Today took a left turn when we found ourselves responding to a call for help from a neighbor who discovered a horse down and in distress in the pasture of a local farm, where she herself boards her two horses. The distressed horse was not one of hers, but a 27-year-old Belgian mare named Spice that belongs to another neighbor and friend of ours. To quote the Canadian TV show Letterkenny, “When a friend asks for help, you help.” We grabbed our Carhartts and hats and jumped in the truck for the short drive to the neighboring farm to see how we could help.
When we arrived at the farm we saw Spice laying on her right side on the ground. She was sweating profusely; her body was steaming in the cold air. Spice had been down on the ground for an undetermined amount of time, we guessed no more than 3 or 4 hours, and she was struggling to try and get up. Her owner was contacted and was approximately twenty minutes away from the barn. We waited and tried to keep Spice calm and comfortable until her owner could evaluate her condition and approve any course of action to try and get Spice up on her feet.
Spice had been laying on her right rear leg long enough that it had gone numb, and she was unable to get the leg underneath her to stand up. Recent weather conditions meant the ground she was laying on was wet and muddy. As the temperature climbed, the sun breaking free of the clouds, the ground continued to soften. Each attempt Spice made to stand up, found her slipping in the mud, unable to get all four legs underneath her. We packed dry hay underneath her to give her some traction, but she was tired from a few hours of struggling to get up, and she was unable to stand on her own. We needed a new plan and quite possibly some heavy equipment to help get her up. Fortunately, Spice’s owners arrived, assessed her condition, and authorized an attempt to move her.
Our first step was to roll her over onto her left side so we could assess her right leg to ensure it wasn’t injured. We wrapped tow straps around her front and rear legs and the four of us pulled Spice’s legs over to get her laying on her left side. Her leg was evaluated; it wasn’t broken and showed no signs of trauma or injury. Next, we used the straps again around her rump to reposition Spice so that she was in the optimal position to try and stand up. Spice tried several more times to stand up, but she was tired and unable to get her footing.
At this time, additional neighbors had noticed the commotion in the pasture and had come out to offer help. In some cases, these neighbors weren’t even “horse people”, but they wanted to know if they could help us. A few minutes later, Spice’s veterinarian arrived and began her assessment of Spice’s condition. There were thirteen people, including the only two people who were paid to be there, the veterinarian and her tech, in the pasture trying to help Spice get up on her feet. In this moment, realizing how our community had come together to help a neighbor and a horse in need, we were brimming with pride. This display of altruism and community isn’t entirely uncommon out here where we live. However, I think it’s uncommon outside of communities like ours, so I wanted to take the time to recognize it and appreciate it with this blog post.
Ultimately, Spice was able to regain her footing and she got up on her own. Once she was up and ambulatory we left, so the vet and her owners could discuss the next steps and treatment protocol for Spice. At the time of this writing, we aren’t sure what caused her to go down in the pasture, perhaps colic, perhaps some other illness or episode. We are happy that Spice was able to regain her footing, and we were proud to see our community come together to help someone in need. Regardless of experience, men and women alike grabbed a hand full of rope and helped us tug and pull Spice into position. Today, we are proud of our community and what it has accomplished. Maybe it took us showing up to inspire others to come out and help. Maybe the next time you are in a position to help someone, you will be the inspiration for others.
UPDATE DECEMBER 28, 2022
Approximately 7 hours after publishing this blog post, Spice passed away in her paddock. We send our condolences to Spice’s family, our neighbors, for the loss of such a beautiful horse. Unfortunately, it appears Spice may have had colic, which could have been the cause of her being down in the pasture.