Trooper was born June 15,
2006. His mother, Donnabella, gave birth to a set of twin pintabian colts,
despite having an ultrasound confirm only one pregnancy. The larger of the
twins did not survive the birth. Trooper was undersized and extremely weak
from the start, but he would not give up. At four days old, Donnabella's
owner sent her and Trooper to our stable for care. He knew that he was over
his head, so he asked my family to help out. Shortly after, he gave us the
foal to repay all the hard work we put into him.
Trooper needed to be
supplemented since his mother was not producing enough milk. My mother, sister
and I took turns feeding him with a bottle. His navel had stayed open for
the first week after his birth, which led to a deadly septicemia infection
which had manifested itself in his back leg. Trooper was on two antibiotic
treatments to treat the infection, plus a very generous horse breeder had
donated use of an ozone therapy machine to help cure him. These treatments
were preventing the infection from spreading to Trooper's lungs and other
internal organs, but they were not enough to cure him.
Trooper received another
horrible setback when his mother accidentally stepped on his leg, causing
a small hairline fracture. The local veterinary clinic decided to "stop wasting
their time" with Trooper, so a few volunteers and myself fashioned a walking
cast for him. July11th was his first day in his new cast; it was also the
first time we saw Trooper run around like a normal foal.
Despite his illness, Trooper
rarely acted sickly. He was always perky and demanding attention. He loved
to play with the people who would come visit him. When a reporter came from
a local newspaper, Trooper hammed it up for the camera. He simply loved being
surrounded by people and often napped with his head on the nearest lap. On
one occasion, when Trooper was napping with his head on my knee, I was moving
around too much trying to bathe his hock. He lifted his head, looked at me,
then placed his two front legs over my legs and went back to
sleep.
Even our vet loved him. He
would often joke that when Trooper grew up, he'd accept Trooper giving him
a kick for putting him through his daily needles. By three weeks old, Trooper
was on Septifur, Genemiacine, ozone therapy, yogurt (for his upset belly),
pedialite (to keep him hydrated), kaopactate (for diarrhea), prymorrea (immune
booster), Foallac (milk supplement), corn syrup (for his sugar levels) and
yet he never gave us any trouble. He actually looked forward to his
yogurt.
The morning of July 18 had
started out like any other. We got to the farm early so that Trooper and
his mom could go outside and graze for a bit before we left. Trooper had
an appointment at Guelph University for a pre-operation assessment later
that day. He walked around eating and exploring his surroundings. When the
trailer arrived, Trooper was actually too small to be able to properly be
transported in it. It was just a short trip to the hospital, so we cleared
out the back of the Explorer and laid down a bunch of blankets. I crawled
in the back with Trooper and held him close to me. Most foals would have
objected, but Trooper snuggled up and went to sleep in my arms.
When we arrived at the hospital,
Trooper's mom was unloaded from the trailer first. Then her owner came to
help wake up and unload Trooper. We were going to walk him in to the building
when he suddenly stiffened up and started leaning against my sister and me.
Within seconds, Trooper fell to the pavement and had a seizure. Donna's owner
ran over, picked him up and we ran into the building. Trooper had gone completely
limp. By the time I filled in the doctor about what had happened, Trooper
was awake and walking around again. We kept a close eye on him, but he seemed
to be getting better and was soon his old self. He explored his new stall,
drank from his mom and demanded attention from everyone in his stall. We
could not leave his door open for a second without him trying to sneak out
to explore.
The doctors came by and asked
us a bunch of questions, then they took Trooper to radiology and for some
blood tests. My family and I sat in the cafeteria and prayed for good news.
One of the vets came by an hour later. We were led to a small conference
room and showed Trooper's x-rays. Trooper was not just the smaller of the
two foals; despite being full term, he was essentially premature. The first
time he stood up, he had crushed his growth plates. His hock was not only
infected, but there had been damage done due to his bones not being fully
formed. The septicemia had spread as well. His immune system was not strong
enough to combat the septicemia despite all the antibiotics. It was eating
away at both of his hocks and the fractured ankle was in danger of shattering.
The four vets present said they would not have believed that Trooper could
possibly be able to walk if they had not seen it themselves. They told us
that even if by some miracle they were able to stop the septicemia and cure
him, the damage was too severe and that they believed that the disease had
begun to affect his brain and other organs. He had a zero chance of survival.
The only way to save Trooper was to let him go. They asked us if we would
euthanize him there and donate his body to research. My sister could not
do it. She begged us to bring him home. She could not stand to have him die
in a cold sterile hospital. I called our vet, and told him to meet us there.
We once again loaded Trooper
into the back of the Explorer, but this time I told my sister to sit with
him. She needed to have her time with him. We got to the farm and unloaded
Trooper and his mom. Trooper followed her around the field grazing and playing
with the dog. Our vet arrived and asked us if we wanted to say goodbye. My
mother, sister, a friend and I went to where Trooper was lying down grazing.
We all told him that we loved him and that we would miss him. My mother could
not bear to watch. She asked me to stay with him. My sister and her friend
stayed as well. The vet came and kneeled beside Trooper. He hugged him and
said, "I'm so sorry buddy." Then he gave Trooper his last injection. We stayed
with Trooper for a few moments. His mother came over to sniff him. We got
up and gave her some time alone with him.
Trooper is now buried beside
his twin brother. He touched a lot of lives in a very short time.
Paula
Trooper 
