ouch

I'm getting to that point in my life where i can realise my strengths an weaknesses, well some of them anyway, i selectively ignore others. I know that I'm good at getting jobs done, but dint have great attention to detail, e.g i can bake a great cake, but icing it with pretty little flowers is not my thing. I can clean the barn, but my halters wont be hanging up according to colour. I know house work is a big weakness, and tidiness's may have been left out of my genetic code. But one thing i do definitely can do, is take a big hit,I'm tough, and it takes a lot to put me on the ground, or worse yet in bed. if i was a wilting delicate flower i would not have survived a month in my current career. So when i ended up not only hitting the deck, but unable to get off couch it was not a good thing.





Funny enough it was one of the smallest horses on the property that brought me to the ground. It also wasn't a wild horse, but an innocent looking little welsh pony. As usual with horses it was also my fault.





I brought two little ponies on Monday, something i have been meaning to post about, but that will come later. They are half feral, untrained, and malnourished things, that i picked up for pittance with the idea of turning them into kids ponies. Now it is always my own rule, that as soon as any new horse arrives on the property that i do basic ground work with it, to make sure it does n't kick, bite or otherwise trample people. I meant to with these ponies, but i didn't, i was busy and the only handling these horses got were taking them to and from there stable.





so yesterday evening i was leading them both to the barn, it was late, i was tired, it was the last job of the day, and mentally i wasn't on my 'A' game. Sometimes i also find after dealing with massive horses, or wild horses all day, sometimes i take the little ones a bit more casually, i shouldn't i know, but it happens, and now I'm paying for it. As also, often happens with young horses, they were a bit spooky, eyes wide open, and jumping from any leaf that moved. about halfway to the barn, as we walked past a paddock, the Shetland pony came tearing up, galloping and bucking. Well little Bramble, the more fiery of the two ponies, thought this midget horse was monster coming to get her. She leaped forwards trying to make a break for it herself, hitting the end of the lead rope, she tried to dart sideways. meanwhile her friend Cassie the other pony was on my other side, being more docile she was just standing watching the show, but she was definantly blocking the way if need to move out of range fast.

We have an old farm dog, Tonka, the worlds most incorruptible dog, faithful, stoic, and a real working dog, he accompanies me very seriously all day, helping when he thinks his services are required to encourage horses, or geese, or any other livestock in the right direction. hes also old, lately we have noticed mentally, he not as quick, and his deep eyes are now clouded with cataracts, which cause him endless frustration as hes struggles to see in the fading light, so the otherwise sensible dog, now occasionally loses his composure. He saw that horse leap forward, knew it wasn't right and sprung at it from the side to give a quick nip at his heels. Even as i went to yell at the dog to stop, the horse swung it hind end away, and in my concern to get the old dog out of harms way, i wasn't paying attention. Bramble hindquarters swung right into the lead rope, brushing her legs, now she really thought she was in real trouble, dog one side, midget monster other side of the fence, and now a snakey rope around her back leg, she wasn't going to take the time to ask questions, using every bit of power those hind legs could muster she lashed out as hard as she could, and the thing standing right behind her, was me.

I tried to move quick, but there was a horse blocking my escape route, and you can never react as fast as a horse can quick. One of those sharp, rock hard pony hooves got me, right in the pelvis. Not just a glancing blow, but square full contact, with all the force behind it. For a millisecond thought it might not hurt, then i dropped both lead ropes and threw myself side ways to the ground, and i screamed. I never scream, i never even cry, im a tough farm girl, but i screamed like never before. Never in my life have i felt such pain, like id been shot with burning white hot iron. i hit the driveway curled into a ball, and let out a sound of a dying hyena, i couldn't even cry, just a screaming wail,i didn't care who heard, in fact i hoped some one did. But as usual i was on the farm alone, our neighbors are far away and i don't think a living human sole heard me.

