A Near Miss or Two

Let’s hear it for flexible fencing! It warmed up today, and the horses were very frisky. Too frisky, in fact, because Siete raced up to the fence and reared up, catching her front legs between the slats. It all sort of happened in slow motion. I came over to the fence to try to free her and I kept saying easy, easy. She was still balancing on her back legs. The good news is that she listened and didn’t panic. She lifted herself up higher instead of crashing down to the ground with the fence twisted around her, and she kind of pirouetted away still on two legs. My heart was pounding. Silk stopped as motionless as a statue.

As soon as Siete had freed herself, Silk’s tail went straight up in the air, and she started bucking. Siete started running in circles around her mother while they both snorted loudly. I couldn’t believe how lucky we were. My husband ran out and was able to tighten up the fence so there’s no damage to anyone or anything. Both horses were really subdued the rest of the afternoon, standing close together.

Now, six hours later, we’re anxious about our poor old dog, Pepper. She’s 14 and can hardly walk. Her spirits are good, but her legs are barely able to support her. I could tell this morning that she has developed a bladder infection. We’re going to take her to the vet tomorrow. Whenever she stands up, one of us has to help her. Tonight, every time I tried to get her up, her legs gave out and she fell over. This same scary thing happened before about six months ago. That time, she made a miraculous recovery. Pepper has the most amazing will to live. She is still so alert and cheerful which is why we’ve decided to keep on doing what we’re doing until she doesn’t have that joy in her eyes anymore.

But tonight, I immediately thought, this is it. My husband, the eternal optimist, reminded me that she’s revived before as he carried her to her dog bed. After about an hour and some left over hamburger, Pepper did rally. She was able to stand with my help and walk on her own to her water bowl. A second near miss in the same day. Man, this is exhausting! I’m praying that tomorrow, we’ll get her to the vet and back home safely. For the moment, I’m feeling hopeful and grateful that my animals have such good survival instincts.