Dear
Readers,
I
was reading a LinkedIn comment and discovered Black Caviar’s half-brother, who was
bought by BC3 Thoroughbred for $5,000,000 at the Australian Easter yearling
sales in April of this year, was fighting for his life after being bitten by a
white-tailed spider.
Like so many people around the
world, I’m enamored with Black Caviar, and thus curious about her half-brother.
I can relate on several levels with this story. I came very close to losing
Casual Lies to an injection site abscess, and though he survived, he was never
quite the same. Also, if you’ve read my book about Casual Lies, you will know
he was truly a horse with two names. The world knew him as Stanley as well as
Casual Lies. Black Caviar’s half-brother
is affectionately known as Jimmy, and by all reports he has a terrific
personality and has earned the love of all those who work with him.
All trainers are familiar with
laminitis, but before I talk about this condition, I want to say something
about the arachnid that constituted
the causal part of Jimmy’s life threatening circumstances.
Everywhere
we go in this world there are critters that can harm us. But it seems to me, with
all due respect, Australia has more than its fair share. Either on the landmass
or in the waters in and around Australia, there are things that can sting,
bite, kick, trample, tear you apart, eat chunks of your body or completely
consume you, leaving no trace behind.
But
of all the oogly boogly’s that walk, fly or swim on this planet, snakes and
spider’s scare me the most. Hang on, let me clarify, I don’t like snakes, I
have great respect for snakes and I avoid them. However I must confess I have a
curiosity about snakes, and if I can do so safely I will look at them. Spiders
on the other hand, give me the creeps, I have no desire to look at them or
observe them. If there is one on my ceiling at night, I can’t turn off the light
as long as it’s still there. My imagination has it prepared to attack me in my
sleep. So I get up carefully, watching it at all times, lest the eight legged
warrior drops down from his perch on high to commence hostilities. Once I’m clear
of the combat zone, I go get the vacuum, the one with the magic spider wand and
suck him right off the ceiling. I then put the vacuum in the garage, in case it
survived the suction, I wouldn’t want to think it might crawl out and seek
revenge.
Medium
in size, the white-tailed spider is recognizable for the white patch at the end
of its body. It doesn’t spin a web and wait for its dinner; it actively seeks
out its prey. So this eight legged hunter goes on walkabout every evening, searching
out its sustenance. On these walkabouts it gets into the homes of Australians
and into their stuff—cloths,
beds and so forth. When surprised—it
bites.
Though
necrosis and ulcers have been attributed to the white-tail spider, research
does not confirm this, and in-fact quite the opposite is true. The bite can be
nasty and certainly could result in an infection, but on its own should not
threaten a life, particularly the life of an animal as big as Jimmy. The
reports are that the treatment, used to avoid infection, triggered an allergic
reaction and this has caused the complications that have resulted in Jimmy
being afflicted with a debilitating case of laminitis.
Laminitis—there is a very good article about
Laminitis (founder) and its causes and the damage that can result once it’s
started. I urge you to do a web search and read about it. The long and the
short, is that if there is irreversible damage to Jimmy’s hoofs, his racing
career is over before it started. I’m sure at this point the number one outcome
is the preservation of his life. If the damage is too severe, he won’t be able
to survive without unbearable pain. My prayers are with Jimmy recovering a pain
free life. I will be keeping a close watch on the news sources that are
reporting on his progress. The latest news reports I have seen, advise he is stabilizing.
Take care,
Shelley Riley
Author of Casual Lies – A Triple Crown
Adventure
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