Arabian Horse Stories

Arabians are known for their remarkable endurance. Last June, Lovie, a plucky little chestnut mare who belongs to Rose and John Muffett, put that to the supreme test. The mare not only survived a 180-foot fall off a cliff, she clung to life for nine days, pinned underneath a fallen tree.

"We think it was her Arabian spirit that helped pull her through," says Rose of the 9-year-old mare whose registered name is WizzardsAprilLove (The Wizzardof Iis x Switez II). "After all her ancestors lived for hundreds of years in a harsh desert with little to eat or drink. Lovie survived without food or water even though she was terribly injured."

Lovie's ordeal began on June 5. Rose and John Muffett had taken several horses over to John's mother's 500-acre ranch in Reedsport, Oregon, which is fenced around the house and main road and hemmed in by a box canyon. John, a tree farmer, was logging the area. Normally Lovie hung out in the pasture between the barn and the house, which is where John last saw her that Wednesday evening, standing by his mother-in-law's house begging for horse cookies.

"She's always preferred people to horses," says Rose. "That's how she got her nickname Lovie. As soon as she stood for the first time, her first steps were toward me."

Searching for Lovie

The next morning Lovie wasn't in her usual spot, and she didn't come when he called. What they discovered when they started looking troubled them even more. Their Paint mare, who had been turned out with Lovie, had deep scratches on her neck, and the skin on her throat was all sliced up.

"Right away, we knew she'd been attacked by a cougar, and we feared the worst for Lovie," says Rose.

What gave the Muffetts hope that Lovie was still alive during their search was the fact that they never saw any buzzards flocking. "In this country when an animal is dead, you'll see buzzards circling," says Rose. "So we thought that maybe she got spooked by the cougar and ran off or maybe she was stolen.

In addition to scouring the 500-acre ranch, the Muffetts contacted the sheriff and area brand inspectors to report her missing and put an ad in the paper. For nine days the Muffetts and their friends trekked through the rugged terrain and thick timber and brush and searched creeks, calling out Lovie's name and hearing nothing.

"It was as if Lovie had vanished," says Rose.

Then on the evening of the ninth day around 4 p.m., John heard a feeble whinny from one of the ridges and knew it was Lovie. But when he searched the area, he couldn't locate her.

Rose suggested they take another mare, Tadj Shalarene, to call out to Lovie. When Lovie heard "Shally," she whinnied back and John was finally able to pinpoint her location. He found Lovie 180 feet off the trail at the bottom of a steep ravine, tangled in maple vines and unable to move, trapped by a maple log that had fallen across her back and forced her to crouch down because of the pressure.

"When I first found Lovie, my heart sank at the severity of her injuries," says John. A 22-inch wound that straddled her loin had developed gangrene and flies were swarming in the lesion. Lovie also had a jaw wound which the Muffetts believed prevented Lovie from calling out to her searchers until the last day.

Still John was hopeful. Lovie was still standing and when he approached her, there was no fear in the mare's eyes, only relief that someone was finally with her. As John cut the vine maple that entangled her, she never flinched or struggled even when he brought the chainsaw within inches of her back.

Remarkably the injured mare had the strength to hobble over a mile to the trailer.

"She voluntarily put her nose in the halter and turned out uphill with her front end to get onto the trail I had cleared to bring her out," says John. "I was afraid she might fall and tumble down the hill, so I stayed above holding the end of the lead. The trail was almost straight up and down, but she kept her feet under her all the way to the bottom. I recall thinking to myself that she is one tough horse. I get goosebumps every time I think of that determined Arabian mare walking off that terrible mountain."

When Rose first saw Lovie, her first thought was, 'I can't lose her now.' "She was trembling and looked so horrible. But as I got out of the car, she called to me," says Rose.

To steady her during the one-hour drive, the Muffetts put several beach towels underneath her and Rose and their son Aaron stood on both sides holding onto them.

By the time their vet, Dr. Karl Jernstedt, saw the mare, he was amazed that she was still on her feet. Lovie was so dehydrated that her organs were beginning to shut down. Dr. Jernstedt gave her fluid, painkillers and antibiotics but what concerned him the most was her wound. If the log had put too much pressure on her spine and restricted the blood flow, part of her spine might be paralyzed. For the first time Rose thought she might have to euthanize Lovie. But Lovie refused to give up. Despite the pain, she never lay down and she continued to eat and drink a little.

"She had a wonderful attitude throughout her treatment," says Rose. "She never fought us. The vet never had to tranquilize her, and despite the countless injections I had to give her, she accepted each one as if she knew that I was trying to help her."

While Lovie's appetite increased and her bodily functions seemed to return to normal, the veterinarian was still concerned about her persistent lameness. On July 5, he decided to radiograph her feet and legs.

The alternative the Muffetts eventually decided to try was the natural hoof trim, a treatment pioneered by Dr. Hiltrud Strasser, a German veterinarian. Rose found out that Martha Olivio, who had studied under Dr. Strasser, was giving a clinic several hours away. After hearing about Lovie's problem, Olivio agreed to make an extra trip to trim the mare. On August 12 Lovie received her first treatment.

"She does a balanced natural trim that sets the horse up for it to heal itself. She

calls her trim 'The Whole Horse Trim.' " says Rose. "She lowered Lovie's heels and got her hairline down to 30 degrees. Now her coffin bone is parallel to the ground."

Rose put boots on Lovie's front feet and soaked them in apple cider vinegar and water everyday. She found a local farrier, Andee Conrad, who practices the Strasser method. After several trimmings, Lovie is now trotting and cantering in the pasture. Their usual farrier, George Stark, is studying this method and continues to keep Lovie's feet trimmed properly.