Happy Trails For One Lucky Horse, Thankfully

By Nancy K. Crevier

The tires of her pickup and the Double D trailer it pulled hummed loudly along Route 8 as Betty Ann Pjura drove to the site of the Goshen Fair at 7 am on Labor Day weekend. Traffic was light, so she was able to keep the speed at a fairly constant 55 to 60 miles per hour. The windows of the truck were closed against the still-cool morning air and the cab was filled with noisy chatter between herself, her son, and her son’s friend.

It was a trip like so many others she had made the past four years with her American Paint mare, Splash, a champion and reserve champion in the western pleasure division of horse showing. Another fun day of showmanship, something both she and her horse enjoyed, was ahead of them. But when Ms Pjura glanced in the rearview mirror, the perfect day turned into a perfect nightmare.

Splash had slid out of the back of the trailer and was standing in the middle of the highway.

“I had no clue anything was going on. I didn’t hear anything; I didn’t feel anything. I was never so devastated,” said Ms Pjura. To this day, she does not know exactly what combination of events led her docile mare to pull free of her harness and somehow force her 900 pounds against the back door, causing the sliding pin lock on the trailer to pull loose, and dump the horse, knees first, onto the pavement. “I was so comfortable trailering [my horses] I never thought something like this could happen,” she said.

What Ms Pjura does know is that every piece, from that point on, fell miraculously into place, allowing her to feel especially grateful going into the holiday season.

First of all, Splash did not panic, despite blood streaming down her legs and leaking from numerous scrapes all over her body. The normal reaction for a horse in such a situation, said Ms Pjura, would be to run. “If Splash had run, she could have done more damage to herself. The only way she survived without a broken leg or worse is her personality. She just stood there,” said Ms Pjura.

The second in a series of what Ms Pjura deemed “little miracles” was that no one was killed. A vehicle traveling directly behind the trailer when the mare tumbled out would have certainly been greatly damaged, and more than likely, the horse and those car occupants would have died. At such an early hour on a Sunday morning, though, the normally busy highway stretch was practically devoid of other travelers.

The 911 call she placed had state troopers there in less than a minute. It was just chance that their routes put them near the scene of the accident at that time of day.

“I couldn’t think what to do. The troopers were able to just walk up to Splash and secure her with a belt, or something they had in their car. I didn’t have a halter to put around her. Splash stayed so calm, just eating grass while the trooper held her,” remembered Ms Pjura.

Her next call was to Paul Vittorio, the owner of Pee Wee Horse Farm in Easton, where Splash is boarded.

“I didn’t expect to get hold of him. Sundays at the farm are so busy, because it is also a trail-riding farm. But Paul just happened to be in his office and picked up his phone, and he hooked up a trailer and headed right up to meet us.”

For a horse to fall out of the back of a trailer is practically unheard of and an accident of that kind would be expected to have an unfortunate outcome for the horse, said Mr Vittorio. He did not expect to find Splash in salvageable condition when he arrived at the scene of the accident.

“I’ve been trailering horses for many years,” said Mr Vittorio, “but I have never heard of a horse falling out the back door. I though I’d find a mess. You hear about horse trailer accidents, but it is usually the truck and trailer getting in a car accident, going down an embankment, that sort of thing. Splash is one little miracle.”

Ms Pjura also made a call to Newtown veterinarian Dr Ned Schankman, the owner of Connecticut Equine Practice. “I cannot even begin to thank Dr Schankman enough. He is the reason that Splash is still with me. I really believe that. He and his partner, Dr [Michelle] Singer were way beyond what you typically get from a vet.”

Dr Schankman has handled a lot of equine emergencies in his 27 years in practice, but “This was a new one,” he said.

Considering the horse’s experience, Dr Schankman was surprised to find in his initial examination of the mare at Pee Wee Farm that day that she was not in shock, nor was she suffering from blood loss. It did not appear, either, that Splash had fractured any bones or suffered internal injuries.

“Cardiovascularly speaking, Splash was fine,” he said. She had abrasions and cuts all over her body and legs and hips, as well as one cut on her front left leg that concerned the veterinarian. “It was open to the bone, and that was a concern. If an infection sets into a joint, the prognosis is not good,” explained Dr Schankman.

