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Articles : Expect the unexpected
Expect the
Unexpected
I could not believe my eyes. I was absolutely
horrified, and my first reaction was near tears
at the sight of the two mustangs I had been
called to "halter break and prepare to
have their feet trimmed". I have never
before witnessed such intense pain in an animal
due to owner neglect. I have seen feet that
looked nearly as bad, but the obviously excruciating
pain that these two were in was most unexpected.
I did not know what to do or say. I did the only
thing I could think of. I make a pronouncement
that either these horses must be put out of
their misery, or something radical had to
happen immediately or else I would have nothing
to do with them. I would not be held responsible
for increasing their pain.
Fortunately, my
intensity and conviction prompted immediate
action with these horses, and before a week
was over we had scheduled to meet a prominent,
highly skilled farrier and do whatever it took
to get these two horses (hopefully) trimmed
and (hopefully) feeling better. The black mare
is the daughter of the chestnut mare, or so
I'm told. She had actually been trimmed once
before by this farrier, but had since been
neglected further. Because he had worked with
her once before, he was again able to get his
hands on her and get her feet trimmed fairly
well. Despite these efforts, though, and several
additional trims, the mare remains (to date
of this writing) quite lame. It appears to
me that her joints and growth plates in her
legs were in a critical stage of formation
as her feet were neglected, and thus she has
severely crooked legs and is quite crippled
up.
To make a long story short, I have been
working with her since the initial event, and
she now tolerates quite a lot. I can have her
approach me by request, be haltered and led
at both a walk and a trot, have all of her
feet be picked up and cleaned, touch her all
over, yield her fore and hind quarters, longe
on a line at walk and trot in both directions,
halt and back, and be brave when new items
are introduced, such as the flag, a garbage
can, and so forth. The most amazing photos
are of the chestnut mare, the dam of the black
mare. She was untouchable.
During the three
plus hours that the farrier, Mark and I worked
to get this job started, it was heart breaking
to see the posture this mare took in an effort
to stay off of her front feet. I have never
witnessed anything even close to it. To have
the horse nearly kneel down, rest her head
on the ground, and support almost her whole
body on her back end that stuck up in the air
was almost unbelievable. She was knuckled over
in the front fetlock joints and knees in a
way I would have thought to be physically impossible
if I hadn't seen it firsthand.
We ended up
having to rope her. The farrier (Clint Apelt)
approached her carefully, but it took some
time before she would let him touch her feet
(nothing else). He was able to hack away at
one front foot, and a portion of the other
front foot, before we ran out of daylight.
Did I mention it was sub-freezing temperatures?
Ultimately, we were forced by sundown to snub
her up to be able to get a halter on her and
a drag rope so that we could get our hands
on her again and continue the process at a
later date. It was quite an ordeal for everyone.
However, the next few times I visited, I made
sure she knew that we were only there to help
her. Now, after several months of working with
her one or two times a week, she faces up quite
well, allows herself to be caught, have all
her feet picked up (still difficult due to
pain) and be groomed and led slowly around.
She is still very frightened, but has crossed
some huge barriers to allow as much as she
does. She has never tried to hurt me, and is
the sweetest horse, even when she is scared.
Clint has done an excellent job with both horses
in getting their feet back to a more normal
state. Still, they are both quite lame and
in chronic pain. So the job continues. I feel
compelled to diligence in the care of these
two special horses. Otherwise, they may return
to their former neglect.
This was the most
shocking experience I've ever had, but it has
taught me so much. I have learned to expect
the unexpected, and wait to see what I find
before formulating an opinion. I have also
discovered that if one cares enough, one can
make some big changes i n what would otherwise
be a hopeless situation. I am also more dedicated
to seeing an end to the neglect that exists
in so many ways and for so many reasons...
Lest I give the wrong impression, this particular
case was not due to blatant disregard
for the horses' well being, but rather a situation
where the owner got in over his head and didn't
know how to handle or get to the horses, then
became bed ridden and was unable to locate
any professional willing to assist in the handling
of these wild horses, until he found me. He
is still, as of this writing, bed ridden. I
have never even met him. I do love his horses,
though...
Rebekka Rhodes
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