in my truck and load the horses right away.  I called my vet and told her I had to get her to go to the house immediately but she said I had to find someone to hold him because she couldn't tube him by herself.  I had to call the neighbors who, thankfully, are home most of the time and they agreed to help hold him.  Because I was driving the truck and trailer I knew it would take me at least an hour to get home.

When I got home I just parked the truck and left Boo and Reily on for the time being to go check Napoleon.  I was literally in tears.  She had him tubed but wasn't getting anything out.  She said she was hitting the blockage a few inches from his stomach so it was far down but definitely stuck.  He looked so broken, he was sweaty and exhausted and completely lethargic.  She pulled the tube back out and said to give him a few minutes.  I just sat there holding his head and crying and apologizing to him.  My vet said she didn't feel comfortable tubing him again because she'd done it 4 times but wasn't making any progress and the last time she got blood back from this esophagus.  She said she was using the softest tube she had but was afraid that if it was bleeding, tubing him again might cause it to rupture and then we'd lose him for sure.  I don't have the money to spend right now but losing Napoleon is NOT an option.  He's not that old yet and I've had him for 20 years, I love this little pony more than anything else in the world.  She called Tech and got a quote on doing a scope and ultrasound, it would start at $250 and I'd have to decide how far to take it from there.  I couldn't not take him.  So we grabbed the big horses off the trailer, threw them in the field took out all the hay and put Napoleon in the trailer and I turned around and got straight back on the road heading to Blacksburg.  Needless to say, if anyone looked at me on the road that day I'm sure they would have thought I was a suicide case.  I cried the entire way to Blacksburg. 

THANK GOD, when we got there and they got the scope down his throat they found that whatever the reason (maybe he finally relaxed enough in the trailer to pass it the rest of the way down, maybe he finally coughed it loose, there's no telling) the blockage was gone.  They also found and took pictures of the laceration that was causing the blood in the tube.  They did the ultra sound as well and found a bit more fluid then normal (for his age some fluid is normal) so it was apparent he had aspirated some as well.  With the scope, ultrasound, blood work, floating for his teeth, and meds (almost $200 alone!!) I walked away with a $700 vet bill but my treasured pony was in one piece and would live to be fuzzy for another day.  It was more than worth it.

Poor little Napoleon is on 4 weeks (holy shit!) of stall rest plus 2 antibiotics, 1 anti-inflammatory, 1 pain killer, 1 dental rinse and a limited diet for at least the next 2 weeks.  So in a way I'm happy that I'm jobless right now, despite the vet bill that happened at arguably the worst time possible.  He has to get medications and feedings every 4-6 hours a day for the next 14 days so I'm very, very glad I'll be home to take the best possible care of him.

However, my brother's wedding is this coming weekend... horses have the worst timing ever.  Thank goodness for good friends!

The voice in the sky...

Otherwise known as the speaker system at horse shows, is unfortunately somewhat akin to that same voice in the sky that calls the races at a track.  Why it took my boyfriend blatantly saying that for me to make the connection is a wonder to us both.  But needless to say, Reily made that connection very quickly.  We weren’t actually going to a show, but we did want to take him to the horse park during the local winter fun show yesterday just to see how he would handle the atmosphere.  We were meeting a few friends there and planning to all go cross country schooling out on the hill while the show was going on.  The good news was that the boys loaded up perfect and we were headed down the road ahead of time.  The bad news was that it randomly started raining on/off the whole way to the park.  It wasn’t a hard rain, but it wasn’t a fine mist, it was like a steady little patter of rain.

When we arrived we tried to park by Ring 3 because it’s farther away from the main area.  The rain was still coming down and unfortunately for us, Ring 1 was the main show ring, Ring 2 was the main warm-up ring and Ring 3 had been turned into some sort of Jousting arena… not good.  Don’t get me wrong it was super cool to watch these people gallop their horses through the 3 contraptions that held the “doughnuts” that they try and spear with their lance, but it wasn’t very fun to have to take poor Reily off the trailer to hear the voice in the sky then see horses flat out galloping around this arena.  Poor fella!  He was definitely stressing!  We got Boo off and my boyfriend let him graze a bit while I walked Reily around to try and calm him some and let him figure out where all the noise and commotion was coming from.  It took extra long to get him groomed (if you could call it that… I think I just created more mud then anything) and tacked up because he just couldn’t stand still.  But he’ll have to learn to get over those nerves so I just kept moving with him and told him to suck it up!

