Kallie's Story

It is a sad story, but does have a happy ending.

So allow me to take you back in time to August 2nd, the day that I met Kallie and Dart. It was a warm day, but like the most of the summer it was overcast and threatening to rain any minute. Shortly after supper the trailer arrived with the two newest boarders of Meadow Brook Stables, Kallie a 11-year-old bay tobiano paint mare and her 10-week-old red dun tobiano paint colt who was at the time known as Fly.

The folks that had hauled them down unloaded them, Kallie was wide-eyed and snorting and Dart was giving the gentleman a run for his money as he reared up and fought the pressure on the halter. We let them into the 10-acre field with the rest of the crew and the introductions began. Chance of course had to establish his dominance and would chase Kallie and Dart away from the rest of the herd not letting them near. She would throw a few kicks at him and then trot or canter away, leaving the rest of the herd be.

It was then I found out that neither had had much handling. The mare had basically been turned out most of her life and popping babies out left-right and center. So the only times she had contact with humans were for the “routine” things, such as when the vet or farrier came out, when she was being bred or getting close to foaling, while the rest of the time she was turned out with anywhere from 10-20 other horses, possibly more during her first 6 years of her life while she was in Alberta. The colts interaction with people hadn’t been the best either, he had been pinned, held and haltered, then tied on a trailer for a 5+ hour drive with a partition up between him and his mom, (he couldn’t even see her!) and then he was taken off the trailer wrestled towards the paddock and let loose.

It took me two days to catch the mare and almost three weeks to catch the colt for the first time. Both were extremely flighty and untrusting. It was then that Fly’s name changed to Dart, I thought it was much better fitting as he would quickly dart away when approached. I spent many hours just sitting out in the field, getting them used to my presence, offering Kallie treats and scratches when she would finally stand still and not run off. Slowly but surely they both started to come around, the colt quickly became more approachable then his mother. He would let me scratch his hindquarters, stomach and withers, but was very hesitant about being touched around his neck and especially his head.

A month past by quickly and before I knew it they were leaving. Their owner had bought their new home and had had it all set up for the horses. So we loaded Kallie on the trailer and Dart followed quickly. I went with them to their new home to unload and help get them adjusted. I was sad to see them go because I had grown attached to both of them in the short time they were in my care. At least they were only 10 minutes down the road, and over the next 19 days I went out as often as a could to offer Kallie some treats, to just sit in the field and let them approach me and to scratch Dart’s itchy spots.

It was in the first week of September when I suggested to Dart’s owner that we wean Dart and Lexi at the same time, so that they each had a buddy. She eagerly agreed so we made the plans and got the ball rolling.

I had a hard time sleeping the night before and was quite nervous about how the day was going to go. I kept playing the different “plans” in my head over and over, so needles to say I was awake long before my alarm clock went off at 6am. When it did finally go off I got up and quickly got dressed and grabbed a piece of toast before heading out. I arrived at the owners place and went in to Kallie and Dart’s paddock. Offered Kallie some treats gave her a rub on the neck and just relaxed with them for a bit. Dart came right up to me and allowed me to rub his face and neck, something he had never allowed before.

But as soon as the halter came out Kallie went into flight mode and didn’t want to stand still. She had no interest in being caught. So we played the catching game for a bit and finally with the help of the hauler we got a halter onto Kallie, and offered her her grain as a big reward. Dart was also offered his grain and at this time Anna, was able to slip a rope halter onto him. A big sigh of relief, so far so good. Once Kallie was done eating we loaded her onto the trailer, Dart eagerly followed. I then took Kallie off and we left Dart on. He cried a few times, but didn’t panic. The mare called back a few times and looked over her shoulder worriedly as we put her in her stall until she calmed down a bit.

So off I went, following the trailer back to my place where we turned Lexi and Dart out in the field beside my house together. Lexi was quite upset to be away from her mom and hollered for her mom for hours. Dart would call out now and then, but didn’t seem too distressed. He was quite content to graze on the remaining grass or munch on some hay. But Lexi wasn’t that content; she worked herself up into a sweat in no time.

The first two days with Dart at my home were perfect, and at this time there was talk that I was going to buy him. I worked with him on line Saturday and Sunday and he was just perfect, the un-halter broke and hardly handled foal had become a real pocket pony in the short time I was able to work with him. Then on the third day disaster struck Meadow Brook Stables. When I got home from work he was starting to show signs of mild colic, laying down, rolling some, getting up and walking then repeating the process. So I went out and began walking him, noticed he was dehydrated so brought him over to the water and allowed him to drink, not to quickly, and made sure the water was warm. He drank his fill and seemed to perk up, he would lie down but he no longer had much interest in rolling.

