Earaheedy Mares - Ruth

                            "Four things greater than all things are;

                            Women and Horses and Power and War."

                          ~ Rudyard Kipling, "The Ballad of the King's Jest."

Ruth (The Remarkable)

2005

Ruth, like Rex, was (and still is!) somewhat of an enigma. She is nearly as tall as Margaret – 16hh, and when she was first rescued, Sheila guessed that she was somewhere around twelve years old. When, much later, she was aged via her teeth, it was discovered that she was in fact well over twenty years of age; a beautiful wild white soul, big boned from the Percheron but with apparent Arab ancestry.

Some people – and some horses – always seem to have a rough time of it. It’s clear that Ruth has had a hard life and her rescue was no easier. When she was first trapped, up at Earaheedy, she not only had an injured leg, but it was also apparent she was in foal and struggling to hold her condition. She was, like Margaret, very thin. It is thought now that as well as suffering from drought, her condition was possibly as a result of a bout of Ephemeral Fever.

Mainly found in bovines and buffaloes, the first reports of Ephemeral Fever in Australia were received in March, 1936 from three widely separated areas; the Kimberley area of Western Australia, the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory and Burketown in Queensland. From there it spread to various areas, although it seems mainly confined to the more northern areas of Australia. The virus causing ephemeral fever is transmitted between cattle and other grazing animals by flying insects and once exposed to the virus, cattle develop a long lasting immunity. Commonly known as “three day sickness”, it is a disease marked by a short fever, shivering, lameness and muscular stiffness. Death is not common from the actual fever but it does occur. Treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs has been shown to reduce the course of the disease and a vaccine is now available for cattle.

Most animals will recover if provided with water, shade and food. One of the nasty side effects, however, is that in pregnant horses and cattle that contract the fever, the heart muscle of the fetus can suffer damage. This can result in a foal born too weak to stand, or a horse or cow with a weak heart who matures apparently normal but then years later may drop dead if placed under undue stress – ie. during a muster or after a hard ride.

But back to Ruth...when the horses arrived in Margaret River, Ruth was nervous and very wild - wary of her new home.  Considering her great age, in hindsight this was not surprising, however her innate gentle, sensitive nature later impressed all those who handled her.

Unfortunately, during “The Great Eight Fence Day”, when the greys took out eight fences in one day after being encouraged by Rex and another mare, Lorna, to run for it, at the Margaret River property where they were first sent to recover, Ruth and mare Spider were the only real (minor) injuries. Ruth further aggravated the wound she had come down with – an infected hock, or at least this is what it appeared to be. Sheila had not managed to get a good look at it because Ruth was still not tame. Over the weeks the injury swelled and looked quite nasty, never quite healing. Her joints later became infected. During the whole of this period Ruth kept up with the others and rarely limped – a sign of weakness in the wild. She would stand stoically on all fours whilst also bearing the burden in her belly. Any normal horse would most likely have succumbed to both pain and infection and indeed possibly died, or aborted their foal, because they would not have possessed the inherent physiological toughness of these animals.

By April 2005, Ruth had begun to accept that people were not wholly bad. The big mare had been aged by then and it was accepted that she had been a long time wild and was fearful of trusting humans. She needed patience and time. She was halter broken but would pull back more than the others, as if reluctant to accept captivity. At other times she was calm and quiet and easy to manage. She seemed to swing between the urge to stay wild and the desire to accept domesticity – plenty of feed and gentle humans but one had also to accept confinement. Decisions, decisions!

Her situation changed somewhat one cold early morning around late April, when there appeared in the paddock what looked to be a bundle of wet clothes. Had somebody left a jacket out overnight? On closer inspection, the bundle moved. It was a tiny chestnut foal, still damp and struggling. Ruth had given birth.

Even Sheila was caught off guard. The mare hadn’t looked that pregnant, although in hindsight the foal was tiny and Ruth’s condition poor. No wonder she had been unusually sensitive. Sheila separated Ruth and the new foal straight away and this time Ruth accepted human intervention without argument. The foal was a filly, possibly premature, and was having difficulties finding her feet. Sheila helped the tiny creature up and after some assistance to “find the milk bar” (difficult when the foal was so dinky she was walking right underneath her mother), the newly named “Ashleigh” settled down underneath her mother and fell asleep in the autumn sunshine.

Ruth was taken out of the training program and she and Ashleigh were left to enjoy their bonding time in a grassy back paddock, with Rex watching over them.

Sadly, a couple of months after Ruth gave birth, Sheila discovered that the filly Ashleigh had a heart defect. Her breathing is not wholly normal and Sheila guessed that it was probably as a result of Ruth suffering from a bout of Ephemeral fever. Ashleigh was closely monitored but by three months of age, she was suffering. Unable to breath without struggling, the decision was made to put the ailing filly to sleep. In the wild Ashleigh would probably never have survived as long as she did. Ruth, somehow knowing like all animals seem to, was encouraged to be there as her filly went to sleep for the final time...she sniffed the lifeless body only once before walking away, and she did not look back. Ruth just knew.

2006

Following Ashleigh's passing, Ruth wavered between healthy and ill, due to the joint infection which became, for a time, a recurring problem. She nearly died twice. On the second occasion, when she spent more time laying unable to stand, food and medication were brought to her. When everything medically possible had been done to try and help Ruth, and she had gone down for what was thought to be the final time in the paddock, the vet was called but was too far away. A friend came with a rifle. It was the kindest thing to do...but as he was walking across the paddock towards Ruth, the old mare hauled herself to her feet, staring with some indignation. It ain't over until it's over...and she continued to improve from that moment on.

January 2008

Ruth came to reside in Nannup along with other broodmares Margaret and Lorna, Lorna's filly Norma (now sold), Pope, Betsy, Sophie (sold) and a number of other heritage horses. Ruth - thought to be now around 26 years of age - still lives with a damaged immune system, leg scarring and poor heart and lungs. Since Ashleigh, she has been in foal a further 3 times (to Pope) but has yet to carry to term. Although Ruth adores Pope and still enjoys time with a stallion, it is thought that she may now be too old and her body no longer healthy enough to carry a foetus to term. Because mares actually often benefit physiologically from being pregnant, however, due to the testosterone and other hormones released, Ruth is encouraged to remain in foal. It keeps her coat healthy and seems to help keep the weight on her. Ruth's long term future depends on her health...but whatever time she has left will be spent in large paddocks and on good pasture, in the company of her herd, which is all she ever seems to have wanted. (Aside from the odd good scratch and rub from her human guardians!)

*** ***

Story by KA Waddington. Photos at right of Ruth taken between 2005 - 2008 by KA Waddington, Lyn Fenti and Fran Jackson.