Sun Kissed by Catherine Anderson Page A

lifting his hooves and sidestepping even as she petted him. “He acts like it hurts even to stand.”
    “More likely his belly aches, and it hurts more when he’s still. Who’s coming out to look at him?”
    “Washburn’s new partner, Darrin Black. He’d better be good, that’s all I know.” Samantha rolled back Tabasco’s lip. “His gums look a little pale to me.”
    Jerome came over to have a look. After pressing the stallion’s gum tissue, he said, “Maybe a little, but his capillary refill is still pretty good.” He patted Samantha’s shoulder. “Stop fretting. Horses’ systems can get out of whack sometimes, just like ours.”
    “I’ve never seen a case of diarrhea to equal this.”
    “It’s bad, I’ll grant you that. I’ll be interested to hear what the vet has to say.”
    Two hours later the vet finally arrived, a count against him right there. Samantha expected prompt responses to her emergency calls. Darrin Black was a tall, skinny redhead with countless freckles and a receding chin. He didn’t look old enough to have gone through veterinary school, let alone to have had much experience treating equines. She ushered him into Tabasco’s stall andwatched anxiously as Black examined the horse, checking his gums and eyes, palpating his belly, and then taking his temperature.
    “Nothing’s jumping out at me,” he finally said. “My guess is that he got ahold of something that gave him diarrhea, and it’ll just pass.”
    Samantha wasn’t surprised that nothing was jumping out at the man. Every vet she’d ever known always listened to a horse’s belly first thing. No gut noises were a sure sign of colic, and colic was the number one killer of equines.
    “My horses don’t get ahold of things without my knowledge, Dr. Black. We follow a very strict feeding regimen, the paddocks and pastures are checked weekly for any poisonous plants that may pop up, and if an animal’s diet is changed, we introduce the new food slowly.”
    The young vet glanced up. “I saw some plastic bags filled with goodies outside the stall. It appears you allow them to have treats. A few too many here and there can give a horse the runs.”
    “I’m the only person who gives the horses treats, and they get the same stuff and the same amount every third day. I rotate with carrots, apples, and oatmeal mixed with apples. All of them are used to those goodies .”
    “Hmm.” Black scratched his head. “I’m sorry, but there’s just nothing that jumps out at me. Watch him for the next few hours. See how he does. If he has another bout of diarrhea, give me a call.”
    Samantha realized he was about to leave. “Shouldn’t you take blood and fecal samples?”
    He pushed his glasses higher on his nose and gave her a long study. Finally he asked, “For what reason?”
    Samantha couldn’t believe her ears. Doc Washburn always took a blood sample. She’d come to believe it was standard procedure. “I keep a number of very expensive animals in this stable, Doctor. If this is a contagion of some sort, the other horses may catch it. Normally when a horse gets sick, Dr. Washburn at least runs blood tests, and if it looks like something serious, he checks the feces, too. He wants to make sure nothing potentially deadly is afoot.”
    “It’s my determination that this horse isn’t sick with anything serious or contagious.”
    “Pardon me? How can you know that without doing any diagnostics?”
    “I’m all but certain it’s nothing catching,” the redhead insisted as he patted Tabasco’s shoulder. “He just has diarrhea, Ms. Harrigan. That happens sometimes.”
    He spoke to her as if she knew next to nothing about horses. Samantha regretted now that Jerome had cleaned the stall and removed all the evidence. “I’ve been around horses all my life, Dr. Black. This was no ordinary case of diarrhea. It had an extremely bad odor, was very watery, and there was some blood.”
    “Horse manure stinks,” he replied.