RESCUE Horse 5

One of five rescue horses coming to #AuroraRescueCentre

This horse will be available for purchase/adoption as soon as it is listed in the journal.


Name: Duke
Age: 9 years
Gender: Gelding
Height: 17.2hh
Breed: Cob-like
Colur: Black
Markings: One stocking, three stocks, star and snip
Scars: Burn marks on face, shoulder, stomach and legs. Blind in left eye


Story

Amber was in the kitchen, humming a song to herself as she mixed up a cake batter, pen behind her ear then to her hand as she scrawled down more notes on things to be done, between pouring the cake mix into a tin and putting it into the oven. "Lighting check... plumbing check... call the florist..., dinner is tomorrow so go to town..." she muttered, writing a shopping list on the next page in her note book.

Lee was in a daze as he made his way to his landrover, glancing behind him at the stinking, smoking mess he had just been working in. It was terrible, the stench clinging to his nostrils as he pulled the phone out of his pocket and dialled the house phone. The situation was horrid, and something needed to be done. He could only hope they were the ones to do it. He listened to the tone a few times, trying not to look at the devastation behind.

Amber looked up from her magazine and check list when the phone rang, leaping up she snatched it off the hook and tripped over her own feet, pressing the answer button before hitting the floor with an audiable thud. "Oooow, hello?" She tried not to groan while sitting up and rubbing her hip.

Lee was mildly confused by the way in which the phone was picked up, but he pushed it to the back of his mind, taking a long, deep breath. "Amber, I need you to get some shavings down in the stables, we have an emergency. Five... emergencies..." he trailed off and looked over his shoulder again as he heard a pained squeal. "I'm going to trailer them up and bring them over. They need... a lot of help." He ran a hand through his hair. He hadn't seen anything like this in a long time.
"Lee? What's wrong?" she said getting to her feet and pushing a stray strand of blonde hair back out of her eyes while she pulled on her boots. "I'll go and out the shavings in now... anything else needed?"
He thought for a moment as he walked back towards the scene, his mind numb. "Uhm... yeah, get some buckets of warm water ready, towels, burn cream, and those soft blankets we ordered, the ones made out of fleece." He knelt next to a horse that was laid down and ran a hand over its sweating neck. The animal sighed and closed its eyes, beyond struggling against the pain. "I'll be there in about an hour."
"Oh okay, and do YOU need anything?" she said with a frown, hearing the stressed tone in his voice . She wandered down to the stables and spread the shavings and filled one of the large buckets with warm water and wash cloths. Bow and Prissy poked their heads out to see what all the commotion was when Amber went jogging past with armfuls of blankets, medical kits and wraps. "Not now you two, treats later," she wheezed, the weight of it all stealing her voice from her.

Lee struggled to load the five surviving horses into the large trailer that had been brought over. They didn't want to move, every step hurting them. They were each severely burned or suffering from smoke inhalation, the barn having gone up in flames in just a few minutes. The staff at the stables had done a good job rescuing the horses they could, but the yard owner had died in the effort, and another 23 horses had perished. The 'lucky' five would hopefully survive. Lee worried about them as they drove towards ARC, an eerie silence in the back of the trailer. Three of the horses had laid down immediately, one had been carried in and the other was just too shocked to even move. It was a fifteen minute drive to ARC, but Lee felt relief as they finally started the drive down the still bumpy path. Amber was waiting in the drive way with the medical kit and lead ropes and halters, wondering just how bad the situation was to need the arsonal of supplies she had been dispatched to organise. Lee asked the driver to turn the truck to put the back of the trailer was facing the entrance to the yard. He jumped out and jogged around to the back where Amber was. "I warn you," he breathed heavily. "The smell isn't nice." He unbolted the back door and, with the help of the other man, they lowered the ramp. The smell of burning flesh greeted them immediately, and in the darkness of the trailer there were five shapes, stood or laid listlessly. The poor things needed serious attention. Amber tried not to gag, the smell hit her like a ton of bricks and immediately turned her muffin over in her stomach the wrong way. "Oh my god!" she gasped, eyeing the horses and trying to hold her breath at the same time. Lee sighed and moved up the ramp of the trailer, taking the halter of the only horse that was left stood up, a black gelding of a cob-like build. He led the horse down the ramp slowly, guiding him down. The gelding only had a few burns, but the wheezing in his lungs suggested he had inhaled a significant amount of smoke.
"I tihnk he can go in a stable and rest for now," he sighed, glancing over his shoulder. "The rest need cleaning up more than he does." The horse groaned slightly and lowered his head, clearly feeling miserable. Amber stepped up and took the gelding's halter from Lee, stroking his cheek and and muttering soothing words to him. "Hush, sweetie, you'll be okay... we just need to get you all fixed up," she whispered, leading him away slowly. Lee watched the gelding walk away with Amber and turned to look at the other horses. The man who was helping was trying to get a mare to stand up. She was only a pony, and a dull palomino in colour with dusty white tobiano markings. She resisted the head collar, rolling her eyes and flattening her ears back. Lee ran a hand through his hair and moved over to her, taking a gently grip on the head collar.
"Come on now, darling, you need to get up," he said softly, putting a hand gently on her shoulder and pushing her. She squealed gently from the pain as she yielded to his hand and pushed herself up from the ground. "Good girl," he muttered, leading her forwards out of the trailer.

