Three Fillies, continued ...
I noticed a mahogany filly with a crescent on her forehead
stretched on her side on a pile of manure. She was gasping. On
her right foreleg she had several gashes.
"I'll sell her to you for $80."
"She's probably going to die. It would cost me at least
$80 for the vet to save her."
"But I paid $80 for her."
"If I add what the vet will cost, I could get a better
foal."
"I hate it when my buyers bring in junk like this one.
Yeah, she's heaving. She's going to die. Take her off the place.
You can have her for nothing."
Virginia, pale with horror, helped me muscle her into a stock
trailer that Chavez loaned us for the day. As we drove off, I
made a snap decision to name the filly Crescent. First step in
survival -- a name.
I hauled her to the nearest vet, Dr. Ralph Zimmerman at Rio
Bravo Veterinary Hospital. Hearing there was an emergency, he
came right out to see the filly. "Where did you get her?"
"DC Livestock."
"When you get home, Clorox the soles of your boots and
the horse trailer. Bathe with disinfectant soap and immediately
wash all your clothes. Keep this filly quarantined. Burn any
bedding she comes into contact with when you are done with it."
"Why?"
"DC harbors salmonella -- and lots of other diseases.
The authorities ought to shut it down!"
Zimmerman examined Crescent. He discovered a wide, filthy
puncture wound. It went from the sole of her hoof up through
the pastern (ankle). She also was suffering from diarrhea and
dehydration.
I glanced at Virginia. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
I turned to the vet. "Do you think she can make it? Or should
we just put her down now?"
"I just put down a horse a few minutes ago. It's hard."
He winced at the fresh memory, then looked at me. "She might
make it. Her hoof has a good chance of healing properly. What
she needs is the will to live. Put her where she is next to,
but not in with, other horses, and give her lots of love. Make
sure she stays warm and out of the rain."
Zimmerman gave us antibiotics and an electrolyte mixture,
injected her with tetanus antitoxin and antibiotics. He looked
at Virginia's tear-streaked face. "She may die even before
you get her home. But if she survives 48 hours, she will probably
live."
She made it to our home alive. We put Crescent in the small
pasture under the Navajo globe willows outside my bedroom window.
The filly fascinated Lightfoot. He hung out at the fence and
called her over to him. She managed to walk to him. They spent
hours together. From time to time he reached over to nuzzle her.
I hoped he wouldn't catch anything. I figured the tonic of his
love was worth the risk.
As with Kiri, we decided to stand shifts with Crescent around
the clock. Virginia slept with her that night. We fed Crescent
bottles of electrolytes and kept up her antibiotic schedule.
We warmed her with blankets and a heat lamp clipped to one of
the willows.
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