Monday, November 20, 2006

In Her Own Words - Cobra's Comeback
by Pamela Doolittle

The Long Unpredictable Road to Recovery

Coby’s prognosis was not good. While there was no apparent fatal injury, much of the skin around the wound beds had detached during the fall and pockets of dirt and sand remained hidden. The doctors had done their best to clean out his wounds. In addition, Coby was not happy in the stall. He paced in a worried way as other sick horses entered and left the emergency area. He would not stand quietly and the excessive movement would prevent the underlying tissue from attaching back to the skin. Dr. Doug Langer led the team’s care. His primary concern was infection that would likely develop and cause fatal harm. His secondary concern was that the horse would not remain quiet in the stall and felt strongly that longer-term sedation would be necessary to improve his chances for survival. Coby spent 9 days in emergency care under Dr. Langer’s care. The playful and mischievous horse I had come to know and love now stood with his head in the rear corner of his stall. His lower lip drooped sadly. He was not interested in treats or attention. It broke my heart knowing I could not explain to him that we were trying to save his life.

We brought him home to his stall, piled thickly with shavings and straw. The course of antibiotics would continue for months. The skin and hair around his rear end and tail dock area became irritated by the diarrhea caused by the antibiotics. I changed his bandages daily. Dr. Langer recommended we not even hand walk him, since any excessive activity would irritate the process of allowing the skin bed to attach down and granulate. His former student, Dr. Jennifer Thompson, visited our farm weekly to check on his wounds and to provide encouragement. The weeks turned into months, and Coby’s wounds and temperament slowly recovered. My children did their homework in the barn while I changed bandages and brushed and entertained my horse. My husband cared for our other horses while I combed Coby’s stall for manure and wet shavings. Coby’s care had cost us over $10,000 by this time and countless hours of care. We could no longer afford the completion of the stable we had dreamed about. Everything we had in both time and money was now focused on Coby’s comeback.

By June of 2004, I began hand-walking Coby briefly outside and a full x-ray evaluation of his joints provided us promising news regarding his potential soundness. By July, he was well enough to be turned out in a small paddock. I visited Dr. Langer the end of July to assess his soundness for riding. He had me lunge him in the clinic indoor. Coby spent the first five minutes at an airy trot with his tail flagged and his nostrils flaired. I swear he was looking for mirrors to check on himself. He eyed the hospital staff that gathered to watch him with amusement. I remember Dr. Langer smiling as he commented what a beautiful horse Coby still was. He noted, “He’s not really an arrogant horse. He just knows he’s special.” We had worked for months for this moment—Dr. Langer said it was time to put him back to work.