Then around 8:30 he took a turn for the worse, I couldn't get him up anymore he just wanted to lay there and roll, so I called the vet, he got here shortly after 9 and at that time Dart was flat out with a glazed look in his eyes and not looking good at all. I called the owner and finally got a hold of her and the vet basically told her to get over here because we have decision making time in 10-15 minutes. So she rushed over, at this point Anna was also rushing over.

The vet had already given him a dose of Torb and banamine and it didn't seem to kick in until 5 minutes after the call with the owner, he got up and I started walking. And we walked and walked and walked. We then placed the tub again and gave him some mineral oil and a pasty substance I can't recall the name - something to help relieve gas. After that I walked some more and he really perked up, he was very eager and willing to walk around and follow and even threw in a few trot strides, was making no effort to slow down or lay down.

He had seemed to take a full turn for the better. So I walked and walked and walked until about 11, at this point he was getting pretty tired. The vet at this time decided that we could let him stand quietly, and lay down as long as he wasn’t going to try to roll, before he left he was quite happy with how he had responded to the drugs and figured the colic had passed, but was still worried that his heart rate was up and said to keep an eye on it and monitor it. So after the vet left Dart had a drink of the water then proceeded to play in it in, splashing it with his nose and putting his foot in the tub, then he went over and played with the barrels pawing at those and pushing them with his nose.

His heart rate was still up - not as high as it was but still up, but he was getting tired, his lip was drooping so we though it was safe to let him lay down. He didn't really try to roll much, he settled in nicely so we watched him for a bit then decided that I would come out and check on him every hour or so to see how he was doing. Anna and his owner both left at this time.

I went out to check on him throughout the night and he was usually standing over by Blue and Lexi relaxed not in distress, or laying down quietly in the hay. No thrashing or rolling. I get up shortly before 7am to check on him and he is laying in the corner of the paddock, I didn’t go into distress right away because he looked so quiet and peaceful laying there. It wasn’t until I got closer that I was able to notice that he was no longer breathing, not blinking, nothing. He was gone.

When I had talked to the vet later that day and explained to him how my night had went after he had left he figured that the colic was caused by a large worm die off (so please people, follow a proper deworming program for your horses, especially the young ones. Get their feces tested to find out what their worm load is and deworm accordingly. Dart had been dewormed once in the 4 months of his life and had spent the first 2 and a half months turned out with 20+ other horses, so the worm load was probably quite high). And even though the threat of the colic had passed, the heart had still worried the vet, be from my description of how he found him he figures that he had had a heart condition. Possibly a weak heart, or thin lining around the aorta and the stress from the colic and strained his heart too much and he couldn’t recover.

I know that is more about Dart then about Kallie, but it is all leading up to why Kallie came to be mine. Needless to say I was pretty messed up after Dart had passed, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I lost a fair amount of weight – and for someone who can’t really afford to loose much weight I was getting dangerously thin.

And then Dart came to me in one of my dreams, I was walking through a field, surrounded by a thick blanket of fog, and I was looking for something, but I wasn't sure what I was looking for. Then I heard a familiar whinny, followed by hoof beats and Dart ran up to me. He nuzzled me and told me that he was okay, and that I shouldn't blame myself for what happened because it was his time to go. And even though I didn't think it should have been it was and he thanked me for caring for him and showing him love, and apologized that we had such a short time together and that someday we would be with one another again.

So the days got slightly more bearable to live, I still miss him deeply and still cry plenty when I think about him and am on the verge of tears now writing this. A short time after Dart’s passing his previous owner messaged me and said that she had to make a very hard decision. She had decided to say goodbye to Kallie because her health wasn’t going to allow her to keep and care for Kallie like she deserved. She had had knee troubles for some time and it wasn’t getting any better, she had be to hospital after hospital and specialist after specialist and no one could figure out why she was loosing feeling in her feet or why she found it so hard to walk. So having a horse was no longer going to be an option. And she wanted Kallie to go to me, someone that would understand her and care for her and her ‘little one to be’.

Me being the type of person I am and always telling myself that everything happens for a reason agreed to take Kallie. I think she was sent to me for a reason. I was meant to have Kallie in one way or another, she was meant to be in my life.