Monday, April 12, 2010

Heritage.........a Hasty Departure



It was not the first time Dave had called me at the horse show about Solidare. We had begun turning horses out before I'd even left for the Northwest Heritage All Arabian Horse Show. Dave and Lindsay had finished up the task without me.

Lindsay had turned Solidare out without thinking about it. Then after the fact thought maybe she shouldn't since Solidare is beginning to bag up. Lindsay called me to see if it was OK Solidare was outside. While the mare is getting closer to foaling she sure wasn't close enough to be left inside so I told Lindsay she did good, let Solidare be.

Dave is nervous about being left in charge with Solidare getting closer to her due date. He knows how much the mare means to me and that this last part of her pregnancy has not gone well. Dave freaked when he saw Solidare out in the field and immediately called me not realizing that Lindsay had already checked things out with me.

I could tell from the sound of his voice Dave wasn't too sure about the mare being out in the field and for a good reason. The mare has laid down outside a couple of times in the past weeks with her bad leg underneath her so she has been unable to get up by herself. We've had to resort to rolling her over to even be able to get the mare to her feet and that's not good. It is a tactic neither of us likes to use and it takes both of us to get it done safely.

However, Solidare hates being cooped up. She loves being outside and even more loves when the sun is shining like it was on Saturday. Depriving the mare of time out in the sun just didn't seem fair. There's just as much chance she will further injure her bad leg in her stall as there is outside so I opted to leave Solidare outside enjoying the sunny spring day.

Dave called me later to find out when I planned on coming home. Lindsay was gone for a night out and she'd left with all the mares still outside. Dave was hoping I was on my way home so he'd get some assitance putting the horses back in before the evening meal. With the show schedule being so far off, the classes I was hoping to see hadn't even run yet so Dave told me to stay at the show and he'd work on putting the mares in by himself.

The next time my cell phone rang, it was again Dave. This time I could hear the panic in his voice. Solidare was down and couldn't get up and Dave thought she was in trouble. I got the impression that Solidare was trying to foal because he said there was blood all over her back end.

At the sound of those words, Dave was not the only one in a panic. I was beating myself up for staying at the horse show instead of going home sooner as I headed for the door. All sorts of scenarios ran through my head about what kind of trouble Solidare could be in. Before I pulled out of the Tacoma Unit parking lot, I put a call in to my vet.

Even though it was Saturday AND his day off, my vet answered with only two rings. I appreciate he sees my number and answers instead of letting my call go to his answering service which most other vets would do.

When I told him about Dave's call, the vet said he was on the road in Eatonville heading towards home. That made him much closer to my farm than me. Although he wasn't in his vet rig which meant he didn't have drugs or tools, he would be more help to my mare than Dave or me. The vet heated straight to my farm.

I was relieved to know the vet would reach my farm before me but that didn't stop me from "beating feet" to get home as quickly as possible. The half hour drive from the Tacoma Unit to my farm seemed like an insurmountable obstacle. I was determined to cut that time down as much as possible.

Normally, I am not a speeder. Well, I can push that 5 miles an hour they say most cops will give you but other than that I pretty much respect the law. However, there are those situations where we pretty much all believe that are exceptions. Knowing my mare was in trouble was definitely one of those. I was flying down the back roads.

I got bogged down in traffic in a couple of different spots. I'm not one of those people comfortable with pushing the envelope passing traffic when it's not safe so I just hunkered down and tried to contain myself. My heart was pounding out of my chest and I had to fight those hysterical thoughts that by the time I arrived my mare would be dead.

I kept running over in my mind what I had seen that morning when I checked the mare. There were no indicators the mare was anywhere near foaling. It just didn't seem possible that she'd do such a jump in progress in the middle of the day. That has just not been her pattern in the past.

Sure mares can and do DO about anything to upset the apple cart when it comes to foaling. There is no such thing as a predictable mare. Any one who believes that usually ends up with egg on the face but still seasoned mares just don't seem to make the kind of leap this looked like unless something is seriously wrong. That thought wasn't much comfort.

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

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16 comments:

  1. I'm never having a foal. Never. I can't take the stress!

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  2. I am hoping very hard it was just a broken blood vessel. My old whit mare did that the day before she foaled ,crimmeny ! it look like she was hemorraging (because she is white) Something about greater blood supply to the vagina and external genitals just before foaling and a weakening in the vessel wall. She was fine as was the foal, So that is my Hope for your mare . Post again soon please!

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  3. HHC, it'll be here tomorrow night.

    Fantasyk Voyager, sorry about that it just seems to be the way the story went.

    Breathe, after this one I might be right there with you. The stress is killing me for sure.

    fernvalley, with Solidare being so grey, blood looks like a lot on her too.

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  4. Well, I'm hoping that, since you're posting and telling the story, we're to have a good ending. But, I'll be anxiously awaiting the second installment.

    You know, I never bred Hennessy, the big grey mare that's my avatar, just because I was terrified something would happen to her.

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  5. My friend, you are truly the master of the cliff-hanger....

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  6. Nooooooooo - I hope Solidaire and her foal are okay :(

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  7. Okay, now I'm holding my breath. I sure hope your mare is okay.

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  8. I know I'm on the edge of my seat...I hope she's ok
    xoxo
    betty

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  9. Can't wait for the rest of the story. Keeping my fingers crossed that everything turns out okay.

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  10. This is why I have never bred my Maggie!!! I am way too nervous about something going wrong! I am so scared for your mare right now I'm about to cry.
    This is mean!!! Please email me and tell me she is okay! At least hurry and post the rest!!!
    Hurry!
    Terri
    oh, Started a new game. find your blog title used in my posting. Starts w inst. 13!

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  11. wow thats a terrible place to stop, and just as i am awaiting my mare to foal and we have a storm blowing through, cant wait to read what happened.

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  12. Rainbow,
    Am waiting almost standing on one foot for the outcome of your blow me away beauty! I am praying for a happy ending!
    Hope all is well. Miss your post today. Will check later tonite.
    I'm playing a find your blog title or blog name game.
    With your permission I would like to incorporate your name in a creative and positive way in my writing. Thought this might be a challenge for me, and with your name highlighted it may cause other readers to look you up. I will not use your name without your permission.For an example I used a dear friends' name in # 13. See what you think.
    Hope all is well.
    Terri

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  13. Louise, I don't know about the ending yet. It's still to come. I hope you are right that it turns out happy.

    I'm sad to hear you haven't bred your mare out of fear something bad might happen. Most foalings go smoothly and are well worth the journey.

    phadrae, all right, I admit, my mind does work in such a way that cliff hangers come pretty natural.

    jennybean, smazourek and pinkglitterfae, me too.

    Ms Martyr, I don't know about you but I'm wishing this story would get wrapped up. It's too stessful for me. Unfortunately life doesn't always accommodate.
    Terri, Sorry, I don't know the end to this yet.

    HHC, I didn't know you were on FB.

    Crystal, sorry, I don't want to panic anyone. This is sure not a normal foaling but most are. Hopefully yours will go just fine.

    Terri, you can use my name if you'd like, I'm fine with that.

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