I have been kicked by horses many times in my career, its a occupational hazard. In fact last year a similar thing happened with another small pony, it even managed to chip a piece of bone from the femur in my left thigh, there was a bruise for months, and even now a permanent calcified hard lump remains in my leg to show for it. That kick was nothing compared to this. i just lay on the drive with gravel digging into my face, and screamed, and then cried, then sobbed and eventually could take gasping breath, but that white hot fire burned from the toe of my right all the way to my ribs, and i stayed paralysed with pain in a fetal position for what seemed like an hour, before i had the courage to try any movement. cautiously i tried my toes, just wiggling them, and they worked, i tried moving my lower leg, it hurt, but i could do it, then my whole leg, and that made me wail.

it hurt so bad, i wanted to hear car tyres on the driveway of someone coming to save me, i knew i still had to put these horses away , and somehow make it to the house, yet it hurt so bad i just wanted rescuing, even the thought of walking made me want to scream all over again. But I knew no rescue was coming, the boyfriend was overseas sailing, and none of my family were due home for hours. It was just me, and all the time i was thinking, i cannot afford to be this hurt, i had clients horses to break in. now these two little ponies, the wild mare, the olympic rider's horse to work, plus the competition season just around the corner, meaning my big horses need to be in work, i could not afford to be hurt! The thought just made the pain all the more worse.

in the meantime, Tonka sensing my distress, had done what he thought was the best course of action to cure the situation, chasing the ponies far away for their naughtiness, and now was finding every stick on the property and dropping it on my face, so we could play fetch ( the other meaning of his doggy life), in the hopes that this was the required action to stop my howling, as in every other situation him bringing me sticks, brought a positive response from me, and gave him a fulfillment in life fetching them for me. So there i was curled up on the driveway in almost darkness, covered in a pile of wood with a dog standing over me, and ponies running madly up and down the driveway dragging lead ropes. Excellent.

i wont go into details, but i managed to hobble and put the ponies away, and make it to the house. For the first time in my life i was really hurt though, i couldn't breath properly, i was crying, i was to scared to even look at my stomach, which from the bottom of my hip to my bellybutton was swelling fast, i wasn't being tough and i felt vulnerable like never before, which frightened me. So i did what i have never done, and behaved like any hurt child, i text my mum and asked her to come home for me. in the mean time i couldn't stop shaking uncontrollably, i am a very clear headed person so i did what i thought was the best course of action, hoped in a warm shower then into bed. still shaking and now hyperventilating, i called my much more corruptible dog, Lucy, into bed with me, if no person was going to be there to give me a hug, a dog at that point, would do. I curled around Lucy, and breathed as slowly as i could.

My mother of couse is a saint, and was home within twenty minutes, i know I'm a big girl, but its still great to have your mum come take care of you,a huge bonus for me is that my mother is also a doctor. Unfortunately this wasn't the end of the drama, the mum Doctor fearing the worst, dragged me down the road to another doctor neighbor for a second opinion, apparently fearing id torn my femoral artery. Just what i always wanted my neighbor feeling around my inner thigh and pelvis (sarcasm), but he was more concerned that i had cracked my hip, and at least confirmed to my mum i wasn't going to bleed to death internally in the night. Again i wish that was the end of it, but later in the night, just when i wanted to sleep more than anythign in the world, the mother dragged me all the way to the local hospital, still fearing for the artery or internal injuries. After a lengthy wait and a nonchalant check from the nurse i was sent back home.

i survived the night, i can hobble, so i guess I'm going to live, fingers crossed x-rays this afternoon come back clean. all this for a mongrel pony that cost me $250.

Moral of the story, do the ground work on horse straight away, little bit of time to begin with will save you days on crutches in the long run. From day one with the wild horses i did ground work and they have always been amazing to handle, if id done the same with these far less wild ponies i wouldn't have to be writing this.

to soon to young

This morning after days of rain the sun came out. I woke up feeling inspired and full of life, ready to achieve all manner of things. Then i opened my phone, and read a text I'd received during the early hours of the morning. I sat back down on the bed, and the bright light of day suddenly faded, in a 160 little letters, i got news that broke my heart.

Every rider dreads losing a horse, its not just the animal, but the hopes, dreams, goals and the journey that goes with them. To lose a young horse, a talented horse, and one that you have waited and planned and dreamed about, is devastating beyond belief. My very good friend had just that happen to her today. Hearing her news broke my heart, i completely understand the pain, and numb sense of disbelief that this kind of thing brings. Although not my horse, it was a very special one, and a mare that i have had a lot to do with, riding and schooling her from time to time.

