On Wednesday morning this week, we turned up at the stables as usual at 5.00am to 'do' the horses before going to work. My friend's horse Maggie was down in her stable in agony with colic. We called her owner and the vet and to cut a very long and traumatic story short we hitched up the trailer, loaded Maggie, and raced down the M5 and the M50 to the equine hospital in Tewkesbury. The vet team were waiting for us and within 40 minutes Maggie was in surgery undergoing a 4 hour operation for a twisted gut. I dont have to describe the feelings and emotions that we experienced that morning.
Two days on she has survived the surgery but is by no means out of the woods, the part of the gut that had twisted had started to die off the she now has massive amounts of toxins in the body which we only hope she can fight off. She will be in hospital for at least 10 days.
Maggie is a 15 year old Connemara and Lucy has had her all her life. Lucy and I have travelled and competed together for at least 10 years. My horse Red, who's 14, and Maggie have been best buddies for most of their lives and are inseperable.
When I brought Red in to his stable on Wednesday night, he stopped dead outside Maggies empty stable looked over the door and called to her.
That just about finished everyone off. The whole yard disolved into tears - even the men. Everyone hugged Red and tried to tell him that his best friend will be home soon. God - I just hope she is.