Has horse been in trouble and come to your for help?

bit · Has horse been in trouble and come to your for help?

My horses will gather outside my living room window under the scotch pine and stare up at the window when they figure I need to get my butt out there and feed them dinner. I only feed once a day, just to give them their supplements and a cup of grain. The grain is good stuff, lots of oils for a shiny coat, made right here in town. It's way cheap because I can get it right from the manufacturer, and most of us out here feed it to our horses. It's good stuff, and K State approved as REALLY the best thing on the market.
The pine tree is also where they gather and stare when somethings up that needs my attention. I could feel them the other day, looked out and Eclipse had a major thorn tree branch hanging from her mane. It started at her mane and curved down in a double branch under her head and back on up around. Major.
I finally quit laughing (not appreciated, more squinty eyes) so I headed over and rescued her from her prickly predicament. Perfect, she sighed when when I pulled the offending offering from her massive mane. Big sigh, much licking and chewing, cheers from the herd.
She wasn't able to get to the tree this spring when she found herself tangled in a wire fence she had decided to walk through. She had to settle for staring at me intently, across the pasture. She stood there, squinty eyes staring, so I meandered over to see what was up. She looked around at her back feet, "See? I was just walking by and it got me." I untangled her, more licking chewing, and squinty eyes. She was sure she could have DIED this time. No grass within reach, coulda starved.
Eclipse isn't chatty, doesn't especially like to be touched, but she's got a killer stare, once she realized I could feel her powerful, exray vision. She'll stare, and when I see her, her head comes up, eyes brighten a little and you can see her really get into some serious staring. "That's right human, here's lookin' at you!"
Yesterday it was fly spray. Flies are gettiing bad and they were messing with her legs. Much staring and stomping out at the pine tree. I came running with the Pyranah (it's the only fly spray that works) and gave her the once over. Yep, licking, chewing and Hawk and Bit reluctantly lined up for their turn. They hate the spray, but they hate flies more. Priorities, dontcha know.
That pine tree is now called "the telephone tree".

coveredbridgefarm

Yes, it happens quite often. I'm quite sure it has happened more often than I realize. Just a couple of examples:

A few years ago, our lead mare, Wendy, had a case of colic(the only case of colic we have had, or at least have been aware of). I noticed her lying down, then getting back up, then lying down again. She was obviously agitated. When I walked into the pasture, she immediately trotted over to me and pushed on me with her head, something that that she does not normally do. We called the vet and he took care of her problem.

The second example was more like a case of a horse waiting for me to show up. Cargo had apparently tried to jump a double woven wire fence one night. The two fences were about 4 or 5 feet apart. He had gotten his front legs tangled in one fence and his rear legs tangled in the other fence and he literally could not move any of his legs. In the morning when I called the horses in for feeding, Cargo was not there so I went looking for him. With several manure piles giving some indication of how long he had been held "captive" and waiting for help, I had to cut each leg out of the woven wire one at a time. Cargo did not move until I had freed the last foot(that includes walking back to the barn for wire cutters) and then he leaped to freedom, running around the pasture for several minutes releasing the demons that must have possessed him for hours while waiting for me to free him from the wire. He did not even have a scratch on his legs.

Larry

Clarissa

Oh yes mine demand my attention regularly too! Apart from the normal visit in the morning to see if I have opened the gate to the house paddock, they are always up at the back fence by mid afternoon ready for dinner.

Those are the normal visitations. If they are in need of me for other reasons they will appear at the back fence at other times for fly spray, to remove thorny branches from their manes/tails just like Bit's horse did.

Sonny has twice been 'caught' in a fence & had to wait days for me to arrive! Each time he had just 1 leg over a loose wire but once there he stayed put until I went looking for him. I have had property where they didn't need feeding so there were times when I didn't see them for days. The other times were when I was still in the army, so I was away for days at a time.

