Friday the Thirteenth

So I was innocently sorting and folding a pile of laundry when my cell phone rang. It was Darren, saying "You aren't going to believe this." He then begins to describe to me the morning activities of my TB mare Boom Boom Cha Cha.



by actwithpride

Apparently Boom Boom was in her stall when a diesel truck on the backside of the barn made some sort of noise and scared her. She broke through the snaps holding her stall webbing in place in front of her and was loose. She proceeded to run down the shedrow and into the street between barns. Darren grabbed a shank and followed her but she was fllllyyyying (she IS a racehorse, mind you) and turned around a corner out of sight. Dale Baird's assistant trainer Penny Mathias told Darren that she saw Boomers make a beeline for the stablegate of the backside - which was still open after letting a horse trailer exit the barn area.

Boom Boom ran through the stablegate and luckily opted to turn right and run down along the back of the barns, on the outside of the barn area fence. She then headed down to the quarter chute of the race track itself. Unable to get onto the track she turned around and galloped on the grass up to the Hotel. By this point Boom Boom has gone about a mile in approximately 2-3 minutes. She then made a left turn onto Route 2 and somehow - the details are fuzzy - HIT A CAR.

Yes, hit a car. But don't panic yet.

The car had it's back windshield knocked out, the rear quarter panel crinkled, and the tail light cracked. The estimate from the car owner came in already at $2100 + cost of rental car. Fortunately the driver was uninjured, and had no passengers - he has 14 yo twins, at least one of whom would have been in the backseat had they been traveling with their Dad. The rear windshield was COMPLETELY shattered.

Our vet had already gone for the morning, so Dr Murray (already on the scene) filled in and went over Boom Boom for us. The vet warned us to keep an eye on her left knee, cautioned us about deep muscle bruises. On her shoulder she tore a small flap of skin and there are some bloody marks on her legs possibly from the glass. She was shaking like a leaf, with some blood on her lower lip where she hit the vehicle (a 2004 Grand Am). Doc gave her some banamine and aspirin and told us to keep checking on her every few hours.

After I thought about it awhile, I called our vet Dr Jimmy Boucher to ask if we should be worrying about a pneumothorax, as is the case with dogs that have been hit by cars. The concussion often causes air to leak outside the lungs, making it hard for the lungs to fill against the pressure of the air surrounding them. It often requires a chest tube to reduce the air volume outside the lungs. However Doc informed me that the most common after effect of horse vs. car is colic. Apparently their systems often shut down from the shock, leading to colic. So we will be watching her for that.

by actwithpride

I want to go back to bed for the rest of the day but we have to take turns checking on Boomers. The important thing is that no people were injured or (God forbid) killed in this tragic accident - cars can be fixed, not always the case with our loved ones.

Only on Friday the Thirteenth.