Antietam: That Thumping Isn't Cannon Fire

Juneau looking a little deflated by the heat

I’ve been doing a lot of riding to condition Juneau, but so far it’s been a mild summer in the East.  That’s welcome in the moment but concerning for the trip.  We plan to be riding in some hot places – humid ones like Kentucky and Missouri, arid ones like Colorado and Utah.   So, when a Saturday morning dawned bright with a forecast for a high of 90, I saw it as an opportunity and we loaded up the boys for a trip to ride the Civil War battlefield at Antietam.

Our first surprise on arriving was a bunch of guys in old-timey uniforms.  Nothing on the park website had said anything about a reenactment.  It’s June; the Battle of Antietam – the bloodiest day in American history – was fought in September.  Surprise number two, the parking lot for trailers has been closed and we had to park in the midst of the Confederate reenactors’ camp.  I guess the CSA lost so they got stuck with overflow parking and horse turds.  Third surprise -- these reenactors were going to be shooting guns and firing cannons! This is Antietam, not San Juan Hill, but I was wondering if these guys might not get to see our interpretation of the Rough Riders.

We set out to ride along the lane that tours this beautiful rolling countryside where close to 23,000 died or were wounded in a single day.  We rode past monuments for soldiers who travelled here from places as far away as Vermont and Georgia.  We traced the Antietam Creek, which apparently ran red for days after the battle but now gently glides under willows and graceful stone bridges.  We discovered a really great horse trail that climbed into the hills offering us views of all the many fields of battle.  Finally, we turned back for the long ride back to the trailer.  But the boys refused to go and we belatedly realized that, while we’d been listening closely for cannon fire, we’d not been mindful of their breathing.  Both our horses were “thumping.”

Some people equate thumping to hiccups, but it’s much more serious.  Brought on by severe electrolyte loss that results from hard work in hot, humid conditions, thumping – technically called SDF – is when the nerve that controls the diaphragm gets a false signal from the heart causing the diaphragm contractions to synchronize with the heartbeat instead of maintaining the proper rate needed for respiration. 

We dismounted in the shade and poured our water bottles over our horses’ heads to cool them.  Juneau stared at me in a daze, dripping.  I was mortified.  I’m a better horsewoman than this.  Kurt was horrified.  He’s a vet.  How could he let this happen?   After a few minutes, we knew the boys were feeling better as they cropped at the grass at our feet. 

We walked them by a cannon as it is fired.  They couldn’t give a damn.

Links to Explore

Antietam Battlefield:  www.nps.gov/anti/index.htm

Thumps:  www.horseillustrated.com/horse-exclusives-avoid-horse-heat-traps