The Worst, Crappest, Most Horrible Day Ever...

My poor horses....

I went out on New Years Eve against my better judgement. I arrived home at 2am to find (a darker version) of this:

My fences were down, and my horses were gone.

There was very little sign as to which way they went. Did they gallop into the hundreds of acres of bush around my house? Did they run down the road and get out on to the main road and get hit by a car? Did they jump in with another horse? I had no idea. I felt helpless. I felt hopeless. I honestly though we would never see them again. I remember screaming and crying, I was hysterical.

I called my sister to come help find them. She brought my Mum and her boyfriend. Dad came to drop off more torches too. My lovely neighbor and her husband came out of their house and proceeded to help me look for them. After about a half hour of looking for them, there was a very bad car accident around the corner from my place. There were cops and ambulance everywhere. We couldn't get close enough to see, and the cop I was asking couldn't tell me if there were horses involved or not. My mind was playing tricks on me, and I thought I could hear screaming horses. It took all I had to not run over to the scene of the accident to find out. Finally a more senior cop came over and told us that there was no evidence that horses were involved at all. Thank God!

We searched the bush, calling to them in the dark with massive spiders and webs all through the place. Just at daybreak, I didn't know what else to do... I put a status update on Facebook, asking for help. And help came!! Michelle, Peta, and Sima were the first to arrive. They went door knocking, making heaps of friends in the area!

Natalie and I went on a 2 hour long trek through the bush in daylight to see if there was any sign. There wasn't.

Through out the morning we had riders arrive to help search the bush - Casey and Jess, Linda and Celine, Tim, Tom and Veronica. My sister Erin and her family came in their 4WD and drove through the bush. Tracey came with as much moral support as a girl could wish for!! There were so many people that came to help, it was the most heart warming thing ever!!

In the end, at 12pm on the 1st, I broke down and cried again. Andrew couldn't stand watching me like that and took the car out again, determined to find them. And about 30 minutes later, I got THE call... They were safe!! Andrew had found them!! He was hysterically happy on the phone to me! We took Tom's float around the corner to get them. They had indeed run onto the main road as I feared, and had almost been hit by a truck. The truck driver has horses of his own, and so understood what to do with them. He got them safely into someone's paddock. They gave them food and water and I am forever grateful!!

We loaded them up (Gracie only digging her heels in for about 10 minutes! Good girl!) and brought them home.

When we got them home, the poor things looked like this:

Allie

Gracie

Gracie's wounds, while still very painful (as she keeps reminding us) are superficial, thank God. They will scar, but should not affect her in any way once she heals.

Allie on the other hand, stabbed herself with what looks like a star picket, and scratched/chipped the bone. 10 days antibiotics, and 4 weeks of wrapping. HOPEFULLY there will be no infection, because if there is, there could be some serious complications with the bone. Loss of use possible. Might I remind you this is my brand new bloody expensive future eventer?!?!

The reason they fled the paddock is fire works that our neighbors let off. I now HATE HATE HATE fireworks!

So that is the story of the worst day of my entire existence.