Escape~

Just back from Omaha, while washing up, we'd both received calls from the farm.  Farah had somehow escaped & was loose on the road!  Our worst nightmare - now made real.  The truck was on the road in record time.  We crested the last hill to see Janice & Dean standing out in the middle of the road slowing traffic!  Farah was standing in the shade, on the west side of the road, grazing on the neighbors grass.  Relief flooded through us both - she hadn't injured anyone or been hit!  Butch went for the halter, I walked to her & put a hand on her fly mask.  Soon the halter was on.  As I started to lead her back across the road, she hesitated & didn't want to walk forward.  It was dark in the shade, but looking closely I could see that she had injured her knee.  I decided that if she'd made it that far, she could walk back...

The damage~

We couldn't at first see where she could have possibly gotten out?  But soon, Butch found hair at the top of the wire just to the right of the gate.  The worst possible place she could have chosen to make the jump, with a pile of rock & broken concrete on the far side that covered over an old steel hog waterer.

The jump~

The mare is scared to walk across a foot wide trickle of water, but has enough self-confidence to jump 5 feet of horse fence & clear a another four-foot wide pile of debris.  If she'd missed, she could have either impaled herself or broken a leg.

Janice had also called 911 & by the time the Sherriff pulled up, all the excitement was over.  He stood there looking at the corral, saying that he would have never believed that horse would jump it!  I asked if he was in the market for one - but he declined - saying that he had several of his own!

Landing with two inches to spare~

The Lord was watching out for us all on this day.  Janice & Dean had just driven down to the corner, on their way to Sidney when they saw Farah galloping down the road.  Janice jumped out to try to stop traffic & call Farah back, while Dean called us.  Farah did turn back & came racing toward her at a dead run.  Right on past & back to the farm, before she turned & crossed the heavily used road again, to stop in the shade.  By then, I'm sure the adrenalin had worn off & the pain had kicked in.

Butch bought miles of hot wire, I called Dr. Essex in WA.  He told me we'd need antibiotics etc., so I called Nebraska Equine.  The gashes weren't too deep, but I didn't want to risk infection.  NEVC was experiencing a Perfect Storm kind of day.  One Vet out for the weekend, a full schedule, then one emergency call after another!  They couldn't get to the farm until between 5 & 6.  I sprayed the wounds with Vetericyn to flush them out.  Butch worked out in the hot sun installing the electric fencing.  I washed Farah down, she was covered in sweat.  It was about the hottest, most humid day we've had so far with the heat index well over 100.  I scraped the water off as fast as it went on & she cooled out quickly. 

By the late afternoon when Butch was done, Dean had brought us all cold ice tea & I walked Farah up to the machine shed to stand in the shade with us.  When she saw Snowball (a beautiful 3-week old Charolais bottle calf) - she actually thought she just might spook.  We laughed at her expression & she gave it up.  The four of us had decided on dinner - after the Vet visit, but Dr. Frerich's truck had broken down just outside Council Bluffs...  She was going to make calls & let us know.

We decided to go to dinner, it was 7 p.m. by now.  Almost to Tabor, Dr. Thomassen, DVM called.  He was on his way.  He told us to go to dinner, he would handle it!  We were just heading back to the barn when he called to tell us he was all done.  He went on to say Farah was one of the best trained, nicest mares he had worked on & thankfully the injury was not as severe as it looked.  The cut on her chest was very minor & he'd wrapped the leg & given her antibiotics, bute, etc.  

All wrapped up~

By Sat., Dr. Frerichs, DVM was back on the road & came out to remove the wrap & administer more antibiotics.  She mentioned Dr. Thomassen had said Farah was needle shy, which was something I'd forgotten to tell him.  (After all these years, she likes to stand with her side against a wall for an injection.)  Swelling was minimal & Farah was walking normally.  We're cold hosing twice a day & I've been keeping the wounds covered with gauze & a light layer of vet wrap.  

Now, it looks like we're keeping a Giraffe at the farm!  There will be hot wire all the way around the pasture fence now, since we thought it would be fine at four feet.  A certain mare has, hopefully learned a hard lesson which could have been much harder...