Nine of us saw a miracle before our eyes on Saturday.
Montana arrived on January 27. He is a big gorgeous boy - very friendly. We were confident that he was going to be the perfect companion for our lonely Jasmine. We walked the horses around in the pasture, let them sniff each other and then walked around again. Things looked like they were going well so we turned them loose. He and Jasmine approached each other and had kind of a little tiff -no big deal. Jasmine suddenly ran over to the fence line by Trixie and Augie. What happened next stunned us all. She climbed up a snow drift and started moving her front legs. It looked for all the world like she was going to try to jump the fenced to get in with Trixie. I ran between the fence line and the snow trying to turn her around away from the fence. Jasmine has never made any attempt to jump - she has a very arthritic front knee. She scrambled in the snow and fell. She did not move. We ran to help her up but she would not even try. Bruce got the skid loader and moved more snow away so we could turn her over. There is a slight hill in the pasture and we wanted to have her attempt to get up on the downhill slant rather than the uphill. She many several attempts to get up after we got the snow moved away. She just could not do it. We let her have rest breaks, we covered her with blankets and tons of encouragement. She started to get very cold - too cold. Our neighbors and Bruce rigged up a sling, got this under her, and raised her to her feet with the skidloader. We (under telephone guidance from our vet) loosened all pressure from the strapping but did not remove it for several minutes. . Once Jasmine realized she was up on her own feet, she got very perky! The guys took the straps off of her slowly and we walked her to the arena. We had been talking with our vet who was on another farm call delivering some calves. He arrived around 5:15. She had already been on her feet for over an hour. Her body temperature was still only 96 degrees. That little girl was cold! Dr did treat for colic as a precautionary measure.
The conclusion seems to be that Jasmine may have had a mild heartattack. This would explain why she made no effort to move when she fell in the snow. Her heart rhythm is not like it should be, but rather skips a little. We are uncertain how long it has been this way. Nothing was noticed this summer when her teeth were floated and the two bad ones removed.
Yesterday we got a small dose of Ace promazine for her from the dr to help keep her from getting so worked up. We took her outside. Crystal and Derek walked her Montana around the pasture for a while. She and Montana did eat together near the fence line for little while.
We are trying to re-introduce them slowly. Maybe everything was just too much for her? Losing Dandy, Montana coming, we don't know. She and Trixie and Augie have kind of been bonding over the fence line since Dandy is gone. Maybe she was jealous because Montana had been over there. We really don't know.
Jasmine is in the barn right now. The dr thought it may be best for her to keep from getting too worked up outside just yet. She hates to be inside too it is a tough call.
We are just so thankful that she is here. No one in the pasture thought we would ever see her upright again. She was giving up. We took turns making sure her head was kept up. Everyone was rubbing her legs trying to warm her. To see the look in her eyes when she realized she was standing, moving one hoof around on the ground - that was a true miracle.
Bruce & Jody
Misfit Acres
www.misfitacres.com
Saving one horse may not
make a difference in the whole world,
but it will make a world of a difference
to that one horse
~Author Unknown
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