BTB: No good deed goes unpunished |  |
| Posted: 28 Oct 2010 12:51 PM PDT  All time worst incident A year or so ago I was asked to watch a rehab horse on small paddock turnout. I took it seriously. In fact, during my break I parked my car on the grass adjacent to the field so I could watch him while I ate lunch. Normally I eat in the barn's heated lounge. Turns out, a friend of the horse owner's noticed my car was not in the lot, and texted the owner that I was AWOL while her horse was turned out. The owner was very upset and confronted me. She didn't believe my explanation, or she wanted to believe the her friend instead of me (I suspect the latter).  I do barn work at several farms. A horse at a one barn, Buzz, got kicked in the chest. It swelled pretty badly, and formed a hematoma, which was draining. His owner Sue asked to turn him out in a paddock, bring him in and clean/ treat Buzz's chest injury with topical medicine, and dose him with meds. It was a one time favor to do at the end of the day. In the days right after the injury Buzz was wearing a muzzle to prevent him from biting the wound, but at this point the wound was ten days old. Sue had been out to see Buzz earlier that day, and had left the muzzle off. Hours later I did my thing with Buzz and returned him to his stall, sans muzzle. Frankly I didn't give this any thought. Sue had left it off, so I left it off too... Unmuzzled rage Apparently I was supposed to put on the muzzle. Buzz chewed on his wound and it got inflamed. The next day, the barn manager called about a big note on the board: "BUZZ'S CHEST IS RE-INFECTED BECAUSE SOMEONE LEFT OFF HIS MUZZLE." I told her what happened, and she seemed to understand. I figured she spoke to Sue. But when I saw Sue a week later she was livid. Apparently she had left the muzzle off to give Buzz a break from wearing it. It's true that I knew Buzz had been wearing a muzzle at one point, and immediately after the injury I knew he was supposed to wear it. The fact was, the owner had left it off, for hours, and I didn't realize I was supposed to handle him differently. Sue did most of the talking, but when I tried to explain -- defend myself really -- she walked away. I go to that barn once a week, and for the past few weeks Sue's been giving me the silent treatment. As far as Sue goes, it looks like it's game over. I know from my own experience -- when my horse is injured, I'm obsessed, and I assume others are as aware of his care as I am. Sue and I had talked about Buzz's injury in the past, but I wasn't involved in his care at the time, and didn't commit it to memory. From her perspective, I was careless and injured her horse. From my perspective she didn't give clear instructions. The moral of the story... The moral is, when you get help with your horse care: Write it down. Post a sign. Keep it simple. Don't assume.  |
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