Chapter 4: Road To Recovery

After the gruesome probe situation, the vet applied a compression wrap to my leg and advised that I was to stay on box rest and given antibiotics with my feeds. I was only to be walked out twice a day for anything between 5-10 minutes at a time. The compression wrap was to come off on day 4 and a progress report required. When the compression wrap came off, it pulled at the scabs and the wound bled. The vet said this was quite common and not to panic but to keep me on box rest and to keep the wound as clean as possible but leave it to air and scab over.

Two days later, my leg began weeping puss. It was still infected. Mum was worried, she called the vets once again who advised that it was likely there was something inside my leg causing the infection. I was to go in to the vets for a more thorough examination. I was led onto the trailer and I didn't make a fuss, I knew she was worried already. It was quite a short journey there and when we arrived I could hear other horses. I began to call out to them wondering where I was and what was happening. The last time I had been in one of these vehicles I was brought to the place called Home.

When the ramp came down, Mum was already by my head in the trailer, ready to lead me off. I was so anxious that I jumped from the trailer over the ramp and clattered all four hooves on the floor. I was spinning around trying to take in my surroundings. The vets came out and Mum took me with them to a stable to await further examination. She wanted to wait with me but the vet said it was likely I would be in overnight and it could be hours before I was even seen.

They kept calling me "Lady" which I found really strange; my name is Morgs... strange people.

After an x-ray and an ultrasound, it was decided that I needed to have minor surgery to remove what the vets suspected to be tiny fragments of chipped bone. I behaved well given the circumstances, although I think I heard the vets chuckling over that with Mum when she came to collect me...

When I was taken home I was to stay on box rest again for 8 weeks. The recovery process was slow and frustrating... I wanted to go out and play with my friends in the paddock! It was summer and I was stuck inside, bored. I was feeling really sorry for myself but Mum made sure I got plenty of fuss and attention, I liked that.

One day, Mum decided to break up the mundane routine and to give me a bath. When I had come back from the vets, the bedding they used had left me with a very dusty coating on my fur and it wasn't how a mare of my kind ought to be seen! So she began hosing me down which I didn't mind too much. Then she applied the shampoo and was giving me a good scrub down... that's when I heard it. My friends were calling to me from the paddock, I had to just go and say hello! Just quickly...

So I started pacing from side to side, Mum thought I was just opposed to the scrubbing brush; little did she know I was plotting my great escape! Then, I started to pull back on the rope; Mum tried to calm me, by this point knowing EXACTLY what was about to happen! I ended up pulling back so hard that the buckle of my lead rope just snapped straight off, flung back and hit Mum's hand; I was away! Cantering across the courtyard towards the paddocks - I was only going to say hello. Anyway, in my panic, I went the wrong way didn't I?! Ran to the right into a dead end with Mum swift on my tail... she did not look impressed. I stood there looking about for a way around her, covered in soapy suds, dripping wet, still determined to make my escape. It was too late, she had my headcollar and was in a royal strop, muttering at me the whole way back to the hose. That's kind of how me and Mum are, stubbornly determined individuals. It's just that sometimes we have different end games... *snickering*

Anyway... I was slowly brought back into work, lunged for 5 minutes at first and then slowly built up. I was on my best behaviour, Mum was patient and kind and I was trying my hardest to show her how keen I was, especially after my soapy shenanigans!! We were back on track, pardon the pun...

 

Feeling sorry for myself (but still gorgeous)

 

 

The wounds...

 

 

Box rest life with the Michelin Man leg...

                                     Mum's knuckle after my failed attempt at The Great Escape

 

Being brought back into work, don't I look pretty?!

Chapter 3: Through sickness and in health...

Over the next few weeks, Mum gradually started riding me. We took baby steps, just a bit of walk and trot for five or ten minutes before building up to half an hour of light schooling. One particular day, Mum came down to ride. She came alone and no one else was at the stables, we were quite used to being the only pair around and enjoyed the quality time. The sky was grey and it was drizzling outside my warm, cosy stable.

Mum proceeded to tack me up and said she would lunge me for ten minutes first before getting on. This was quite routine. We went to the ménage and started on the lunge; five minutes in, the rain got worse. The sky turned black and the rain began to lash down against the sand, creating a backlash as it fell, hammering against the surface. Mum was not deterred by this but I wasn't so sure. She took me off the lunge and walked me over to the mounting block. I wouldn't stand still, I didn't want to work in this weather and the rain was really coming down; so much so, that the school was beginning to have giant puddles. I walked round and round the mounting block, trying to tell her that I wasn't comfortable with this. She told me that it was only a bit of rain and she wanted to walk me around for five minutes and that was it. Mum put one foot in the stirrup, chucked her other leg over and as her bum hit the saddle, I lost it. I ran so fast, bronching and bucking down the length of the school.