He has now learned to gently jiggle his leg until it is freed. He also uses the same technique to get into places he shouldn't be! 1 leg at a time!

jackspark

Like Deb, I have one that drills holes through me with his eyes; it's almost like he's sayin ok, I'll slow down and speak louder so that you can understand me. He knickers so low that sometimes all I see is the movement of his nose....... that's when he understands that I understand. "Finallly she gets it, she's cute and sweet but none too smart" sigh He still loves me, amazin!

thelmanelle

Jesse was experiencing kidney colic and we were leaving the farm for the night before we actually moved here. I sensed he was in distress and made hubby stop the truck. I went felt him and he was burning up. I gave banamine and call the vet and he said stay with him give another dose at 11 p.m. and cool baht him with an alcohol bath to get the temp down.

We spent the night on cots in the barn. Did what we had to. But, he got my attention.

The herd brought Lights up when he broke his leg to get my help that day.

Nashama

Our horses always come to help. If it's dire they call me physically and mentally. Zainal had the fence wrapped around his neck and could not break the tape about a week ago. I had not noticed how strong the mental call really is until that night but it is actually really strong, perhaps because he knows we have opened up to 'hearing' him. I sent back 'wait, Zain' and he waited for me to negotiate 5 horses and 4 gates to get to him. He stayed calm, did everything I asked to help free himself - moved over, lowered his head, stayed calm while I brought the electric wire over his ears - and a neck rub and a cuddle later was ready for his dinner.

We have had the pony bring a mare with a nail in her hoof up to the house for help. Something that stuns me every time is we have had mares down foaling call us to come hold their hooves. I have had a horse or 3 down with colic call, and it's nothing for them to come up to the gate and wait when they are sore and want body work.

Mandy'sMarty

Last summer, I had scheduled a phone session with my endurance mentor/body work coach so that she would talk me through a procedure with Mandy. It took us weeks to coordinate our respective schedules so that we could do this. As I walked into Mandy's pasture looking for her, I saw a horse alert on me half a mile away. I soon realized that it was not Mandy but I sensed some urgency from the distant horse, who was now limping slowly straight to me.

When we met, I recognized her to be a friend's mare who had partially pulled a front shoe, which was now twisted on her foot. I had no tools with me and the time for my phone session was minutes away.
I explained the situation to the old mare and told her I would send help to her soon...but I needed to know where Mandy was...and fast. I immediately became overwhelmed with a feeling of dread, turned to a new heading, and walked briskly in that direction. Within minutes I found Mandy surrounded closely by several of her herd. This was not normal, as she typically assumed a lone position away from her herd. As I walked up to her I noticed something hanging from her chest. She was turned away from me...another unusual behavior for her.

I then realized that it was a thread of hide hanging from her chest. She had a clean slice across her chest from rib cage to rib cage, right where her cinch would be when saddled. The laceration was about an hour old.
That day was the first time I had visited Mandy within a week. At the time of this incident, she was boarded about an hour away from me.

It took about 6 weeks for that injury to heal nicely. I learned how to fix it by myself. Because of its location, I don't think a vet would have been able to suture it. I spent a part of every day for 6 weeks--except for Labor Day weekend--tending to that injury.

Two weeks after it finally healed, I was back in the 'twice a week with Mandy' pattern. I had just arrived and saw her standing near the fence but looking away from me. As I approached I felt that sinking feeling in my gut when she avoided looking at me. When she finally turned to greet me, I saw it. Her face under her right eye was torn open. Fighting waves of nausea, I stroked her head and walked past her...not knowing what was leading me to a particular fence post with two very long, brand new aluminum nails exposed. She had ripped her face while intending to scratch an itch on that post. The injury was perhaps 30 minutes old.

Since then, I have grown to suspect that Mandy 'created' both incidents to occur during my visits when I would quickly find her. It's her way of letting me know that she wants to be with me...and not live on a farm an hour away. Plus, she gets my undivided attention when she's injured. And her injuries are always self inflicted.

