A survivor’s tale
Fresh from show-ring triumphs, a mare’s life suddenly hangs in the balance when a small lump turns out to be an aggressive type of cancer.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. In the middle of June 2014, Kitty Keen was ramping up preparations to show her mare Dolly Dumas in two national championship shows. The 12-year-old, flat-shod Tennessee Walking Horse mare had qualified for both The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ and Exhibitors’ Association’s (TWHBEA) World Versatility Show and the Walking Horse Owners Association’s (WHOA) International Pleasure and Colt Grand Championship just a week later. But, in a grooming session a month before the first event, Kitty noticed a lump on the mare’s hindquarters. The pitch-black nodule was just to the right of her tail, about six inches below the dock. At first Keen thought it looked like a bug bite, but over several days the lump grew larger. And then it started to bleed.
Keen called in their regular veterinarian, who suspected the lesion was a skin tumor, such as a sarcoid, which might respond to freezing. But before they could follow through with the treatment, the veterinarian himself had to undergo hip surgery and was unavailable to help Dolly.
Two major shows loomed within the next week, and Keen didn’t know what to do about the bleeding lump on her mare’s hindquarter. Desperate, Keen did some research and learned that John Bennett, DVM, of Equine Services in Shelbyville, Tennessee, would be the show veterinarian at the first event. She called his office with two questions: Could Bennett help her determine exactly what this lump was? And was it serious enough to scratch Dolly from the show?
Bennett asked Keen to bring the mare to his office, and he’d try to supply some answers.
tend to crack, bleed and weep as this growth was doing. Only a biopsy would provide a definitive diagnosis.
However, because Dolly was in perfect health otherwise, and the spot didn’t seem to be causing any pain or affecting her movement, Bennett said that the biopsy could wait until the show season ended in the fall. He froze the lump with liquid nitrogen and gave Keen a wound powder to encourage clotting and stop any further bleeding. He also gave her a written statement she could give to show stewards verifying the condition was not contagious and Dolly should be allowed to compete.
The lump on Dolly’s hindquarter bled during the first show, a two-day versatility event, but the wound powder kept it under control. At the second competition a week later, however, the bleeding increased and wasn’t abated by the powder.
Dolly had just won six National Championship titles in two weeks