Horse down (open/barn staff)

[jillaroo]

The smile died on her lips as Victoria stood outside Percy’s stall. Her face grew pale as the awful truth dawned on her, and it seemed as if everything was going in slow motion. The shock of seeing him like that jolted Victoria back to reality, and she suddenly realised that she was all alone up here. “Percy...” she hissed at the horse. “Percy, get up!” She had, had a bad feeling about something all day, but she’d ignored the nagging voice in her head. Guilt washed over her, and it brought a hot flood of tears. If only she had listened.

Percy heard her voice and started to thrash about in the straw. Victoria watched those delicate legs and knew how easily he could hurt himself if he continued to panic. Without thinking, she threw open door, and somehow she found herself on her knees beside the sick horse. She choked on a sob as she gently stroked his shoulder, feeling his heart racing beneath her fingers. He must be so scared, she realised, and it felt like she’d been punched in the stomach.

Victoria wondered how long he had been down like this before anyone noticed. If only she’d stopped by to check on him rather than having gone to meet up with some girls in the cafeteria. While she’d been laughing and chatting about English class, Percy had been hurt and alone. The thought made her feel sick, and she vowed she wouldn’t leave his side until he got better. “Oh Percy,” she whispered through her tears, “Please get better. You just have to get better.”

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Katherine had been keeping constant check on the chestnut Thoroughbred gelding for most of the day. Percy hadn't quite been himself at breakfast, but he hadn't shown any signs other than anxious pacing and rolling his eyes. Nothing that had caused the barn manager enough concern where she thought she needed to contact either Kirk or the gelding's owner.

However, as vigilant as she had been, a call from a local sporthorse farm had occupied her time for the past half hour. And no matter how many times she tried, there was no way to get the woman on the other end of telephone to end the conversation and hang up. After she was finally able to say her good byes, the young manager replaced the phone and pushed her chair back. Standing up, she walked out of the office and headed down to the 5 year old's stall.

Seeing the door open, she picked up a sprint and raced down to the stall. Sliding to a stop, she saw the gelding on the ground with his young owner at his head. "I am so sorry, Victoria!" She exclaimed. "I was only away for thirty minutes." She grabbed the halter and lead from the hook outside the stall. "Can you get him up?"

[jillaroo]

Victoria looked up dazedly at Katherine. The horror threatened to bubble up inside of her, but she took a deep breath, and tried to concentrate on the woman’s words. She was saying something important, but Victoria couldn’t hear it over the roaring in her head. “There’s something wrong with Percy,” she said in a strangled voice. It felt like she was staring at everything through the wrong side of a mirror, and she told herself it was all just a bad dream and that she’d wake up and go down to the barn and there would be Percy waiting for her just like always.

Percy started to thrash about frantically again, and Victoria could see he was in a lot of pain. The sight filled her with horror, and she continued to stroke his neck, trying to soothe him. Victoria felt dizzy, and she stood, rooted to the spot as Katherine grabbed a halter and lead rope. There was a grim expression on the woman’s face, and an icy fist closed around her heart. “Please help him,” Victoria cried desperately. “Please."

[sepia]

It was complete coincidence that Lee happened to be in the barn, given that he'd spent the rest of the day in Red Willow Barn (or out in the paddocks, when he was exercising horses), and was only popping in to return some pitchforks. Somehow, no matter how hard everyone tried to keep the pitchforks in the right barn, the tools always ended up walking so that one barn ended up with all of them, and another barn ended up with none. Hence Lee's expedition hefting pitchforks. Dropping them off in the equipment store, he was taking a quick wander down through the barn when he came upon an open door, Miss Carr, a horse clearly is distress, and a somewhat hysterical rider.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked, voice customarily level as he switched from 'Oh-it's-an-ordinary-day' work mode, to 'Things-are-going-wrong' crisis mode. There wasn't actually much difference between the two, given that he remained just as levelheaded and logical in both modes, but the latter made him even more efficient than usual. One thing you could never say about Lee was that he panicked in a crisis. In fact, the calmer he was, the more things were going wrong, usually.

He didn't try to get into the stall, feeling that that would merely be useless crowding at this particular moment in time, instead waiting for Miss Carr to give him an instruction. If he was on his own, he knew he'd be trying to get the horse to stand up while he got someone else to call the vet, and he was fairly sure that was going to be Miss Carr's plan of attack, but he didn't want to anticipate the wrong action, which would then be a waste of time. At times like this, logical, calm thinking was what was needed most, and he didn't need to rush off into a frenzy. That wouldn't be at all helpful.

