As soon as I can bear to work with the rest of the pictures, I may post then to the blog. For now, though, they are much too heart breaking and gut wrenching for me. All I can do is cry when I think of poor Leo's experience.

Lessons learned: 1.don't overlook ANYTHING that could potentially cause harm to your animals - even if you think it is out of reach. If they can find a way to hurt themselves, they probably will. 2. Make sure you have the number of an emergency vet who is reliably available. Many who say they offer emergency service, may not (as I discovered to my horror). 3. Try to stay calm (ha! That's only good in theory) 4. Keep supplies of vet wrap, large gauze bandages, betadine, syringes and needles (syringes and needles just in case the vet can't get to you and you can't get to him - at least you can get some pain killers and administer yourself if all other options fail) Diapers worked well for us but the problem with them is that they leave residue in the wound. Gauze bandages won't. 5. Get yourself some tranquilizers so after it is over you can calm down and maybe even get some sleep without nightmares.

December 5, 2004

Tragedy strikes at Circle E Ranch. Leo ran into a garden hose hanger which has been on the fence for 5 years. Here Leo is at the veterinary hospital after 3 hours of intense emergency treatment and IV fluids directly into his jugular on the left side of his next.

Leo's right jugular vein was severed and half of his face is gone as a result of the accident. We were sure he would make it. I called a very good friend, Mary Favaron (she has a Paso Fino horse), and she and her husband rushed over and assisted in our emergency. Arnie grabbed the artery and folded it over to stop the blood flow. Mary and George applied diapers (excellent emergency bandage) to hold back the blood and wrapped him with vet tape to keep what was left of his face in place until we could get to a vet while I frantically called every veterinarian in the area. We finally found Dr. Kevin Beam (a wonderful, kind, and excellent veterinarian) in Alvarado, Texas which is about a 30 minute drive from Ovilla. The problem - although Leo has been handled every day of his life, he had never seen a trailer before. This is when all the work I have been doing with Leo really paid off. He trusted us and we got him in the trailer with minimum fuss especially since he was so severely injured. Miraculously, Leo seems to be doing ok. He's still in the hospital and we hope to bring him home Wednesday, December 8. We consider ourselves extremely lucky and blessed that he is still alive although it isn't over yet. He also shattered the bone on the right side of his face and we still face the possibility of infection. The facial nerves of this side of his face were destroyed so he has permanent damage. The good news is that Dr. Beam tells us his body will create new blood routes to replace the severed jugular vein. Thank goodness horses have 2 jugulars, one on each side, or he would have certainly died.

This is a picture from last year. I have drawn a circle around the seemingly benign hose hanger which did all the damage to Leo.

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