I had just returned this afternoon from taking blind Helen to our vet clinic in Helena for her chemotherapy, and I was still unloading the truck when I suddenly heard clanging and banging from the corrals. I looked over and saw blind Bo's head high above the corral panels, about 75 yards (68 meters) away. Unless he really had grown a giraffe neck during last week's worming, something was odd about his height and body position. Then I heard the clanging again, saw Bo lurch and whinny, and I dashed for the corrals.
Alayne had brought Bo and blind Rosie in from pasture today while I was in Helena to get them ready for the cold blast. When I got to their corral, I immediately realized the problem wasn't with Bo but Rosie -- she was lying on her side up against the corral panels and had two of her feet hooked over the bars. Whenever she tried to move, the clanging and banging freaked out Bo, who knew his damsel was in distress but didn't know why.
I called over to Alayne to come help, and together we unhooked her legs, looped ropes over them, and rolled her back over on her side. She laid there for a while, and then hauled herself to her feet. But strangely, she took a few steps, laid back down on the ground, and started rolling. Over and over again. We realized this was how she got herself stuck on the corral panels. Occasionally she even stopped a roll in mid-motion to lie on her back, feet straight up in the air ... a very odd posture.
As she kept rolling, Alayne and I watched in amazement. Then I turned to Alayne and said, "Colic." Alayne said, "Sure is." While rolling is a common symptom of a horse colicking, it's usually intermittent; they'll roll once or twice, get up, turn their head to stare at their belly, kick at their belly, and do other things in addition to rolling to signal the abdominal pain. But we had never seen a horse constantly rolling. We couldn't get her to stop.
I called our equine vet, Dr. Erin Taylor, who wanted me to give her a sedative and some banamine, both intravenously, and then get her in the trailer and on to the hospital. I told her that we couldn't get her to stop rolling, let alone get her to her feet, so I doubted I could get the drugs on board. She told me to give it a shot, so to speak, and if I couldn't, to just get her to Missoula as fast as possible. This was a bad colic, and she needed surgery right away. I ran to the house to look for the drugs while Alayne stayed to see if she could get a halter on Rosie and work her to her feet.
A few minutes later I was headed out of the house when Alayne came around the barn with Rosie in tow. But as soon as Alayne slowed down, Rosie's legs would buckle and she'd sink to the ground to start rolling. I realized that if we didn't get her in the trailer any second, she might go down and stay down. So I abandoned any idea of getting drugs in her. Instead, I ran back into the house, grabbed the keys for the other truck, and backed it up to the horse trailer. As I was hitching it up, Alayne kept walking Rosie around and around the drive, trying to keep her up long enough for me to finish getting the trailer ready.
Finally, I swung open the trailer doors, Alayne handed me the halter, and I walked her on board. As soon as I stopped, she started buckling ... and I was trapped at the front of the trailer. I started jerking on her halter, trying to get her to remain standing, while I yelled to Alayne to open the escape door. Just as she got it open and I jumped out, Rosie went down. Even though it's a four-horse trailer, when you have 1000 pounds (453 kg) of a horse going over on you, there isn't enough room to get out of the way!
As I drove down Highway 200 towards Missoula, I could feel the trailer lurch behind me as Rosie rolled and rolled on the floor. Fortunately, with a big horse trailer, stabilizer bars, and a one-ton pick-up, we had the equipment to handle it. We had to leave Rosie loose in the trailer, because to tie her up would have meant breaking her neck. She was determined to go down, so the last thing you'd want to do is have her head tied.
Erin was waiting for us when I got to the hospital, and in less than two minutes Rosie was in the surgery suite and under anesthesia. I had left the ranch so fast I didn't have time to grab the camera, so I had to take these photos with my cellphone.
Colic surgery is always a major deal. A horse's small and large intestines together can total about 100 feet in length (30 meters), so it's a very complicated procedure to find out exactly where in that long span of gut the compaction or twist is ... and then fix it. Equine surgeons have to actually pull out part of the intestines and set them on a tray so they can move around enough inside the body cavity to find the problem. In Rosie's case, Erin found the culprit -- a fecal clump that had compacted in her small intestine.