In fact, not three days ago, i took the wild stallion out for a ride with this mare and her rider who is a dear friend. We talked the whole time about our horses, how hers was developing from a lanky young horse into a little super star. how the stallion continued to amaze us with his temperament and trainability. We talked excitedly about how this mare was going to be a fantastic dressage horse to train through to grand prix, and all her little bits of progress. Most of all her rider talked about how she was enjoying the experience of having a young horse, and the journey of training her. That journey is now over. in one freak accident. Horses are like that. one minute your on top with a bright future, next you cant believe the depths of pain you can feel.

we had the worst storm i can ever remember last night. Thunder and lightening that shook the roof all night long. Sometime during the night this little mare ran through a fence and broke her neck, dieing instantly. just like that she was gone. The extra tragic part, is that this friend made the tough decision to put her faithful old pony to sleep earlier in the week, as it wasn't coping with the harsh winter. So within 1 week she lost the two horses that were most special to her. To make matters even worse, my friend was super excited to be taking this mare to a clinic with a favorite trainer this weekend. She got up early to go get horse, but instead of picking her up for the clinic, she was met by her mother with the tragic news that she would never be seeing her lovely mare alive again.

I'm sure every horse rider and animal lover understand the pain and shock. I know i felt absolutely crushed and couldn't help crying as i talked to her on the phone. Such a beautiful horse taken way to young. I did what i could to help, and loaded up our quiet old stock horse mare and took her over, to keep the now severely traumatised pony her four year old daughter rides company. Dont let anyone tell you horses dont feel sadness, or loss or pain. This little mare was constantly looking for her companion, trying to get to where her dead freind body lay. was only all the more sad to see. Every time we have lost a horse, i know it has upset the whole herd for days! Once we made the descision to put a sick broodmare to sleep, her foal stood on the spot where she was buried for four days without moving. Horses just like humans feel greif.

RIP Tommy Girl, so sad your gone, and to all of you who have lost a good horse way to soon. I feel you greif.

the wild mare gets ridden

I rode the wild mare for the first time today. Finally. She was awesome, its a shame Ive had to put it off so long.

For months now, every time i have set aside a date to get Fern the wild mare started, something come up, i had other people horses to work, i was going away, it was impossible due to weather. Well today enough was enough. I rode this morning in the pouring rain by the time i had ridden the wild stallion, the first horse of the day, i was soaked through 3 layers of clothing to the absolute bone, there were rivers ruining down the driveway, and lakes forming in the paddock. Clearly their was to be no more riding outside today.

Standing in the stables, leaning across the back of the wild grey mare, watching torrents of water rain down from the sky, and pour off the side of the barn, i pondered what to do so the day was not a complete waste. As the way i see it every day spent inside waiting for weather to clear, loses me time and money, it also frustrates me to no end, not to be achieving anything, so much so that i grump around the house like a stung bear.

Then it hit me, the answer was literally right under my nose. The Grey horse. She needed work, i was realistically never going to have time to take her off the property and get her started in a friend round pen, so why not start here,now in the stable. As soon as i thought i knew i would do, and that it would work. All the ground work was there, she;d had a saddle on, knew how to bend and turn and all those things, i had just never sat on her.

I started by untying her from her position in the corner with the hay net. Taking her to the middle of the barn, i did a few bits of ground work and rubbing her all over to get her attention. Then jumping up and down beside her til she was happy with that, not just standing rigid but actually relaxed with me jumping like a lunatic. Next i hooked an arm over neck and sprung as high as i could, laying my torso across her wither so she was supporting all my weight. Well Fern saw me leap, felt my weight on her back, tensed her body up like a plank, and then did....nothing, she stood there, tilted her head towards me and rolled an eye to see what i was up to, and sighed out a deep breath, as if to say she would accept my mad antics if not understand them.

Well in not time i swung my leg all the way over her back, and was riding in small circles around the barn. That wild mare never worried, she just accepted what i was doing calmly and quietly. We could turn both ways, stop and walk on within five minutes, and that was that, the wild mare has been ridden. bare back and in a barn aisle, but ridden none the less.

Great Expectations

We all have expectations when it comes to life, sometimes high sometimes low.At times events will exceed expectations, other times for well short. But i find more often than not things pan out how we expect them to to. But do our expectations effect the way things turn out??

I think yes they do. Especially with horses, you see all the time in riders how there expectations affect the horse. Maybe its nerves at a show, the classic is " i don't think my horse will cope at a competition!" and sure enough the rider expects the horse to misbehave, changes their behaviour or riding because of this, and sure enough the horse does get nervous and becomes unable to cope. Now would that horse have coped if the rider though it could? Or would it have become nervous regardless? I think a lot of it comes down to what we expect, is what we get.

