Manic Mare

Last week I went to check on a newborn foal -- conformation, blood antibody levels, presence/absence of hernias, infected joints -- the whole bit.
A nice drive it was, but prior to my arrival at the ranch I was told that the mare was a [pill], trying to bite and kick at people. So, as I drove I prayed -- prayed that I would be wise and make no unfortunate moves, prayed that I would not be injured. I'm willing to be brave when it matters. But veterinarian though I am, I realize that unless I am wise my occupation may be cut short in an instant.

I arrived at the ranch, parked, and assessed the territory. Granted, I've met most of the dogs from this place, and they've all been nice to me -- but that was at the clinic and you never know what might be lurking. Pondered for a while... one of my patients walked up (a Borzoi (dog)) to say "hi", seemed to remember me. Heard some sounds in the barn -- investigated -- just horse noise. Saw some people in a red car -- waved to them as they drove out the lane.

No one around seemed to know the vet was coming, no one ventured forth to meet me. Hence, I called the number I was given to call. I should mention that I called this number on my way to the ranch, and the person didn't know I was coming. Had no idea a vet was needed. Said person said she'd call another person to meet me there. Okay, good.

So, called this person again. "Is there a red car there?" says she. No, I just waved to it as it drove out the lane.

Finally, red car returns. Wasn't the right red car. Girl inside car was very nice, offered to hold the horse but later decided to be wise and value her life. Then offers to get her little brother.

The little brother was very nice and the horse liked him. But she was still not going to easily go along with our plans. The halter was falling off, and the little brother was a little too short to effectively put it on. So, we had a nice discussion about school and sports and horse stuff as we waited for someone else to show. Another little boy came out. We wandered out in the pasture, picking our way around the mud and across a large ditch. We found the remainder of the afterbirth and took a look at it. The dogs had eaten the part (chorioallantois) that vets like to analyze for completeness, so no value there. We discussed umbilical cords and which sack goes where. Then one of the boys picked up the afterbirth and ran after the other boy with it.

A couple other ladies showed up and didn't desire to risk their lives...

And then the main owner showed, and decided enough was enough -- she wanted the foal to have its shot and that was that. Definitely braver than I. Throwing caution to the wind, she entered the stall, dragged the foal out, and shut the gate. Well, sort of shut the gate. It didn't have a latch, and the mare was whirling around in her stall trying to find a way out. I hurriedly checked the foal, on super alert lest at any moment the mare blast through the stall entry and bear down on me.

The mare DID blast through the stall entry, pushing the gate aside. And did I ever run. Yep. Shore did. One of the boxer/pit mixes ran after me and I thought (or rather, felt -- no time for worded thoughts) "Oh great -- escape from the mare only to be mauled by a dog." I jumped up onto a panel on the side of a pen, and realized the dog wasn't bent on attacking, at least not once I quit running.

The mare initially stood by her foal, but later went maniac and ran out of the barn. She raced around the barn to the other side, through the large doorway, back into the barn. Wouldn't focus enough to find her foal. Ran back out of the barn after bearing down on a couple dogs (as if they were the cause of the problem).

It was a manic mix of dogs (about 8 in total), children (including a couple toddlers), and adults, with one crazed horse running frantically around. Pausing momentarily to grab a bite of grass, rather lost without her foal.
"Send all the kids and dogs inside before someone gets run over!! " someone yelled, but this was not heeded. "The mare doesn't care about anything."

It finally dawned on me that we could block the mare out of the barn (turns out we could only block one doorway, so we hurried lest the crazed mare return), finish with the foal, and let the mare back in. Which we did. There was nothing amiss with the foal, and all was well.