Really sad day here. A horse snapped its Achilles tendon playing in club chukkas this afternoon. The poor thing was so panicked and every time it put its leg on the ground it freaked out and started bucking. It just couldn’t understand why it hurt so much and was trying to get away from its own leg.. It was just awful. Everyone around panicked and no-one seemed to want to go near the horse – even the syce (our grooms as they’re called) holding the horse didn’t know what to do and panicked himself. A few of us called for the vet – luckily there was one close by as there was a horse show going on next door and so they had a vet on stand by there so it wasn’t too long before he got there. But in the interim everyone seemed to just take a wide berth - even the owner. I felt so sorry for it – I went and talked gently to him and stroked his nose and slowly he calmed down but when the vet did arrive, he took one look at the horse, ran his hand down its leg and said “S**T!” – you kind of knew then there’d be no hope and I sadly left as I couldn’t stay there to watch it being shot. Sadly it’s the only thing to do in a situation like that – especially in this country where we don’t have horse hospitals or any fancy facilities – although I’m not really sure elsewhere in the world what they do with a horse with that kind of injury. I felt so guilty leaving there as no-one else seemed to want to talk gently and calm the horse but I couldn’t bear to see it die. I suppose that's why everyone took a wide berth. It's too awful to be there stroking it and talking to it - knowing that in the next few minutes it would be put down. It was just so awful it kind of makes you think – why do we do this to our animals but I suppose in anything – accidents happen and i suppose sometimes they are inevitable in those high stress situations like polo - especially when some people just push their horses unnecessarily hard.
The whole incident also put in perspective what I was going to blog about today – which was about how I’ve suddenly noticed how all my friends are looking so old! Sounds awful saying that but I’m not saying I’m not included in that 'looking old'!– it’s just I take the sensible precaution of having very few mirrors in my house and not looking into the few that I do have very frequently!! Actually when I get in the car in the morning and I reverse out of my drive, the first glance I usually get of myself is in the rear view mirror just as I’m about to leave the house – and it’s only then I realise I have no make up on and think how dreadful I look – so promptly rush back in for a bit of powder and lipstick!! I’ve never been big on make up so its not something I generally tend to remember in the mornings in my disorganisation of trying to get out of the house! But really – at our age – I’ve come to realise we all look pretty awful in the absence of make-up!
Actually i got kind of lucky recently - or unlucky as some saw it at the time! - but i got hit by a polo ball in the face about a month ago. It was whacked pretty hard - by a great 2.5 goaler - so it was travelling at some speed when my head stopped it. Anyhow it split the side of my eye open - which resulted in 5 stitches and a black eye that has only started to disappear in the last week or so BUT the fabulous part of it all is that i no longer have crows feet on the outside of the one eye as the scar from the stitches has flattened them all. - Cheaper than botox i reckon and let me realise that in most things in life which seem pretty bad luck at the time - something good comes out of it in the end!
- i only wish i could say the same for that beautiful horse today. I'm so so sorry for him and hope that he is now peacefully grazing in a better place - pain free.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment