more adventures in hicksville

so... the other day, i come home from work and nick informs me that frisky, one of our horses, somehow got himself tangled in our fence. thankfully, it was electric and wasn't working anyway. why it wasn't working, we never quite discovered, but there's no point in checking the fence-line now as he snapped the wire trying to free himself and nick removed quite a large section.

at any rate, he somehow got all tangled up in the wire and couldn't move his back legs, and after nick cut him free from the fence, he ran off and wouldn't let us catch him for awhile...

meanwhile, he's still got wire wrapped around his leg. so as soon as its daylight, i go out to find frisky, who only lets me near him because i'm loaded with grain and carrots. when that's gone, he takes off, but the job is only half done. and then he goes by the other horses, who crowd around me to see what's going on. they smell the oats, and i can't get near frisky b/c they are crowding around me. its a clever ploy, and i think they were doing it on purpose. horses probably have telepathy.

at any rate, nick came out to help, got some apples, and tried to catch frisky. because of course i was doing it all wrong. the other two horses saw that he had apples and made a beeline for him. so he couldn't catch frisky either.

but with two of us out there, i was able to get the other horses into the other pasture, and then we were finally able to catch frisky, who wanted the apples. he actually stood still for me to get the wire off, and his leg was surprisingly okay. i was worried, because the wire looked so tight.

then i called the vet and found out that a home visit would be about $100 or more, and that was just to look at him... the vet and i both concluded that he should get some penicillin, and told me i could give him the shot myself. and a tetanus shot. he made it sound easy, and i happily agreed, thinking about how much money i would save.

so, off i trotted to the vet's (after also visiting the pet store for some fish medicine... another story), and bought my penicillin. she gave me a 100 cc bottle and told me to give him 20cc twice a day by injection. and then of course, i had to buy another bottle. i didn't want to use the same needle on him, so bought 10 needles, which were 25 cents apeice. and syringes. she asked if i had any on hand. no, i'm not in the habit of giving my self horse sized doses with huge needles. oh, and the tetanus shot, which happens to only come as a triple vaccination for 2 other things ... equine flu i think and that west nile virus. and that was pricey. but if he develops tetanus, that would be a mess, so i get it. he won't, but that's beside the point. because if i decided not to get the vaccination... he would most likely get sick... at least that's how it always works for me. at any rate, i left with alot less money for a little bit of stuff that was in the paper bag.

then i got home, enthusiastic about treating my horse, and drew up my shot of 22 cc's of penicillin like the great and experienced nurse that i am. ha! the vet told me the best place was in the neck. the neck? holy hannibal!!!! i think i would KILL anyone who wanted to give me a shot of something in the neck. so i'm thinking okaaaay, the vet would know, and do it anyway. frisky FREAKS! he rears up, and the needle and syringe go flying. the needle lands like a dart in the dirt and i can't use it anymore. because frisky freaked out, the other horses came running to the fence-line to see if he was okay. so now frisky is running back and forth, all agitated, and the other two get really agitated, racing like secretariat up and down the pasture, from one end to the other.

so i have to run and put them in the end pasture, and after i close the fence, they come charging towards the gate again, and i have to stand there, shouting, "woah!!!!" as they come barrelling towards me. i really did not need two other horses going through a fence; this one was barbed wire. at the last minute, they turn, and run along the fence, finally slowing down.

however, frisky is still freaked, and when i come back with a fresh needle, he's just not having it. uh-ummmm, no way, jose' . i ask nick to help me and nick goes out there, and frisky just jumps and dances around. "hold him," i say.

"i can't hold him!!" nick says. "he's a thousand pound horse; he'll rip my arm off!"

well, that didn't work. we danced some more, but i finally gave up.

so then i called a neighbor who has horses and asked for tips. "oh, try the chest," she said -- right above the legs, where there are some big muscles. "pound the area really well before you give him the shot, and distract him with some grain."

i try by myself, because nick thinks its a lost cause. i pound his chest one time and he decides to take off again.

so i wait until today. nick and i go out together, tie frisky to a wooden fencepost, and nick distracts him with apples. i pound his chest, and give him the shot of tetanus. he doesn't freak!! yay. so i get brave, and give him the second shot of penicillin -- the needle is much bigger, so i worry a bit. he actually lets me give him this shot as well, so i'm relieved.

so, i have finally managed to give my horse a shot without getting kicked or trampled. but i think i'll stick to nursing. people are alot easier to give injections to.