The story of Saturday night

To all my friends and family who are wanting to know what happened to my poor Clyde. Below is the story of Saturday night.

We had gotten home from a long day at Loch Moy HT- it was a good day- Kynymont's Absolutely Irish had all the pieces come together and was foot perfect for a win on a 28. The other two horses that went did great as well. However, a horse at home had a little mishap during the day, so at 9pm Clyde and I went out to do some cold hosing to help out the injured horse. Clyde loves hanging out at the barn and is really one of those great dogs that is just happy getting to be involved. Probably about 9:15 Clyde left the wash stall area, I thought nothing of this as he has a best friend at the barn, Panda his cat girlfriend, normally if he left me that meant he was over staring at Panda. At 9:30 I went back to the house and intended to see him starring into Panda's eyes in lust, but I didn't. He wasn't at the house either. Figuring he was hanging out in the hay loft with the other cats I took a quick shower. Expecting to see him inside the house as I got out- he hadn't had dinner and he doesn't like to miss a meal!

Clyde wasn't there and at that point and time my best hope was that he got stuck in a stall, tack room, feed room or some spot that he must've snuck into and then the door closed on him (this has happened twice in the past). After a mad dash through the barns looking for him, a neighbor came driving by our farm saying that there was a loose horse at the end our road. I knew it wasnt ours, but wanting to help whatever horse I grabbed Hannah and off we went to see who's horse it was. It was an Amish pony and the kids had collected him before we even got there. So now Hannah and I start another round of furiously trying to get Clyde. Must've been interesting for the neigbhbors because Clyde has a lot of names; "Clyde, Clydski, Hopper, Hopps, Hop-skotch, Hopper-doodle, Hopper and Clyde the Glyde Drexler" he wasnt answering to any of them. This is all totally abnormal, Clyde loves people and he doesnt ignore us. I was very scared at this point, had never LOST an animal before and didn't know how I was ever going to find Clyde in the dark. Awhile into this we called MJ down and her and her dog Fin Fin (Clyde's other best friend) came down to join the search.

We searched for what seemed an eternity- finally I was walking off of the road onto our farm property to try to re-group and decide what to do now. It was pitch black and very hard to see anything (we did have flashlights). Luckily right then I heard the faintest whisper of help from Clyde. I only got it once and it was faint but I know his voice so well I knew it was him. I ran in the direction of his cry and found him laying in a ditch beside the road. This is so hard to write and was soooo hard to see. My child had been hurt and hurt badly enough he couldnt move at all nor talk. (Clyde has an excellent voice, if you've never heard him sing, when he gets all better I'm sure he'd love to give you a solo) The thing about Clyde is he doesnt' have a mean bone in his body and is/was nieve to all the negative in the world. He was such a happy go lucky guy. Its so painful to witness him hurting.

MJ, Hannah and Myself in midst of balling and fear got a lot done in a few minutes and called a few different emergency places and decided on one in Newcastle, DE. Chuck Arensburg, a vet himself and dog lover had suggested this place to me... said they'd be able to help Clyde. In the car and as fast as the little BUG would go we were off to DE. Clyde would go through periods of times of being very still, scarily still- then he would shake- then he would move his head around and be seeming to try to move, but couldn't. Hannah and I kept talking to him and trying to keep him fighting to make it. I didn't know how much bleeding was going on internally or how badly off we really were.

Clyde didn't look like he was run over- there was only one small cut on the inside of his hind leg. This has been tough for me to not know what happened to him that was enough to hurt him so badly.

Clyde arrived at the Vet Emergency Hospital and the immediately took over- again tough for me to sit back and not be with Clyde, so scared he could just leave us at anytime. Clyde was being tough, tougher than me. To try and wrap up my long story we found out that Clyde broke his femurs. One in 3 spots and the other in 1 spot. His bones look like Chop Sticks. Luckily from what we can tell no damage to his spine, and other internal pieces.

The surgeon is about to see him now and I should be able to consult with him within the hour- I'm really trying to stay hopeful. Baby Clyde is loved by so many and I hope with all my heart that one day soon he'll be back over here making everyone smile.

Many thanks for keeping up with me and my family over here in PA. Love all of you guys!
Molly