STARDUST DREAMCATCHER
AHA # pending
(Habib Rafiq X JB Gentleluv)
Full brother to Orion and Sparkle
This is one very nice colt. He is offered as a stallion prospect. He was huge at birth and appears to be living up to that start. His dam died when he was only 4 days old. But thanks to modern technology and milk replacers he is not stunted in the least. He was bucket fed by my mother (Marcy Covault), of Feathered Companions Aviary.
He should easily pass 15.2 hands and more likely will be closer to 16 hands. Although his dam is grey, he shows no signs of turning grey.
Dreamcatcher suffered an injury 10/22/08, see full account at bottom. He cut his pastures on both front legs and one hind leg. He was in surgery for 2 hours. He appears to be healing well and we hope that he will remain sound as his wounds finish healing. For now he is pastured with Takrima, who takes her job as surrogate mom very seriously. She was with him at the vet clinic and people assumed she was his mother. She even pinned her ears at the dog. No one messes with her baby, even if he isn't really hers!
Only 8 days old in this picture, you can tell he hasn't missed any meals!
Future endurance horse? Race horse? Show horse? Herd sire?
10/22/08 is a day we will remember for a long time around here. As I was heading out the door to take my daughter to daycare and head on in to work, at 5:30 am, I heard a crashing and banging from the pasture. I run out to see who got hurt. Nope, not the stallion, not that mare, not that one, not that one. Uh oh! The 7 month old colt! He's standing with all 4 legs spradled out and has a stunned look on his face. And in the semi-dark I can see blood on his legs and on the ground around him. He has managed to do in one short 60 seconds more damage to himself than his accident prone full brother has done in 5 years.
I run into the house and grab a rope halter and lead rope. It fits everyone, right? Well, sort of. His little Arab head is so small it almost comes off twice. So we wind up switching to a halter made for his size head and get him up to the feed room to wrap his legs.
I am very optimistic about my abilities to handle any emergency that presents itself with the horses. He has not severed an artery, but there is a lot of blood every time he takes a step. It appears that all the damage in localized to below his fetlocks. That's encouraging, right? Furthermore, he does *not* want me touching his boo-boos! Not so encouraging. I proceed to wrap his legs, all 3 of them, with some diapers and vet wrap, two things no barn should ever be without! Before I finish wrapping the worst of the legs I notice that the blood is already through the vet wrap and I haven't even started on the other two. Not good.
Decision time. This is not something I can handle without the vet. So, put him down? Or take him to the vet? Can we afford the vet? Not sure, but I'm not giving up on him! He's managing to walk as thought he's not hurt at all. Or is that more a case of "which leg do I limp on, they all hurt"? I get hold of the vet's office and they say to bring him in. Fine. Now how do we get him in the trailer? He wants nothing to do with that trailer. Butt ropes and a strong hubby do nothing to get him in the trailer. Hmmm ....
OK, get another halter out and pull his adopted mom out of the pasture (she's 21 years old and adores him). So, in the trailer goes Takrima. Then in goes Dreamcatcher. Thank goodness that's over! We get to the vet's office without incident and back up to the stocks, so we don't have far to lead him. He seems to have forgotten what halter training he had. Not that I can blame him! I wouldn't want to lead very well if my legs were mangled, either.
The main vet has gone somewhere, but will be back soon. So Dreamcatcher and Takrima go into the pen they use for working cattle. I'm sure they want to be able to put him through the squeeze shoot if necessary. Given his age and the degree of damage, I can't blame them in the least. He's acting like nothing happened, just follows Takrima and stands still mostly. But every time he takes a step, he leaves a pool of blood. There isn't much I can do, so I head home to try and distract myself.
It takes them 2 hours of surgery to fix his legs. He has cut lateral tendons and ligaments, but none of the most vital ones, at least that's what they vet has told us. If we get him through all this he will probably be sound. The vet is very concerned about infection and keeps him there 6 days on IV antibiotics. We call every day, except Sunday and go see him. He looks great for a kid that's lost so much blood. Takrima is doing her job taking care of him and threatens the dog every chance she gets.
The staff love Dreamcatcher and even the vet says that he was a pleasure to work with. The vet said what?!? I had to check my hearing on that one, too. The ones that didn't hear about Takrima not being his mom are stunned when I point that out. They assumed by her behavior that she was his dam. Nope. She's just a good old mare!
Update: We went to the vet’s office on 11/19/08. The bandages were removed and most of the stitches taken out, under sedation. His wounds are healing very, very well. Now we monitor for proud flesh and keep the flies off of them. He seems to be walking, and trotting, soundly. It appears that our worst fears have been avoided. Takrima is still babysitting him. I think she will be our official babysitter mare from now on! She is great! Once more I owe thanks to her breeder, her former owners and most especially, to Ellen May! Not only is Takrima the biggest cuddle bunny, she is also a very special mom to an orphan colt! To this day she will quietly, calmly, insert herself between us and Dreamcatcher if she feels the need. She has never offered to bite or kick, but she does let her opinion be known. And when she is removed from his paddock, she hollers just like a mare having her baby weaned. Vet bill: $706, good old mare: priceless.