We are home. Tired and exhausted but happy and
relieved!
This is not a ride story but I know people are expecting
to hear from me and I think there are some things that need to be said to dispel
any concerns or doubts or misinformation. I am going to leave the ride
story up to Jenny this time...she has a good one and I will make sure she posts
it for your reading enjoyment.
Malik and I were pulled at the 4th check for a metabolic
problem at the NC. I am sure that is common knowledge. Malik was
treated on site and then later went to UC Davis. I am not going to go into
a long drawn out story about the whole thing. Basically, we were doing
great....in fact, had just moved up into top ten positions. Malik had
nothing but excellent recoveries and scores all day. Melissa Ribley
informed me that they do not for a minute think he was overridden (which I think
is probably what most people think as soon as they see "metabolic"). Malik
DID lay down in what we thought was his attempt to take a nap. It did not
seem unusual to us and we were not alarmed. The treatment vet WAS alarmed
and we were immediately pulled and he was immediately treated. There is
rampant speculation about the whole scenario and I know tongues are
wagging. We were unhappy with the initial lack of communication with
the treatment vet but later discussion with this vet and mutual apologies
from each other resolved this issue before we left the ride. There are no
hard feelings. We were faced with the decision none of you ever want to
make... to treat or not to treat. Yes, we were asked if we wanted to
refuse treatment. We did not see the distress the vet saw. But I was
sure as hell not going to take a chance on my horse's life that I might be
wrong. He was treated within moments of laying down and on IVs very
quickly as well. We had lots of questions and the vet wasn't in a mood to
talk while she was working on Malik. It may have appeared to some that we
were balking...we simply wanted to know what was going on, why, how, etc.
As I said, we later did talk it over with the vet and feel better about it now
but at the time felt totally left out of the picture. Unfortunately,
later, after coming around, having peed, eaten, drank and pooped, Malik was
uncomfortable...he was not doing right. He had gut sounds. But his
pulse would rise, he would poop and then it would drop. His mucous
membranes were pale and dry. But he was just not comfortable.
Something wasn't right. We fetched the vet. They drained reflux (2nd
time) and performed a rectal...he had some inflammation of a couple of small
intestinal loops. Something WAS wrong. Decisons were made,
arrangements arranged and the only hospital able to accept emergencies was UC
Davis (3 hours away in CA). The vet and assistant there were
AWESOME. Malik managed to remove his NG tube en route so they had to do
that again and stuck a huge needle in his belly to check his stomach fluids and
did a rectal, most of it done without sedation...he is such a good boy and knew
we were trying to help him. He spent a day and a half at UC Davis
recuperating. The vet there suspects he might have an ulcer and we have an
appt for a scope next week and to have his small intestines ultrasounded
again. I will update everyone on his progress....as it is, he tolerated
the trip home well (he actually seemed to GAIN weight on the trip out and hauls
like a dream!) and came off the trailer hollering his head off and lying again
about beating everyone at the ride. I am happy to bring my horse home
alive. Regardless of how devastating the experience was, I am looking only
toward the positive that can be gained from it. I chose to allow Malik to
be treated even though I initially felt it wasn't needed. We had only
seconds to make this decision so it's not as if I sat down and debated the
value of my horse's life while I smoked a cigarette and had a cup of coffee and
thought about it. I had to trust that vet. In light of the
problems that later cropped up, I feel it was the best course of
action....even if we had been able to convince the vets he just wanted a nap and
had continued on, we wouldn't have known about those small intestines being
inflamed....much worse could have happened (like he could have DIED!) and I feel
in my heart that a higher authority was watching over us and that all is
well that ends well. Even though the treatment vet was rude and bossy to
us (by her own admission!), she took care of Malik and though it was
uncomfortable at first, we later did have a good dialogue about the
experience. :) I hope perhaps in the future she might be a little
more sensitive to the rider and that anyone reading this who doubts a vet will
ask themselves...but what if I'm wrong and my horse DOES die? Always err
on the side of caution. Shit can happen with no indication that it is
about to happen.
Now! The National Championship ride was great....
the trails were truly magnificent (and we even saw coyotes, wild horses and a
snake) and I am sorry I missed the last 30 miles but soooo proud of Jenny
and Max for finishing it! I learned a lot of neat things that Jim Yell and
I plan to use for the NC when it is held here in Michigan in 2006! Please
put it on your calendar and plan to attend...it will be awesome. And I
have two more NCs to steal ideas from before then, too! :)
I have to admit, I do not plan to go back to next year's
ride though I will say that if you didn't go this year, you should go next
year...it is a great ride.... but right now sagebrush is on my list of things I
hope to never see or smell again! :) But it is NOT because of
anything ride management did or did not do or anything else...it IS a long way
to go and my main purpose was to be an advocate for Michigan and promote the
Wolverine ride as a site for the NC. I never did get to attend the meeting
as we were with Malik at UC Davis but I was told that we did get the 2006 NC by
official vote of the Board....I did not say much to anyone before as I
considered it "pending".
There are too many individuals to thank publicly but we
have personally thanked those who needed it, including the vets and
RMs.
ONE BIG SPECIAL THANKS to Mike and Joyce Mocilan who were
parked next to us (the mystery rig that blew by us on our way out) and who went
above and beyond the call of duty...not only did Joyce and Jenny finish the ride
together but when we could not be there and were with Malik in CA, they were
always there checking to see if all was ok, did they need anything and when they
left with a friend for some sightseeing, they left their truck and keys for
their use. Their hugs and support and just knowing they were there mean
more than they will ever know!
I would appreciate that if there are any questions or
comments about the NC regarding Malik or myself, that they be directed privately
to me and not made an issue on Ridecamp or anywhere else. I want to learn
from this experience and am happy to share what I learn in a positive
manner but I do not want to start a debate about shoulda, woulda, coulda
kind of stuff.
Thank you all for your hugs, prayers and kind words.
Thanks for believing in us before and believing in us now. Right now I
feel that making it home with Malik ALIVE makes us
winners.