Alita's Story

Weeks Twenty Three & Twenty Four

November 3rd - November 16th

 The Rain Finally Stops & The Visit to the Vet!  

  The first week was TERRIBLE! The rain has been continuous pretty much for 7 days straight. The dirt has turned to mud, then mush and now SOUP! I would rather have a few hours of a few inches then a few inches over the period of several days. The ground just keeps soaking it up where in a downpour it tends to run off. Alita is going to be stall bound for awhile it looks like.

I can’t seem to keep enough shavings in there for her. She lays down and makes a hole in the middle of her stall. It as also pretty damp as nothing is getting any sun or any relief in order to even BEGIN to dry up. She hates being in her stall all alone. She has even now broken to PVC pipe that brings in water to the stall. Poor girl has no idea what to do with herself. It is going to be a LONG week.

The second week the rain finally let up and it looks as if the rain is gone for awhile. It is going to take about 2 weeks to dry up enough again so I can let her out without the fear of her straining any muscles.

LaNet and I have finally settled on Thursday for the vet appointment. We are to be there at 9:00am. She is brining her gelding for company as he needs his teeth floated. The first part of the week is just crawling by as I await to see how Alita is doing and if she is still caring her foal.

When Thursday finally arrived I had the sitter pick up our 6 month old daughter and I slowly led Alita through the mud and tied her off in the driveway until LaNet showed up. She had her breakfast and a flake of hay to occupy her time. Her buddy Echo was put into Alita’s stall and shut in so she wouldn’t cause too big of a scene when we took Alita.

Loading Alita once LaNet arrived was no simple chore. She was shaking all over and thought that the ramp was going to eat her alive if she stepped on it. It took us unloading her horse, and tapping Alita on the butt several times to finally encourage her to get in. Once in she seemed to be fine however that put us behind to the vet by 25 minutes.

When we got to the vet Alita was very hesitant to put weight on her bad knee as she was now on a slant downward and it was putting pressure on her to the point she would not come out! We finally between Melissa, LaNet and I got her out at an angle. Seemed to put less weight on her bad leg. Once out LaNet commented on how bad her knee looked and how she was holding it didn’t help. I am sure the trailer ride got her a bit sore.

When the vet was ready for her they helped her in the stocks and he commented how she looked but didn’t look pregnant.For being 9 months along however she is not nearly as big as our other mares. The magic latex glove went on so the moment of truth was upon us. I waited with baited breath because there are so many mixed feelings. I really want her to be in foal however what if it is not the best thing for her at this time? I guess it’s in God’s hands as to if she is or isn’t I will be OK with either. The arm went in and out came the words "She’s still in foal and it’s a big one!" I felt a sigh of relief and Melissa turned and said "I told you so". She along with Diana always said she was still in foal.

Dr. Luis then told me that she needed more weight on her. Everything you see on her is baby right now and this foal is going to increase 70% in the time that is left. She is already getting almost 10 lbs a day of 14% feed so now we are changing her over to 8 lbs of Equine Senior and 1 flake am and 1 pm of Alfalfa. He does not feel that she will have a challenge foaling however she is probably about where she will the rest of her life. He says the pain she is having is probably the only thing keeping her from doing more damage as it makes her think about her leg so she doesn’t want to over use it.

After her trailer buddy got his teeth floated we took Alita to begin settling into the new place we will be moving to in a few more weeks. Melissa and I after dropping off Alita with LaNets trailer and help went back to the house to get her buddy Echo. They are now together at the new property with the lady we are purchasing from is still living there in their RV until late November. We move in next week-end. They are so happy together. Echo and Alita that is. They have lots of grass to eat and each others company once again.

It was a happy end to a long anticipated visit to the vet and now we wait to see what winter brings and look to our next challenge which is helping to ensure as much as possible that Alita has a safe and happy foaling in late January - early February. Thanks also to LaNet for the use of her trailer and her time and to Melissa for her continued support, help and understanding through this entire ordeal.