trailer loading, pain, and swollen eye

["April Lee" <adlee@bigfoot.com>]

sorry in advance.  no caps today.  painful.

i just violated or watched being violated all the training mentalities that
i've developed over the last year! trailer loading.  we were trying to get
an 11 yr old arab gelding into my trailer to trailer him 5 minutes to his
own pasture.  his owner was impatient and didn't want me to spend a little
time working with him...he went into the trailer, finally, and she tied him.
out he backed.  broke the lead rope and fell hard.  skinned up his hocks
pretty badly.  she got mad.  forced him into the trailer.  we thought he
might stay with me, so i held him by the lead rope while she got out of the
trailer (open 2-horse, no divider).  out he backed while she tried to close
the door (no butt bar either).  stupid me did not let go of the rope in
time...burned my right hand pretty badly (so the pain and hard to type with
one hand...).  two women came over to help.  took lunge whips and tapped
him, slapped him, and sometimes whipped him until he got into the trailer.
my friend tied him, door was closed, and i fed him carrots until she was
safely out.

so many mistakes in that story!!!!!!!!!  every sentence was a mistake.  how
could i have been a part of that???  not just a passive part, but active.  i
broke john lyons' three fundamental rules: horse must be calm at the end,
people can't get hurt, and horse can't get hurt.  serts (the gelding) was
scared, didn't understand all the signals, owner was upset (i felt bad for
her, too), the horse and i got hurt.  and the lunge whips were used too
agressively.  and they were used on his lower legs.  and we used food to
entice him into the trailer. and......sigh.

now to the swollen eye.  my horse has a swollen eye.  swollen shut.  he'll
open it partway sometimes.  it's tearing (as in crying, not ripping) at the
tip near his nose and from the middle bottom.  i saw no wound near his eye.
i tried to open his eye, but with one hand, it was hard.  i opened a little
and didn't see anything.  i finally just put his fly mask on to protect it
as much as possible and left him.

i plan to call vet and see if he has a suggestion or if he wants to see us
or can see us tomorrow afternoon.  anybody have any other suggestions for
me?  i thought i might have another friend try to open his eye for me and
see if she can see if he has something in it.  it is not swollen TOO
bad...just enough to keep it shut... and the tearing bothers me...

anyway, thanks for any advise.  :)

april (one good hand) & apache (one good eye)
chattanooga, tn


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