This morning Larry posted a "brief" story about Gabriel on his "My Space". He was obviously fretting about the appointment like I was. As you read it, please note that he is writing to NON-horse people.
Gabriel was born as a premie on Mother's Day, 4 years ago, and I had to revive him. He went septic on us a few days later........just to explain some of what Larry mentions...... Here is GABRIEL'S STORY in LARRY'S WORDS ----
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Today Gabriel gets gelded. Who's Gabriel you may ask? I guarantee he is aptly named.
Gabriel is a four year old stallion who was born extremely sick. Our veterinarian wanted us to put him down as he didn't have much of a chance to live. We refused.
He was a lovely colt and our vet and we had performed miracles in the past (albeit expensively). Well, with extreme ICU type care, he recovered and survived his first month. Because of all the handling, he was a very friendly and inquisitive little colt. He wasn't the strongest baby we had because of his slow start but he was healthy. He looked a lot like his dam (his mother) and his sire but that was expected. Gabe was our first (and only) experiment in in-breeding (Terra, his mother is his father's daughter--sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy joke) which is not uncommon in the horse breeding industry.
When Gabe was approaching two months of age, MA, Bri, and I went away for a weekend (think to a horse show). Upon return, we saw that the guy who was taking care of the ranch had taken it upon himself to put Gabe and his mother in with the stallion we were going to breed her to for the next year. The stallion is a big, burly, gorgeous pony. Not a problem, we were going to do it---except we saw that Gabe was limping. Checking his leg, he had a little cut, which we treated. We figured (and still do) that the stallion bred Terra and slipped off of her and landed on a sleeping Gabe's leg. The injury didn't look bad so we didn't think much of it.
Gabriel limped around for several days. We checked the injury daily and were a little concerned that it wasn't healing. His leg was cold. After the fifth day, MA was massaging the injured leg and Gabe's hoof fell off in her hand! Oh, it wasn't like the bottom of his leg came off -- it was more like a fingernail which had been injured coming off. There was a tiny, malformed hoof remaining--very soft and COLD. We immediatedly brought him to our vet who proclaimed that the lower leg was dead. It was a right rear leg--an extremely important leg for a horse. We had already spent over a thousand dollars on this colt nursing him from his earlier sickness. Our vet wanted to put him down--again we refused. We took Gabe home and didn't know what to do. The vet had told us that this little horse's life was in jeopardy.
A friend came by who is an animal nut. She expressed concern and agreed that this little begger was a fighter and we needed to explore more options for Gabriel. She contacted another vet, who agreed to see him. We made the appointment and took him in. THAT vet told us what had happened...the impact of the stallion (most likely) landing on the little guy's leg most likely severed a tendon AND the blood supply to the lower leg. The leg was indeed dead. He was willing to amputate the part of the limb that had died although he had never amputated a horse's leg before.. The friend agreed to finance this project (she had more money than brains). On the appointed date, Gabe went in and had his right leg below the "elbow joint' in the right rear leg (hock for those who are in the know).
The operation was successful. As is normally the case, the aftercare by us was the most important part of this operation and MA and I spent a couple of hours every day unbandaging the stump, cleaning it, treating it with an antibacterial, then rebandaging. We spent a fortune in bandages, socks, and a special medical tape. The stump was ugly and a raging red mass of tissue and bone. It took some time to get used to it but it was a twice daily task and it started to heal.
The long and short here is that Gabriel survived the amputation and learned to walk on three legs. He is slightly mishapen from the effort needed to use muscles not intended for walking but he moves around fine and when running, it is hard to realize he only has three legs. At some point, a newspaper article was written about him and a company specializing in building prosthetics for people got involved. They took on Gabe as a challenge and pro bono (free) they built him a prosthetic after many measurements. He was a challenge for them---up to this point, there hasn't been a leg built that he'll keep on. He's had several made and they are still working on it. Gabriel hates these artificial limbs--if he only knew that if he'd keep one on, he'd be able to breed a mare---up to this point, Gabriel will try to mount a mare, only to roll off of her because he can't keep his balance. He's still a beautiful horse and we'd love a baby from him but....
Gabriel's future is to become a therapy horse. Our plans for him, once he's gelded (oh, that means making him not a stallion anymore) are to have him certified as a therapy horse and take him around the country to children's clinics and hospitals where he'll be shared with youngsters who are facing amputation. He has a fantastic attitude and loves people. With some luck, we'll get financing through grant money and that will become my job.
Gabriel, by the way, is one of only about 100 surviving horse amputees in the US.
Gabriel gets gelded today...it is truly a new beginning for him--and for us. I'm excited for him.