His concern about the leg was great enough that Dr Schankman raised the possibility with Ms Pjura of shipping Splash to Tufts in Massachusetts or Rhinebeck, N.Y., to an equine hospital for optimum care. The cost of upward from $5,000 for care at an equine hospital, however, was a factor in Ms Pjura’s decision to treat at home.

“If I had to put her in a hospital, I would be financially in trouble,” said Ms Pjura. “Again, I cannot say how thankful I am for Dr Schankman’s concern and care. He always reinforced what I was doing, and he and Dr Singer made me feel good. Dr Schankman even called me that night of the accident to let me know that the x-rays showed no fractures, just so I could sleep.”

Immediate care began with a three-hour session to flush the wounds clean and suture the open cuts. Special tension sutures were used on the mare’s knees, as the wounds gaped open too widely for traditional sutures.

“Splash was just wonderful through it all,” said Dr Schankman. For the next five weeks, his schedule included injections of antibiotics for Splash and multiple visits each week to change the bandages, which if applied incorrectly, could lead to the formation of ulcers.

Even though Splash had suffered no broken bones, the danger of infection setting into one of the deeper cuts was a grave consideration. It was still more than two weeks of intensive care before Dr Schankman felt that the danger of a joint infection was no longer a risk.

Confined to her stall for the next several weeks, Splash, who normally loves being outdoors, thrived on the extra attention. “She was a little celebrity at the farm,” said Ms Pjura. Along with Drs Schankman and Singer, Splash had the attention of Ms Pjura’s sister, who also boards a horse at Pee Wee Horse Farms, Mr Vittorio, and other boarders when Ms Pjura herself was not able to be at the farm. “She loved to see us,” said Dr Schankman.

It was the end of October when Dr Schankman arrived at the farm one day to see Ms Pjura up on Splash’s back.

“Dr Schankman’s face just lit up,” recalled Ms Pjura, “and he said, ‘Let her trot a bit.’ He was so happy to see her out and about.”

Providing the best care he can for his patients is routine and providing compassion to his patients’ owners is second nature to Dr Schankman, but to Ms Pjura, Connecticut Equine Practice was the link in a chain of miracles that has her back in the saddle again. “Dr Schankman deserves so much credit. Without him, this Thanksgiving would not have been a very happy one. If I had lost Splash, I would be devastated,” said Ms Pjura.

As with many near tragedies, there are lessons to be learned from this experience, said Ms Pjura. In keeping with the warranty section of the horse trailer agreement that she signed when she bought the Double D trailer in 2004, Ms Pjura made no alterations, such as additional locking devices. She assumed that the nonlocking sliding pin was adequate protection. What she knows now is that almost every other type of trailer includes a secondary, spring-loaded lock that cannot loosen.

“The horse show was approximately one hour from my stable and I was within ten minutes of the site. This is how I know that the door was shut properly, as always, when we departed to leave for the show,” she wrote in a letter to the trailer’s manufacturer. “The door would have opened much sooner and closer to home if anything was not secured.”

It is not uncommon, she noted, for horses being trailered to thrash about. She shudders to think how many more accidents could be waiting in the wings with horses more active than her mare traveling in poorly secured trailers.

“Look at the locking mechanism,” she advised. “You trust the manufacturer, but make sure the lock is really secure.”

She was very nervous the first time she trailered a horse following the accident with Splash. “I didn’t ever want to trailer a horse again. When I travel now, there is no radio on, I have chains wrapped around the trailer, and I have my kids watching the trailer all the time. I was careful before, I was comfortable, but now I am extra careful.”

Paul Vittorio agreed that Ms Pjura’s experience was a good lesson for everyone at Pee Wee Farm. “People started checking their trailers. Now we double and triple check the locks before we go out. There are over 100 horses here, and we try to do the best we can for them.”

The long-term effects of the accident will not be known for several months. Slowly retraining the mare to use a trailer will take place in the spring, and Ms Pjura hopes to get back to showmanship then, as well, perhaps in less demanding arenas.

“Betty Ann is riding her now, and that is great,” said Dr Schankman. “Splash has a little bit of decreased flexion in that front left leg, but probably won’t have any long-term affect. In the springtime, we will radiograph the knee for any signs of arthritis.”

In a season that celebrates gratitude, Ms Pjura is aware this year, more than ever, of how thankful she is. “It could have turned out so badly. I can’t get over how things fell into place.”

Splash may not be 100 percent yet, but said Ms Pjura, “Every day is a Thanksgiving Day for Splash now.”