The Stanford Inn by the Sea - Eco-Resort

Last week Cardy, our rescued 35 year old New Zealand trotter, began slowly spinning in a meandering pattern in her paddock. Her movement reminded me of the teacups in Disneyland's "It's a Small World" ride. When Cardy was still, which wasn't often, her hip was not over her stifles, but shifted to the left - not a stable position - and one she could not hold for long. Clearly, she was in pain.

Today's story is part of our horses' stories and underlies the power of this land and the power of human intent..

A bit of history - Cardy came to us in 2003 at the winter solstice. Carol Miller, a well known Mendocino advocate for animals had heard that an old mare was to be shot in Covelo, but that the owners preferred to find someone to take care of her through the remainder of her life. Carol, a former employee, knew that we had a lonely horse, Dan, who the town's kids had named "Miracle Horse" in 1988 because he had survived a broken leg, much like the break suffered by Barbaro during the Kentucky Derby three years ago. Dan's break was more difficult in that it was his front right leg: the front legs carry sixty percent of a horse's weight. His break was a spiral, compound, complex fracture of the radius that resulted in the radius having to be fused to the carpals. Once Dan had healed to the extent that he could walk without a splint, he could be in the field in front of the Inn. Dan and his pasture mate, a beautiful black Morgan named R.J., became "herd-bound," R.J. watching over Dan while he lay in the pasture to rest his legs.

In May 2003, neighbors moved in across the highway and allowed their two dogs to run. The dogs crossed the Coast Highways and ran into our pasture, scaring R.J. who slipped while running away breaking his right femur. This break was fatal - irreparable - unlike Dan's. A vet came to put him down - but R.J. left his body, just as the needle was inserted. That alone felt to be a miracle.

Dan was now alone. I went down to him in the mornings and evenings to feed and medicate him. I talked to him and handle him, but I was not R.J. When Carol called about Cardy, Joan and I said, "Yes!"

Last week, Cardy almost toothless, lame was in pain. She circled in an attempt to become stable and was not eating. On Thursday, Ryan, who is our chief engineer - he handles everything from special building projects to overseeing every aspect of maintenance - spent part of the late evening brushing and talking to Cardy while Joan and I were out. His time with her helped Cardy to get through the night. The next morning she circled again and becoming increasingly exhausted.

Dana who multitasks as a Master Gardener, our sustainability expert (her MA is in sustainable international development), and assistant general manager, went to the pasture along with our newest massage therapist and energy worker, Wilea. They hung out with Cardy and after a while, Cardy felt safe enough to lay down. We believed that she was down for good due to her age and the extent of her lameness. Cardy slept, her lips quivering. Dana stayed with her, under a large garden umbrella that we brought out to protect her and Cardy from the constant rain. A couple of hours later, Dana called and had me look from the Inn. There, in the rain, Cardy stood next to her. Cardy hasn't been spinning since. Dana created the second part of Cardy's miracle. The vets came who had expected to put her down, checked her out, and then went up to the inn for some food. Karen Novak happily again prescribed "Bute" - phenylbutazon - a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, which Cardy had repeatedly refused in times past. Due to her soreness she was tractable. She suggested that Cardy be severely restricted in her movement which she hates. Horses depend on their ability to run to avoid protect themselves from predators and restricted spaces are not "safe" for horses not acclimated to them.

This morning the Bute is helping her. She wants out of the small paddock we created for her. She is alert and she is eating. I truly believe that without Ryan and Dana's efforts she would not be with us today.

Cardy Update.

Last night Cardy stood silently, eyes neither open nor closed. Her nose inches from Scooter's tail. I walked by the horses who were either unaware of Murphy and me in the middle of the night or chose not to acknowledge us.

Cardy is not walking in circles. When I let her out of her tiny paddock this morning I noted that she didn't pick up her feet. She shuffled over to the other horses and then through the larger paddock sniffing the ground thoroughly to check out who had visited during the night. She's not picking-up her feet. And I wonder if she is eating. She certainly likes to smell her hay but smelling hay provides little nourishment. Cardy is dropping weight.

Gypsy Update

Every night a family of raccoons comes to the deck. They ffinish any remaining cat food, play in the cats' water and then sit down on the mat, watching us watch them. They are actually waiting for the last walk of the night. To get Murphy and Gypsy past them without killing them, I throw cat kibble onto a corner of the deck, and the raccoons scurry over and eat, now out of the direct pathway to the stairs down to the ground.

On this last walk, Gypsy was sniffing at the margin of the grass and driveway in front of the Barn. The raccoons were finishing when a marauding racccoon attacked them creating a loud disturbance, The lame Gypsy began barking and ran over to the stairway, and quickly trotted up one-third of the way up the first flight before stopping when I called him. We usually have to help him by tugging on his harness to get up the steep stairs.

By the way, raccoons are part of the bear family. They are closely related to pandas - no surprise in that pandas and raccoons are both masked. The European and North American bears are one line of descent from common proto-bear - pandas and raccoons are another.

We came home after watching a wonderful movie "Dot.com" one of the outstanding selections of this year's Mendocino Film Festival. Before leaving for the movie I had prepared a bucket of chopped hay and molasses and alfalfa pellets to give to Cardy after dark. Ravens love her food and spread it around her paddock.

When we returned, I went into her paddock to deliver dinner. Cardy was not in sight. I saw Storm, a pinto lying down near the fence and a dark form lying near him on Cardy's side. Cardy was resting! The day had not been easy for her. She had spun around occasionally, struggling to keep her front and back legs coordinated. She suffers from ataxia. I retreated, not wanting to disturb her leaving her food at the Gate, where she often likes to stand.

On Wednesday, a veterinarian came form Willits to care for Cardy. She found Cardy to be in reasonable condition, but with very bad teeth, undernourished, and ataxic. The vet prescribed a diet of chopped hay with molasses and the alfalfa hoping that Cardy becomes strong enough to undergo dentistry. Cardy was clearly happy to be led away from this caring woman: she didn't like the taste of worming medicine.

I am selfish - I hate to see any being suffer and I will do anything to avoid this - call in vets, buy medicines, find energy practitioners: whatever it takes so that I don't have to see the suffering. In Cardy's case, there's not anything we can do. I have no concrete idea if she is hurting - only that it is very hard for her to deal with the lack of coordination between her front and back. I don't know if she's eating. I do know that her food disappears. I do know she will trot away from me when I bring "bute" paste. Clearly she's not always ataxic.

It hurts, literally, to see her running from me.