Mum went flying. She somersaulted through the air before crashing to the ground. The sound of her hitting the surface spooked me, I looked round stunned as to why she was on the floor before realising what had happened. I was stood so tall, on edge; I slowly lowered my head and walked towards her. She dragged herself up, covered in sand and absolutely drenched through, she was shaking and crying. I felt awful, I sensed she was hurt and upset. I nudged her with my head by way of apology and she led me from the ménage. Just as we walked out, a friend appeared at the stables who took hold of me and led me to my stable whilst Mum composed herself. Moments later, Mum reappeared and untacked me before leaving me in my stable to dry off and shelter from the horrendous weather. I felt so guilty.

It took her weeks to get back on. She continued to lunge me and we did some freeschool games. I really wanted to prove to her that I hadn't meant to hurt her and I really did want her to get back on board. When she plucked up the courage to get back on, I vowed I would be on my best behaviour and would protect my jockey to the best of my ability. We took baby steps once again and, slowly, Mum was getting her confidence back and learning to trust me again in the saddle.

A few weeks later, something bad happened. We were all in the paddock as usual, Mum came to check on us and give us a fuss before leaving for the night. It was a nice, warm summer evening in July and we were grazing happily. When Mum came down to see us in the morning, she walked to our paddock but we weren't there. I could hear her panicked calls for us; I knew she would be worried so I called back to her. It didn't take her long to see the broken fence and she ran into the large paddock with the main herd to find us grazing. She put our headcollars and leadropes on with a friend and began to try to lead us from the field. Her friend walked on with Babe no problems but I couldn't move. Mum was trying to encourage me to walk forward to get out of the field but I planted my feet. I couldn't handle the pain. That's when she saw it... the result of a scrap with the main herd and there were two cuts on my leg; one on my hock, the other just below. Blood had seeped down my leg onto my white socks and Mum went into panic mode. She called to her friend who came back to help encourage me along. I knew I had to move but the pain was unbearable.

It took half an hour for her to get me to the stable block. She carefully cleaned mine and my friend's legs and flushed out the wounds before applying small bandages to keep them covered. We were both left in our stables to rest and she came later to clean up and redo our beds etc.

The next day, she took the bandaging off. She wanted our legs to be open to the air and for the wounds to dry out/scab over. I was still in my stable with my best friend in the stable next door, we were both feeling sorry for ourselves. Mum took such good care of us though, making sure we got lots of attention and care.

It became apparent that my leg was infected, yellow puss was weeping from the wound. The vet came out and cleaned it all out and applied a compression wrap that covered almost the entirety of my leg. He told my Mum to remove the wrap after a few days and see if it still seemed infected. She did as he said and discovered, unfortunately, it was still infected. The vet came back out. Mum was getting stressed, I could sense that she was worried for me. The vet mentioned fracture and that he would have to probe the wound to check the extent of the injury as a preliminary measure to x-ray. I was taken from my stable and Mum held me whilst the vet looked over my wounds.

Mum stood right at my head, whispering to me and soothing my anxiety about what was to come. The vet warned my Mum that he was about to probe the wound. I buried my head into my Mum's chest whilst she wrapped her arms around my head and kept talking to me, reassuring me. The vet inserted a small metal rod into my leg and scraped along the bone to check for any jagged edges, he felt nothing out of the ordinary. It became clear further examination would be required.

I was so glad my Mum was there to comfort me and the vet was amazed that I hadn't moved a muscle during the probe. Both my Mum's mother and the vet commented on what a special bond my Mum and I had. I love my Mum very much and it was becoming evermore apparent that she loved me very much too...

Michelin Man Leg

 Cuddles with my Best Friend

Chapter 2: Allow me to reintroduce myself...

It took me a good 6 weeks to adjust to my new routine at Home. My very first real home. It became apparent that I was a very special creature to my Mum; I was her very first own horse. She had been around horses her whole life but I was the first horse she could call her own. She was so proud of every little thing I did, it felt good to be appreciated and I tried really hard to impress her on a daily basis.

To begin with, I was fielded with Babylon Babe and Princess, my Best Field Companions. They accepted me into their herd quite happily. This pleased me as I was a bit of a lone ranger before. Every morning, Mum would turn up to give me a morning feed and then we would all get turned out together. Then every evening, I would be brought in from the field with the others and worked before being put to bed in a lovely, fresh stable with a big bowl of dinner.

I remember the first night I had carrots in my bowl, these bright orange things. They looked most peculiar and I shied away from my bowl snorting and stamping my front hoof on the ground. My Mum just laughed at me and asked if I had ever seen carrots before. She scooped one out of my bowl and held it out to me, quietly reassuring me that they were orange but tasty. I nervously approached her hand and took a nibble at it, it wasn't too bad. I nodded my head in approval and continued to chomp on the carrot in her hand before returning to my dinner bowl.