Here's a shot of Erin the foreground, with Dr. Angela Langer, our other large animal vet, assisting in the surgery:
To give you some idea of the sheer mass that these surgeons are dealing with, here's a close-up of Erin working on Rosie ... and that huge piece of flesh lying on top of Rosie is just her cecum, a 4-foot section of the large intestine:
Only 96 more feet to go!
The surgery takes a long time -- for Rosie, it lasted about an hour and a half. Erin called late this evening to say Rosie came through the operation, had recovered from anesthesia, and was now in a stall being monitored. Rosie is still not out of the woods -- there are plenty of risks ahead and a long road to recovery. She will be in the hospital for a week, and then will need to be stall-bound here for quite a while.
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Still No. 1!
Please keep voting for us every day in The Animal Rescue Site/PetFinder's Shelter Challenge. Thanks to your votes, we came in third nationwide and won $3,000 for the animals in the previous contest. Now we have a shot at No. 1 and the $20,000 grand prize! Enter "Rolling Dog Ranch" and our state postal code, MT for Montana, and it will bring up our listing so you can cast your vote. Please ask your family and friends to vote, too. Thank you!
Oh My God, Steve and Alayne are indeed Angels in disguise. I have a horse rescue with almost 70 horses, but this is nothing compared to what both of you are doing. I applaud both of you. You have both already earned your halos and I know everyone of those horses, dogs, and cats love, adore, and are thankful for you. God Bless.
Cindy Bondowski
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1736959194 | October 28, 2009 at 11:28 AM
Good grief, trapped in a horse trailer with a horse going down and no way to stop it or get out. Steve is lucky to be in one piece. I'm so glad that Rosie's recovering, poor girl. There is nothing worse than colic.
Posted by: Jill | October 15, 2009 at 02:17 PM
Wow, what an amazing event to go through. Having to act so fast & know what to do in emergencies. You all truly amaze me daily.
Posted by: Colleen & Sweet Kitty Erin | October 12, 2009 at 08:03 PM
I just cannot imagine how terrifying it is to see a big animal like a horse writhe in agony like that! I am in complete awe of the strength and determination you & Alayne have to handle these continuing crises. What Bo did is so amazing and wonderful, he is a Horse Hero. And both of you are Our inspiring Heroes. Prayers and lots of love are sent your way for Rosie. Thank you so much for getting her such quick help, and keeping yourselves safe in the process. Gods angels must truly ride on your shoulders. Get Well Soon, dear Rosie!
Posted by: Barbara Arenal | October 12, 2009 at 12:24 AM
Thank God you came along when you did,someone was sure watching over Rosie and you two Steve and Alayne. You sure make a great team in all you do!
Posted by: Kathy and Harley | October 08, 2009 at 08:27 PM
Kudos to Bo for sending an SOS.
Kudos to Steve and Alayne for their quick action and professional demeanor through it all.
And how in the world does Steve have the presence of mind to take pictures in the middle of surgery!? That's one blogging dude!
Sending healing thoughts your way.
Posted by: Lynne Parker | October 08, 2009 at 04:10 PM
Prayers for all, especially Rosie and her dear sweet Bo. You and Alayne are truly inspirational!
Posted by: Doe George | October 08, 2009 at 03:43 PM
How do you two deal with all the stress!? Sending good thoughts Rosie's and your way.
Hopefully those of us that love (and marvel) at what you do can give the two of you a wonderful Christmas present--the grand prize in the shelter challange.
Keep positive thoughts.
Posted by: Lynda | October 08, 2009 at 02:37 PM
I stopped breathing until I had finished reading this!! What a remarkable job you guys did in this crisis. My prayers and best wishes will be with Rosie as she deals with her colic and the postop period. Thanks to the whole "dyanamo team" for taking care of her!!