Stallions, people have many different expectations about these creatures. The expect them to be hot blooded, hormone driven, monsters, ready to rape anything with four legs that moves. Dangerous to be around, they really strike fear into some people. But i believe that they are only as bad as people think they will be. i always expect my 'wild stallion' to behave like a docile gelding, and he does. Of course its not that simple, i set pretty clear guidelines and quickly correct him, shoud he stray over the boundary of acceptable behaviour. But really my expectations, effect my body language which in turn effect the way my horse behaves. Nervous body language= nervous horse. Calm body language=calm horse, well that my theory anyway.

Case point- I had a little holiday down to beautiful Queenstown for my birthday, and on my return have been riding Matai every day...finally, as since he was broken in he has never been in consistent work, only a handful of rides here and there! Today i floated him out to go for a ride with a friend and her mare. I expected him to behave, but this might be a example of a horse exceeding expectations. He was amazing, he was by far the younger and less experienced of the two horses, yet he led the way down roads, through farm raceways, past tractors,across bridges and puddles,in the wind and rain, like he had been doing it his whole life. The mare was no trouble either, he even stood quietly as i held her, while his owner opened gates for us. No wild neighing, and trying to mount her, just calm acceptance of another horse. Happily walking right beside her all throughout the ride. we even jumped little fallen logs for the first time ever. he took everything in his stride.

That little stallion from the wild is one of the funnest horses i have ever owned. So dependable, willing and sensible, even though he is still really green broke, you would never know it. you feel safe from the moment you sit on him. The only funny inccident on the whole ride was coming across a herd of dairy cows on their way to the evening milking. The stallion suddenly let out a shrill call of "ladies I'm over here" only as we got closer did he realise that there were not in fact horses but of the bovine persuasion, he stopped dead in shock and watched the cows file past, with a look of surprise and amazement, his little brown eyes wide open peeking through his thick fringe, that he had so misjudged these black & white creatures with there hip swaying walk, which were not horses at all.

I know i have been on both ends of the stick expecting a horse to misbehave and it has, but today i was happily on the other end. having a horse behave just how i would expect it to and more. Go the little wild stallion

Confessions

Its my birthday & i have a confession to make. I have been keeping a secret for about eight months, well not really a secret, but more not telling my whole opinion. But now i am just going to come out and say it, get it off my chest.here it goes...





Sonny is ugly.....



I know i shouldn't be so shallow, beauty is on the inside, blah blah blah. But my wild foal is not easy on the eye. I do feel bad saying it, and its not that i don't love him just as much, but he is not good looking.



All this time i have been trying to take flattering photographs, and put nice comments about him on this blog. but every time i look at him in the paddock, i just think to myself 'what happened?' his mother Fern, is gorgeous, all visitors to the farm exclaim and gush over the beautiful wild horse. Matai has own cuteness about him too. So when fern was pregnant, even though we tried not to, we anticipated something to match her, or at least something like Matai. But Sonny stunned us, not with his super star appearance, but with his bad looks.





He was born in the middle of the night at my feet, story here, and when he first took his wobbly steps the thought that went through my head when i saw his profile in the moonlight was "good god was there a donkey loose on the ranges?" he looked like a little mule. A Big hammer shaped head, stocky legs and a solid dumpy body, he looks just like what a horse built to survive on a mountain should. Strong, tough, and able to withstand anything nature throws at him. he is not something you would find prancing around in the show rings of Europe.



All weanling's are ugly, its just that stage of life, but with his winter coat, Sonny looks like a woolly kumara (kumara are a long lumpy type of sweet potato). This big head now sports a beard that runs along his bottom jaw, wiht a white pointed muzzle that only empaises his big head. his legs are covered in long pale brown/ whitish hair, making them even stockier, and his growth rate has sent his butt about inch higher than his shoulder, so his body looks like he slightly tilted forward at all times.Thank god he cant understand what we say as his self confidence would be shattered. Especially compared to the other two foals which hit the ground looking like supermodels, he has been lovingly referred to as mule baby, ugly duckling, donkey, & all other sorts of names because well his looks aren't his best feature.











