Ali - My Teacher, My Friend (Part One)

By Samantha - Leah Tobias

Each time I try to write about Ali, the tears flow as I remember what we went through together and how very much I miss him, although now, he would be in retirement. I have always said that no matter what, even if I could never ride him again, my pleasure was to just have him there with me. For me to be able to go over to the farm every day and look after him, watch him in the field, just have him there was the sheer pleasure I speak of. Alas, that pleasure was taken away too soon.

When I say Ali ‘told me’ it was his time, a lot of people may laugh. Go ahead. You have not yet met the horse that is a true part of your soul. When you do, you will understand. 

This is the story of Ali. This was written after his death. I still talk about him in the present and the past; all a bit confusing, but I am not a writer. I make no apologies. My early attempts all those years ago at working with ‘natural’ medicines and practices came out of desperation. I had no homeopathic vet to chat with, no Internet, most people considered what I was doing to be very silly and of no use at all. I disagree. Had I continued allowing him to have veterinary treatment, this horse would have died at the age of six. I was advised several times to have him put down, claim the insurance, buy a new healthy horse and get a life! Strong words but they only made me surer that what I was doing was right.

Believe me, I knew when Ali was having an off day, he let you know, so at no time was this horse ever pushed into doing anything he didn’t want to do or wasn’t fit to do. With Ali you just knew where you stood. This was the side of his personality that made me just love him so much. He wasn’t just a horse, he really was the best thing that ever happened to me and words cannot even begin to express how I felt when he had to be put down, or how much I still miss him now.

Tears pour down my face, as they are now whenever I read or write about him. Such a beautiful creature in every sense of the word, he didn’t deserve to live like he did. But, if he had to be ill, then I am glad he was with me, because nobody else would have kept him alive or looked after him. That I know without any doubt. I now say, in hindsight, that I should have seen the signs and acted upon them more quickly, but I trusted my vets. They just didn’t have the time or the inclination to look into the cause of his problems, just happy to cover them up and I let them do it.

I hope this story will go a long way towards helping people see how these illnesses work; how they creep up on you, to trust your own instincts with your horse and never be pushed.

Ali came to me when he was just 3 years old. He had not been handled apart from being led, in hand to the field at the age of six months. To the time I purchased him, he ran 'wild' with a group of about twenty odd horses. I stood at a distance and watched this rather spindly creature literally float across the field. Ali had the most extraordinary colouring, a vivid, rich, red chestnut. One half was pure chestnut, the other half had flecks of grey. His only marking was a small white crescent shape on his forehead. If you lifted his forelock he had an inverted ‘v’, which had very soft, baby fur, making plaiting him very difficult. Plaiting is literally plaiting the horses mane and tail for appearing in competition. It makes the horse look nicer, shows off the neck muscles etc. and is a requirement in some competitions in the United Kingdom.

Ali had no forelock really, just a very poor excuse for one. At least I never had to freeze brand him. His markings were very distinctive. He had the most flourishing tail carriage, which he would, for many years, hold high above his back. He was a cross bred Arab. I think his breeding was Welsh x Thoroughbred (dam) and pure Arab (sire). This horse had the ability to look and behave like a true full blood Arab, or very workmanlike going into a Working Hunter class, which he won on many occasions. He was a very talented horse and had a very ‘Look at me’ air about him. The potential was there for him to be anything I wanted and he never let me down.

My first impression of his temperament was gained when it came to visiting him for a week prior to purchasing him. After about the third day, he would be waiting at the gate for me, quite convinced I would turn up, which I obviously did.

I often wonder what he would have done had I not gone? However, he seemed quite strong, playful, affectionate and trusting. Having made the decision to take him, with no thought of what he may do, I went into the field, put a head collar on him, and just led him straight up the ramp of a small trailer.

He travelled well, appeared calm and on arrival at the yard, endeared himself immediately to everyone. Apart from travelling with his tail over the door and falling off the ramp at the yard he did well for his first time.

His stable had been prepared. It had been decided to keep him in that first night just to let him settle, and to worm him. When I left him he appeared settled. However, during the night on several occasions, he woke up the yard owner with his noise. He had taken to winding his head very violently and in the process was in danger of hurting himself on the rough edges of the door surround, so the owner had, in the middle of the night, fixed padding around the surround to prevent Ali from hurting himself, and apparently sat with him for an hour or so. This was the beginning of a very strong ‘love’ bond between Ali and the yard owner.

Mr. Ingham used to smoke a pipe and Ali just loved breathing in the smoke. I got to thinking years on, perhaps that was a smell he associated with kindness, after all, Mr. Ingham was the one who sat with him and calmed him on his first night.