By the time we got him and Boo tacked and I climbed on he was still very much on his toes but no longer exploding with energy.  My boyfriend and Boo moseyed on nice and slow the way they like because there was no keeping up with Reily.  I was circling continually so we didn’t leave them too far behind as we headed past all the trailers and ponies to get to the cross country field.  Luckily it finally stopped raining on our way out there.  We met my friends at the top of the cross country course (calm ponies are much easier and quicker to tack up) and started schooling the little stuff.  Reily did almost all of the “Green” level jumps including logs, coops, banks up/down, steps up/down, even the tiny little trakner!  He was such a champ!  We did some individual stuff and then a little course of 3-4 in a row and he was much more under control and listening.

He was obviously having a total blast running and jumping and hanging out with the 7 other riders and horses!  Since he was being so good I got bold and decided to get a lead over the ditch just to see how he would react.  I haven’t really worked him over any “ground pole ditches” so I figured if it was too much for him we would just walk away and come back to it in the future once I’ve had more time to work him over the ground pole practice first.  So my friend used her wonder pony to give us as lead and I kept Reily just a few strides behind her and, I sh*t you not, he trotted right over!!!  Never looked, never spooked, and never balked, nothing!!  He just trotted right over and trotted right away with the happiest little ears you’ve ever seen!  I can’t even use enough exclamation points to express how excited I was.  After riding Boo for so many years and jumping this same ditch a gazillion and one times he still thinks that it’s his mortal enemy and jumps it like a freak EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!  And Reily just went on over it like it was old news.  He’s by far the coolest horse ever!  He was much happier out there on cross country and after just a few more little jumps we headed back to the main park.

When we got back he was totally nonchalant about all the noise and chaos.  I even went ahead and schooled him in the warm-up ring where he was a total star.  There were crazy beginners and crazy horse running around all willy-nilly but he kept it completely together.  After switching ponies and getting Boo ridden as well we packed the boys up and headed home for a well deserved rest.  My boys are the greatest!  Just wish we could have gotten some photos or video but the aforementioned rain made that a no-go.  Next time!

Road trip anyone?!

Two things: 1) I bought a new horse trailer... one dubbed "Reily sized" by my hysterical boyfriend, 2) It's a new toy so I had to play with it!



At the horse park for the first time, acting like an old pro



So Boo and Reily went for their first (mini) road trip today.  Here in VA it was an unseasonal, but splendid 55 degrees in December, no better way to spend such a beautiful day then take your fellas over to play at the horse park, so that's exactly what we did!  There was only one other person there taking a lesson so we walked the boys all around the park first so Reily could check it all out.  Boo was bored and tried to eat as much free grass as he could possibly consume because this place was all old news to him.  Once we'd sniffed everything just for kicks we headed back to the trailer and I tacked up and rode Boo first.  He was a very good boy and I switched his saddle but left him partially tacked, then we walked them both down to a ring to play lead Reily over some poles on the ground and over some tiny, tiny, tiny cross rails to see how he'd react.  Unfazed, he trotted right over everything, picking up his feet and licking and chewing (a sign that horses display when they're thinking and processing information, so a good sign!) after each "question".  We went back and tacked him up and I rode him a bit in the ring where he was a super star!  When we were done we put a bridle on Boo and my boyfriend rode Boo and I rode Reily and we took them for a mini trail ride through the cross country jump field at the equestrian park.  They were both absolute dolls, walking through creeks, up and down hills, and sniffing all kinds of cross country fences.  I have to say, I really think I hit the jackpot with this horse.  What a champ and at only 3 years old he's got so much more to give!

