"All I could think about that night and all of the next day was Callie, would she make it through?" - @erinsmitheventing

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It was in 2014 that we got Callie. Origionally she was for my brother after he out grew his first pony and she was fab for him. They had so much fun!

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 Together they got down to the BRC novice winter SJ champs and the team came 9th, but in the late summer of 2016 he outgrew Callie and lost interest and so she became my horse. We had out first competition in late October 2016. 

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While I was at school in the November, my mum went up to move the fence and check on the horses. Callie was lying down in the field. Mum went over to see her, but Callie didn't get up like she normally would.

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Mum called one of our friends who works in our village and she came up right away to help mum to get Callie onto her feet. They both got increasingly worried when she was holding one of her legs up and wouldn't allow any pressure on it; their first thought was that she had broken it.

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They immediately called the vets. The vet arrived 15 minutes later, checked her over and took bloods after which he said, "You need to get her down to the surgery asap". Mum had to reverse the trailer right infront of Callie, and they managed to get her on. 

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When they arrived, all her joints had swollen up. There was an operating room ready and waiting with a team of 6 nurses and 5 doctors on hand.

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Without being completely sure what was going on, this indicated that it was an extremely time-sensitive and serious issue and as soon as she was off the trailer she went straight into the facilities to get checked and treated.

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At this point mum had come and got me from the bus stop. When she told me what was going on I broke down in tears. She drove me straight to the vets so I could go and see her before she went into surgery.

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When we got there, I couldn't contain my emotions. Seeing her in so much pain was heartbreaking. Her neck was double the size it usually was and she could barely move, but she still pricked her ears and whinnied at me. 

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We then went to have a consultation. I got told to stay outside because it was a 'grown-up' chat. When mum came out of the meeting, we got in the car and she told me, "We don't know if Callie is going to make it through tonight, they're going to just throw everything at her and hope it works." All I could think about that night and all of the next day was Callie, would she make it through?

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When mum picked us up after school, she told us Callie would be coming home in a week! I could not stop smiling. What she had, had was a rare form of Lyme's disease which is mainly seen in America, but managed to reach England. 

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It was a long recovery; especially regaining her fitness, but by February we were back competing and ever since she has felt better than ever. It's almost as if she has a Yolo (You only live once) brain on!

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We now hold 6 national titles as a partnership and we have many more champs to go to this year.

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If Rainbow Equine Hospital hadn't been so fast to respond we might not have Callie here today so I am forever grateful to them.