Birker2020
Well-Known Member
Last night myself and two friends were at the yard late. I don't see my o/h on a Wednesday and my friends and I sat and had a coffee and a natter. As we went back on the yard to get our keys to go home we heard a massive bang and scraping. We ran over to the stable and one of the horses had got cast. The Y/O was out for a meal, as was her Mum and Dad so we'd got no immediate help on the yard, it was just the three of us.
We grabbed a couple of lunge lines, luckily for me the mare was behaving and although was in a state of shock, was calm enough to realise we were trying to help her. I managed to get the lunge line under the leg resting on the floor by burrowing my hand through the shavings bed and back up. The front leg I had to move her 'top' front leg away from her 'bottom' front leg so I could get the rope under, she was so obliging and let me move her leg without fighting me. Eventually we had the ropes under. My two friends are only about 5ft 4, whilst I'm 5ft11 I have a slipped disc so we weren't an ideal combination! We tried to pull her over but she's a big solid mare, big boned, about 760KG of dead weight! I tried to ring my friend who lived about 1/4 mile away and whose husband could have come out but none of us had her number and she didn't have a card outside her stable (we are all meant to have a stable card with emergency and farrier details on) so I rang two friends for her number, both had their voice mails on! By this stage things were getting quite desperate, she'd been down for about 15 minutes or more and I know time is of the essence in cast horses due to the weight on their internal organs pressing down and also in case they panic more.
We realised we were stuck with no help, so the three of us really gave it our all, and eventually she came flying over, when she got up and shook herself down. We'd call the owner so she was on her way. I told my friends to get off whilst my friend drove to the yard as it was about 9pm by this stage. The mare was acting a bit colicky by this stage, gassy spasmodic colic, we were debating whether to call the vet but after walking her around the building a few times she seemed a lot better so we left to go home.
Really we were very lucky. Lucky that between the three of us we were able to help pull her over. lucky she didn't have such severe colic that she needed the vet, and lucky that we were there in the first place otherwise I doubt she would have righted herself by morning.
Lesson to be learned: Everyone to have cards outside stable
Lesson two: Take wrestling lessons!
We grabbed a couple of lunge lines, luckily for me the mare was behaving and although was in a state of shock, was calm enough to realise we were trying to help her. I managed to get the lunge line under the leg resting on the floor by burrowing my hand through the shavings bed and back up. The front leg I had to move her 'top' front leg away from her 'bottom' front leg so I could get the rope under, she was so obliging and let me move her leg without fighting me. Eventually we had the ropes under. My two friends are only about 5ft 4, whilst I'm 5ft11 I have a slipped disc so we weren't an ideal combination! We tried to pull her over but she's a big solid mare, big boned, about 760KG of dead weight! I tried to ring my friend who lived about 1/4 mile away and whose husband could have come out but none of us had her number and she didn't have a card outside her stable (we are all meant to have a stable card with emergency and farrier details on) so I rang two friends for her number, both had their voice mails on! By this stage things were getting quite desperate, she'd been down for about 15 minutes or more and I know time is of the essence in cast horses due to the weight on their internal organs pressing down and also in case they panic more.
We realised we were stuck with no help, so the three of us really gave it our all, and eventually she came flying over, when she got up and shook herself down. We'd call the owner so she was on her way. I told my friends to get off whilst my friend drove to the yard as it was about 9pm by this stage. The mare was acting a bit colicky by this stage, gassy spasmodic colic, we were debating whether to call the vet but after walking her around the building a few times she seemed a lot better so we left to go home.
Really we were very lucky. Lucky that between the three of us we were able to help pull her over. lucky she didn't have such severe colic that she needed the vet, and lucky that we were there in the first place otherwise I doubt she would have righted herself by morning.
Lesson to be learned: Everyone to have cards outside stable
Lesson two: Take wrestling lessons!