Amber quickly made the gelding comfortable, injecting a pain killer into his blood stream for him before she ran back to help Lee with the next lot, her mind wandering over what could have possibly happened to these poor horses. Lee let the mare stand at the bottom of the ramp, starting to clean her up with the warm water Amber had prepared. She rolled her eyes again and tried to move away as he sponged the wounds, cleaning up the grime from the fire. Underneath the filth was burnt flesh that was raw. Amber wandered back over to Lee and the pony, stroking her nose and whispering soothing words to her. "Do you want anything for this one or me to get the next one?" she said gently, so not as to frighten the poor mare.
"Just hold her for me," Lee said, exasperated, as he tried to clean her wounds. "I know, darling, I know it hurts," he muttered as he attempted to put the sponge to her again. "Then she needs cream on these, then a rug," he managed to say as she panicked slightly. Amber nodded and held the mare's head steady, stroking her nose and muttering soothing words, smoothing out her forelock and trying not to look at the burns. Lee finished cleaning the wounds and applied the cream before placing the light rug on her gently.
"Okay, she can go in a stable too," he sighed, standing back from the mare. Amber nodded and lead the mare down to the stables, walking her gently into the stall next to the gelding. Something about the little mare tugging at her heart strings, to see her there so defenceless and fearful but exhausted. Like a child with a fever in a storm who was scared but too exhausted to go anywhere.

Lee and the man moved onto the next mare, a larger bay with bright blue eyes. She seemed to be very pretty, but again she had a lot of burns. He went through the same routine, sponging her down and applying the cream. After this mare, there was just one more mare, and the poor gelding who couldn't even stand at the minute. Lee was starting to wonder if the poor thing would make it. Amber countinued the routine of calming the distressed horses, taking them to their stalls and making them comfortable, then coming back to help with the next one. Each one a sadder case then the last. Finally the last gelding's condition broke her heart, she had to try and not lose it. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked, her voice quivering a little. Lee knelt next the poor cremello boy, resting a hand on his sweating neck. He was breathing heavily and had burns around his stomach.
"I don't know," he sighed as he glanced up. "But we need to get him cleaned up and into a stable." He took one end of the tarp and let the other man get the other. Luckily the gelding was only young and didn't weigh much.
"Morphine?" she asked grabbing the medical box and flicking through it as they walked along.
"Yeah probably a good idea," Lee grunted as they carried the gelding down the ramp. They rested him down on the ground and Lee took the morphine from Amber. "I might put him out for a bit, make sure he gets some sleep," he pondered as he administered the pain relief. "But I'll clean him up first."
"I'll get fresh water," she said softly, running off to fetch a rug and fresh warm water, her thoughts turning to the other horses and anything she remebered about treating burns when the thought came to her. She ran back with the items and announced, "I have an idea." He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow as he went about cleaning up the young horse.
"Yeah?" The gelding squealed slightly as Lee placed a clean cloth against his wounds, cleaning off the grime.
"I remeber an old "bush technique" from back home for treating burns" she said knealing next to the gelding, "Aloe vera plant. You break off a stem and put it in the freezer until it's cold and then squeeze the insides onto the burn area and rub it in. Does wonders." Lee nodded and focused on cleaning up the underside of the gelding's stomach.
"Sure, sounds like a plan," he muttered, glancing up at the sky. The sun was starting to set, casting ARC in the usual glorious golden glow. "Not sure where we can get any from at this time of day, though." He was all for alternate remedies, as long as he could get hold of them.
"I'll jump online and see what I can do," she said softly, stroking the gelding's nose. "It might do even a little something for him and it's all natural so it wont hurt him either," she smiled softly. He nodded and straightened up, looking at Amber.
"Yeah, sounds like a plan. I'm going to try and get him to stand up, he needs to try," he said quietly, taking hold of the halter and gently coaxing him to his feet. The gelding really didn't want to move, managing to roll onto his stomach but not really ready to move anywhere else.
"Want a polo to coax him to his feet with?" she said softly, watching him try to get to his feet, the pain and suffering evident in his big blue eyes, begging her to take it away.
"Well, even in a situation like this, I guess food is a way to a horse's heart," he laughed, releasing the pressure on the gelding's head. "I think I have one in my pocket," he muttered, fishing around for a minute. He found one and showed it to the gelding, letting him get a good sniff of the mint. His ears went forward and he tried to snuffle the food out of his hand, but Lee kept it concealed. "Ah, no, you've gotta do this for me first," he said as he stepped away a bit. The gelding looked at him with sad eyes for a moment before grunting and pushing himself up, flinching as he stretch the burns on his body. "Good lad," Lee sighed as he fed the polo to the gelding. "Wasn't so hard, was it?" Amber smiled from her spot next to the wall, there was something truley magical for her about watching him work his magic and charms on the horses. Something about the tenderness of each word to coax the gelding up that reminded her of why she fell in love with him and continued to do so.

Lines donated generously by *noblestallion
Story by =mapal and =belle980
Design © =mapal