____________________________
This is MA again..........Trust me, this isn't the whole story. But if you knew some of the details, it would blow your socks off! :bgrin
Gabriel was born as a premie on Mother's Day, 4 years ago, and I had to revive him. He went septic on us a few days later........just to explain some of what Larry mentions...... Here is GABRIEL'S STORY in LARRY'S WORDS ----
________________________________
Today Gabriel gets gelded. Who's Gabriel you may ask? I guarantee he is aptly named.
Gabriel is a four year old stallion who was born extremely sick. Our veterinarian wanted us to put him down as he didn't have much of a chance to live. We refused.
He was a lovely colt and our vet and we had performed miracles in the past (albeit expensively). Well, with extreme ICU type care, he recovered and survived his first month. Because of all the handling, he was a very friendly and inquisitive little colt. He wasn't the strongest baby we had because of his slow start but he was healthy. He looked a lot like his dam (his mother) and his sire but that was expected. Gabe was our first (and only) experiment in in-breeding (Terra, his mother is his father's daughter--sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy joke) which is not uncommon in the horse breeding industry.
When Gabe was approaching two months of age, MA, Bri, and I went away for a weekend (think to a horse show). Upon return, we saw that the guy who was taking care of the ranch had taken it upon himself to put Gabe and his mother in with the stallion we were going to breed her to for the next year. The stallion is a big, burly, gorgeous pony. Not a problem, we were going to do it---except we saw that Gabe was limping. Checking his leg, he had a little cut, which we treated. We figured (and still do) that the stallion bred Terra and slipped off of her and landed on a sleeping Gabe's leg. The injury didn't look bad so we didn't think much of it.
Gabriel limped around for several days. We checked the injury daily and were a little concerned that it wasn't healing. His leg was cold. After the fifth day, MA was massaging the injured leg and Gabe's hoof fell off in her hand! Oh, it wasn't like the bottom of his leg came off -- it was more like a fingernail which had been injured coming off. There was a tiny, malformed hoof remaining--very soft and COLD. We immediatedly brought him to our vet who proclaimed that the lower leg was dead. It was a right rear leg--an extremely important leg for a horse. We had already spent over a thousand dollars on this colt nursing him from his earlier sickness. Our vet wanted to put him down--again we refused. We took Gabe home and didn't know what to do. The vet had told us that this little horse's life was in jeopardy.
A friend came by who is an animal nut. She expressed concern and agreed that this little begger was a fighter and we needed to explore more options for Gabriel. She contacted another vet, who agreed to see him. We made the appointment and took him in. THAT vet told us what had happened...the impact of the stallion (most likely) landing on the little guy's leg most likely severed a tendon AND the blood supply to the lower leg. The leg was indeed dead. He was willing to amputate the part of the limb that had died although he had never amputated a horse's leg before.. The friend agreed to finance this project (she had more money than brains). On the appointed date, Gabe went in and had his right leg below the "elbow joint' in the right rear leg (hock for those who are in the know).
The operation was successful. As is normally the case, the aftercare by us was the most important part of this operation and MA and I spent a couple of hours every day unbandaging the stump, cleaning it, treating it with an antibacterial, then rebandaging. We spent a fortune in bandages, socks, and a special medical tape. The stump was ugly and a raging red mass of tissue and bone. It took some time to get used to it but it was a twice daily task and it started to heal.
The long and short here is that Gabriel survived the amputation and learned to walk on three legs. He is slightly mishapen from the effort needed to use muscles not intended for walking but he moves around fine and when running, it is hard to realize he only has three legs. At some point, a newspaper article was written about him and a company specializing in building prosthetics for people got involved. They took on Gabe as a challenge and pro bono (free) they built him a prosthetic after many measurements. He was a challenge for them---up to this point, there hasn't been a leg built that he'll keep on. He's had several made and they are still working on it. Gabriel hates these artificial limbs--if he only knew that if he'd keep one on, he'd be able to breed a mare---up to this point, Gabriel will try to mount a mare, only to roll off of her because he can't keep his balance. He's still a beautiful horse and we'd love a baby from him but....
Gabriel's future is to become a therapy horse. Our plans for him, once he's gelded (oh, that means making him not a stallion anymore) are to have him certified as a therapy horse and take him around the country to children's clinics and hospitals where he'll be shared with youngsters who are facing amputation. He has a fantastic attitude and loves people. With some luck, we'll get financing through grant money and that will become my job.
Gabriel, by the way, is one of only about 100 surviving horse amputees in the US.
Gabriel gets gelded today...it is truly a new beginning for him--and for us. I'm excited for him.
____________________________
This is MA again..........Trust me, this isn't the whole story. But if you knew some of the details, it would blow your socks off! :bgrin
