Page 49 of Home Hearts Hooves

“You’ll be helping with the leg.”

“Glad it’s you and not me.” Connor laughs, and we climb the rail into the paddock. Brutus is unsteady, swaying a little side to side, then he collapses to the ground like he’s fallen asleep on his feet, and we jog the rest of the way over.

I’m quick to set up the iso mask. As long as it’s there, he’ll stay asleep.

“Keep an eye on his breathing, too, if it slows, let me know,” I say, and then I move on to the leg. Thankfully, it’s out and we don’t have to try to roll a one-thousand-pound bull onto the side.

The gashes are deep.

“What did this?” I ask, looking around.

“Wire from a fallen fence. Perry’s out there fixing it up now, but Dean had to cut him loose,” Atlas says.

“How’d he break his leg then?” I ask.

“Oh, that happened before. Buckie came up on Brutus and reared up, threw Dean, and stomped him for good measure before bolting. It was a good thing Nial was out with a group of guests on a walk around the grounds or it could have been an hour before he dragged himself round to the main house.”

“Dragged himself? Wouldn’t he just call you guys?”

“He left his phone with Connor,” Atlas says, and I shake my head. So many farm accidents happen because someone isn’t following the rules. Dean knows how important the rules are.

“I can’t believe he’d be out without a phone,” I say, and Connor nods.

“I should have given him mine when he handed over his to take a booking. Oh, it’s all locked in by the way, three Saturdays from now, four until late. That way they can get some cuddles under the stars.”

I start flushing the wound in saline to start cleaning out bits of grass and dirt he’s picked up since it happened.

“What is locked in now?” I ask.

“Poppy’s birthday party. The booking was for Isabel. Apparently, we were Poppy’s only choice for a party.”

“Oh, umm, nice. I didn’t… She didn’t…” Isabel never said she was going to ask to have Poppy’s party at the ranch. I mean, she doesn’t have to run things past me. I’ve been Poppy’s dad all of two minutes, she doesn’t even call me dad yet. But I guess, I sort of thought that maybe this year I could help plan it, seeing as I missed the first ten of them and all that.

“How’s the leg looking?” Atlas asks, and I shake away the distracting thoughts and focus on Brutus.

“It’ll need stitches for sure. Can you hold his hoof on the ground, and help keep his leg steady? How is his breathing?” I ask, turning to Connor to find him holding the mask on Brutus but looking in the other direction. “Connor, you have to watch his breathing.”

“Sorry, there was just… I saw the blood and didn’t want to throw up again.”

“Just keep your eyes on his chest. Count the breaths, make sure they stay steady and strong.”

“Okay. I got it. Sorry again.”

I nod and get to work on the leg. I saturate the wound with antiseptic, then pat dry with sterile swabs. It’s so deep I use a layer of absorbable stitches on the inside and then move on with a thicker stitch on the outside, before covering the area with a dressing and then a gauze bandage, followed by vet wrap to secure it all in place well. I throw in a few stay stitches through the bandage to help keep it in place and then give the whole thing a good coat of fly repellent.

“We’re done,” I say, wrapping up my tools to be washed and sterilized back at the clinic. “I’ve got some anti-inflammatories in the van you’ll need to give him twice a day, but the antibiotics are at the clinic, I’ll drop them over tomorrow. He’ll need to be on both for a week or two.

“Do I stop this now?” Connor asks, and I shake my head.

“Actually, he’ll wake up pretty quick when that’s done, so as soon as you take the mask away, let’s get out of here,” I say, and Atlas is instantly on his feet.

“Bet I beat you both to the fence line,” he says with a chuckle.

“No fair, I’m the one holding the mask, and Doc’s got his bag,” Connor replies.

“Fine, I’ll give you a three-second head start.”

“Deal,” Connor says, and then, without further warning, he removes the mask and takes off like a shot across the field. Atlas is right behind him, both of them running like their lives depend on it, looking back repeatedly to check that Brutus isn’t chasing them.

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