The big move

Poor Reily, he most think we're crazy.  It was dusk when we brought him home from Maryland, now it was completely DARK and we moved him again.  Truth be told it was all perfectly planned.  But as they say, the best laid plans always go to sh**.  Or at least they say something close to that.  Well we had been planning this move for a while, part of the reason I allowed myself to get Reily was because I knew we were going to be moving so I'd only have one month to have to pay extra board.

Wondering why I'm packing up all their junk. Little did they
know they were moving that day night.

The original plan was to move us humans (plus dog and cat) to the new house on Saturday, then drive back across town Sunday afternoon and meet my friends who were kindly helping me move the three big boys in their large 3 horse slant load and the little fella would ride in one stall of my very small 2 horse trailer and the other stall and the back of my truck would be used to haul all of their stuff, gear, etc.  But then something came up and we had to bump up the horse hauling to Saturday.  So at 11:30 I left the big strong men at the house to finish packing the moving fan and headed out to load up all the ponies' gear and supplies so I'd be ready to put said ponies on trailers at 1pm sharp, drive the hour to the new place and unload in the daylight, give them plenty of time to look around before setting Reily loose in the new feild because, unlike the others, he'd never experienced electric fence before and horses tend not to learn to mind it well in the dark.  Unfortunately, when my friends arrived at 1 they're trailer had a flat and the spare was at their house... trip #1: 35 mins to go get the spare, 1.5 hours looking for but can't find the spare nor any spare with the correct number of lug nuts on the rim, 35 mins back to the farm... trip #2 take flat off trailer, 35 mins back to their house to change tire and put good tire on correct rim, 35 mins back to farm with new tire, put on trailer.  That makes it almost 5pm... in December... in Virginia... the sun is well into setting and there's already very low light.  Well we had no choice but to go ahead and move them.  Sadly that means that by the time we reached the new place the horses were unloading after 6pm and it was pitch black.  We turned on all the flood lights that we could but it was pointless.

At this point it would be best if I explained that the other 3 had lived here before.  It's actually my parents old farm but they don't live there anymore so we're renting it until we can buy it, so the other 3 had all lived there for at least 8 years prior to this.  We tried letting Reily loose with the others hoping they'd guide him and keep him out of trouble... we're such optimists.  He promptly walked straight over a t-post (snapping it in half, talk about thank goodness for faulty materials!) and through the gate which wasnt' yet hooked so there was luckily no electric current, but then the other horses started running so he ran back (through mind you) the fence again, breaking it a second time, undoubtedly getting shocked and then they were all just going crazy.  So we went out and caught Reily and Napoleon (poor pony always get stuck babysitting) and banished them to the run in for the night.  After fixing the fence we had planned to leave Boo and Scotty out in the feild but then Boo, for no reason what so ever, ran through one of the gates himself so he and Scotty got banished to solitary confinement each in a dog kennel for the night.  It was outrageous.  Luckily the next morning brought a nice, sunny day with it and they were all freed into the big field together.  Reily learned the fence in no time and now their just happy little munchers!

His recovery is going well also.  He's on anitbiotics for a few more days but luckily he's not a picky eater (at least relatively speaking) so he hasn't been too irritated that there's some weird white powdery stuff covering his food and it's not confectioners sugar, he knows that much.  And lord knows I've kept every inch of him slathered in antibiotic ointment every second of the day to keep out bacteria, promote his hair to grow back, and deter any excessive scar tissue so his skins probably as soft as a baby's bottom oily enough that he could pass as an otter.  The only particularly bad thing about his injury is that because of the location of the wound he has some minor "subcutaneous hematoma" meaning that air bubbles are entering through the wound and being forced up into his body in the layer between his skin and muscles.  The body can break down some of this on it's own but the air can carry batceria so the vet wants there to be as little in there as possible, so 3-4 times a day I have to "deflate" him by pushing all the air bubbles back towards the wound and essentially forcing it back out the way it came in.  The only way I can explain it is that you can hear the bubbles moving around in there and it feels like rubbing your hand across bubble wrap.  Unfortunately every time he moves he's potentially letting more air in the cut, but locking him a stall wasn't an option yet.  Luckily since he's living right out the back door I can deflate him as many times as need be each day.