Five nights a week I was lunged, the 6th night I was freeschooled and the 7th night was pamper and rest day. This lunging malarkey was new to me, I didn't really understand it. I hated the contact to begin with but I gradually became accustomed to it and realised that this was a good exercise to let me stretch out. However, freeschooling was my favourite!! I would run around the school really stretching out and bronching and prancing as much as possible. It was my fun time; Mum called it "Morgan's Mad Moments". I did this routine for a solid month. Then one day, Mum tacked me up and hopped on board. We just walked around for ten minutes to start with to see how it went. Then we gradually worked up to trot and canter. I was getting used to these schooling sessions.

During week 4, it was apparent that my stay was to become more permanent; Mum called the vet out. I had what she called a vetting. She was at work that day but her Mum came to help the vet and I was not best pleased. I was brought in from the field away from my friends and made to do all these stupid movements and trotted around. Well, I put on quite a show. Prancing and snorting and generally misbehaving. The vet gave me the all clear but was concerned that my Mum wouldn't be able to handle my "attitude"; I didn't know what she was on about, my Mum thinks I'm an angel *snickering*.

My Mum wanted to know about the sores that were all over my coat that, although were healing,  were still patchy and some were still there. The vet confirmed it was rain scald and that my Mum should keep doing what she was doing and it would heal and my coat would improve. I was putting on weight and my summer coat started to come through; I was really coming into my own and my Mum and her friends would always say how beautiful I was looking. My summer coat goes dapply, it really is quite pretty if I may say so myself.

As the weeks went by, I settled into my new routine. I worked really heard to impress my Mum although that didn't take much effort; she was totally smitten and bought me on week 6 of the 3 month trial. She said there was no way I was going back and the knowledge that I was to stay at Home with her made me the happiest mare alive. I really had landed on my hooves...

Pamper Time

 

 New improved look

 

 Prancing

 

Chapter One: A Place Called Home

I remember the very first day I met my Mum. She came with her own Mum to come and view me with the prospect of taking me on a 3 month trial with a view to buying me if we were well suited. Little did we know that this was the beginning of an amazing partnership.

I was really quite anxious as I had been taken away from my field companions, this was out of the ordinary and I don't like interruptions to my routine. I was pacing the stable and calling to the paddock but none of them responded. Then, along came my Mum with her Mum; I could hear excited chatter and I could tell they were impressed with the set up at the stables I was living at. She had also seen pictures of me... a fancy ex racehorse at just 7 years old standing tall and doing cool things like jumping.

When my Mum saw me, I could see in her face that she was shocked at my appearance. I didn't look how I did in the pictures. They weren't recent pictures. Now, I was underweight and my ribs and pelvis were jutting out; I had lots of little sores all over my coat. She tried to hide her shock with a smile but I could tell she wasn't expecting to see me like this.

They asked if they could see me being worked, so I was freeschooled. My Mum and her Mum stood and watched, I could hear murmurs of approval from her Mum, she liked how I moved. Then, much to my amazement, my Mum asked if she could come into the arena. In she walked, carefully locking the gate behind her; she was talking to me as she slowly walked up to me with her hand held out. I stood bolt upright, eyes wide and I was quivering because I was so anxious as to what was happening.

She was quite happily chatting away to me and giving me a fuss. Her Mum was talking to the handler about what would come with me etc should my Mum choose to take me on the trial. Then my Mum and her Mum were offered to be taken on a bit of a tour and to be shown around the facilities to which they willingly obliged. I didn't want her to leave, she was nice to me and I felt like we already had a bond. I called after her and, to my surprise, she popped her head around the corner. I stood looking at her, unsure what was going to happen next. Then she excitedly said "I'm just going to go and say goodbye before we go back". She practically skipped over to the arena and whispered in my ear:

"The next time I see you, I'll be taking you home."

And sure enough, she was true to her word. Two weeks later, she arrived with a lorry and a new headcollar, lead rope and travel boots to come and take me to this place she called "home". I wasn't ready, in fact I was covered in mud, they had forgotten that she was coming to collect me. I was dragged from the field and I could tell they were embarrassed, they offered to groom me before I was taken away but my Mum just said it was fine and she would sort me out when I got Home.

I was pacing the stable and my Mum's family had come to help take me away. I could tell that the males in the group weren't used to horses and could sense their fear. This made me more anxious. My Mum however, she was taking it all in her stride and chatted away to me the whole time about what was happening and what we were going to do, where we were going bla bla. She didn't hesitate when getting me sorted to box up and then whisked me out of the stable and loaded me onto the lorry.

It wasn't too long a journey to Home. When we arrived, people were sat around waiting to see what was arriving as my Mum didn't ever use a horse lorry. I thought she might be embarrassed because I wasn't in a very presentable state. Alas, ever full of surprises, she came onto the lorry telling me I was such a good girl for being so brave.

She walked off that lorry with me feeling nothing but pride, sheer joy and unconditional love. I knew that I was Home.

 Day One

My Best Friend