1962-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1962 May Voice | Page 17

15
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse
16 Days Of 24-Hour Duty Nursing
BETTY SAIN'S GALLANT FIGHT TO SAVE HER FILLY COLT
A simple but tragic love story—hid­
den in the annals of new history of the
Tennessee Walking Horse—was un­
folded early this spring at a quiet
farm home near Bell Buckle, approxi­
mately 15 miles from Shelbyville,
Tenn. The cast of characters in­
cludes:
The Heroine—a blonde, 19-year-old
girl who loves horses more than mere
humans; at least for now boys must
take a back seal. Her name is Betty
Sain.
The Hero—a dedicated veterinar­
ian, Dr. Nathan Thomas of Shelby­
ville. He is a graduate of the Auburn
School of Veterinary Medicine in
Alabama and has been practicing for
some 12 years.
The Mother—a registered Tennes­
see Walking Mare named Blackley’s
Mae Allen, 19 years old.
The Father—the absent stallion
giant of several horse generations,
Midnight Sun—85 miles away at Har-
linsdale.
The Victim—an un-named filly,
brought three weeks prematurely to
save her dam, afflicted with a fluid
poison condition.
The Villain—toxemia—a poison con­
dition that affected both the dam and
her premature foal that died on the
16th day—some five days before she
was supposed to have come into the
world. Uterine and stomach compli­
cations developed for the mare.
As Told By Betty Sain
Here’s how Betty Sain told the
moving story to the Voice Editor who
visited her on the 15th day of her
Tilly’s life:
"I have always wanted a Midnight
Sun colt so I took the last .$200 of my
savings—made while I was raising
Shetland ponies—and set it aside to
make a full payment on a Midnight
Sun service fee.
“My mare—Blackley's Mae Allen—
was taken to Harlinsclale and bred to
the stallion. Often I looked at her
during the months as they passed and
as she became quite large I began to
dream whether her foal would be a
filly or a horse colt. It did not matter
too much but I did hope for a healthy
foal.
“In about her tenth month Black­
ley’s Mae Allen began to appear ill.
She did not eat properly, and she
seemed to be more languid than she
should have been.
Betty Sain feeding filly in kitchen, 15lli day
“Finally my father, Henry Pearl
Sain, called Dr. Nathan Thomas. He
treated the dam several times but she
showed no improvement
" 'f believe she will die unless we
can bring the foal quite soon,’ the
Doctor told my father and mother and
me. So we all agreed that he should
operate and lake the foal. He did so
about 9:30 p.m.
“The foal was brought in the sta­
bles where the weakened dam lay and
the little premature filly looked like
she was dead.
“I lay down beside her and tried
to warm her body with my body, and
fell her heartbeat. We were under
blankets. X set out then and there to
save her life if at all possible. The
Doctor came every day for a week, too.
Slept First In Stable
"For three nights I slept in the sta­
bles with her—in fact I lay awake just
about all of the time. Every 30 min­
utes I would feed her an ounce of
milk and sugar from a bottle. I had
an alarm clock handy but seldom had
to use it.
“Then my father arranged a pallet
in the kitchen of the farm house-
using about eight bales of hay on the
sides, then blankets and pillows. I
have slept with the filly in the kitchen
H. P. Sain and filly, 15tli day
for the last 13 nights, A dog stayed
with us.
“The filly’s diet was changed to
feed every three hours with milk
warmed in a soft drink bottle. I
would raise her head to feed her (as
shown in photo.)
“Things seem 10 be improving.
About the 13th day she was able to
walk in the sunshine—her legs being
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