>From the "KANSAS CITY STAR" (summarized)
Some background: It turns out the mare was one of ten horses leased
from a local Amish farm to help out the carriage business during the
busy X-mas season. The owners of the service were unaware that the mare
was pregnant.
The initial reports were that the horse went down, and that was a lot of
blood around her. Of course, the first thoughts were that the mare had
gone into labor, or that she had suffered a miscarriage. In actuality,
the mare was not in labor, and that was not a pool of blood -- instead
it was that characteristic darkened urine that we all dread. The
official diagnosis ended up being exertional rhabdomyosis.
The horse is under the vet's care and apparently is eating and drinking
and recovering. She will be returned to her home and not subjected to
the rigors of the downtown carriage driving. The owners of the service
do note that they had received numerous critical calls due to the
incident, but point out that the mare was cleared by a veterinarian
(heart, temperature and leg checks) for the work. The owner does say
that had he known she was pregnant, he would not have put the mare to
work.