Shadow's  Story

The following story relates the perseverance of a young horse and his recovery from a serious fence accident. It also relates the dedication of the owners and the veterinary experts that contributed to his recovery.

One windy and late September evening, a loud and eerie animal screaming sent me running from the stable barn to the back paddock behind the nearby small barn. Shadow, who had been turned out in the paddock, was found with his front legs and body outside of the electric fencing and his rear legs hopelessly tangled in the wires. He was screaming and struggling to free his legs. Attempting to calm him down so that I could untangle his legs, I could feel the pulsating electricity jolting though his body. He briefly calmed after I ran and turned off the electrical fence charger. But when I motioned to leave to get wire cutters, he would commence struggling to free his own legs. Since no one heard my calls for help, it was several minutes before I was able to disentangle the unbroken wires and free his legs. However, the damage had been done.

The local vet arrived within twenty minutes after being paged. We had unfortunately interrupted a dinner date with his girlfriend, but that is an occupational hazard that large animal vets accept. After hosing the blood and loose lacerated skin away from the front of Shadow’s hocks, the vet was able to assess the damage. Luckily, the tendons did not appear to be lacerated and the damage was mostly relegated to the layers of skin on his rear legs, with some superficial lacerations on his belly and sheath. However, the electrical damage to the tissue on the dorsal hocks of the hindlegs was severe. The extent of that damage was yet to be realized. 

Shadow was administered an anti-inflammatory, painkiller, and an antibiotic with cortisone. There was danger of him going into shock. Furasin, an antibiotic ointment, was applied to the abrasions. The prescription for Shadow was to be confined to his stall for the evening and to watch for edema. The vet’s departing warning was dire; it would get much worse before it got better. I don’t think he realized the full significance of his own words. 

For the next several days, minimizing infection and inflammation were imperative. The injured area on both rear hocks exceeded five inches in width and ten inches in length. Twice daily doses of Bute, antibiotics and gentle hosing with water were administered. Shadow’s exercise was restricted to walking the distance between his stall and the outside hose.

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