Only a close observer would notice the tension running through Lee's limbs as he took in the heartrending sight of Percy desperately struggling, clearly panicked: to most, he would look utterly composed. Times of problems were when Lee's reserve and collected manner really proved their own, even if he did occasionally come off as uncaring. it wasn't uncaring, he would protest, merely practical.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

"What do you need me to do?"

Katherine already had her cell phone out of her pocket and was already dialing in the vet's number. "Get Doctor Clarkson." Were her only words, not even looking away from the horse and the girl in the stall. She drew in a sharp breath as the horse began thrashing around again in panic.

~*~*~*~

Cara led Cosmo down to his stall, the action happening outside the stall belonging to a chestnut Thoroughbred drew her attention away from the skewbald gelding she was leading. "Wonder what the problem is over there?" She asked the gelding as they walked into the stall.

After removing the pony's halter and exiting the stall, she hung the halter up and headed down to where Miss Carr was standing with Lee. She patted the pocket of the beige jodhpurs she was wearing and nodded when she felt the bottle she was looking for. Pausing for a moment, she slipped into the tack room and came back out carrying a bottle of lavender oil.

Walking down to the stall, she bowed her head toward Miss Carr, took the proffered halter and lead, and stood at the door of the stall. "May I come in?" She asked Victoria softly. Every inch of her told her to go straight to the horse, but she knew she needed to ask the girl first.

[jillaroo]

There were so many people that Victoria felt suffocated. Everyone was just standing there watching, and Victoria wanted to scream at them to do something. She continued trying to keep Percy calm, but suddenly the horse lashed out with one front leg, and she cried out as it grazed her cheek. Holding one hand to her face, she stared in horror at the thrashing horse.

Why wasn’t anyone giving him a shot of something? She’d seen her parents give their horses shots all the time when they got hurt. Everything seemed to pass in a blur, and she only half listened as Miss Carr told someone to get Dr Clarkson. In her mind, Victoria saw the needle going in, the vet’s face as he told her that he was sorry; that there was nothing he could do.

A girl she didn’t recognise was saying something, and Victoria suddenly realised she was asking her a question. She shook her head to clear it and found herself answering in a voice that didn’t sound like her own. “I need someone to help keep him calm, he’s going to break a leg if he keeps struggling” she said, and the words caught in her throat, her mind swirling as she tried not to think of what that might mean.

[sepia]

"Of course," Lee said, with a single nod, then turned on his heel, acknowledging Cara by getting out of her way - this was not the time for pleasantries - and allowing her access to the stall. Good, perhaps she could calm down the unhelpfully hysterical girl whom, presumably, owned the ill horse. Yes, having a horse being ill - and so violently so, almost seizing in his panic - was distressing, but blanking out and panicking was not a constructive thing to do.

Breaking into a jog as soon as he was a few paces away from the stall, he dodged around people and horses, ignoring their curious glances as he burst out into the open air, and picked up the pace, heading for the vet clinic. His long legs ate up the ground easily, and it wasn't long before he was calling out "Doctor Clarkson? Doctor Clarkson?" as he approached the large animal clinic. He wasn't by the paddock, so he dived into the main building to find the man, hoping he hadn't decided to take an oddly times lunch break.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

“I need someone to help keep him calm, he’s going to break a leg if he keeps struggling”

Cara flinched as the gelding on the ground struck out with his hoof and caught his human's cheek. She nodded her head. "That's what I'm here for." She said in little more than a whisper as she slowly crossed the stall and lowered herself down next to the other girl. "Here." she said as she took a small brown bottle out of the hidden pocket in her jodhpurs and opened her palm in offering the bottle of Bach Rescue Remedy to the girl. "Put four drops under your tongue. Then another four on your hand and offer it to Percy." Even though it was soft, there was a tone in it that said she wasn't to be argued with.

