Against All Odds
The
Power of Will, the Gift of Grace
By Terry
Temple
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| In
the early dawn hours of January 31, Jo Carns sat in the office
of her Quarter Horse breeding farm staring nervously at a television
monitor. The screen showed a laboring mare circling a spacious
stall, a scene familiar to most anyone who has bred a horse
in the video age. However, this pregnancy was different –
twins carried close to term and ready to be born. “We
saw her go down,” Jo said, “and I called Dr. Dennis
Van Roekel (of Alva, FL) who had been on standby in anticipation
of their arrival |
Twins Will and Grace were born January 31, 2008. |
for
days. By the time he got here -- in about 30 minutes -- it
was over.”
The
minute King Leo Sue, a big-boned bay Quarter Horse, laid down
in contractions, Jo and her trainer Jennah Blair raced back
through the well-appointed barn to the stall where the mare
had been sequestered for several months. Almost immediately,
a little filly slipped out.
“Is
she healthy, please let her be healthy,” Jo recalled
saying to herself, Jennah and most importantly, to Sue. “And
there she was, a little runty maybe, but breathing and responsive
to her mom’s nudging and licking.”
Within
minutes, Sue had new business. She moved across the stall,
laid down, and effortlessly pushed out a colt, who was cloaked
in the embryonic sac. Sue immediately returned to the filly,
not seeming to realize what had happened. The ladies got the
sac off the boy and brought him over to his mother and sister.
It didn’t take a lot of encouragement for Sue to get
with the program.
“Right
from the beginning, Sue was an awesome mother to both of them,”
said Jo. The thirteen-year-old brood mare had plenty of experience,
these being her sixth and seventh foals. But to be able to
carry them to term, produce enough milk, and tend to them
equally is nothing short of miraculous.
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Tex
and Sue Make Two
All of the literature on twins seems to be negative. With today’s
ultra-sound technology, twins detected early are usually reduced
to a singleton birth by “pinching” or worse, starving
the mare into a natural reduction. But this is most effective
by catching them at the 18-day examination before the fetuses
attach to the uterine wall. After that, it gets dangerous and
often breeders opt to terminate the entire pregnancy and start
over. But like the twin’s successful birth, the breeding
of Sue to Docs Texas Hiredhand, a refined dark bay Quarter Horse,
was unique. |
Sue, the twin’s mother weighs in at 1,200
pounds a month after the twins were born. |
| “We
pasture breed to certain stallions here,” explained
Jo. “We thought Sue was successfully bred in 07 for
an 08 baby, but she slipped that fetus without us knowing
it. “ One look at Sue’s big belly, shown here
a month after the twins were born, confirmed how easily that
could happen. They thought she was pregnant when she was turned
out with Tex and the rest of the mares. But the pair rebred
in secret and by the time a foal was never produced and the
mare was examined, the ultrasound revealed Sue was sixty days
along with twins.
“At
that point, we were looking at a more complicated procedure
to reduce or end the pregnancy,” said Jo. The odds of
successful termination were iffy and a decision had to be
made whether to trust Mother Nature or do what would seem
more practical.
“Dr. Van Roekel explained that a good outcome on twins
was really rare and not a good situation. He had only had
two sets of twins survive in his 30 some years of practice.
Still, I had no real concept for what we decided to do in
terms of the odds of survival. Not until it was almost foaling
time, while doing Internet research, did I fully understood
what I had put my heart into. That’s when I learned
the statistic for both twins surviving was one in 10,000!
It was mind boggling. I was frozen with fear and at the same
time, I was praying for the best. I always had a sixth sense
that God was looking over these babies. They had a whole lot
of people praying for the three of them in the last four months
of gestation.”
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A
Year of Expectation
As the months progressed, Sue grew to epic proportions, eventually
packing 300 pounds onto her normally 1200 pound frame. Jo
and her fiance Al Curry, who co-own Sweet Cypress Ranch, built
her a double-sized maternity stall and she was brought in
from the field in the Fall. Jo spent many a sleepless night
in that stall with Sue, reading the literature on the internet
about twins, none of it very encouraging.