But for all that, he has been the sweetest little guy. In his mother eyes I'm sure to, that he is the most handsome thing to walk the earth. But to us, he all the more lovable because well he is the ugly little duckling, that everyone who visits jokes about. He is such a considerate boy to, now that he runs with the stallion, he has grown into a sensible cotl, and when hes being caught or handled always has this expression that he trying to be mature and responsible. He is not the cheeky energetic imps that gallop around causing chaos like the other two hooligans. He stands sensibly and quietly almost concerned to do the wrong thing, with what i call his thinker pose on.











He may not be a beauty queen, or a graceful moving dancer,but he does have other skills that will hopefully help him in life. that quiet stoic nature means he will be able to cope in many different situation, those strong sturdy legs less likely to break or damage, and with his great metabolism he will never be an expensive horse to have around. He can jump too, no gorse bush branch or tuft of grass gets in his way, he always take the straightest route from A to B, and if something is in his way, he happily soars over it, with perfectly tucked knees, and that big butts gives him plenty of power to lift high above any obstacle. So hopefully there will be a place in the world for him when he gets older.











But before anyone thinks I'm mean and horrible about my little wild foal, i do love him dearly. Out of the three babies born this year, its Sonny not the specially bred warm bloods, that's parading around the paddock in a brand new hunter green cover. with the wet weather the babies coats are just not keeping them dry, and wet cold foals, are not healthy horses. so keeping them dry is always worth the investment, as it means less money spent on feeding, and less health problems. So while the warm blood babies are wearing the hand me downs of every other foal we've ever bred, Sonny gets the best in a completely waterproof, thick, warm sparkly new winter rug. So despite his appearance sonny will always be well cared for and loved with us.

Somthing a bit differant to celebrate

I have some other news and something to celebrate, this is slightly veering from the theme of this blog but still equestrian related so i thought id post it anyway. I have been meaning to post this the last few days, but then Fern went AWOL and got colic, and before that i was a bit rushed off my feet. So now is as good a time as any. That horse you see in the pictures above, is the other man in my life, besides the boyfriend and the wild stallion. He is the reason, i never have time to work the other horses, spend all my weekends at horse shows, and travel for hundreds of miles to these shows and then put up with days of sleeping in freezing conditions in the back of a horse float.

This is my eventing horse Jet, and i love him dearly (not that i don't love any of them), he is my version of a Ferrari, or sports car, i have had him since he was a three year old gangly, shaggy, hairy and massive (17hh) young thing, that looked like nothing special at all to look at. Now as a six year old he coming into his own, with a string of successful results behind us from this season.

Anyway, last Friday night was the end of season eventing rider of the year awards. I have been nominated the last three years, first as a young rider, but never been able to scoop the title. This year i finally won, i got Amateur Rider if the year. I didn't win overall rider if the year, but I'm still pleased as anything, i must be doing some thing right, and makes all the slogging through winter mud, living with a generator instead of normal electricity, and long hours on the farm alone trying to train horses in less than ideal conditions...

More than anything I'm proud of my horse, he is awesome, and the biggest adrenalin rush in the world is to ride at a gallop that horse around a course of cross country jumps. He is a rare creature in that hes bold & brave, but quick and light on his feet for a big horse, he also loves his job, never once do you feel your having to force him to do it. Go Jet, my big bay horse. maybe one day one of the wild horses can join him out eventing...

SH#T!!!!!

I lost my grey horse.....





Anything out of the ordinary with animals is usually bad, it sets alarm bells ringing in my head immediately. I may be a bit pessimistic, but through years of experience, this is what i have learned. Changes from the routine are rarely good. So it was yesterday when i couldn't find my wild grey mare. Fern was missing...





Fern usually comes into the barn for the day, but yesterday i left her and another mare in the paddock, as i was going to be away all day riding. I left hay in the paddock to keep them occupied. When i left i saw a grey shape away grazing on top of the hill, I thought it was odd she hadn't come down for the hay, but with the wet weather and muddy slopes, i have found a few of the horses would rather stay up high & dry than try negotiating down the hill to hay. So off i went.





I got home late, verging on dark. By the time i had put the other horses away, and moved the rest of the mares & foals into a new paddock, Fern was nowhere to be seen.Sh#t! Sh%t! Sh#t!!!! this was defiantly alarm bell material, darkness, mud, rain & a horse somewhere off in a large paddock alone. Horses are herd animals, they do not ever really choose to be alone, especially if they usually are with a herd. If separated they will call and call to each other. Yet this night there was a sound except the squelching of my boots as i trudged through the paddock, and the steady increase of rain drops falling in the mud.