Breathing in a deep, calming breath, the girl then opened the purple lavender bottle and poured a small amount of the liquid onto her hand. "Most people would tell you to twitch your horse to keep him calm until the vet arrive. However, I'm not most people." She rubbed her hands together and began to work circles at the gelding's damp neck. She also used this opportunity to check the Thoroughbred's pulse, and to have a good look into his eyes. She would like to have checked his gums, but until he had calmed down she didn't want anyone to put their fingers near his mouth. "Is there any chance that any of his fore-bearers may have had epilepsy?" She asked. She wanted to get as many of the questions out of the way until the vet arrived. She tipped her head to the side as she listened to the gelding's breathing and frowned slightly as she could hear a whistling sound, not sure whether it was really there or if she was making it up.

[.Rissa.]

The computer screen popped up with an error message for the fifth time. Lips tightened in anger and the man pushed himself away from the desk, the chair rolling back a foot or two. Adnvanced technology had it's disadvantages too. The veterniarian shook his head in agitation.

The horses had their morning feed at sunrise, and the man had every intention of checking on Benny and letting Beauty out in the pasture. As he thought to give up on the computer and call a technican, a distant sound of someone yelling came to his ears from outside the building. At least, that was what he thought it was. No sooner, did the door suddenly burst open and a boy emereged through, one could tell he had been running. Dr. Clarkson didn't know anyone to just bombard the vet clinic without being in panic, "What's going on?" he asked in a calm manner. He was surprised he didn't know about before hand, normally somone called... called. The vet looked down at the desk, no sign of a cell phone. He quickly felt his pockets and feeling something in one, he quickly retrieved his phone. It was on silent, and he had one missed call from Katherine. He cursed in his mind.

[racingbelle]

Stevie always had a 'sixth sense for drama'. Where ever it was she was there. The beginning of her morning had been relatively normal other than finding Lightning's leg hung over the door but that wasn't unusual either. Stevie had scolded the stud while she had feed him then went to feed Belle. Belle hadn't been acting herself lately but Stevie told herself nothing was wrong. Just give the mare a few more days to settle in and she would be back to normal.

Something or her 'sixth sense' told her to go to White Oak Barn, just to make sure everything was alright. Something was drawing her there. Stevie's blue eyes widened as she heard calm voices and panicked ones. Stevie walked quickly down the barn aisle and looked into the stall where a Thoroughbred thrashed and struggled. What was this all about? What was wrong with the horse? Was it contagious?! Stevie took a deep breath she didn't want to panic and make things even worse. "What can I do? Is there anything I can do?" Stevie asked quietly yet loud enough to make herself heard.

[jillaroo]

“I’m not sure,” Victoria said frantically. “We had him vet checked when we bought him off the track and no one said anything.” Victoria felt sick to the bottom of her stomach as she watched Percy thrashing about uselessly in the straw. She reached mechanically for whatever it was that Cara was holding, thinking it was better than nothing. She put a few drops on the back of her hand, and her hands were shaking as she held them out under the horse’s nostrils. Please do something, she prayed. Please.

Percy was quiet now. Victoria held his head in her lap, and she talked softly to the horse. Fighting back tears, she promised him that things would be just like they were before he got sick. She was numb with shock. She didn’t know how something like this could have happened. He’d been so good these last two weeks, and now she didn’t even know if he was going to pull through.

Victoria glanced over at Cara, watching as the girl massaged something into Percy’s neck. She smiled tiredly. “Thanks,” she said, and her voice was barely a whisper. All she wanted to do was wake up when this nightmare was over, but every time she closed her eyes she saw the horror of Percy down and thrashing. Her legs had started to go numb, but Victoria stayed there with her horse. This could be the last time she ever saw him.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Cara continued her massage, working her way down the gelding's neck and then over his cheek. Glad to see that the remedies had started to work.

She frowned slightly, there was definitely a sound there whenever the horse breathed. With a slight frown, she searched through her memory files until she found the book she wanted. Closing her eyes briefly, she could see the pages in the book that she wanted. Opening he eyes again, she moved around so that she was kneeling on the bedding in front of the chestnut's head. "It's okay, boy." She told him softly. "We're going to make you all better." She moved carefully so the there wasn't any chance of alarming the sick horse. She placed the tips of her fingers under the gelding's head on either side of his jaw and had a good feel of his larynx. "Good man." She added as she took her hands back, making note that one side wasn't moving as the other side was.

*~*~*~*~*

Katherine turned at the sound of another voice and looked at Stevie, hearing the panic in the woman's voice. "Yes." She said. "You can move along and carry on as though everything is fine. If there is anything you need to know, everyone will be told." She knew that there were already enough people around the horse, and the vet would just make another person when he got here.

