A Horse for Mandy (Chapter 5)
"Hey, Solana! Come on you lazy nag . . . let's go for a ride." Mandy began calling her horse as she walked toward the stall door. There was no familiar answering snort. In fact, the closer she got to the stall, the stranger things seemed.
Solana's stall was empty. Mandy couldn't imagine where she was. She remembered roping up the door the day before. But the ropes were untied and Solana was not in her stall.
"Who could . . .?" Mandy wondered out loud, looking at the dangling ropes. Then she ran out into the yard and began to whistle. From behind the stable Mandy heard a feeble whinny.
"Solana! What are you doing there?" she asked, running around the stables. Mandy stopped suddenly. There was Solana all right, but her herad was drooping and she seemed shaky on her legs. "What's the matter?" Mandy anxiously ran to her horse. Solana could hardly walk. She was limping terribly. It took them almost ten minutes to cover the short distance back to her stall.
Inside, Mandy picked up Solana's left forleg and searched the hoof for damage. She could see nothing. No cuts, no thorns . . . but it was swollen. "Stay, Solana!" Mandy cried in alarm. "I'll go find Dad."
Dr. Wilson rushed back with his daughter in a matter of minutes. "Oh, Dad, what's wrong? Can't you help her?" Mandy began to cry softly.
He examined the horse carefully. "Honey, I'm afraid its Laminitis - Founder." He shook his head grimly at his own diagnosis.
Mandy had been a vet's daughter too long not to understand what that meant. "Founder! Oh, no . . ." Mandy choked back her sobs. "But that could mean . . ." Her voice trailed off. She couldn't say the words.
"That could mean permanent crippling. Maybe even putting her down," he finished grimly.
"No! Can't you do something?" But she already knew the answer to that, too.
"Honey," Dr. Wilson explained, holding her by the shoulders. "You know that this is something that has to run its course. There's a lot of congestion in her foot right now. The blood flow is very heavy. It's jammed up and she's hurting. But at least it's not infected. We can do something to prevent that. We'll start antibiotics. I'll give her a shot of adrenaline, too in this leg. Maybe that will slow the flow of the blood and help the pain."
"Isn't there anything I can do to help?" Mandy begged.
"Yes, there is. You can start applying ice to both these front feet. And plan to spend day and night here, too."
The rest of the day seemed like a nightmare.
Her father did all he could. Then Mandy began the long nursing process. She brought an ice chest to Solana's stall and packed ice around her feet every hour. Mandy petted her and encouraged her to eat. Still her horse stood painfully and stared at the floor of her stall.
"Need some help?" She looked up into David's worried face.
"No, but thank you." Mandy said. He stood for a while making small talk. His being there lifted her spirits a lot.
It was almost suppertime before Mandy realized that Laura had not come by once to check on her. Bitterly she changed Solana's ice. Of course, Laura knew. Everybody on the whole ranch seemed to know. Even Mr. Callahhan had stopped by to check on her and comfort her. But not Laura.
When her father arrived with a take-out hamburger dinner; Mandy was still fuming. She didn't say anything to him, but ate in silence.
"Founder is a funny thing," he began, thinking her silence was worry. "A horse can recover from it as quickly as that." He snapped his fingers. "It goes as fast as it come. Yesterday, Solana was fine--today Founder--tomorrow, perfectly well. What troubles me is how she got it. I know how careful you are with her, honey."
"What are some of the causes?" Mandy asked.
"Excessive work. Can't be that though. We all know how you spoil that filly. Idleness and lack of excercise, too. Couldn't be that either. Improper shoeing. . .but Solana doesn't even have shoes. Digestive disturbance is a big cause. You know, too much protein-rich feed."
Mandy's heart fell. "What's wrong, honey?"
"Dad, when I came this morning, Solana wasn't in her stall."
"Where was she?"
"Wandering out back."
"Did you check the feed bin?"
"No. . .I never thought. . ."
"Mandy!" Her father was angry. "She got out of her stall and got into the sweet feed. I'll bet you anything. Mandy, how could you have so careless? What could you have been thinking of when you put her in her stall last night?"
Mandy hung her head and began to cry. It was all her fault! If she'd had her mind on Solana yesterday instead of Laura and David, this never would have happened. Oh, poor Solana, Mandy thought. Suffering so much and all because of me.
"I'm sorry, Mandy," her father said gravely. "But this is very serious. I gave you a horse because I thought you'd be old enough to handle the responsibility."
The more she cried, the worse she felt. Her father reached over and put his arms around her. "Mandy, I'm sorry. I know you love Solana. I shouldn't have come down so hard on you. Look, you've been a real nurse today. You keep wrapping her feet tonight and I'll bet she'll be fine by morning."
Mandy wiped her eyes. "Sure," she said. "Did you bring my sleeping bag?"
"Right here," he told her, gesturing to the corner of the stall, "Listen, the Callahans are letting me sleep up at the house tonight. If you have any problems, you come get me."
"Thanks, Dad." Mandy smiled weakly. Then she kissed him and watched him head up toward the house. She signed and turned back to Solana. She rolled out her sleeping bag. But she was certain that she wouldn't sleep tonight.
Chapter 6
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