“I would sit here with my laptop, looking at Sue growing
more enormous by the minute, |
Filly Grace was born with a condition known
as windswept legs. |
and
pray,” Jo said. “That one-in-10,000 figure stuck
in my head. But I really thought we had a good shot at taking
number one rather than 10,000. I had to think positive.
And, Al has always been lucky. He says he was born lucky!”
When
the twins were born and beat the odds, they were named Will
and Grace -- Will for his tenacious and cocky personality
and Grace “because it’s only by the grace of
God that she is here at all.”
Not
Without Peril
While
the twin’s birth was uneventful, it wasn’t without
a hitch. Will was born sturdy and a healthy 70 pounds, which
is pretty good for a three-week premature twin. But it seemed
Grace got the leftovers in the womb and wasn’t quite
ready when she hit the ground.
“She
looked like ET because her ears were still pinned to the
back of her head and she had a big bump in the forehead.
She was funny looking, weighing just 55 pounds, and she
didn’t have enough time in the oven to get her legs
finished,” Jo said. “The last three weeks in
utero, the cartilage and tendons finish developing. The
bones are there, but they’re not ready to support
body weight.”
Still,
she was cute and demanding of life. From the beginning she
was up more, nursed more, and made it known she was here
to stay. At first, they did a lot of improvising to straighten
out her legs, wrapping them with PVC splints to help them
develop normally. But then a soft bulge formed in her right
leg, diagnosed as a ruptured tendon. Jo feared that at best,
Grace would never become more than a cherished pet. She
was really worried what quality of life Grace would have.
Team Grace
|
In
the womb, Grace was in the posterior position with her legs
wound tightly around her body to the left. Will’s forward
or anterior position gave him more room and the lion’s
share of the nutrition flowing into the placenta. When they
were born prematurely, Will was fine but Grace’s legs
didn’t have enough time or the nutrients to completely
develop. She was born “windswept,” a condition
in which both legs are bent in the same direction -- in Grace’s
case, to the left at the knees. Windswept can also occur in
the hind legs, where the hocks are affected one way or another.
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Newborn
twins, Grace and Will sleep peacefully in the straw.
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Being
the disadvantaged twin probably accounts for what happened
to Grace. However, windswept and other leg abnormalities
also happen in singleton births, as genetics and nutrition
both can play roles. Fortunately, many of these conditions
resolve on their own or can be corrected by a knowledgeable
vet who understands orthopedics. Unfortunately, instant
euthanasia is too often the case, especially among volume
breeders who don’t have the time to wait and see,
or who don’t believe veterinary orthopedics can be
effective in producing a sound performance horse.
Grace
is well on her way to becoming just that, thanks to Jo’s
early splinting and the extensive treatment Grace is now
receiving from Lake Worth, Florida’s Dr. Ben Schachter,
who specializes in equine orthopedics.
|
The
first part of the treatment called for Grace’s left
leg to be put in a cast at three weeks old, to allow it to
straighten out and strengthen over time. They tried removing
it at about five weeks but within the next week the leg started
bowing out again, so it was put back on at six weeks. At the
same time the cast was first removed, Dr. Schachter operated
on her right knee (five weeks) and also put an orthopedic
glue on shoe on the right for additional support to help the
leg begin to grow correctly. |
 Screws
were placed into the growth plate in Grace’s knee to
help her leg to begin to grow correctly. |
“The
surgery lasted over two hours,” said Jo. “Dr.
Schachter put two screws into the growth plate in the right
knee and connected them by wire. This retards the growth plate
so that the bones normalize in a short amount of time. In
approximately three to four weeks, the screws will come back
out and she will start being a normal baby with
exercise in about a month. Up to this time, she has been on
nearly total stall rest.”
|
“During
surgery, Jennah and I were nervous wrecks waiting outside
with Will and Momma Sue for those long hours. Will is constantly
concerned about his sister and watched the barn from his paddock
for her return. You never heard so much whinnying when she
came out of recovery. They are really ‘joined at the
hip’. Will would be lost without his older sister –
after all, she was out first!”