She dialed his number again before lifting the phone to her ear. Hoping that he would answer this time, even though she had sent Lee to get him, she wanted to make sure that he was on his way.

[sepia]

Ah, good, the vet wasn't on call somewhere else. "There's a horse down in the White Oak Barn," Lee said, breaking into a succinct explanation, voice level and calm despite his run from the barn. "When I left he was panicking, thrashing, and unable to get up with any ease. As I was leaving I believe Cara was trying some natural remedies to calm him down, and Miss Carr was phoning you." And, he realised, that was all he knew, really, having not been present at the scene long enough to take in many more details beyond that. He didn't share his personal suspicions of what might be wrong with the vet, not wanting to throw him onto the wrong track with supposition based on insufficient information - and, also, his brief glimpse of the poor horse could suggest any number of things.

He waited, just inside the door, dark eyes fixed upon Doctor Clarkson as he waited for the vet to make his move, half expecting instructions to carry something, or fetch some equipment.

[.Rissa.]

Of course, when a horse was down everyone was in panic. Usually it was something serious, but there were still chances it could be mild. Dr. Clarkson stuffed the phone in his pocket and grabbed his truck keys off the desk, "White Oak Barn you said?" he questioned as he quickly motioned for the boy to follow out the door to his vet-truck. The vehicle was practically a portable vet clinic in itself. It was equipped with the basic things he would need for emergencies like this.

Dr. Clarkson pressed the phob and the doors unlocked with a clicking sound. The phone vibrated in his pocket and he checked the caller ID, "On the way Kat, see ya in a second." and he hung up. The vet climbed in the cab, and once Lee was in, he started the vehicle and threw it in reverse. The truck rolled out of the parking lot and down a narrow alley path that wouldn't have looked like a road to the normal eye. It went straight to the barns, no traffic of any sort. The 4x4 pick-up rolled onto the gravel parking lot by the white oak barn.

Kirk quickly killed the engine and went to the vet box in the back. He pulled out a carrying case that held different types of syringes and medicines. He wore a stethescope around his neck. His quick strides made him catch up to Lee and he followed the boy over to the where the horse was, though anyone could tell as the crowd of people who were gathering around. Approaching, he stopped for a minute and studied the animal lying on the ground. He smiled warmly at the girl who was holding the animal's head in her lap, knowing full well she was the owner, "Hello, I'm Dr. Clarkson," he introduced himself and stuck the stethescope in his ears. The first place he put it was on the chesnut's abdomen where the intestines were located. He was listening for gut sounds, if he didn't hear any, there was bad news, "How long has," his eyes darted to the sexual part of the animal, "he been like this?" the question was addressed to anyone in general who could answer it.

[sepia]

"White Oak," Lee confirmed simply as he followed the vet outside, catching his intent quickly enough and swinging himself into the truck only moments behind the older man, shutting the door firmly behind him. Mentally taking note of the set-up as they bowled down a barely discernible road clearly only meant for circumstances, he approved of them; efficient and sensible to allow easy access to and from the vet clinic without worrying about traffic. Taking a look around the truck they were in, the analytical part of his brain - which was most of it - that also earned his seal of approval as he took in the little compartments, and the very organised way it was set up. He loved few things more than organisation.

Taking the lead as they swung into the barn - though, really, he considered afterwards - the gathering crowd was probably enough of a clue for Doctor Clarkson - he came to a halt outside the correct stall, frowning at the few curious onlookers beginning to gather who weren't serving any purpose, and allowing the vet easy access inside. Noting Cara's presence in the stall, presumably working some of her herbs given the far calmer state both horse and rider were in, Lee didn't leave. He might be wanted to fetch and carry, or to run messages again, and he suspected that a calm, collected head around the place might be useful at some point.

Instead, he busied himself by firmly moving on the onlookers gathering, pointing out in his impeccably polite, utterly nonnegotiable way that their presence would only serve to exacerbate the situation, and that he was sure they had better things to do with their time than give in to idle curiousity and rumour-mongering. A level, firm look sent those not convinced by that particular argument on their way fairly fast, as it became clear that he would brook no argument. Having removed everyone not immediately relevant from the scene, he returned to a position by the stall door, alert for any way in which he could help.