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From www.bridleandbit.com Rodeos
Things were going well for Mother and I during the week. Mother had placed in one of the rodeos in the barrel race on Genny and I had placed a few times in the tie down calf roping on Kitty and the break a way roping on Lena. We had been up to Horseshoe bend to Doc (veterinarian) and Judy Peterson’s place for Doc’s birthday the past Thursday evening and got to visit with them for a little while. A bunch of us from the rodeo even went rafting that day down the river. We were enjoying our stay in the very small town of Crouch, Idaho. Sunday was the last rodeo and we arrived after 7:30 AM. Slack was going to be at 9AM, we were not in the slack but had to go to feed, water and move our horses from the pens at the back end of the arena. When we arrived, Kirsten David, the rodeo secretary came rushing to our truck. She told us that a bull had busted through the fences at the opposite end of the arena from our horses. He somehow busted down 3 gates and went through all of the roping stock (calves and steers), past the mini horses and the bucking horses and into the pen where we had our mares. Lena and Kitty were attacked and gored by this bull. We drove to the end of the arena to see both mares tied up to the fence, exhausted. Kirsten had somehow (in shorts and flip flops) gotten the bull out of their pen and tied the mares up so they would not move as she knew how hurt they were. Ironically, Genny my mom’s barrel horse had not been touched because mother said she would kick the other two mares so we had to separate her somehow. I had found 3 panels and made her a little make-shift pen in the corner of the big pen the other 2 mares were in. I immediately found a cell phone that worked (mine does not work in Garden Valley) and called Doc Peterson. Judy, his wife took the call and said he would be on his way. He arrived ASAP and began working on Lena. She had sustained the worst injuries. My friends and rodeo competitors, Kelly Lawerence and Jan Youren both helped us with the mares. It took 4 hours of steady work to sew up and medicate the mares. Lena had a very deep gore behind her right front leg which we were all very worried about and one on her right hip. She had been hit on her head and it was swelling. She was loosing a lot of blood. As he worked on her, she was a perfect angel. She tried to stand but got a bit wheezy several times. We all kept her up for Doc to work on. He was afraid that she may have a punctured lung as deep as the gore was under her front leg. Her breathing and heart rate were not normal. When he was done with her, he moved to Kitty. She had a very long (about 10 inches across) gash on her right hind gaskin and it was a big ugly tear. He sedated her and began to work. She was not such an angel. After he got several sutures into the wound, she decided that she had enough and out of the blue, kicked at Doc. Wham, right between the legs but luckily, he had baggy pants on and it seemed to only get the pants (Whew that was a close one!) There was blood all over his pants. Doc said we would not tell Judy about this but he figured she would know since she does his wash!
The following morning, Doc showed up when we were just giving the mares their medication. He suggested for my mom to take them to his place until they could travel safely. Doc and Judy took in the 3 mares and my mother for a week. My mom had been away from the ranch for 3 weeks already and needed to get back but Lena was still in critical condition. Sadly, my mom had to leave her beloved Lena behind. Knowing she was in the best hands was the only way my mom could leave. Lena continued to fight for her life and we had daily reports. Judy had her eating apples everyday from her hand and Doc had her as comfortable as she could possibly be. She was grazing grass and eating her grain. Unfortunately, she developed some hernias from the bull attack to her stomach. They were worsening and Doc was afraid for the worse. On August 14, they were checking on her and she went down. Doc went into the house to get her final shot. When he got back out to her, she jumped up so he medicated her all the while fighting the tears from his eyes. They fed her and put her fly sheet on for the night. After eating dinner, they went out to check on her once more. She went down again. Crying, Doc went to get the shot once more. By this time, Judy went down with Lena and put her head in her lap. Doc came out and gave her a final shot. There was no way anyone could for see something like this happening. The bull was just a mean, bad bull and they hauled him off before the last performance of the rodeo so he could not hurt anything else. My mom and I have been rodeoing in the WPRA for over 30 years. Rodeo people are used to putting their horses into pens between bucking stock and roping stock. It happens everyday. The facility is owned by the Youren family who have hosted this rodeo for 9 years and are known World Wide for rough stock, both riding and teaching as well as raising their own stock. The pen our horses were in was probably the best pen at the arena. It had a brand new metal gate attached to a railroad tie with a brand new chain. The bull knocked down and leveled that railroad tie! We have never seen something quite like this. It is so devastating to all involved. I want to thank everyone that helped and everyone that e-mailed my mom and I throughout the whole thing. Melinda Harlee of San Antonio put out a prayer chain on Barrelhorse.com and I put it on Workinghorse.com. Many very concerned and caring people (rodeo and non-rodeo) prayed for Lena to pull through. Everyone on the R.O.P.E.R. team and people I work with in Edgewood I.S.D. were praying madly. The Appaloosa Horse Club as well as members of regional Appaloosa Horse Clubs were all hoping for the best. Like Judy Peterson said to me after they put Lena down; “I wish I had a better ending for your story, Sherri.” www.bridleandbit.com |