Posted by: Angela | October 08, 2009 at 12:45 PM
I'm glad and grateful for so many things about this emergency:
Bo helped alert you; you were outside to hear the clanging; it wasn't the middle of the night; Alayne was able to get Rosie up (I remember Alayne doing this before with Beauty. Must be a special gift!); y'all were able to get Rosie in the trailer; it's not February with closed roads; you have an escape door and got out of the trailer without injury; Rosie didn't injure herself thrashing about; you made it safely to town and, you have excellent Vet care who performed successful surgery. Now I'll focus on healing thoughts to Rosie.
Poor Bo. Won't he be happy when Rosie comes home??!!
You guys are wonderful! I know Rosie really appreciates you saving her.
Posted by: Lynn (in Louisiana) | October 08, 2009 at 12:36 PM
Holy Moly you guys!! Never a dull moment at your place. You were so lucky to get out of the way when she went down in the trailer. Yikes.
I will keep my fingers crossed for Miss Rosie.
Best wishes. Ev
Posted by: Ev | October 08, 2009 at 12:03 PM
OMG! How scary. Your skills to get poor Rosie to help are truly heroic, once again. Prayers to you all. Hoping for only good things from here on out.
Posted by: Margaret | October 08, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Quick thinking! Hoping Rosie heals fast and well. How is Bo doing with his girl MIA?
Posted by: Miranda | October 08, 2009 at 11:30 AM
You guys need an on-site veterinary hospital! Think of all the driving it would save..seriously, glad you have the presence of mind to react to your animal emergencies the way you do. My best to you and all of your ailing critters.
Posted by: Barb | October 08, 2009 at 11:12 AM
My prayers for Rosie. I'm sure Bo misses her terribly. I sure hope everything goes well with her recovery!
Posted by: Suzanne | October 08, 2009 at 11:04 AM
What a scare! You and Alayne are an amazing team and we're so glad you and Rosie made it to see Dr. Erin in good tim!
We're sending Rosie full recovery wishes and comfort to Bo as I'm sure he's missing her.
Posted by: boundforglory | October 08, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Sending our best wishes, prayers & positive thoughts your way and an extra hug for Bo who must be so confused & missing Rosie.
Posted by: Sasha in MN | October 08, 2009 at 10:21 AM
Thinking of you both and the animals. These past two weeks have been so hectic and stressful. Take care
Posted by: Anita Maloney | October 08, 2009 at 09:41 AM
Oh dear-what a scary and emotional day! Poor sweet Rosie! And Bo must be beside himself. Sending tons and tons of hugs to beautiful Rosie and hoping she gets through the recovery safely...you two must be exhausted with worry!
Posted by: Sue | October 08, 2009 at 08:20 AM
How awful. Colic is a very tough deal in horses, especially if it requires surgery. The recovery can be as bad as or worse than the colic itself, if you can imagine that.
Rosie, hang tight, keep those stitches in!!
Posted by: Janet in Cambridge | October 08, 2009 at 07:45 AM
OMG....how awful for all of you...but especially poor Rosie. I can't begin to imagine the pain she must have been in. Bless the hospital staff for working so quickly. I just hope Rosie pulls through; I know she is in the best hands possible.
Posted by: Debbie | October 08, 2009 at 07:33 AM
To handle the emergencies you two face is a skill that few possess. To handle them, then write lucidly about them is a skill that is several orders of magnitude more rare. Thanks again for all you do.
Posted by: Jerry Stemnock | October 08, 2009 at 07:03 AM
It's amazing that you & Alayne were able to get Rosie in the horse trailer! I'm sending Rosie all good thoughts in hope that she makes a great recovery with no complications along the way. Thank you so much for being there at the right time & getting her the help she so desperately needed.
Big hugs to all & esp. Bo who's probably still wondering what's going on,
ginger, Tobias & Tlingit
Posted by: ginger, Tobias & Tlingit | October 08, 2009 at 06:12 AM
There's never a dull moment at RDR, is there?:-(
I'll be keeping Rosie in my thoughts and prayers.
Please keep us posted, Steve.
A big hug to you all from Italy.
Posted by: Carla Polastro-Nigro | October 08, 2009 at 02:33 AM
Our prayers are with Rosie and all of you!
Posted by: Leila from Washington | October 08, 2009 at 02:25 AM