29/4/2018

The last few days were difficult, again. I remember Wednesday and Thursday the best. Tuesday there were two men who visited us, they wanted something but none of us speak Spanish so we called someone who did and hoped for the best. Turned out that they had found 4 kittens in a dumpster and they asked us to take care of them.  Of course, we will. We tried to estimate their age and came to the conclusion that they would be about 10 days old. With no mother around, we had to give them mil, every 3 to 4 hours. Which meant that night shifts had to be taken. 00:30, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30. Later we changed this to 00:30, 4:30, 8:30 simply because we would get a little more sleep this way, our alarm clocks for the day were set at 9:00, those extra 30 minutes would be no problem if it means that we could skip one shift. 

Wednesday was probably the worst day, I had a really bad day and everything was just a little too much when in the evening, I got a text saying that my favorite horse would be put down. In that one minute, it felt like the world caved in. I hoped, and I still do, that they set the date after I'm back so I can just see her one more time, give her one more cuddle. To some of you this might be a load of crap because "she is just a horse" and "why do you worry so much, she's not even yours". No, she isn't. But it is the horse that gave me the trust I lost. I just hope that they made the right choice. She has a problem with her tendons which couldn't be fixed. She is in constant pain, this is not the way you want a horse, or anyone, to live. 

Thursday was one of the best day's I've had and maybe it is because I got rid of all the worries and emotional crap the day before. It was also the day I finally started opening up to people, quite some things happened before I went to Spain so I had been carrying more luggage than the 20KG my ticket allowed. I told some girls here what had happened and they're a gem, they really did help me out. Thursday morning was an emotional rollercoaster when we started the day I found a newborn foal which made me really happy. About 20 minutes later came a horse in with a really bad wound. Her hindleg had a cut so bad, the bone was exposed and there were some really deep cuts on her other leg as well. It was one of the worst things I had seen in real life and the people here say the same thing so I guess you can say that it was really bad. I will not be uploading pictures of the wound because I know that not everyone wants to see them. That afternoon we went riding with the horses and tried to swim with them. It was really hot that day so we decided that it would be a good idea to let the horses cool down and take them for a swim. I choose a Friesian horse to ride on and it was the best choice I've made. I am not really good in the letting go of control and trusting in your horse, I like to keep control. But you don't have control over what happens when you're riding a horse high in the mountains so I was forced to let it all go and just enjoy the ride. The Friesian really helped, she gave me the trust I knew I lacked. The girl who guided us told me that she was really good with first timers, which I was. She didn't want to swim because apparently, she didn't like water. She didn't have to swim, I was okay with being high and dry. 

Friday was a good day as well, it was my day off and I watched Annabelle with a friend which lead to a good scare in the middle of the night. Someone walked into her room and she got scared which scared a roommate of her. So I was satisfied when I heard that, pretty much "mission accomplished". We were watching Annabelle with two to three breaks so no, she's not really good with horror. That evening I sat outside and drew a bit, drawing is something I do only when I'm comfortable enough with the people around me.

Today the veterinarian came to take a look at the wound I mentioned before. We were all so scared that it either got infected or that it simply would be dead but when the vet took off the bandages we saw that the flesh was pink and there was even a little bone covered as well. That horse is a fighter and man we were so relieved. People were crying, hugging the horse, telling her that she's amazing and doing so good. I never thought that I would feel so much for a horse I have known for three days but I was crying. I was so happy and so surprised that so much was healed in just 3 days. She was literally on the edge of life and death when she came in, one infection in her bone and we would have lost her. This could have turned out so bad but it didn't. That evening we went out for dinner again because it was the last evening of someone who has really been helping out here and my last evening. It was good, it was fun and it was the moment I realized that this time tomorrow I'd be back home. It felt kind of weird and really double. On one hand, I didn't want to leave because the work we do here is awesome, the hours (9.30AM - 00.30 AM) are worth it, the hard work is worth it but most of all, the tears are worth it.