The Ex-Stallion, continued ...
The day after the lovers simmered down, I saddled up Sandia
and rode him. He had a funny "ba-dump" feel to his
trot. I had felt that ba-dump while riding him a few weeks before.
Now the ba-dump seemed worse. I remembered telling Al about it.
"He's always had it," Al had said. "It's his
left hind leg. It always goes in funny when he trots."
Later that day, Debbie came over. She noticed that "ba-dump,"
too. "He's lame," she said. She tested his back by
running her fingers down either side of the spine, pressing hard.
When she got to the loin, he squatted in pain.
She prescribed rest and back massages, which I gave several times
a day.
After a week of rest, Sandia appeared better. He didn't squat
down any more when I tested his back. So when Diana Stender proposed
that she would ride Coquetta while Virginia rode Sandia, I said
OK - if they only walked Sandia.
Since I had a deadline, I went inside to write while they
saddled up. Ohmigosh, did I hear screaming? I rushed to the door.
Valerie and Diana were running toward the house. "Call
911!!! Call 911!!!"
I saw Virginia lying in the driveway. Blood was running down
her forehead.
As we waited for the Edgewood Fire and Rescue ambulance, Virginia
told me that just as she was swinging up on his back, Sandia
had taken off at a full gallop. She'd hung on long enough to
get up some real speed before he threw her off.
The ambulance got there in about ten minutes. One of the EMTs
(emergency medical technicians) said "It's a wreck."
A horse wreck.
I accompanied Virginia to the emergency room, riding in the
front seat of the ambulance. The driver told me he'd lived in
the Estancia Valley all his life. Said he'd worked as a farrier.
It was the broken bones he kept getting that made him quit. Soon
he and I were muttering about how old stallions never change,
not even if they are gelded. Wrecks waiting to happen. Yep, we
agreed. No darned pig-trucking good for anything but making foals.
Fortunately Virginia just needed some stitches and cleaning of
road burn
We had a vet evaluate Sandia. He discovered a back problem
that is common among studs. A place on his backbone would sometimes
pinch a nerve, especially when being ridden. His escapade with
Coquetta had worsened it. Sandia's solution to that nerve pain
was simple. Buck the rider off.
The Wulfekuhles asked Philip Johnson to check out Sandia.
He made a special shoe for his left hind foot - the one that
had been making him go ba-dump when he trotted. This helped enough
that Melody, at least, felt safe riding him.
The next time Al turned up in church, I asked why he had gelded
Sandia.
"He was doing crazy things to hurt himself. Like he leaped
off a cliff once -- good thing I jumped off in time!"
A perfect kid horse, huh?
Next chapter: Three Fillies
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Killer Buyer
