Back from the brinkI can still hear the excitement in her voice. "Ponies, Daddy! Look! San'man!" The year was 1993, my daughter was not yet 3 years old, and already she knew exactly where she wanted to be. Each time we drove past the stables at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base in North Carolina, Rachel would call out wanting to stop and pet the horses. Many times we actually did pull into the gravel parking lot and she would convince me to pay the $1 for 30 minutes of saddle time aboard her favorite pony, Sandman.
At the age of 5 Rachel took her first formal English riding lessons. Before she was 8 we leased TC, a Quarter Horse gelding with the understanding that the mucking out of stalls, daily feeding and care and all the other onerous duties came along with the package. If she could last one full year, then we would consider purchasing a horse. TC was not an easy keeper, but Rachel kept up her end of the bargain (much to my chagrin) so on January 2, 2000, we bought Savannah, an 8 year old Quarter Horse mare.
Savannah had been trained Western, so Rachel's trainer faced a double challenge: teaching both girl and horse the finer points of the English disciplines. Within months, Rachel and Savannah were learning dressage, and they soon could safely enter combined training schooling shows.
You could see the rapport between child and mare growing each day. Like many young girls, I suppose Rachel was deeply in love with her horse. She read about horses, drew horses in every available space in her notebooks and wrote stories in school about horses. I am quite sure her teachers grew sick of nothing but horses all the time. Not all was perfect though. Savannah often seemed unwilling to do what was asked of her, and occasionally someone would recommend that we sell her and get a horse that cold teach that child some things. But Rachel would have no part of it, nor could we afford a more expensive horse. Before long thought, Savannah seemed to "get it," and she began taking jumps with ease when before she would balk and refuse. Collected trots, getting on the bit and other skills suddenly became almost second nature. In retrospect, I wonder if Rachel was the one to finally "get it" perhaps she had just needed to develop the proper aids and mental skills to bring out the mare's talents. Or maybe it truly was a team effort, each helping the other and learning to read the other's body language. Either way, they were a terrific pair.
But on January 17, 2001, that all came to a shuddering halt. Rachel was in school, and I was at work. the farrier was to put shoes on Savannah for the first time that day, and one of the other boarders was there to keep and eye on things. Although the farrier had worked on her feet many times before, Savannah was uncooperative. She apparently didn't like this new sensation of nails pounding into hoof wall, so the fairrier decided to lead her around until she settled down. Bt Savannah reared went over backward and crashed down on her back. Hitting her head squarely on hard packed earth, she was knocked unconscious and began to bleed from the nostrils and right ear. It was at least 15 minutes before she retained consciousness. By that time the veterinarian and I could get there, a few hours had elapsed. Thomas Wright, DVM immediately put her on DMSO to reduce the swelling in her brain, started an IV drip and left with orders to get her to his clinic ASAP. With the help of some incredible neighbors we loaded Savannah and covered the 25 miles to the clinic at about 35 miles per hour, to give her as smooth of a ride as possible. The farrier insisted on riding in the trailer to help her balance, since her legs were so very shaky. We ran a stoplight or two, but eventually we got Savannah into a stall at the clinic. When I left a few hours later, she was still bleeding and was largely unresponsive to external stimuli. Te vet suspected her brain was continuing to swell, and that situation didn't look good.
The next morning Dr Wright called with an update. He'd conferred with some other vets and all agreed that a blow of this magnitude usually resulted in death, and in fact they were surprised that she had survived the night. We discussed putting her down. She could not swallow nor was it clear that she ever would again-it depended on the severity of the blow. How seriously was her skull fracture, and how much damage was the bleeding and swelling in her brain causing? Our only small ray of hope was that the more bleeding we saw on the outside the less the pressure was building up inside her skull. Only an expensive trip to the university clinic could give us a full diagnosis, but Savannah was so unresponsive it looked like she would be lucky to see the next sunrise.
Gradually the talk shifted from "if" we would pt her down to "when." Today was Thursday. Would it be best to do it today or to wait until Friday, when Rachel would have time away from school to deal with her grief? Tears came to my eyes just thinking about how the loss of her beloved horse would traumatize my daughter. Leaving work early that afternoon, I hurried to the clinic. Savannah did not respond when I entered her stall, and she was barely standing on shaking and wobbling legs. Her head was hanging near the floor, with blood still dripping for her nostrils. Every time she exhaled her breath stank with the DMSO, draining into her jugular vein from the bag hanging high over the center of her stall. Something oily was oozing from her right ear. She appeared to be nearly comatose. When I brushed her face, her eyes blinked, but only after a significant delay. I decided that the only humane thing to do was to put her out of her misery. And it had to be done soon-that afternoon. It was the only decent thing to do. Savannah's head, neck and body still showed traces of dried blood, dirt and grime, so I borrowed a brush and proceeded to say my own goodbyes. Tears blurred my eyes as I groomed, trying to spruce her up before Rachel arrived. My mind was n turmoil. Things had been going so well, the two of them had come so far together, and now this? I said a quick prayer, asking for the ability to make the correct decisions and to be strong for my daughter's sake.
When Rachel Arrived a few minutes later, she entered the stall tentatively. She had been somewhat prepared, but still it was alarming, and her face revealed her shock at the sight of her formerly proud and vigorous mount. I watched her slowly come to grips with the devastation the injury had caused. Rachel approached Savannah softly called her name and gently caressed her neck. Soon, the pats turned into a long and emotional hug. Hot and silent tears steamed down her cheeks as she suffered along with her horse.
And then a miracle happen. Savannah slowly began to lean in toward Rachel, as if to verify that it was indeed her friend she felt standing there. Gradually, the mare curled her head and neck a little bit, gently encircling the girl. Then all at once Savannah took a deep breath gave out a sigh, lifted her head a bit and responded to Rachel's caresses. Within 10 minutes, she was following Rachel around the stall, stopping when Rachel stopped, turning when Rachel turned. Whenever cave the mare had been in it was clear that she was on her way out. A grin the size of Texas spread over Rachel's face.
When Dr Wright approached, my eyes met his-we both knew that the fatal injection would not be needed. Rachel and Savannah had come to an agreement. Their partnership wasn't over yet!
Savannah stayed at the clinic for another 10 days. For six of those days Dr. Wright kept her on an IV and fed her through a tube, until she regained the use of her tongue and the ability to swallow. We never had the MRI done and so will never know the inner details of her head injury. In June, we started working her on the longe line, and by July, seven months after the accident, Rachel was riding her again for short periods.
We don't yet know if Savannah will be able to jump again, so Rachel's goal of eventing with her is questionable. By that autumn, however, Rachel and Savannah had performed four introductory-level dressage test at two separate local schooling shows. They are ranked in first place in the youth category and one more show to go in the series.
By Tom Edwards
|