A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Third Foal Crop - The Injury

Part One of the Baby Boomer Series

The Third Foal Crop Part 1

We finally got done shooting pictures of all of the Arabian horses and it was time to pack up my mares and foals to take them back home. All of them were exhausted and glad to be going back to their familiar territory, I think. Each horse loaded like it was an old pro.

I always have to laugh when I bring horses back home. Every horse in my herd has something to say about the return. Some are angry they every left in the first place. Some are glad to see old friends. Some have questions.......where ya been, what'd ya do?? It's always amazing to hear the varied discourse and try to figure out what conversations are going on.

Legs particularly has a lot to say. He doesn't like it when his mares leave and he's really glad to see they have returned. But the stallion doesn't overlook his foals. If they have left the farm, he really checks them over carefully upon their return.

Normally Legs talks playfully with his kids. He nods his head and urges them to come close to say "hello." The whole time he is checking them out to be sure that each is ok.

On this particular day, I think that Legs was concerned about Rhythm too. Normally, the stallion would face box with the red colt given the opportunity. He wouldn't be mean but he definitely played as rough with the colt as the colt liked!



But today,Rhythm was quiet and so was his dad. I glanced over to see the red colt leaning up against his father's neck, standing with his eyes closed. Legs had a concerned look on his face as he gently nuzzled the colt. I remember watching this exchange and being even more concerned about the injury to this colt's head.

It turned out the vet couldn't make it until in the morning. I got up several times during the night to check on the condition of this colt. Other than being extremely quiet, Rhythm seemed to be doing ok. He was eating hay with his mom and nursing plenty as well. I was just going to have to wait for the vet to diagnosis this injury.

When the vet did arrive, she palpated all around this ugly knot on Rhythm's face. She checked him over carefully for signs of a concussion. Since she already had experience with this colt, she was convinced judging from his quiet demeanor that he had a concussion. How severe that concussion was only time would tell.

Talk about feeling like a heel, we'd gone ahead and stressed this colt by taking pictures when he'd just suffered some kind of head injury. No wonder he had that worried or pained expression on his sweet face. If I could have taken those last 36 hours back, I'd have done it in a minute.

Concussion wasn't the vet's only concern. She was pretty sure because of the size and scope of the injury, that there were fractures involved. If that was the case, there was concern about the location of this injury. It was right near, if not on a growth plate.

I clearly remember that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach when the vet mentioned the growth plate. Without her even saying anything more I knew what we were facing. If there was a fracture through a growth plate, I was going to be losing another colt.

And not just any old colt, another "once in a lifetime" kind of horse like Image had been. The only difference to me between these two colts was that Image had been in my pocket. He hadn't been just a fantastic colt, he had been a fantastic friend. Rhythm was the kind of colt that could make Legs's name as a breeding stallion and put my little breeding farm on the Arabian show horse map.

To be continued..........

The Injury - Part 2

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!!!!!


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