Well its become that time….. What time you ask? To tell the story about when Dyna, the horse, had a Meatloaf, the mule. I know you are probably wondering what in the heck I am talking about. Well brace yourself, we are about to embark on…….an interesting adventure.
When Dyna had a Meatloaf….. I am still trying to find the silver lining in this debacle. Some have encouraged me to write children’s books about it. I’m still recovering from the shock. It all began one sunny and warm July morning. Well let me back up a bit. First you have to learn how I got Dyna.
Dyna is my little bay mare that I love beyond comprehension. The idea that love is blind, sure exists for me with this mare. I got Dyna from some wonderful friends back in September of 2016. I had my heart set on this mare for over a year, and as fate would have it I was able to purchase her. Dyna came to live with us in Nevada when some dear friends of ours met her previous owner in New Mexico to pick her up, When she arrived, I couldn’t be more excited!
Fast forward to 2017. Over the course of the 10 months that mare and I went to barrel races, brandings, I doctored calves on her etc. She had her teeth floated and yearly vaccines in March. Spent a week at a cutting show in February. In about May she became, what I thought was a little sore. I brought her to the vet, had her hocks injected and no big deal, we were on our way. In June she started to look real crummy, hair was yucky, despite being fed well she was loosing weight, she had a wormy belly, just didn’t look up to par. I bought her some additional supplements, started upping her feed, you know the drill. Still no real significant change.
The first of July rolled around, and she developed what I thought was pigeon fever. Swelling over her belly button, but oddly it wasn’t hot or sensitive to touch….. Hmmm….. in a couple days it went away. A few days later the swelling was back and included a pear shape mass between her teats. Malleable to touch, no heat or pain. After the Shorty debacle with Ulcerative Lymphangitis during winter of 2016, my nervous were on high alert. Without hesitation I took her to vet again to have blood work done to rule out pigeon fever or UL. The vet assured me it was probably some sort of allergic reaction, NOT pigeon fever or ANYTHING ELSE. No big deal, nothing a little exercise and some anti-histamines won’t fix. So Dyna went back to work, despite her laziness we went roping and barrel racing.
We are now back in July. I was off to a cutting for a few days and a trusty friend said she would watch after my beloved Dyna. After about the second day, she informed me that the anti-histamines didn’t seem to be working and the swelling was getting worse. I chalked it up to not enough exercise. I returned home later on the third day, pulled down to the barn, caught my little princess and proceeded to lounge her. All she needs is a little exercise, right, that ought to help. As I went to bed that night, little did I know what would be waiting for me the next day.
I bounced out of bed the morning of July 16th. Put on my jeans and boots. I had a date with some cows that day! Drove down to the barn to feed, like normal. And to my surprise I saw Dyna was laying down. Out of character for her. She’s usually up and vocal in the morning. As she stood up there to my complete and udder shock was this tiny four legged thing laying down. I slammed on the brakes and sat there with my jaw on the floor. If you could have only been inside the pick-up with me that morning. Who knows the things that were coming out of my mouth. Much to my disbelief, I still did not want to accept it. I looked around for our dear friend, whom I thought for sure planted this miniature something in Dyna’s pen. Nope, this “foal” was hers as confirmation by the placenta still hanging from her.
As I drove up to her stall, I kept thinking to myself, how did this happen? When was she even near a stud? I’ve literally only had her 10 months. She’s always lived by herself. Boy that foal has LONG ears. Awww he just needs to grow into them. Boy his ears are real long though….. I put the truck in park, crawled through the panels and without hesitation put my hands on that little baby….. Not thinking that the mare had never had a foal and she could turn into a fire breathing dragon. Nope, she was the perfect little mare. As I approached this bundle of ears and legs I noticed what appeared to be zebra stripes on his legs. Oh cool, he’s a zebra dun…… Trying to further convince myself that this unplanned foal birth was probably gunna be some bad to the bone cow horse. It most definitely WAS NOT and COULD NOT be a mule. There was NO way Dyna had an illegitimate mule baby. But much to my chagrin on further inspection, my fears were validated. What I once thought was a baby foal, now confirmed as a baby mule bore the ever so distinguishing cross on his back. All I kept saying was, “No, there’s no way, no way she had a mule”. Over and over. After that point of confirmation a few hysterical events followed. Preceded by a phone call to my dear friend the vet, who had just seen Dyna about a week before. The phone conversation went something like “Dyna had a foal” “What?” “Dyna had a foal” “No, your shitting me!” (I apologize for the graphic language) “No I am not shitting you. You cannot make this up”. Followed by a nervous laugh cry…….
Well that day became known as the day “When Dyna had a Meatloaf “. Yes, that mule baby is named Meatloaf. And despite the vets, her previous owner, and myself never having any inclination that she was EVER in foal, the “Donkey’s” that were gelded did NOT live with her in Oklahoma, only got out with her one afternoon for a few hours. She got bred while having a hormone implant and a stitched behind. So I chalk it up to the immaculate mule conception. Now if you find yourself at the end of this TRUE story, folks you can’t make these kinds of things up, wanting to own the one and only miraculously conceived mule baby out of a Smart Chic Olena and Einsteins Revolution mare, the time is yours. Meatloaf will be available to join your herd. And you can own the one and only immaculate mule conception and embark on your very own “Adventures of Meatloaf”! So friends and family alike, Meatloaf resides at the Anderson funny farm. If you’re ever so inclined feel free to visit this once in a lifetime attraction. Long ears and all Meatloaf is an adventure all in himself!