Show A Stall ions ion's Survival By Dr William WilIlam C. C This Thi article is presented to tell the details of an accident involving involving involving ing an Arabian stallion It was serious enough that he could have been killed or crippled for life Instead he survived and is presently a sound horse My boys Earl and Dale and andI I usually t take ke our horse horse to the mountains for an overnight stay a few times each summer Thursday August around 11 II am a.m. we departed for TwelveMile TwelveMile Twelve- Twelve TwelveMile Mile Canyon in the Black Mountain Mountain Mountain Moun Moun- tain area I rode Lonni Lanni my year three-year-old Arabian stallion Earl was riding Jimmy a six- six year-old year gelding and Dale rode Buena a year old mare We packed sleeping bags and food on each of our horses We planned to ride half way up the south slope of the Black Mountain and drop into the Black Hole at that level I was familiar with th the area but had overlooked the steepness and ruggedness of ofa ofa ofa a washed-out washed rocky slide which had to be crossed Upon reaching the slide area we looked for the most desirable and least hazardous crossing spot A frequently used deer trail appeared ip to be the best spot We dismounted and led our horses in single file about 25 feet apart The V-shaped V slide was approximately feet across The hor horses es were noticeably noticeably noticeably notice notice- ably nervous but all went well until Lonni Lanni and I approached the end of the slide Lonni Lanni then suddenly suddenly suddenly sud sud- denly rushed past me and was forced off the trail into looser and steeper ground In struggling struggling ing for footing and balance he caused me to fall and lose the reins reins Consequently Lonni Lanni fell backward rolling down the steep rocky mountain One can imagine our feelings as we watched Lonni onni roll down the treacherous slope and finally come to rest in a a bed of large boulders A thousand thoughts passed my mind among which were that of Lonni Lanni being dead or having to be shot due to non- non recoverable injuries I had no confidence of his life We continuing We lost sight of Lonni Lanni for about half the distance due to his dropping off two ledges When he came to a stop he was resting resting resting rest rest- ing on his abdomen with all four of his legs extended horizontally from his body His Ins head was up but supported nose-down nose on the rocks He had fallen and rolled to 1000 feet Approximately a third of the way down I found the first item of Lonnis Lonni's gear a saddle blan blan- ket The second saddle blanket was some one hundred feet away and my rifle scratched and scuffed several yards from that The bridle broken and bent was about feet further down the slope This may have caused much of his tooth and ond mouth damage Further down were scattered the canned items which had been packed in the sleeping bag The chaps a apparently p broke loose about feet from the end of the falL fall- The saddle and sleeping gear gearon on the rear the coat roll the lariat the rifle scabbard the quirt quirt and and tied-on-spurs tied stayed on the entire distance Most of the tact and gear were torn and broken beyond use I approached Lonni Lanni who by now had floundered to his feet and I could see the most serious problem was his bleeding Blood was flowing from his left rear leg but the most most abundant flow was from a three-inch three de deep p cut behind his left eye a stream about the size of a pencil I could see the bleeding had to be stopped immediately and so I applied pressure across the artery artery ar ar- artery ar- ar tery with my finger After applying applying apply- apply ing ine pressure for about 20 o min min- utes utes the the bleeding stopped During this time Earl had gathered the scattered items and looked Lonni Lanni over for other serious serious serious se se- rious damage We decided his legs were not broken but that he was suffering from severe shock evidenced by a a cold sweat and trembling muscles His in injured injured injured in- in eyes were blood blind and andI I felt feIt sure he was already blind blindin in one eye It looked like a shriveled shriveled shriveled prune With most of the bleeding stopped our next task was to get Lonni Lanni off the slide slide and rocky ar art area a a distance of of about feet Since his eyes were filled with blood he moved by touch and sound His nervousness intensified intensified in intensified in- in with the sound of his feet striking rocks The sound probably brought fear of further rolling but Lonni willingly continued continued con con- and in half an hour we reached level ground and shade His shock decreased in sever sever- ity External bleeding had nearly stopped but internal bleeding became became became be be- came apparent Both nostrils and mouth were flowing with blood Frequent passing df of f small amounts of feces with blood and tissue interspersed was also evident evident evi evi- evident dent from time to time tune We began the two mile trek back to where we could load the horses into the trailer although although although al al- though I had doubt that Lonni Lanni could make it Earl led out ahead of Lonni Lanni on his horse and Dale followed both within ten feet of Lonni Lanni I led him on foot I felt his sound sight and smell senses would be more effective with this sort of an arrangement We came to several obstacles such as fallen trees to cross and steep grades to climb which were r real al problems for Lonni LannI After a while we intersected a trail which we decided to follow and which turned out to be a government marked trail that led us to the road Lonni Lanni was rested every four to five minutes during the return trek Continuing on we arrived at Twelve-Mile Twelve Canyon road at about 8 pm p.m. The accident occurred occurred occurred oc oc- oc- oc between and pm p.m. The horses were loaded into the three horse trailer Lonni Lanni stood between the two horses to give him steadying support while traveling down the canyon road Around pm p.m. we arrived at Valli Hi Animal Hospital in Ephraim and Lonni Lanni was put inthe in inthe inthe the care of Dr Valden Francks and Dr Tom Anderson the local veterinarians At the time of this writing Lonni Lanni is recovering fast and my confidence is high that he will be able to be a sire and also serve the function of a well- well bred Arabian There are two purposes in retelling re- re retelling retelling re re- telling this story First to tellof tell tellof tellof of a spectacular survival of an Arabian stallion having gone through unbelievable circumstances circumstances circumstances circum circum- stances and still living and having having having hav hav- ing a bri bright ht future Second to give credit to a horse with tremendous tremendous tremendous tre tre- tre- tre courage intelligence and calm disposition During the entire episode Lonni Lanni displayed courage desire desire de de- desire de- de sire willingness to try and tre tremendous tremendous tremendous tre- tre confidence in his mas mas- ter Lonni Lanni is now restored to full health and physical strength He will continue life with blemish blemish- blemishes es es but is very lucky to have no unsound conditions as a result result re re- re- re sult suit of his accident |