Gravity is a Myth: The Earth Just Sucks

Shortly after we had to put Charlotte to sleep, a reader of this blog sent me a very nice email. His heartfelt condolences for our loss, words of encouragement and humor gave me the extra push I needed to get me through that tough period. It couldn't have come at a better time.

"Several months ago I discovered your blog. At this point I don’t remember how I stumbled across it, but I’ve followed the adventures of Faith and Linus – and more recently, the funny and then tragic story of Charlotte. I have to say, in addition to your skills with animals, you have a gift for storytelling as well. We’ve never met, but after reading your posts, somehow I don’t feel like a stranger either... And while I’ve posed a few anonymous comments, I wanted to send something a little more personal this time.

Learning about what happened with Charlotte was just heartbreaking. And then to read the summary of everything else that happened on top of that, well, I remember seeing a bumper sticker once that read:

Gravity is a Myth: The Earth Just Sucks

Scott, how true indeed.

Where do I start?

This past weekend Dan and I were reconfiguring (again) our shedrow barn for our farm animal brigade. Sophie and her piglets were ready to be moved out of the barn into the barn out back, and we needed to change things around to accommodate them. And the chickens. (Did I forget to mention the chickens?!)

For my birthday, one of my students thought it would be great to add onto our farm animal crew. (Because I obviously do not have enough to do around here - hahaha) We now have four chickens at our farm. Their names are Parmesan, Marsala, Cacciatore and Alfreda... I have never had chickens before, but they are quite entertaining. And the eggs are delicious! Moving on...

As I was moving around and cutting some new stall mats, I heard a squeal and a few thuds. I ran out of the shedrow to see Faith cornered in the big paddock by Rosie, our 14.1 hand Paint mare. Rosie cornered her where their water tank is and when Faith didn't move quick enough, Rosie kicked. Hard. And repeatedly. Faith finally kicked back, which only infuriated the little mare even more. Running towards them, arms flailing and screaming, Dan and I broke up the battle. Faith took off towards the run-in and we followed.

The sight was ghastly. My poor baby had blood pouring out of her. I quickly called Dr. George and explained the situation. Thankfully he was only 15 minutes away, and knowing that alone was a huge relief. We moved Faith into the barn, a trail of blood following us the whole way. It was so bad that we put shavings down in the aisle to absorb it. Dr. George showed up just a short time later and gave her intravenous anti-inflammatories and pain relievers.

He examined her and found that she had a torn vulva. (Let's hear that collective "ouch..." from our readers.) Rosie's hoof apparently nicked a pretty impressive blood vessel, which was the source of the massive bleeding. Thankfully, it was not interal. However, it was in such a location that stitches were impossible. Over the course of the next few minutes, the blood flow had begun to diminish and her body was beginning clot the wound.

While she stood on the crossties, we clipped and then began tending to her other wounds. Her right hindquarters were riddled with perfect hoof-shaped marks. I believe that seven was the final count. Dr. George and I began clipping around the marks and dressing them. Again, thankfully there was no need for stitches.

The plan was SMZs for the next seven days and bute for the next five. The first day was fine, the second day Faith decided that she wasn't going to eat her grain if there was medicine in it, so we were back to The Oral Medications Argument. (Please refer to our February 5th article.) Let's just say that you never really forget what a bute/SMZ combination tastes like.

Faith has always been a little fussy about eating her grain. Some mornings she dives into her bucket, other days she takes her time. On occasion, a few small handfuls will be left over in the morning, but she eagerly eats it when she is brought in for dinner. Since her injury on Saturday, she has been leaving a good amount in her bucket. I'm not sure if it is because she is not feeling well or perhaps another hormonal issue like we had in the spring. On the positive side, her hay and water intake has been good.

Fast forward to this morning... One of Sophie's piglets isn't doing too well and is in my house, on my living room floor, wrapped up in a blanket and under a heat lamp. My dogs are totally confused, to say the least. The piglet's name is "Victoria" and she is the runt. She is our little redhead with black polka-dots all over her. I'm not sure why she's weak, but we're giving her vitamin B12, bottle feeding her and keeping her under a heat lamp.

And then this evening... Rosie came into the barn for dinner tonight on three hooves and one toe. Apparently one of Faith's kicks made contact and the lower portion of Rosie's right rear leg is swollen and sore. She is barely touching the toe of her hoof to the ground as she walks. We cold-hosed it, gave her banamine and wrapped it in a compression wrap. The vet says to keep an eye on it and call him in the morning if it looks worse.

So the next time you hear someone talk about the effects of gravity, tell them my story... :)

.