Monday, October 10, 2011

I've been in the house all day, working on typing up the lease form for our rental house ( left our house twice to show it to family's) working on the web site4s ( very frustrating- I've got the Royal Flush web site all updates, and now my site seems to be totally down. My computer does not like my web site!) Also got some other paperwork done, made a few transportation arrangements and so on. I was in the computer room when I hear Erin come into the house saying she needed my help. Said that JQ had gotten cast some how in his turnout. She said he had his legs away from the pen, but that he seemed to be caught between the pile of hay in the pen and it's panels. ( if you are reading this Rose before I get a chance to tell you, don't worry- he is fine) Erin hops in the truck with me and down to the pen we go. I can just see the top of his head sticking up from out of the hay. I walk around the outside to check things out, and see that his legs all seem to be unencumbered, not sure why he isn't getting up. I have Erin hand me his halter- and reach down to try to put it on him so that we can attach a rope and open up the panels to flip him over, thinking that the hay is just too steep for him to roll up onto to get his legs under him. Only thing is, I can't get the halter on him, his head seems to be stuck. Now, there is hay everywhere, and I cannot see his head clearly, so I run my hand down his face to go to cup his jaw so that I can lift it to get the halter on. Nothing budges!!! He has gotten the panel between his upper and lower jaws, and it's stuck fat! It went in past his teeth and is resting on the bars, and he now cannot open his mouth wide enough to get loose, and his neck is all kinked around! It's totally wedged, and at an angle, it's pretty freaky. I slip my hand into his mouth and twist his head just a little and get it popped off! Whew!!!! He sat right up and got up, was a little unsteady on his feet for a second or two, but then literally shook it off and walked over for a drink. Now that it was over my heart started going, he could have broken his neck or jaw- just like that! He even had the bars bent slightly from the pressure his mouth had put on them- what a freaky think to have happen. Would never have been able to imagine that in a hundred years. Thank goodness for Erin. She had just put him out, had walked back to the barns and heard the panels rattling. She looked out and couldn't see him, so she went down to check on him, then ran up to the house for me when she saw him cast. She and I both thought at first that he had simply 'turtled' himself. Other than a little tearing at the edges of his outer-upper inscisors he seems totally fine. Other than making sure he doesn't get any swelling or have any issues eating over the next few days- I think we got off easy!
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