This is an edited version of a post on my main site. It was edited for length for publication in the Vermilion Standard.
Despite any attempt to plan, some days unfold in a completely different way than I expect. One Saturday morning this summer did not turn out as anyone expected. My father-in-law noticed his nephew’s horse did not come in with the others. My wife and I left the house, met John by the gate, and headed out.
There is a small creek that cuts across the pasture. In mid-summer it exists as a deep strip of mud. John called out suddenly and we all ran to see him step into mud up to his waist. He lifted the horse’s large head out. It appeared that she had laid down and rolled to get rid of flies but the mud sucked her in. She had little strength left.
I ran around to find a rope and get the tractor. John struggled to keep June’s head up so that she could breath. Dragging her out by her hind feet was not the best plan but we had little choice or time. We got her onto dryer land.
There were several moments we thought the horse was taking her last breath. One of her eyes rolled wildly. The other eye had swollen lids, the bottom one turned inside out. Was it damaged by sitting in the mud all morning? Did we wreck it when we dragged her? Slowly she would settle down to laboured breathing. She attempted to stand but it seemed like she couldn’t control the right side of her body.
We were all there for about four hours thinking of ways to help that horse. In one quiet moment I recalled what my wife had wanted to do that Saturday. There was a new filly at the next farm and she was only a week old. She was a beautiful little horse, black with white spots on her rump – a signature of her Appaloosa father. Her face was small and slightly dished – inherited from her Arabian mother.
John continued to work for his horse. Eventually, before supper, she stood up. John led her to a small pen. He dressed her wounds. It appears that she is blind in the right eye. But she survives. The young filly is unnamed. That is something that will have to be decided soon.
I appreciated the experience those two animals gave me at either end of life. I’m not sure if I learned a lesson. But, it was an interesting day.
