Member

Posts: 48
From:Youngstown, OH USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 08-03-2003 10:28 PM            

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We got a call around 6 this evening from the lady who runs my parents' barn. She just got three new horses in last week, plus my mom's new Thorough gelding. Decided to put all the newbies out with my stepdad's mare, Goldie, and my mom's trail horse, C, since they're pretty sensible old gals in the huge old pasture. We've told her several times not to put our horses out in that pasture because the fence isn't checked regularly and we've had to tell her it was down several times when we noticed it on trail rides (this has been going on for four years, standing order with our horses). We've also asked her not to put the girls in with new horses because of an incident that happened with my first horse where he beat the crap out of anything in with him, and just to make sure a new horse isn't like him. She decided to totally not listen to these, even though we've been there the longest and told her why we weren't comfortable with either situation, and did both anyway. Luck of all luck, my parents haven't been riding lately and the only other boarder that does trails is a real idiot who wouldn't even think to look at the fence while he's riding past, and of course it was down and a fight broke out. Her story was that she was keeping an eye on them while she cleaned the stalls and she noticed C, Goldie, and Pride (one of the new ones) weren't with the group after she'd heard a bunch of squealing. She figured they were just hanging out under the trees at the end of the pasture and didn't give it a second thought. She says about an hour later the guy from the end of her street called to tell her that the horses had just ran past his house and were headed to the trails. Told her he'd seen the palomino (Goldie), two chestnuts, a gray, and a black and that he was going to try to catch up with his four wheeler so she could hear where the horses were. She tacked up her horse, called us and the other owners to tell us our horses were out, and then rode out with a bunch of leads. We got there first since we only live five miles away. Drove to the trail openings and then started searching the end of the fenceline since he'd said there were only two chestnuts. There's barbed wire all over the back of his fenceline and guess where we found my mom's new horse. He must've hit at a gallop. It was wrapped all around his legs and neck. The good thing is after he went down he didn't struggle much, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He's still got some really deep cuts and is lame. We cut him out and since there wasn't much else we could do, called the vet. My parents went and started pulling up the wire while I held Ty still. Doc says no permanent damage, but I told her she should stay to make sure the other horses were okay after we got him cleaned up and taken care of. The black, Goldie, and C came back with some decent cuts and bruises. I guess they had to chase the horses near the highway and Pride wasn't used to the four wheeler and freaked out. Went right out onto the road. I don't think I need to finish the story, but it could've been written right from the Horse Whisperer. I feel bad for the lady because he was her horse, but we've asked her so many times to get the fence on that pasture fixed. We've even offered to pay for half of it. The gray was found in a field where they must've stopped and someone went after him again. His hip's broken from what the vet thought was a kick. Vet said he could be saved, but would just be a companion horse for the rest of his life. He was still in shock when we had to leave. The whole thing's so sad, but it was so preventable. Please keep Ty and I think the gray's name's Buttons in your guys' prayers. They're going to need a lot over the next couple days.

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Member

Posts: 48
From:Youngstown, OH USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 08-04-2003 11:41 AM            

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Ty's looking good this morning and he and Buttons are eating at least, he kind of banged around when he saw the other horses go out. The lady's taking care of everybody. I don't think I've ever seen so many bottles of Epsom salts, bute, or phurazone in our barn before. CC's (the black) owners made a joke about how we're all going to have neon yellow spotted Appys for a couple months. They buried Pride under an apple tree this morning. I guess that's the designated horse graveyard since Taylor and Duchess are both there too (they had natural causes). Vet said the next couple days are going to be telling for Buttons, but the eating was very good sign.

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Member

Posts: 10
From:Upton, MA, US
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 08-05-2003 10:59 AM         

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What a horrific story, I am so sorry for you and your animals.

Good luck with the recovery process

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Member

Posts: 48
From:Youngstown, OH USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 08-08-2003 04:08 PM            

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Everyone's looking really good and eating well, even Buttons. Everyone else got out for the first time today except him and Tyler. Supposedly no one's getting turned out in the pasture until it gets fixed, but we'll see how that goes. We've heard it before and as soon as everyone's better, we're looking for a new barn. We'll have to wait three or four weeks until Ty's neck closes up (the wire was really deep there but didn't do any damage to anything vital thank goodness). I think the other owners are probably planning on leaving when they can, too. The lady keeps everything clean, but everything's so old and that pasture fence was the oldest. I think when everyone found out that she put C and Goldie in there after we specifically told her no was what really ticked the owners that didn't have horses hurt off. Right now I'm just glad that they're going to be okay.

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