“The
surgery was quite costly, so we will have to continue our
fund-raising to get to the finish line, which is clearly
in sight. Dr. Ben continues to be encouraged by her recovery
and response to the surgery.”
|
 Grace
under went surgery at just 5 weeks of age to straighten her
right leg. |
|
Still,
the money flows -- outward. Between ultrasounds, X-rays, consultations,
and materials, thousands of dollars have been spent to keep
this filly beating the odds. Sweet Cypress Ranch lies just
outside of the creeping sprawl of Fort Myers, Florida, where
Jo and Al run the small Quarter horse operation. Their babies
are well-pedigreed enough to be worth between $1500 and $3000,
but what Grace needs will reach double over that upper price
range. Team Grace grew spontaneously out of the publicity
and word of mouth this story has had, and donations to her
fund have been generous.
|
“Let
me be clear, we’re not a charity case or nonprofit organization.
We are a successful business working through these tough economic
times and don’t have a lot left over to go to this extreme
to save this baby,” Jo said regarding Grace’s
care. “If it wasn’t for all the generous donations
and letters of encouragement, we could not be where we are
today with Grace. Thank you all for your prayers and donations.
I feel sure Grace knows the power that is behind her healing.
“The
many veterinarians, friends and complete strangers have been
so kind to work with us and help make this journey one to
remember, not just for us but for many. They have touched
so many lives. “
|
Grace has an excellent prognoses of a full
recovery from her windswept legs. |
|
The
Twins Today
As of this writing, the twins are two months old. Sue is almost
back down to her fighting weight, although that belly is probably
there for good. Grace has packed on more than half of her
birth body weight, now weighing in at 134 pounds and has so
far, she has recovered well from the surgery. The hard cast
came off and other than a leg wrap that will stay there for
a few more weeks, she looks like any healthy baby. The legs
are remarkably straight in just a short few weeks. Will is
feisty, gorgeous and hard to forget. He now weighs 175 pounds.
Jo brings them out for some exercise and to tend to Grace’s
wrap. Will flips and bucks, and darts around the camera. He’s
a natural born show horse, perfect markings, great personality.
Grace scoots around too, “like Forest Gump when he was
in his braces. Go Forest!”
|
Sue
and son are put in a corral so they can exercise while Team
Grace checks on her needs and allows Grace fresh air and sunshine.
While she was in her cast, Jo and an assistant had to flip
the little filly down onto her side, which took more and more
effort every day. But as soon as they got her down, remarkably,
Grace would doze off, relaxing completely at the hands of
her caregivers.
“Grace
is an old soul, I think,” says Jo. “She’s
here to teach us something.”
Both
of the twins, Sue and everyone involved in this success story
teach us something: the power of will and the gift of grace.
|
Will and Grace out for a little exercise. |
What’s
Nutrition Got To Do With It? |
Sweet
Cypress Ranch is a Seminole dealer and distributor of
fine hay. Their breeding stock grazes on pasture that
was enviably lush and green in the not-so-dead winter
of South Florida. Sue grew those babies on that sweet
grass, good quality orchard/ alfalfa hay and Seminole
Mare & Foal, which the twins have been eating since
they were two weeks old. |
“All
horses deserve a good feeding program, and one for broodmares
during pregnancy and lactation is critical to the foals’
development.,” says Seminole’s in-house
nutritionist, Larry Mack. “Mare’s milk is
great for foals, but eventually they will need more
nutritional intake than the mare’s milk alone
provides. It’s so important to feed them correctly
through the growing years. The Seminole Wellness Grow
Safe and Grow Right products provide sound nutrition
for both the mare and the foal. The low starch levels
in these feeds improve the foals’ ability to grow
with lower incidence of Developmental Orthopedic Disease
issues. Seminole Mare & Foal feeds are the more
traditional oat based feeds that horseman have relied
on with success for years. |
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| Jo
Carns also swears by Seminole Senior and feeds it regularly
to her competition horses, no matter what age they are.
“Look at the ingredient list -- it’s like
a special secret recipe a show horseman might come up
with to get the edge.” |
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You can keep track of the twins, see more pictures and donate
to Team Grace by visiting www.sweetcypressranch.com.
For more information about the surgery and other treatments,
contact Dr. Ben Schachter, Wellington Equine Associates, 561-790-0001,
www.wellingtonequine.com
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In
her spare time Terry Temple enjoys riding her two arabians
Ayla and Khody. Terry owns Temple Media, a full service
marketing agency.
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