So, I got a call on Sunday, May 1st about Beauty - a frantic call from her trainer. I didn't get the call. Unfortunately, my phone's battery had died. I knew it had died - realized it Sunday morning when we were all setting off on our trail ride. Oh well, I thought to myself, no one ever calls me. My phone charger is at work - I would be w/out phone until Monday. No big deal...
Monday morning at 6:00 a.m., I log on to check my e-mail before starting a pot of coffee and jumping in the shower. First thing I see is a frantic e-mail marked URGENT from Beauty's trainer. Oh Crap! It was short and sweet - Beauty had been bitten by a rattlesnake while coming in from pasture Sunday morning. They had been trying to reach me - to no avail - please call ASAP. The vet was waiting to hear from me regarding emergency treatment authorization. Several phone calls later - I was informed that treatment had been administered, Beauty was recovering from a very nasty snake bite - and she was to be released to me that afternoon! Thank God she was fine, and the veterinary team had made a great decision to spare no efforts to save her.
I found out later that the interns at the ranch noticed within minutes of the bite that she had been bitten. They quickly threw her in the trailer and raced her to the nearest emergency equine vet - about 18 miles away. The vet's staff got tubes up her nose before the swelling sealed her nostrils shut and she suffocated. So lucky.
By 8:00 a.m., I had made it to work, printed MapQuest directions, and was on my way out to pick up the trailer to begin the trek to get Beauty - a four and a half hour drive from Brentwood to Porterville. It was a long drive - I spent most of it crying. Upon arrival, I was led to see Beauty. What a shock. Her face was HUGE - about the same thickness from her eye/jaw area down to her muzzle. I'd never seen swelling like that in a living creature. She looked miserable! Beauty gave a soft nicker of recognition and buried her painfully swollen face into my belly, releasing a huge sigh. "Oh," the vet commented - "she really loves you!" Feeling was mutual! She continued on by saying, "She was such a good girl, very sweet. She was a pleasure to have here. She was so calm - what type of training do you do with her?" I answered, somewhat distractedly that I study natural horsemanship and that has been her foundation training.
I was then updated on all the heroics that had led to saving Beauty's life, given a very brief lesson about follow up care, including penicillin injections and banamine for the next 5 days, and outside we went, me leading Beauty, to load up and head home. Of note here, I might add was the fact that the vet asked if I'd need assistance loading her. I said no, she loads fine. She followed along with me anyway, and stood by while I opened the trailer door, led Beauty into the first stall, loosely tied her to her blocker-tie, asked her to move her rump over a bit so I shut the partition, and stepped back out. The vet said with a smile, "Oh, wow! She is a very good girl."
The ride home was uneventful other than the fact that I had to look in the mirror about once every 30 seconds to make sure I could see her little bits of mane flowing out (indicating she was still standing!) Four hours later, we arrived safely back at Kutchera Ranch in Brentwood where I board my horses. Beauty called out in recognition and got several answering calls from Jeffrey and her other pasture mates. It had been 1.5 months since she left for training, and it appears her horsey buddies (and big brother Jeff) were all happy to see her. Another interesting and touching note here was the fact that when Beauty continued to give out a few whinnying calls upon arrival, Jeffrey started trumpeting from his pasture in response. He got quite frantic, racing up and down the pasture fence close to the gate, tail raised to the sky! What a sight. He was carrying on so much that I had to leave Beauty, go out to pasture to get him, and bring him back in to Beauty to say hi. Beauty gave him a deep "mommy nicker", they exchanged nose breaths, and that was it - back to normal. So sweet, it made me cry. It's the first time that Beauty has shown affection for him (he loves her - always has). And Jeff recognized her whinny from the trailer - that was so amazing to me. He couldn't see her from his spot in the pasture - it was all whinny recognition that set him off. So amazing. I love my horses!!
Anyway, my first priority upon getting Beauty settled in was to see to her penicillin injection. I was fairly confident that I could do this as I had just had to give my son a new protocol drug treatment regarding his health condition that required injections 3 times daily. My son handled this very well - said I was gentle and kind, and would kiss me on my forehead afterward, knowing it probably hurt me more than it hurt him. I had that positive experience in my mind when I pulled out the huge 18 gage needle and syringe and filled it with penicillin, heading to Beauty's stall. Friends were on standby, holding her halter and lead rope, and in I plunged the needle. Beauty reared, striking out, barely missing all of us. I made 2 more attempts before throwing in the towel and calling our local vet. Luckily, she advised me to put her back in the trailer and deliver her to their clinic where they would take over the very difficult and painful penicillin injections and other care while she was recovering. Whew!
We arrived at the clinic 20 minutes later, with some blood and trauma evident where I had tortured her with the needle. Beauty's neck was tended to, she was neatly & professionally injected by the vet and her assistant, and settled in for a 5 day stay while the medications and care were administered.
I picked her back up Friday evening after her last shot and we returned to Kutchera Ranch. Beauty is now on stall rest for a month. Her blood work showed very high muscle enzymes from the venom of the rattlesnake. She was very depressed, eating poorly, and dull eyed over the weekend, but by now (Wednesday, May 11th) has perked up somewhat. It's going to be a long haul - getting her through this month. She is not a happy stall horse, and the better she feels, the harder it will be for her to remain stalled. However, due to the venom, she is in danger of tying up or of cardiac arrest for the next 3-4 weeks, so must stay calm.
That's my story! It's the second time that I've brought her home from training and have not been able to ride her to continue her progress that she received while at training. (Last year, she kicked me about 3 days after returning and I was out of commission for 2 months.) Oh well, at least with the Parelli system in place, I know that I have the knowledge to get her going again. Before you know it, we'll be loping down a country road this summer, wind flying in both of our manes - smiles big on our faces. I am so lucky to still be able to have that dream. Beauty is so lucky - it could have gone the other way.
An aside note - yesterday's news cast mentioned that California is experiencing a huge surge in rattlesnake population due to the heavy rain and proliferation of rodent wildlife!