On arrival in the morning, he was very animated and waiting to get out. He was to share his field with a young mare of about five years old.  They became instant friends, and it was a lovely sight to watch them gallop around the field, with Ali showing all the signs of an agile young horse, a potential Dressage horse I thought. Prior to his going out, the vet had visited to give him the routine Pre-Vac T vaccination.

That night when he came in, he ate quickly but settled into his routine. I didn't want to leave him out overnight just yet. I wanted us to form a bond, as I believed this to be important. That night he looked very tired and weary. His eyes were dull and running, he was not a happy horse. Immediately I called the vet. After examining Ali, he said he had a virus and gave him some antibiotic. Hoping all would be well, Ali was sent out to play the next day. The symptoms disappeared for a week, then returned, as did the vet, and again, antibiotics were given.

I began to think I was just being overly sensitive and probably it would be better if I just let Ali get on with things. I tried to ignore his miserable look, and indeed when we were together he appeared totally happy. He adored human company, more than horses it seemed sometimes.  It never once struck me that the horse was under any stress. I thought I was being kind to him, stabling him and feeding him, but he was not keen on being in and I didn't pick up the signs.

One day I was lunging him in the field when be broke away from me and went galloping off with a lunge line trailing around him. By the time I caught up with him, he had wrapped his legs in barbed wire and had severe cuts on his legs, stomach, but particularly, his off fore hoof (which is the right front hoof) had been severed from one side to the other around the back. He was shaking and very distressed.

Once in the yard, I washed the cut but decided to leave it alone overnight. The following morning, he went out into the field as usual, but the vet, who I felt obligated to call, was most annoyed saying the cut needed stitching but he couldn't do that now, he'd been turned out. So, my first attempt at “do it yourself” horse healing came.

I syringed warm salt water into the wound, put Hypercal cream all over, used a melonin dressing and then wrapped him securely in 3M Coban bandages. This procedure was done twice a day for about two weeks, gradually reduced to every other day, then the bandage removed. The cut had healed with no marks, and without stitches. I took the precaution to ensure the cut had healed properly by keeping that leg bandaged with Coban for about three months. During this time Ali went out into the field and was walked out in hand daily to get him used to all the new things he would come across as we progressed together in his training.

I cannot tell you the battles we had doing this bandaging. Ali was convinced he could not stand on three legs and would fight me every step of the way. Keeping my patience sometimes was very hard. During this period, I think we learned a lot about each other. Certainly from this first bad episode onwards, I never had problems dressing any wounds, and this horse had many in his lifetime. He was born to be cheeky, mischievous and generally, stretch my nerves to breaking point. My lessons in patience had started well. Ali was training me well for the future.

Then he began to lose his mane and tail! I rang the breeder who put me in touch with her homoeopath. He came down, gave Ali a course of tablets, and within a few weeks he was fine. Over the following months his mane and tail grew back.

He had Sweet Itch - A skin condition caused by an allergic reaction to mite bites. It can be very severe and not often well treated. Luckily with Ali we caught it very quickly and stopped the initial reaction. After that, all he did was begin to scratch his tail base on something and I would just wash him down using a medicated soap and that would solve the problem entirely. Ali only had that one-year of Sweet Itch.

Homeopathy and some tender loving care at the right time sorted it out for good. I repeated the pills that October as told and never had any further problem with him. If I saw him going to rub, I just got out the medicated Brylcreem, which stops any irritation immediately. An alternative is to shampoo the mane and tail areas immediately when you see the horse rubbing. Repeat until this eases.

Please bear in mind that my homeopathic knowledge at this time was nil. The homeopath that came out was not into the finer points of homeopathy, he was self-taught, but the thought of possible vaccine damage, detoxing etc. was never mentioned.

The following six months went by fairly quietly, apart from the odd little cut, he appeared fine. We had had one serious problem with him, worm infestation. He had every worm you could think of. It required a lot of worming, often triple doses every other day for weeks until the vet was happy with him. Are you beginning to see the pattern?

Then the first changes were noticed not just by me but also by most people who knew him. This young, lively, often difficult horse who adored dragging people off their feet, or into bushes, became lethargic, had a bad appetite, hardly passed any droppings or water, and if he ate a leaf of hay at night it was a miracle. He was coughing a lot. Again, out came the vet. Ali was diagnosed with COPD - A serious lung condition caused by an allergic reaction to dust in hay, straw and bedding in general. It is often treated with heavy-duty drugs, but if caught in time, proper stable management can make this a less threatening condition, along with homeopathic remedies when called for.

