Can You Call the Vet?

by Barbara Ellin Fox

My daughter took care of a small boarding facility during Christmas, while its owners were out of town and a situation arose that  brought up the question, “What’s in your boarding contract.”

One of the horses had periodic seizures and she was instructed  that if it occurred she should put his food in his stall and check on him in an hour.  The barn owner said the seizures caused him to be down anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.

At one morning’s feed, the horse was down and struggling.  There was no way to tell how long he’d been like this, but after he calmed down she put his feed in his stall. She called the barn owner who reconfirmed leaving him and checking back in an hour.

Returning in an hour, the horse was still down.  She waited a little longer before she tried to help him get up. The attempt was unsuccessful. She contacted the barn owner again, saying the horse needed a Vet.  The barn owner contacted the horse owner, who was about 20 minutes away.  The horse owner said he wanted to evaluate the situation before the vet was called. I drove over to help because no one should have to deal with a sick horse alone.

When I arrived the horse was down flat, head to tail on the ground.  His breathing was shallow.  Periodically his eyes would roll back and he’d grind his teeth.  At other times he just lay motionless.  He thought about trying to get up once but couldn’t.

The owner was really slow in arriving.  By the time he arrived the horse had been down for 5-6 hours. He refused to ask a vet to come see the horse, preferring to leave him alone for a few more hours to see if he would get up. We got into a heated discussion about why he wouldn’t ask a vet to come out, with him saying “It’s my horse and I’ll do what I want.  I’ll take it from here and you can leave.” He told me that he didn’t need a lecture on being a bad horse owner. I said, “If you go away and leave that horse without any help, you’re a bad horse owner.” He’d been getting ready to leave.

The man stayed a little longer while my daughter finished chores.  Eventually he called a vet who had no knowledge of this horse. With a little coaching from the man who didn’t want a vet to come out, the vet said to let the horse stay down and give him food and maybe he’d become strong enough to get up.  Then the horse owner left, saying his wife was on the way.  As he got into his car I saw that the food he’d given the horse was a pile of 4 large and hard horse treats.  They were stacked in front of the horse near his gaping lips. The wife didn’t appear for a long time. The horse lay flat out and helpless in the stall for almost 9 hours.

When I spoke with the barn owner on the phone she told me there was nothing she could do and told us to go home. Having been told now by both the horse owner and barn owner to leave, I told her we would go, but that it went completely against our principals to leave this poor horse all alone. When I got home and called my vet he said they were totally powerless to do anything.

My daughter saw the horse owner later that night. The owner said the only way this horse would see a vet was if it was going to get “the needle”.

This was a horrible experience.  The horse was sick and helpless and we were powerless to help it. Not an experience either of us wants to repeat.

We had lots of time to talk about boarding contracts while we kept the sick horse company. This was the first time we’d experienced a boarding situation with no contract. A good boarding contract  can make the difference between a good relationship and a poor one, with barn owner and boarders. It should cover all of the details of boarding.  And it should be designed so the barn owner’s hands are not tied when it comes to providing humane care for animals.  It should spell out in detail everything that is provided  with board and should specify when board is due, what the penalties are for  late payment etc.   And the contract should protect the horse.

Our contract states that if a horse is ill or injured we’ll attempt to contact the owner, but we also reserve the right to call a vet for the horse, at the horse owner’s expense.  We make every attempt to reach the owner before treatment is rendered, but if the horse is in danger and the owner can’t be reached, the owner gives written permission to have the horse treated. We also make sure we have complete procedure instructions for any horse that is insured.  Because we feel so strongly about fair treatment for the horses under our care, if a potential border can’t accept our policies, we can’t accept them as borders. Our recent experience shows that, for us,  it’s much more painful to helplessly watch a horse suffer than it is to turn a prospective border down.

Popularity: 36% [?]