Emily Newshams Santa heifer “Murial” sustained a spinal injury and as a result developed a staggery gait. She eventually went down and was unable to get up. Five weeks passed after the initial injury. Emily’s parents made the 300+ kilometre trip to the vet with “Murial” in a horse float to see if anything could be done.

“Murial” was hospitalised on thick sawdust in one of our horse stalls and treated medically. She was basically happy – eating and drinking. Four weeks (and several bales of hay!) passed and “Murial” had finally started to show some improvement. She was able to rise but could not stay up. A local Muscle Release Therapist (Bowen therapy) was at the clinic one day and said he had not treated many cattle but could he give it a go? This seemed to give “Murial” quite a bit of relief and she was then able to stand for some time.

“Murial” was discharged 3 weeks later. She was walking okay (a bit wobbly if hurried) and she could almost trot if she was feeling particularly cheeky.

The Newshams were advised that it would be unwise for “Murial” to have a calf because of the strain of extra weight on her spine during pregnancy. They tried to comply, until one day they phoned and said she had jumped the fence in with the bull and had produced a bull calf named “Jack”!