August 18, 2022
Marcel Proust said. “Let is be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom”. Hay detail is a big thing with horse farming. I am ever so grateful to John Bagnall, Donald Johnstone, Brian Waugh, Erik Osinga and all my hay putter inners. This bunch calmed the worries, squares are in the loft and rounds are in the yard. Now I just have to be vigilant with the oldies and the toothless of the herd, making sure they go into the winter with a good deal of flesh on their bones. It is very difficult and very expensive to bring a horse in poor body condition up to a decent body score. Tuesday August 9th will be a day the barn crew will remember. Art came into the barn ripped and dripping blood. He had speared himself by a branch on a fallen tree. The wound was washed and an injection of Tetanus Toxoid was given. (this is my protocol for large cuts and abrasions) Kensington Vet Clinic was called. Dr. Versteeg came. He did more cleansing and removing of wood. This wound was deep. His hand was inserted to his wrist. Somehow the limb missed the artery, but there was still a lot of blood. There was the crackling sound when you ran your hands over his hide. Bad Bad Bad News. My only thought at the time, “please Art do not die while the kids are here”. I had them remove a divider to make a large stall for him. (My straight stalls can be easily dismantled) I only did this because if he went down we would be able to get him out of the stall. I didn’t have much hope for the old guy. Dr. Chris had that look on his face, not saying much because of my student workers. The wound is in a very difficult place and stitching was not an option. I did not get much sleep for 24 hours because of the worry, administering antibiotics and pain killlers. The next day “Brilliant Art” was still standing, and he was still eating and drinking, although not drinking as much as I would like. It has been a gift to see him standing every morning the past 10 days. Recovery will be slow, it takes at least 6 weeks for tissue to heal. He is very fortunate to have Melanie Saunders, our resident massage bodyworker, tending to his wounds and giving him a deep massage many times a day. It has been trial and error to keep pressure on the wound. More error than we wish. It is an ugly wound and is still seeping. This horse is the most stoic of any I have worked with. He came to the Sanctuary 16 years ago with many problems. It took six weeks of work to get him on the go. He came with a fresh bowed tendon, locked stifle (hind knee) abscesses in 2 hooves and a capped hock. All during the treatments, he showed not one bit of anger that pain can cause. And today we are seeing the same calm lovely horsonality. Such an easy guy to work around. Now we wait and hope that we do not have to deal with a lot of proud flesh on the wound. Every day Art is standing is a gift. The bod comes with many tricks in old age and it isn’t any different with horses. Dawson (aka Fiddler Fred) came to the Sanctuary when he was 2. He is now 25. FF has had an enlarged thyroid for quite a few years and now it is getting larger and larger. It is called an Endenoma and the advice is not to worry. I am a worrier, more iodine?? Less iodine?? Medication??!! This will have to be investigated too. The 19th is the last day for 3 of my student workers, it has been a grand 8 weeks, so much learning and much maintenance was accomplished. Maxine trained them so well they were well able to organize and run the last two camp days with very little direction from her. They still have a bit to go with the time management detail. But hey don’t we all. This last week there were visitors from Ottawa. The Long family came to volunteer Monday morning. The family is on a sabbatical and are travelling North America. That was a great morning. Today a friend dropped in, she just got a new truck, and drove up from Connecticut, it has been 20 years since she was part of my AVC community. I am making a list of the folks I would like to visit when I get a chance to travel. My passing advice. Pick the Tansy. Take care of one another. Love and hugs from Yogi and the herd.