12-04-2008 South Downs Festival

80KM CR

Not really a day we would wish upon any body. Today was the day all thinks went wrong. You know when you wish you listened to your inner self. Well today I should have. All the signs were there, I just didn't know what they meant. Last weeks training ride at Ashdown Forest being cancelled, the dog bite in January just as I was planning our year of competing, and that feeling. That feeling inside that said we are not ready for this.

The day started well and we walked up to Muntham Farm ready for the start. We vetted fine and took some photos. And we were off. I am writing this some 6 months later so the memory of the day is a it of a haze. The ride was to consist of two large loops and a smaller loop at the end. The first loop went fine. Gabby was full of life and we were going at a good speed, maybe a little fast if anything. She didn't really let me walk her back to the venue for our first vet stop so she was quite high when she got back. We struggled to get her pulse down. We failed our first vetting. At the time I put it down to the numerous dogs barking and making her feel uneasy (as she was chased and bitten only a few months ago). Now I think she needed a better walk off but its hard to slow a horse down to a walk in a competition like that on your own turf when she knows the way home. We presented a second time and got through. In some ways I wish she had failed the vetting at that point as perhaps what happened next would not have happened. But I am a believer that everything happens for a reason. It just takes time to work out that reason.

So we had our 30 min vet hold and we were off again. We got 3/4 of the way round and the heavens opened. I jumped off to walk her down a very steep slippery hill and jumped back on at the bottom. By this time the rain had passed so we carried on up the hill in a nice steady canter and back to a trot at the top and we joined back onto the South Downs Way. As we hit the brow of the hill Gabby slipped or stumbled and didn't pick herself up quick enough. Both front knees went down onto the chalk path. I had stayed on but clearly needed to jump off afterwards to find both knees in a terrible state. We were 1 min walking distance from Kithurt Hill car park where Donna was waiting to crew for me. We walked down, Gabby unaware of what had happened and wanting to carry on. We called the event vet who was there in 15 mins. During which time we washed and bandaged the knees to prevent any further blood loss or infection entering the knees. The vet said on arrival she had to go straight to hospital to be operated on.................He injected her to sedate her and with antibiotics and cleaned out the wound as much as possible. He then prepared her for travel. Meanwhile I took the 4x4 back to the venue to get the horse box.

We chose to go to Liphook Equine Hospital by recommendation. It took about an hour to one and a half to get there, I loose memory of time now. We arrived around 5pm and was greeted immediately. We unloaded Gabby and went straight into an examination room. They removed the bandages and cleaned her up more and shaved the area around it. By now she was hopping lane and I was fearing the worse. We then changed rooms and had her x-rayed. The good news was nothing was broken. The joint was then tapped and the infection was multiplying. It was agreed that we should operate there and then so they prepared her for theatre.

About an hour later we were called back and watched the operation. Nothing prepared me to see my Gabby upside down in the theatre with her knees taped and a big tube in her mouth. I was now in shock and fear but I watched on in hope. She was looked after so well and I owe a lot to all of them there, especially David Lloyd the surgeon. Her knees were scrubbed so clean inside, a camera was put inside to make sure everything was right. They found some chipped cartilage which they removed, and then they stitched her back together. She was taken to a recovery room where we waited for her to wake up and get up. About 10pm she did and she got straight back up.

Over the following week she stayed with them to receive the highest amount of care possible. She was walked 4 times a day, bandages changed twice a day, I was called daily for an update, and we went to see her daily. Over the week, the worse knee continued to discharge but by the weekend she was released home with the understanding that she was seen every other day by our vets and we continued to good work.

So over the next 3 weeks of box rest we walked her in hand 3 times a day for half an hour, she was seen every other day by Frank Low, we changed the bandages on the other days and she seems to improve daily. Sadly over night she seemed to become increasingly lame so we removed all the bandages to find cellulites had set in. The vet was back that morning to inject more antibiotics and to prescribe a steroid cream. It was harder to clear that up than the scars from the operation.

It was agreed that we would turn her out on restricted turn out for 3 weeks and indeed we did. We had to build Gabby Land which was a grid system of small paddocks and rotate her daily. This way we preserved the grass and kept her grazing well. She continued to improve so we agreed to turn her away for a month and let her be a horse, and sort herself out and be happy. She had all of June off in the field, didn't come in once, fed and loved in the field, but nothing more. I think we both needed a brake to be honest.

July came and now for the hard work. She was examined again and found to be in good shape so we started daily exercise. We did six weeks in walk starting at 30 mins and building up to an hour and a half. Frank then returned to vet her, and she was given a full bill of health. We could now work her in trot and soon canter.

Since then she has pulled herself together literally and is back to full working capacity with one difference, she is better than before. She is less stiff and less clumsy. Is is because she is still out 24 / 7 and not standing around in her box stiffening up, or the New Market Joint Supplements, or that she is working pattern is more spaced out, or that by going back to basics we both taught each other something. I don't know, but I do know everything happens for a reason!

So where do we go from here. Well two days ago we went to the beach and had a fab time. Next Sunday we are doing the Devils Dyke 26 non competitive ride. This is the same ride we successfully did at the beginning of the year. A nice short distance and a non competitive challenge. Why do I want to do it? It was the first of the year and the last. I want to do it for Gabby. She enjoys it. I want to let her enjoy it as a mark of what she has achieved to come back as well as she has. And I want to keep her safe. She loves her long rides, we just need to keep it realistic. 26km is a work out for her, 80km is too much. She wont tell me she is tired, and I think at the end of the day, she was, and when she stumbled her legs were too tired to pick herself back up. She will never be put under that much work again, and she now wears leather knee boots for added protection.

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