Ali did have to have heavy duty drugs to get the condition under control, as his immune system was obviously not doing too well, but after one course of these, I shifted to homeopathy and of course, changed the entire way this horse was looked after inside and outside of his stable (loosebox).

I was advised to put him on shavings and feed Horsehage. Again, as a precaution, he was given antibiotics, plus Ventipulmin and other such powders. On reflection within the first nine months the horse had had so much 'rubbish' through his system it was no wonder he was ill.

The first three years of his life he was 100% but then he had never had a vet, never been ill, and was completely happy running free. It just seemed that my kindness was causing him distress. I tried to keep him outside as long as possible, not realizing that with bad grazing, he was eating all sorts of undesirable things. He was a great forager and was often seen digging holes with his feet, eating soil, or licking the ground until he had made a massive hole with his tongue. I assumed he was deficient in minerals and was putting himself right. I assumed correctly, but again, I kept thinking it was as though he was trying to make himself sick, physically vomit which is unheard of in the horse.  It was the only way I could describe his actions. He was definitely not the horse I had brought home.  I knew there was something wrong but didn't know what.

I rethought his diet, exercise program; everything that affected him was under scrutiny. At shows he was so tired. I just gave up and came home. Some mornings he was just too tired to even move and would eat from a prone position. At the time I thought this was just Ali being totally laid back and lazy, and everyone thought it was 'cute' so I didn't worry too much. This behaviour pattern went on for three years. Despite having a vet out regularly, we got nowhere. Just more injections.

One day we had just put the horses out and were walking away when we all heard an almighty crack. On arrival at the gate, Ali was walking round in a circle, dazed and bleeding. All we could think was that he had brought his head up suddenly and caught it on one of the metal pieces that held the gate up. His nose had been cut open on barbed wire, and he was distinctly in pain. I had Rescue Remedy on me, and for the first time, decided to try it on Ali. Whilst waiting for the vet, he seemed to calm down and did not appear to be in such a state of shock as he first was. Again, more injections and he required stitches. Nobody thought he could get into any more trouble....

On a regular basis, he was always doing something wrong and causing himself injuries; mainly on the barbed wire which surrounded his field. He was seen eating bark and scavenging a lot. All this was put down to Ali being accident-prone and a ‘personality’ that just got him into mischief.

Again, the bouts of stomach upset, lethargy, etc. re-appeared regularly and they were getting worse.  I was beginning to doubt he had COPD, as even in his new surroundings, he still coughed, still looked tired, and was as lifeless as you would expect a horse of about twenty-nine to be. His droppings were often sloppy, he seemed to experience a lot of stomach gas and no matter what I fed him, and he still plodded about like an old horse.

He put his back out for several weeks and all we could do was rest him. It just seemed like every other week something happened. I was getting frustrated and very annoyed. Trying to forget these things, I started doing Dressage with him. We were not good. He was very stiff and would not accept the bit, well, not willingly work on the bit that is. About half way through the season, I purchased a proper Dressage saddle and girth. It was about this time I noticed he got very agitated when I was putting on the saddle and when I was doing the girth up he would turn round as if to snap at me, which was not Ali. He even started bringing his hind legs up in annoyance. I also noticed that in canter, his body was twisted. When he cantered he threw my left leg forward and consequently, I used to get a really bad backache.

We must have tried at least fourteen saddles and they all had the same effect, so I now decided it was time to get his back properly checked. I got a qualified McTimoney chiropractor to come out and work on Ali. (These people are trained specifically to work on animals. They have a very good reputation.) This chiropractor adjusted Ali’s spine and pelvis and he improved considerably. He had several treatments in one year to correct this problem, which then seemed to disappear.

His lethargy got worse. I got desperate. Then one night, he was around six years old by now, I had just left him tied up in his stable with the grand-daughter of the yard owner who adored Ali and vice versa. She came out to tell me Ali was trying to kick her. I knew he wouldn't do this, so I undid him and watched him for a few minutes. I decided another colic attack was on the way. I gave him Nux Vomica and walked him around for an hour. He seemed settled, so he went back to his stable, minus a feed, just hay, and I said I would call back down in about an hour. No sooner had I got home, a journey of about three minutes, when the phone rang. Ali had been brought out of his stable because he had been trying to lie down. He was in a bad way and the vet had already been called. On arrival, I pointed out these two huge lumps on his side, on the girth line on both sides of his stomach, and was told 'not to worry, they match' which I wasn't amused by. He was treated for colic, but I knew there was something more. Over the next few days I just sensed Ali was desperately ill. (See August 2003 for Part Two of Ali's story.)

Published July 2003