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In mid-May of 2002 I had to put down my horse, Andvari. This was one of the saddest and most difficult events in my life. Not only was Andvari a great horse, he's the horse that made it safe for me to ride again after three serious horse injuries I sustained last year. He will be missed beyond anything I can imagine.
I haven’t told this story publicly before because the circumstances were so difficult to understand and because I had great difficulty even talking about it. However, as with all life experiences, I believe it’s critical to learn what we can to help prevent or prepare us for future events. Because there are definitely lessons to be learned from Andvari’s passing, I felt it was time to share this story.
Andvari was a very special horse. A 9 year old, 14h black gelding that would never stand out in a crowd. Calm on the ground and under saddle. He always sought our companionship, wanting to be petted and just hanging around with us regardless of what we were doing. Under saddle he worked to the level of the rider on his back. Children and inexperienced guests were treated gently and calmly. With me, he did whatever I asked without hesitation. He learned quickly and you could just watch him think and figure out what the cue was supposed to mean. Then, he’d just do it and remember it from then on. Tolting in the open space on Andvari was like riding the wind.
So . . . what happened? For the two weeks before his passing we’d been doing a lot of riding, both in performances and on the trail. We had out of town guests for a week and our friend, was riding Andvari on the trail each day. Her last ride was on a Thursday, my last ride was on Friday.
On Saturday morning while we were in Santa Fe, Andvari and Teigur got out of their pens (which I obviously had not latched properly) and were able to roam and graze about our property for about two hours before our neighbors saw them and got them back in their pens. They also ate about 4-6lbs of grass hay on the porch of the barn that was left from a hay delivery on Friday. At feeding time Saturday evening everything appeared normal. When I went to feed Sunday morning he hadn’t eaten his grass from the night before and was standing listlessly in his stall. Fearing a colic we called the Vet and administered a light dose of Banamine and walked him until the vet arrived. The vet could find no impaction nor visible signs of colic. He also flushed his gut with water and mineral oil. All we could do was watch for 24 hours and see if this and some additional Banamine would help.
By Monday morning he still hadn’t eaten and was now not drinking. He was obviously without any energy and was just standing with a drooping head, but no outward signs of pain. He was not dropping manure or urinating. Monday noon the vet took fluid samples from his gut along with blood samples. We got the blood work back late Monday and found that he had excessively high levels of toxins in his liver and especially his kidney. Monday night he was put on IV’s in our barn forcing fluid and electrolytes through his system. By Tuesday he was urinating but it was so clear it was obvious that it was simply going through him and not being processed by his kidneys. Additional blood was drawn and the test results showed that his kidney had effectively shut down and that his liver was seriously damaged. Early Wednesday morning, our vet, in consultation with three other respected vets in the area, could offer no hope that this damage could be repaired. The signs of distress were severe. Glazed eyes, shivering, inability to balance. So, I had to make the decision to have him put down.
We were able to get him in the trailer and then give him a mild relaxant while I drove him to the Univ. Of NM Equine services. There, as I held him, the pathologist, a very kind, gentle, and caring doctor put him down. I had to stop three times on the way home as the tears in my eyes prevented me from seeing safely for driving.
The worst thing of all was that we didn’t know why this had happened. Now we had to wait for the autopsy results. Unfortunately, when the results finally came, the pathologist and lab were not able to tell us what had caused this, only that his kidney was destroyed by toxins and not able to function. Severe necrosis in the liver also existed. So, we knew he was poisoned but didn’t know by what.
We’re in our barn with our horses many times each day and they are incredibly clean and well maintained. I went over every inch of his stall and run looking for signs of anything and could find nothing. Because he was out of his run on Saturday and grazing in our yard, we began looking for toxic plants. Remember that this is the high desert of New Mexico and there is very little vegetation growing. We were able to determine the exact amount of time they were out of their pens and the extent of where they wandered around. It was less than 150 feet from the barn.
We gathered 24 samples of plants and sent them to the Univ. of Kentucky toxicology lab and a second set to the New Mexico state toxicology lab. After ten days the results from both universities were the same. While there were some mild toxins in several of the plants, the concentrations were so low that it would require grazing in a vast stand of the plants for two or more days for the horse to ingest enough toxins to cause damage.
