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I bought Getty on January 26, 2008. I wanted to halter show her, and my neighbors Iris and Randy were going to help teach
me all that I needed to know. It was a Saturday afternoon when I got home from Rolla with my new prize. I unloaded her
and put her into a corral inside the barn away from the other horses. matthew left to take the trailer we borrowed back to
Wayne. Getty was pretty excited and trotted and paced around in the corral. Once she saw the other horses, that
was it. She loped up to the corral, and attempted to jump it. She landed on top of it and when she came down, her back right
leg was caught. She hung there, suspended, crying and pulling from side to side trying to free herself. She was caught right
between the pins. Frantically, I decided to undo the two panels that were pinned so that the panels would fall to the ground
and she would be free. I unpinned one panel in what felt like 2 seconds, then ran up behind where her leg was caught and tried
pushing up on her hoof, trying to free it. All that was there was blood. I couldn't get it out, it was wedged extremely tight.
As she wiggled, she ripped the hide all the way to the bone almost completely around, and severed her front extensor tendon.
I stood back, feeling helpless. After 2 seconds, she somehow freed her leg. She just stood there. Motionless. I could tell
she was in EXTREME pain. I immediately grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and called Marshfield Veterinary Clinic. They
said Dr. Scott Greer was on a farm call and would make it to me as soon as he was done. With no time to waste, I called
every vet clinic in the area trying to find someone who could come sooner. No one was available. So, I waited. It felt like
hours. Days. I called Wayne, Matthew's uncle who was a "horse person" and told him what had happened. I don't even know what
I expected him to do, but I felt alone and very scared. I then called my neighbor, Randy. He came down to my house, by which
time Matthew was home and found me balling in the barn with my new horse. He ran over to Getty and started petting her. Randy
showed up and once he saw her, he thought her leg was broke and she must be put down. It looked broke. You could
see thick white strands coming out from the top and bottom. I didn't want her to be in pain any longer. Matthew immediately
said "NO, she is not ready to give up yet." Just like out of a book. Matthew wanted to wait until the vet got there to make
the final decision. So I decided to wait. WE both stood there, petting Getty, trying to relax her as best as possible.
Randy went back up to his house to get ready for work. Wayne showed up at the same time the vet, Dr. Scott Greer did. We all
went into the barn, Matthew was still holding Getty. He was trying to keep her from moving. Everytime she would take a step,
her back leg would completely collapse. Dr. Greer took one look at her and said it was not broke and he went to his truck
to get a seddative and sutcher supplies. Randy showed up on his way to work to check in. Once she was sedated, 4 men were
on top of her, trying to hold her down so that Dr. Greer could work on her leg. Just as he was about to give another sedative,
she kicked and flung all extremeties, then everyone bailed. But not before Dr. Greer got struck in the face by her head. Blood
started gushing from his nose and it looked broke. I know it hurt. He washed the blood away and went back to work. With her
sedated again, he finished suturing her leg. After that exciting afternoon ended, I was left with a halter filly who could
not place her hoof flat on the ground. Instead she landed her fetlock on the ground, ripping open all the suturs and tearing
new flesh. ( Imagine putting all your weight on her foot, with it bent backwards.) Needless to say, this caused major
problems with the healing process.
A few days went by, she was in a constricted make shift panel stall and was walking much better. She limped for many
weeks afterwards, but learned to walk different to make up for her tendon being severed. Randy, Iris and I decided it would
be best to take her to their barn where she could stay in a nice warm stall while her leg healed. So we loaded her up on their
trailer about 2 weeks after it happened, and there she has stayed ever since. Randy and Iris have been a life saver for me,
and Getty. They have helped me every step of the way. If it weren't for them, I would not have been able to take care of Getty,
not without their knowledge and skills. Thank you guys, very much. You will always be close to my heart.
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These two pictures were taken 7 days after it happend.
She's stayed a sweetheart throughout it all.
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This upper picture was taken 5 months after, in June, 2008.
The below picture was taken after 7 months, in August, 2008.
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She receievd a total of 35 staples, and suturs on 2 places on her chest, one on her neck and one
in her nose. I think she does it for attention...
After her leg was basically healed from the first injury - it was about the size of a nickel - she
got it caught in barbed wire on November 19, 2008.
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| Dec. 16, 2008 |
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| Jan. 27, 2009 |
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These were all taken several weeks after she injured it. In order for us to bandage and Dr. her
leg, we have to twitch her. By this time it is getting difficult to grab her nose. Do you blame her? Every other day we must
change and clean it. I thought she would get mean by the time we are done. I thought wrong.
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On September 7, 2008, Getty jumped out of her corral at my neighbor's (where she stays while her
leg heals) and she went through 2 barbed wire fences. The following pictures show the damage.
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This is the exact spot that she jumped over. After she jumped over this, she then went through not
one, but two barbed wire fences.
The below picture was taken November 28, 2008. We had started Getty on antibiotics and begain the leg bandaging
procees all over again. The first few days we changed it, her leg smelt absolutely awful. It smelt like it was rotting.
The inside was black and I thought, "Well, this is it." Randy and Iris brought up the fact that I needed to make a decision.
Do I keep pouring my money into this animal that keeps hurting herself...or do I let her go. There really wasn't anything
to think about for me, I wanted to keep her. She was my friend and I pushed on. The next day when we changed it, the leg did
a complete 360. The smell was totally gone, and everything that was black, was now a healthy pink. it was a miracle and we
were on our way.
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| Nov. 28, 2008 |
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| Dec. 16, 2008 |
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| Jan. 27, 2009 |
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