Post by sbhr on Dec 14, 2005 11:36:49 GMT -5
We adopted Claudia, Dante and Aphrodite in May of 2005 from CBER, they all came HOME together.
Wow....What a hectic last few weeks!! (August 19, 2005)
I needed to have my vet come out and pull blood on Aphrodite, Dante (ya, right!), Claudia (ya, right!), Plus, I needed to have their feet worked on and my round pen just hasn't come to fruition like I though it would - so Claudia and Dante are not quite tamed down enough to allow foot care or close and personal blood draws.
Ok......I'll make this work somehow, regarding Claudia (the untouchable) and Dante (the other untouchable) - Aphrodite will be fine. She has calmed down nicely and is such a sweet mare.
So, I have been frantic trying to find a vet to come and "tranquilizer dart" Claudia and Dante so the vet can draw blood. No one would help me. Most didn't have the equipment but many counseled me on the dangers of having 'rogue' horses. One vet suggested euthanasia b/c you couldn't handle either of them. Ya, thanks...........
but if I didn't want my vet to rope / strangle them into unconsciousness just to get blood, then it is extremely unlikely I want them shot. Just a thought. Finally, on the 30th call (I'm out of vets to call now btw, so I am calling wildlife refuges and zoo's) I reach Sarvey Wildlife in Arlington, WA. The lady on the phone listened patiently while I told her my story, then simply said........."NO...we can't help you here". I was at my wits end. I asked to speak to her supervisor or
manager.....anyone who could give me advice (other than..Kill 'Em). A reluctant woman picked up the phone and I (apparently sounding somewhat in need of medication at this point) told HER my story.
She asked me to hang on ..... and yelled over to someone else "HEY...JIM...wanna go shoot some horses over in Marysville?" Jim replies...."I only shoot stupid, I don't shoot dead". She then answers......"ya, shoot stupid...her vet is coming out and this lady (the incredulous me) needs 2 of her horses doped up so he can get blood....here.......YOU talk to her". (mind you, I am ecstatic at this point - someone MAY be willing to help me) ;D ;D ;D
Jim gets on the phone and I explain again what I need and why. He pauses and says..........."ya, no problem". WHAT? NO PROBLEM? REALLY??!!
WILL YOU MARRY ME? So, I quickly get over my excitement about getting some real help and realize this may just be some yahoo with a dart gun. Just because he may be the ONLY yahoo with a dart gun doesn't make him good at using it. So I ask him how long he has been doing this for Sarvey .... he gets a tad impatient with me and says..."Ma'am (he's from the south) I can shoot a 'coons ass at 50 yards...." Great - YOU ARE HIRED !!
So another rush of 500 phone calls to coordinate Christina (our hoof gal who MUST do their feet which are horrible), my vet (who must supply the drugs for Jim to use in his dart gun), and several helpers.......we finally get a time and a day that everyone can be here....together.
I'm on the top of the world. I am doing the 'happy dance' in my kitchen. My dogs walk away in disgust.
Tension builds, the day comes. I stagger outside at 7 am to scoop poop so no one is standing in feces.......and there is the vet...parked in my driveway. Uh...a little early? He says ya, so I make him come inside for coffee and give him a place to do his paperwork, then frantically go scoop poop.
Ok Ok Ok.... my vet is here, where the hell is Jim and Christina? Sweating....worried. ok, ok...i'm ok. My vet is growing impatient..it's 9:40. Plan was to all meet at 9:30. He reminds me (like I need him to) that I pay $100 an hour for him to be here. Crap Crap Crap
Jim calls, he's almost here. Whew! Ok, we can start w/out Christina who said she might be there as late as 10.
We all march over, accompanied by our original herd of Apollo, Bel, Quinn and Mini Whiney. All very interested in all the "stuff" everyone is carrying. They are so cute.
Well, Jim walks around the pasture, the vet walks around the pasture...I (since everyone else is) walk around the pasture too. Don't know quite what I'm looking for but.....
Jim says he thinks the "poke stick" will work better than the tranq. rifle b/c Dante and Claudia will come to within 3 feet of you. So he readies it. It's neat really - I want one!! A long flexible stick that a syringe goes into the end of. My vet and Jim rut and hemmm and hawww at the cool tools Jim has brought. They finally load it and Claudia is first. She walks up to our vet (armed w/drugs and the poke stick) "Hi! she say...what is that you are holding there? !! OUCH !! Damnit!!! What the Hell? You Evil EVIL human.....WTF it BIT me !! I knew humans sucked-see!!" Stager...stager (f*&kers) ......stop. mmmmmm I'm sort of tired. zzzzz "WAIT - YOU get AWAY from me.....evil bastard....mmmmm ...zzzzzz.
Ok - our vet snaps the lead rope on and gets the blood drawn YEAH !! Here comes Christina now with her tools. Another YEAH !!. She approaches Claudia who is really really sleepy. She picks up her foot gently. Claudia doesn't notice.....yet.