This month we have already had more than half a metre of our average rainfall. Every paddock is mud, walking through a gateway you risk thick brown sludge spilling over the top of your gumboot, and now on top of the mud is a couple inches of standing water. Everywhere you walk, every step is draining, every time u pick up a foot it comes up with a pound of mud attached. By this time its dark, raining, and I'm walking up & down hills through scrub and brush, slipping on wet clay, and still no Grey horse to be found. I searched for an hour every fence line, track and crevice, anywhere i thought a horse my get caught fall or stuck. She wasn't anywhere.





I got a flash light and the dogs and went looking again. No grey horse. I was soaked and exhausted it was clear that it was going to take more than me to find her. This was a large paddocks on a hillside and it was filled with dense bush. All kind of thoughts were going through my head, mainly that with the wet & mud i would find her in a similar situation to what i did last year...





Finally at 11pm when i had rounded up family members with flash lights to go out for a final search, grey walked by herself out of the bushes, seeing our flashlights she called out with her usual friendly neigh, and walked right up. Slipping the halter on i checked her over, dreading to see leg laceration or similar injuries. Nothing. No wounds, she was muddy like shed been down on the ground but no marks on her to show shed been stuck anywhere. But in a way this made it all the more weird, Fern is a friendly horse, she likes coming in to the barn and shes never difficult to catch so i doubt she'd been just misbehaving before, in fact she usually greets with a neigh to be taken to the barn. Again it was weird that she tolerated separation from the herd. So why the hell had it taken me 6 hours to find her and then she had just walked right up to me??





This become apparent all to soon as soon as id led her down the hill and met up with the fellow searchers. She just lay straight down on the ground in the middle of us. This is not a good sign in any horse, Horse very rarely lie down for any reason, most choosing to sleep on their feet. You have to remember they are prey animals and being on the ground is a very vulnerable position.Fern hadn't lied down for a nap, this meant she was sick, and lying down in this way usually mean colic!!





Colic basically covers any sort of intestinal upset in horses, and can mean mild tummy upset, to a twisted gut and death. my little grey horse wasn't out of the woods yet. She was just sitting down in the mud, not thrashing and rolling which was a good thing. If a horse has colic, you want to stop them rolling on the ground as this is what leads to a twisted gut. After about one minute she got to her feet again. This time i kept her walking, right up to the barn.

Suddenly things made more sense though. A sick animal will take itself away from the herd, or sometimes a herd will drive out the old or weak. I'm sure Ferns instincts told her to hide when she fell sick.By the time i found her it was my guess that was because she wanted to be found, the worst had already passed. It would also explain the mud all over if she had been lying down, and why i couldn't find her. If she was lying amongst the scrub brush i could have walked right by and not seen her, looking as i was for a horse on it feet not on the ground.

In the barn she was more settled, but occasionally looked back and nipped at her belly, to show signs of discomfort, confirming my belief that it was colic. She sipped water and nibbled a little hay, but nothing like her normal self. pawing occasionally she at least wasn't trying to go down anymore. Living on a farm we are far from any vets, as it is their are no horse vets in the area anyway, so Fern treatment was going to come down to us.So it was for the next hour i kept an eye on her, watching for any signs of her improvement or turning for the worse. But by midnight i thought she was improving. No longer pawing or biting at herself.

Finding the flattest paddock i could, and one where she would not disappear into the bush again, i turned her out. My thinking was that a paddock was safer than a stable as if she was to lay down and get cast against a stable wall we would be in real trouble. But she seemed fine going on to graze. I checked on her through the night but she seemed happier and passed the worst of it.

By morning she was back to her old self, and i breathed massive sigh of relief. I thought id lost my grey horse when i couldn't find her for all those hours, thankfully the colic passed too and shes okay.I think If i had found her hanging upside down with a broken limb, or dead from a twisted gut, i would have ever forgiven myself or been able to write on this blog again.

At the same time i think that sturdy and sensible wild horse mentality, probably allowed her to cope and recover better than most horses. My sensitive sport horses would probably have galloped, or lay thrashing on the ground unable to cope and ended up in far worse shape. So thankfully we still have all our horses safe and healthy and the only legacy being an extremely exhausted blogger, from a night of worry and stress.