On April 7 I got a phone call that Mandy was down and wouldn't get up.
I got there in less than an hour and found her in acute discomfort. It was the onset of a laminitic episode. She was found by the farm manager's wife, who retrieves her 3 horses every afternoon on her ATV and drives them into her private paddock to spend the night. Mandy, who never hangs with those 3 horses, had found them in the 75 acre pasture and lay down among them so that she would be found when it was time for them to be driven in for the night. She knew I would be contacted.

I commandeered a 70X70 paddock at the farm and used it as a dry lot for Mandy for 11 days. With the help and coaching of a good friend trained in veterinary medicine, I nursed her through it. I spent most nights camped out under a tarp next to her paddock. For some time, I had been thinking about camping out with her at the farm but had never given it serious consideration. And for some time, I had wanted to figure out a way to get her comfortable enough to lay down in my presence. Well, be very careful what you wish for. I spent many evenings sitting next to her as she rested on the ground. Magic moments when she would rest her chin on me and fall asleep. Incredible 10 or 15 minute chunks of time when she would stretch out like a Breyer's horse toppled over with four outstretched straight legs...and then relax into deep REM sleep when she would bite, whiney, and run with an unseen herd.

During one of the few nights that I was sleeping in my bed during this episode, I woke up with a start in the middle of the night. I had been tossing and turning and slowly becoming aware of a very uncomfortable sensation in my body. Suddenly my mind woke me out of my stupor and I realized that it was a distress call from Mandy. I was scared because I had never experienced anything like this before. I immediately called a good friend who is also an empath, and she confirmed that it was Mandy in trouble.

Mandy was beginning to panic. She was experiencing some physical issues set off by the laminitis that she was not familiar with. It was dark, she was alone, and she was scared. When Mandy gets scared by something happening in her body, I get real scared. My empath friend stayed with me on the phone as I raced to the farm. She was monitoring Mandy empathically as I arrived. At the exact moment my truck lights washed over Mandy's reclining body, my friend cried "What just happened? Mandy's pulse just slowed all of a sudden!" I smiled and said that Mandy knew that it was me who had just arrived. With me there with her, she was able to relax and sleep through the rest of the night.

AlythLong

I have a friend with the most amazing story of when her horse made his way through several paddocks and through amazing obstacles to find her so he could die in her arms....I will have to email her and ask if I can post it. Alyth

Peeperpuppy

While Mis was away at the trainer's, it was perhaps the first weekend she was there. Around 2 a.m. I was filled with this overwhelming sense of panic/terror. I awoke with a start: heart pounding, adrenaline filled as if I were about to bolt, tightness in my chest with this full bodied pounding sensation. For just a moment I wondered if I was having a heart attack or something??? I closed my eyes for a moment (not because I'm wise or I was meditating but because the sensation of fear was just so awful). My 3 pound chihuahua & my collie came bolt upright when this happened & were both watching me intently. I got an image of Mis in my mind & she was very afraid. As soon as I 'got it' I let out a big ol' sigh. First rule in my life when something like this happens is to pray, then I began to envision Mis at the prism of light that I see & began to just let colors draw from it to help her. Mind you I have no idea what the heck I'm doing except that it feels natural to me.

I haven't gotten to as Sam what happened but my husband mentioned it to him. That I got this feeling something really scary happened in his barn. Sam responded, "Don't know how she'd know about that but her mare was paniced 1 minute & dead calm the next." He'd actually worried about the abrupt change. Something spooked the whole barn of horses in training. He thought it might have been a bear.

bit

Marty, you actually slept with Mandy? SLEPT????

I'm not going to post this again, but ya'll can check out my sleepover with Gunner last night on the whr's thread. I had invisioned that sweet, head in my lap, horsey, peaceful thang. Nope, didn't happen. I need a nap.

Mandy'sMarty

Deb--I slept under a lean-to tarp strung against the tack shed adjacent to the paddock where she was. At about 10:30pm each night, she would lay down in one particular spot in the paddock. I have a folding camp chair that sits about 6 inches off the ground. I set this next to her as she was reclining and upright on her chest. I sat near her head but gave her room to swing her head and neck down to the ground when she was ready to stretch out for REM sleep.