All of a sudden Claudia runs, with the vet pasture skiing behind her, up the hill to the back fence line. Snorting and pawing. Great. Just Great. Vet pokes her again. And again. mmmmm sleeeepy......mmmmm zzzzzzzzz Christina does her feet. She has absolutely NO FROGS. Her hoof wall is a mile thick and the whole foot is very ill. But she'll recover.
On to Dante who is like........"you lookin at ME? I don't think so buddy! I'm outta here". He runs away... alot. finally he gets cornered in the shelter. POP.....right in the butt. OUCH !! Damnit!!! What the Hell? You Evil EVIL human.....WTF? it BIT me !! I knew humans sucked" I AM NOT TIRED NOR WILL I EVER BE TIRED AND I AM RUNNING AWAY NOW." So, off goes Dante. Trotting and trotting, running the fence line - trotting and trotting. NOT tired. Trotting and .......................hey, lets eat! Munch munch
munch...gah....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz hay hanging out of his mouth, head down to the ground and front legs splayed. Guess they gave him more than they gave Claudia. Good.
Our vet will not let Claudia go although Dante is drugged and waiting (like he has a choice). So time is ticking. Jim is waiting and holding Dante. This is taking soooo long. Hard to do the feet..It is not Christina's fault. Their feet have NEVER been done. So I understand.
Finally, it's Dante's turn. He lets Christina do his dinner plate front feet. Good boy. This is almost over. Whew....Jim takes off. THANKS JIM !!!!!!!!!! You Rock !! Sorry about the fake marriage proposal!
Time for his back feet........."NOT IN A MILLION YEARS" He fights through the drugs to take our very nice vet on another pasture skiing adventure. So we all decide to put Dante OUT. Like on his side "out". Ok....drugs are in...Dante goes down. poor guy...vet was very careful to hold his head so he went down without him
hurting himself. I asked him if this was the vets equivalent of "assume the position" and he assured me that it was.
Christina jumps to....(vet says Dante needs something to cover his eye (which is wide open and pointing directly up and into the sun) . I whip off my shirt. Vet is shocked. Welll..........I had a tank top type of bra on! I run over and get my handy dandy plaid grooming tool apron and take my shirt back and lay the apron over his eye. Poor guy, he's really snoring now. Vet gets his stuff ready so he can leave. (he has visions of going and buying a poke stick now - I can see it in his eyes) Mu hahahahahahaaa. Him and I leave Christina to trim up Dante and he bills me.((((((((((((((((( :[ ))))))))))))))))))))
Wow........he even gave me a break on the hourly charge. Almost $400
$400.00 !!!!!!!
Ok, ok.....it was worth it. Gulp.
Everyone is gone, cept Christina. Dante is out. Sun is beating down. We hear the sound of running water
. hhmmm....odd. Christina is working away. Dante's foot is up on the peg. Where IS that water dripping from ? Thats when I notice Dante is ah......drippling every time he snores. I show Christina. We're both pretty loopy by this point in the day. She cracks up.. "Hey, should I take a picture of THAT"? I ask...She says "why yes, I think you should!" so - we have photo proof of our pasture leaker for future generations to enjoy. ;D ;DShe gets almost done with Dante and in ONE second....he goes from pissing on himself and snoring to groaning and leaping straight UP. Gets tangled
in the hoof peg......falls...Sways......lurches..........falls....twice...
sways lurches. aw...poor guy. We try and hold him up.
Finally we just let him burn off the drugs. Christina only had a small amount of rasping to do, so basically his hooves were done. Wow.....we need a break. bad.
Drink water and we (christina and I) are off to do the other 7 horses because she is going on vacation and won't be back in our area till October. The rest of the day went pretty smooth. Thankfully. Gabby and Rutger still have very very ill feet. Gabby won't let Christina trim her back right hoof. It's either a foot problem, or a back/hip problem. Gabby's pelvis is visibly rotated
to the left - Alot. So this may be the problem.
We get done around 6 pm. I am so very tired. We both stink. Covered in dirt. She is the best hoof trimmer I have ever seen !! Usually the mantra here at the Funny Farm is..."You know, go on ahead and finish up that foot, but then your fired". No really - ask Deb!! We've had and fired over 10 farriers. It's so hard to
find someone good here. Christina is a Godsend. I am thankful for her everyday.
Dante is recovering nicely. Claudia is too. She was a little sore on her front right (the leg with the swollen ankle from the slipper hoof) Vet thinks she will always be swollen and not sound on that leg. Well.......we'll just see about that!!!
Thank you so very much for reading all of this. I wish you could have been here, it was much funnier in
person !!!
Talk to you all soon !!!!!!!
Dante "LIGHTS OUT" and the infamous grooming apron
SUPERWOMAN Christina doing what she does best!
Claudia, still drugged out while watching what is happining to Rutger (Aphrodite is on the right)
Claudia looking for her "earth feet" Still seeing little green horse faeries from the drugs.
Rutger...down and being worked on. Icky feet, huh? This is his broken pastern foot. eeuuuuu!
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SBHR and the Funny Farm
kim (SBHR) and The Funny Farm