We went back over his activities day by day for the three weeks prior to this happening. One event caused concern. On the Thursday prior to this starting, we were trail riding. While Andvari was stepping up the side of a dry creek bed he suddenly lurched sideways. Our friend came out of the saddle and landed on some rocks and Andvari ran off about 100 yards. As Ruth Ann approached our friend to see if she was OK she heard a rattlesnake hissing. Looking down, there was a large rattler coiled to strike right next to the path our friend had been taking, only three feet away from Ruth Ann. Bothour friend and Ruth Ann backed away carefully and got away from the snake. They rounded up Andvari and rode home, our friend a bit sore and bruised from the fall. Hearing what happened I examined his legs, chest, and head for any sign of a bite and found nothing. I examined him again that night at feeding time.
When the vet first saw Andvari on Saturday he was aware of this and thoroughly examined him again for any sign of a bite or external swelling or necrosis of the skin. None was found. All four of the vets involved were reasonably confident that this couldn’t have been the cause as they had never seen a rattlesnake bite without visible external signs.
This was driving me crazy and I couldn’t let it be. I spent about 15 hours on the internet researching toxic plants and toxic venom’s from both snakes and spiders. What I eventually learned was amazing.
In New Mexico alone there are 17 different species of rattlesnakes. Two of these routinely carry a venom containing neurotoxins. These are toxins that will have an immediate effect, typically causing mild nervous system damage that leads to serious respiratory dysfunction. While painful, they seldom cause death in large animals. The other 15 species have a various assortment of pneumotoxins in their venom cocktail. In total, there at least five uniquely different cocktails, each resulting in differing forms of damage. Most important, three of these NEVER show any external signs of damage. No necrosis or swelling of the skin, and, bite marks so minute they won’t be seen by the naked eye. Symptoms don't occur for 2-3 days, by which time, the poisons have already caused damage. And worse, over the life of the snake, the toxic venom cocktail may change it’s formula three or four times.
It turns out that the anti-venoms that are available, currently in very short supply, are generic in their makeup. They are not specific to a particular venom. At best, they do not cure the problem, they simply work to minimize the damage that has already been caused. So, unless we had the snake that was encountered and were able to run tox screens on it’s venom to analyze the frozen tissue from the autopsy we would never know if this was the cause. None of the vets involved in this knew any of this. Their experience was that a rattlesnake bite was a rattlesnake bite. These are the some of the best vets in the west and they were amazed upon reading all of the research.
So, what are the lessons learned?
1. Never, ever, walk through and close a gate without double checking that it is securely latched.
2. Grazing: If you have pasture, know what’s growing in it. We’ve discovered there are at least three naturally occurring plants that contain enough toxins to cause damage, even in moderate consumption. While we’ve never allowed our horses to graze while we’re riding, this was a behavior issue, not a health issue. Now, we simply won’t allow them to graze period.
3. There are numerous species of venomous snakes and spiders that can cause serious and immediate damage to a horse. These will differ throughout the world. Learn what species are in your area and how to recognize them. If you ever have an encounter with one, make a very careful attempt to kill the snake/spider so that it can be examined and the toxins evaluated so that proper treatment may be followed.
4. Wear a helmet. While our friend sustained a pretty nasty bruise in her fall, the dent and scratches on the back of her helmet indicate that it could have been a lot worse.
The saddest part of all of this is that we will never actually know what caused Andvari’s death. While this research has show us a possible cause, there is no way to really know.
My apologies for the length of this story but I hope that our experience can in some way help prevent this from occurring to someone else.
During our trip to Iceland a few months later we had the opportunity of visiting the farm where Andvari was born. I had the opportunity of walking through the pastures where he was raised and reflect on all that he meant to me. This was helpful and encouraged me to share this story.
While the lessons learned I mentioned in my post are very important, the real message from these tragedies goes much deeper. Our lives and our relationships are so valuable yet so fragile. In a moment our lives can be changed by unforeseen events, illness, drunk drivers, whatever, and we must deal with overwhelming grief.
The lesson is to cherish the relationships that we have and never take them for granted. Our companions, our children, our family, extended families, and friends. Our relationship with our animals who give us their trust. Taking these relationships for granted too often means regretting that we never shared, said or did what we felt we should when we had the opportunity. Cherish and share the moments now, not when it's to late. Then, the memories will comfort us and help deal with the grief.
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