We settled into a routine where I would arrive around 9pm and give her a shot of banamine. After she relaxed and eventually lay down, I'd bring my chair and my Lab, Bo, into the paddock and we'd all settle down together. Bo and Mandy would be napping on either side of me in my little chair. Mandy was so exhausted that she would become still and quiet and dose off. I would simply sit and marvel in the moment while they both slept. When I felt the time was right, I would get up and move to my tarp. There I had an air bed and sleeping bag. Bo would nestle against me and we'd sleep there, where I could still monitor Mandy.

It was an incredible experience. The weather was pleasant and spring was unfolding all around. Each evening the sounds of civilization subsided and the sounds of the wild took over. Owls called to each other down by the river. The coyote clan would serenade us. Bands of deer could be heard whistling shrill alarm calls in the dark. Mockingbirds would sing all night. Pre-dawn was an overwhelming sound of birds singing, calling, honking as the natural world greeted the new day. And then Mandy's herdmates would arrive to check on her progress and my presence. I would awake from the pressure of a dozen pairs of eyes on me from the adjoining pasture.

coveredbridgefarm

Marty wrote:

bit

If this sleepover had been a first date, and I was the me that was, there wouldn't be a second date. This was not an unimportant moment. You know how we can get this "dream" in our head, about how it's going to be, and get so very dissapointed when it doesn't go the way we expected. I think that's one of the reasons a lot of the men in my life found themselves single. Thankfully I'm not that person anymore.
I spent all my daughters childhood single, so that I could raise her and not be dealing with the drama of relationship, when I knew darn well I wasn't emotionally healthy enough to have one. Between horses, Oprah, and Mia Angelou, I realized that no one was perfect, relationship required work, pick my battles and a good relationship means two people who are willing to compromise, listen..blah blah blah. Ya'll know what I mean. It's ok to dream, but sometimes, if you let go of what you think it should be, it ends up better in the end. Tony is my better end, better half, and the best thing to happen since my daughter was born.
Back to last night, what I learned is how very unhappy Gunner is in that box stall. He was setting his feet and refusing to go back in when I said goodnight last night. A little driving game and low energy, he reluctantly reentered his prison of walls. Today he is torturing the mare next to the outdoor arena. He's outside, reinforced boot on his boo boo hoof, plenty of water and sun on his back. He is happy. This weekend, if the farrier can get that equipak to stick on a barefoot horse, great. If he has to do it with shoes, whatever. I can pull the shoes in 5 weeks and he can get back to his barefoot transition. Kelsey will be here to put on a mega roll, and I'll take it from there. There will most definatly be a second date. I love him. He broke my lamp, he chewed my favorite blanket, and it took all that for me to see how unhappy he was. I knew he wasn't happy. Just not how much. If you spend time with your horse, he'll tell you all.
Yep, gonna do the Marty experience, without the banamine, bute injury thing. With three arabians in the pasture, sleep will be next to the pasture, not in it. I do expect to spend hours hanging out in our chairs, horses and human talking about the day, listening to owls, coyotes, barn cats, with a sky full of stars. It'll be perfect, just like last night.

Peeperpuppy

Blue Flame

Horses in our herd (that belong to other owners) have come to me with sprung shoes, which I subsequently removed for them.

One time, the horse was a bit nervous about me working with his foot and the herd leader came over and stood beside him which calmed him down.

I'm only talking about shoes that have twisted or become so loose they may cause injury - of course I also notify the owner as soon as possible.

4theloveofjake

Last week I put my mares halter on and reins. I groomed her and then before riding bareback, decided to groom Jake too. While my mare waited for me to finish she walked away to graze. The reins dropped and her front leg got stuck on the inside of the reins. Amazingly she just stood there and looked at me, like HELP ! She was very calm. I walked over and unhooked her. I will never do THAT again ! Could have been ugly !!