If only we could all be lightweights

Reily didn't used to be Reily, he used to be "Angel" short for his Jockey Club registered name "Sometimes An Angel".  But now Reily is Reily, or soon to be known as "Slow Your Roll" on the show scene because I just think that's a more badass better show name for a gelding then Angel... maybe he didn't like the track because the other horses made fun of him for being a boy and being called Angel.  That's my theory anyways.  Either way, he is now going to be Reily aka Slow Your Roll the badass three day eventer!

The sexy, sexy rig.

Have you ever made a 10 hour round trip drive in one day.  After you did that, did you really feel like doing it all over again five days later... yeah, neither did I.  And with a truck and trailer no less.  Luckily I had my Dad's heavy duty (but gas guzzling) truck, my absolutely amazing trainer's 2 horse trailer, and the greatest boyfriend in the entire world to sleep in the truck keep me company.  So I got everything ready on Friday night, we left the house at 6am, we stopped for gas about 15,000 times and eventually made it to Laurel Park Racetrack in Maryland just after 11am.  The big surprise was that when we got out of the truck we were greeted by a film crew.  No legitimately.  They were actually filming to make the "advice" book written by Kim Clark, the founder of Thoroughbred Placement and Rescue (TPR, which is the group I got Reily from), into a DVD and since they were at the track that day and we were picking Reily up that day they asked if they could film us.  My answer,  "Anything to help out Thoroughbreds, so sure!".  And so that's Reily and I's film debut, I'll have to remember to buy a copy when it's done!

I told you they were filming! How embarrassing, I started
wrapping backwards! I guess I had stage fright :(

Anyways, we went ahead and bubble wrapped the chestnut monster who had already been given a half dose of Ace (a mild sedative) to help keep him from stressing too much on the 5 hour ride home.  He may be big, but that Ace hit him like a drunken sailor, what a lightweight!  In a cute way though.  So off we strode to load up, after only a mild hesitation he walked right on, we closed up and scooted on down the road, because we had another 5 hours before home and at that point we were racing to beat the daylight.  In the end we didn't succeed (thanks to the slowest KFC EVER, and the insanely frequent gas stops), because it was dusk when we pulled into the farm.

Now if there's anything that I wasn't mentally prepared for when we got him home it would be his balance.  They'd warned me that he wasn't going to be very sure footed coming straight off the track.  You see, race tracks in America are the most perfectly groomed places you'll ever see.  By that I mean that everything, literally, EVERYTHING is grated to be as flat as flat can get.  So OTTB's tend to be clumsy the first time they experience hills or any kind of rolling terrain.  Well I thought I was prepared for clumsy... I was wrong.  By the time we got home the Ace had completely worn off and he was very excited about this new developement.  In his excitement he managed to trip himself, not once, but twice, because at home there's almost nothing but hills.  Before he could fall on his face anymore, we put him in his stall and locked the run-in that surrounded the stall so that when we let my other horses loose they could see but not reach him.  Unfortunately it wasn't the other horses who really wanted to get to him, it was Reily who really wanted to get to the other horses!  His legs are so long it looked like he could almost climb right over the stall door and walk out.  So rather then wait and see if that happened we did something I never would have imagined I would do the first night... we locked my poor Shetland, Napoleon, in the run-in area right outside his stall so that he had company.  Luckily, Napoleon's a trooper and he was happy enough to stay with him all night since he had as much hay and water as he wanted and the other boys couldn't run him off of it.  So that's how they were this morning when I got to the barn to check on them.  Scotty (QH) and Boo (TB) outside the run-in staring in, Napoleon still munching away on hay inside the run-in, and Reily standing with his chest pressed against the stall door desperatly trying to reach Napoleon to convince him they should be best friends.