Saturday Night Shakeup

This is a different sort of story than most of my rowdy retellings of things that happen to me. In fact, this whole weekend has been berserk. For example, I did not get home from work on Friday nite until about 2:30 a.m. I should have known this weekend would be berserk.

Barry and I went to the late show to see Hot Tub Time Warp which looks really really stupid, but was funny.

While there, my defective phone showed I had a blackberry messenger message, but when I clicked it, I could not find it. I was just sure it was Lorna telling me something was up with HaidaGirl--she tracks my foalcam almost as much as I do, and between us, we get most of the day and nite covered. I was frustrated at my phone because I always am, but the movie was almost over, so we decided to stop by the farm on the way home to check on her.

But did we? No, we totally forgot. When we got here, I checked the foalcam. I am having trouble with every single browser not wanting to show me actual live video--Java is acting up despite downloading it repeatedly. I spent most of the afternoon fighting with it. I can click back to the home page which is a still shot, and still I saw no HG in her stall. There is a small blind spot, but as active as she is, she does not stay in it long, so it is normally no big deal.

That made me anxious, and I knew I would not sleep if I did not see her before bed. She could not be too terribly bad off, since Barry had been there at 9:45, but still I was paranoid.

And it was a dang good thing I was. We pulled in the driveway and by the time I parked, I could see her stall gate was off the hinges, and was just hanging by its chain. Oh holy shit.

By this time, it was raining. We could find her nowhere. I could not even see traces of her, such as hoof prints or poop piles--those usually help the most. But there was none of it. We had every light in the place on--but in the rain, that light does not get too far. I drove the farm road, both directions, all over, and could not find her.

We decided we needed two cars, and flashlights--mine should have been in my purse, but that was at home-- so we came back to get Barry's truck. On the way, I called the sheriff to see if they had heard tell of her. It was a long shot, considering it all went down after dark in the rain, but I wanted to give the police the info.

Back we came with flashlights and started hunting the pastures to make sure she had not found some magic way to get back into one of them. I could not imagine why she was not in the back barn with the hay, or standing near the feed bins, or at the very least, grazing on the new grass--and that is what scared me the most. Most horses will not travel with all that to choose from. We hunted, I almost stroked out as I tend to do when something crazy happens--we got into the middle pasture, and I suggested we go around the back of the barn to count heads in the lean-to that we had seen from the other direction. It was so muddy and gross, but still I thought we should but I almost did not mention it as I knew Barry would not want to and I would freak out on him for not acting right.

Thank God we did. Shiloh was standing at the back of the barn sneaking hay through the gate, and Barry happened to look in there. He saw something in there and said "uh oh". That is never good. Then he said something about "baby". Something goes wrong with me when I panic about my horses being in real danger, and it is like I do not speak English and cannot make a decision--someone else's horse I never do that with, and it is the rare occasion it can happen to freak me out so bad, but this was one of them. I did not know if he had found her baby, or he had found her or what--so my next question was "Is it alive?" Almost every time I have asked that question, the answer has been no.

But not this time! Thank God! It was HG. She appeared to be in labor, but had not had the baby yet. She was laid out flat on the back side of a huge round bale, but appeared to be cast up against the remains of another one. She was breathing pretty hard, but had good color to her gums. Her back legs were stiff as if she was in labor. BAary kept saying things about being hurt, and I could not get whether he was saying she was or was not hurt--- I was not so good my own self.

She was lodged so tightly in there, we cannot figure out how she got there. There was maybe one foot between the round bales she must have squeezed through unless she went over one. But good Lord, she is full term pregnant, and while she is the most athletic horse I have, I cannot fathom her vaulting over a 6 foot round bale at this stage of the game. And how did she end up cast? It makes no sense. I called the police and told them we found her, and you know you live in a rural area when the police dispatcher sounds as relieved as you are.

Barry got the tractor and started moving round bales so we could get to her--which is not easy when you cannot move them even an inch closer to her, or run the risk of crushing her. I got two ropes to pull her over and BAM, we had her up in a minute. She was a little unsteady on her feet and a little goofy for a bit. As Barry would approach to throw a rope over her neck to take her back to the front barn to her stall, she would startle, and look like she was thinking of going over the gate that keeps the horses from the pasture from entering the barn. Of course, the peanut gallery was there watching the whole showdown.

Finally she simmered enough to let him have her and we came back up front. He worked on replacing the door in the stall while I observed HG. She was calming down, but wanted to be right on top of me. I moved, she moved. She followed me around which made it hard to see what kind of shape she was really in. I spent a half hour or so with her, mostly with her putting her head on my shoulder. I think she scared herself as much as she scared me.

She does not appear to be in labor now, but I would not be surprised if the stress of it and the weather drive her to it soon. I sure hope she did not do any unseen damage, and I do not think she did--I will worry though as that is what I do. It makes me even madder that the dealership still does not have our trailer done, since I would be able to stay with her if they did--and it is just one excuse after another with them. I am stuck just watching her on the foalcam as she paces and paces and paces.

What a night. Just when you think you have seen every wacko thing a horse can come up with, they come up with something new. Now I hope all that wallering in the hay with her does not do me in, but if that is the only bad side-effect of this adventure, that will be just fine with me